This morning I had an interesting session with Kim Dunn, a Nutritional Microscopist. If you have never heard of nutritional microscopy, here’s what happens. Your finger is pricked, and tiny amount of blood is smeared on 2 slides…one for “live blood cells” and the other for “dried blood cells.” The microscopist then places the live blood cell slide under the microscope, while allowing the other to dry. Then, on the TV, you get to watch what she is seeing on the slide.

It is amazing to watch your own blood cells floating around! Healthy red blood cells are round and have a glow inside of them. Lack of a glow indicates low oxygen and energy in the cell. Healthy red blood cells float all around, not overlapping or sticking together, gently bouncing off each other. 

The white blood cells are about the size of two red blood cells and have a grainy appearance with different characteristics, depending upon their type.  They display many different shapes and some are active and moving.  The literature I received said, “In normal blood there are about 700 red cells to every white cell.”

The serum surrounding the cells is clear with a scattering of platelets. Likewise, the microscopist can visually distinguish healthy from unhealthy platelets.   

The slide show is fascinating. The microscopist watches for shapes and cell behavior that is out of the normal. An irregularly shaped red blood cell can signify a number of conditions, each condition portraying a specific shape. For example, the microscopist pointed out to me a couple of red cells that had free radical damage.  She saw a few images in the serum that indicated bacteria, which she said is commonly indicative of heavy metal or dental infection.

In my slide, I had too many eosinophil white blood cells.  The microscopist explained that the causes might be parasites, smoking, second hand smoke, bone bruises, inflammation, etc. I currently have a sinus infection. Darn if it didn’t show up in the blood! Thankfully, the rest of my white cells appeared normal. The microscopist showed me a whole page of various abnormal appearing white cells and what each indicated. Each person is different…whatever is happening in the body shows up on the slide.

The dried blood cell slide had a totally different appearance. This slide looks like a ball with tiny little lines throughout. The microscopist looks for distinct lines, indicating a normal smear.  My little lines looked fine. However, my recent saliva and blood spot tests indicated I am low in thyroid and have adrenal stress. Both showed up on this slide. The adrenal stress showed up as pools of white, and a characteristic stacking of the lines indicated the low thyroid. Tiny white spots indicated that I have some sort of allergy.  I suspect food allergy, particularly considering the symptoms I experienced the evening before with a suspect food substance. One large spot appeared to be heavy metal, and a few spots indicated possible parasites. She explained how common it is for us to have parasites. Gross!

I was sent home with lots of helpful information to get myself back into equilibrium: thyroid health tips, info on balancing pH with diet (parasites can’t live in a healthy, alkaline environment), heavy metal detox, parasite cleanse, adrenal health tips, and more.

One very big adrenal health tip is to sleep in a room that is completely dark. “You should not be able to see your hand.” The reason for this is light creates serotonin, and total darkness creates melatonin. She also told me that three major stressors of the adrenal gland are caffeine, transfats, and sugar.  She commented, “Any caffeine stays in the body 20 hours – not good.”  

Bottom line, if there is a Nutritional Microscopist in your area, it is well worth your time to go take a look at your own blood cells. The beauty is you can see changes long before any health condition appears, allowing you to make proactive changes to positively impact your health.