FAQ

What is InsideTracker?

InsideTracker™, is a web-based, personalized path to health, wellness and performance. InsideTracker is the only science-based plan that analyzes a sample of blood and, in conjunction with your individual goals for health or athletic achievement, provides a personalized nutrition and wellness plan, tailored to your signature biochemistry.

InsideTracker provides superior value to its customers by combining highly relevant diagnostic biomarker panels with locally available food and supplement recommendations.

InsideTracker includes the following components:

• Measurement of a number of key blood biomarkers
• Analysis using Segterra's proprietary algorithms based on scientific, peer-reviewed, clinical trial publications
• Personalized and secure web interface
• Individualized nutrition information and recommendations including food types, food preparation, store locator, AND supplements based on your biomarker test results
• Access to qualified and trained nutrition assistance
• Community of like-minded people

Who is behind InsideTracker?

InsideTtacker was developed by Segterra, Inc. We are a group of physicians, scientists, exercise physiologists, and nutritionists from MIT, Harvard, and Tufts University. This plan is designed for people who want to feel better, enhance their athletic performance, increase energy, and achieve a healthy weight using evidence-based research.

What is the InsideTracker Process?

1. Register. Register with InsideTracker at http://www.insidetracker.com/ and get a secure, personal account.
2. Answer a questionnaire online. Fill out a questionnaire about your wellness, fitness and lifestyle goals and preferences.
3. Get blood drawn. Go to a certified neighborhood clinical lab that partners with InsideTracker to have your blood drawn. In some locations, this can also be done in the convenience of your home or office. Inquire about a location near to you through us through us.
4. View your InsideTracker online. A few days after your blood work, your confidential, personal test results become available online at your InsideTracker account. InsideTracker combines your blood work results with your wellness and lifestyle goals and offers a personal nutrition guide and exercise plan, tailored specifically for you.
5. Choose how you use InsideTracker. You can use InsideTracker one time only and follow your personalized plan on your own, or you can continue to use InsideTracker on a regular basis to plan and monitor your exercise and nutrition. You can also track your progress against your fitness and weight goals by repeating the blood test and analysis as often as you like, though it makes sense to give your body a few weeks between blood draws.
6. Ask an expert. InsideTracker can often help you to achieve your personal goals by linking you with a nutrition or fitness expert who you can consult with about any aspect of InsideTracker plan and progress. Let us know if you are interested in this option. In some cases additional fees may apply.

What is the scientific methodology of InsideTracker?

The core of the InsideTracker is an automatically generated nutrition, food and supplement plan based on a panel of serum biomarkers and the personal goals, circumstances and preferences of each individual. Your InsideTracker recommendations and insights are generated by a rules-based expert system that matches the individual's input data with a knowledge base of facts about the relationships between the biomarkers and the desired health and wellness outcomes, such as body weight, physical performance, and subjective criteria of wellbeing. The expert system then infers the optimal nutrition plan to optimize the levels of the biomarkers and to improve the individual's health and wellbeing. InsideTracker is delivered online thereby providing a constant and immediate feedback loop crucial for the success against your goals.

What is the difference between InsideTracker and other nutrition programs available today?

InsideTracker's unique advantage lies in the assembly and delivery of an interactive system of components:

• A biomarker panel consisting of vitamins, minerals, nutrients, cytokines and other messenger molecules that have been shown to have an impact on health and wellness outcomes.
• Utilization of the proprietary InsideTracker expert system, which is comprised of a knowledge-base and an inference system.
• An interactive website for tracking, monitoring and creating the personalized recommedations and food plan.

In other plans, the recommendations handed out to people about nutrition, exercise and supplement levels are cookie-cutter and do not take into account each person's individual characteristics. InsideTracker is changing this approach by applying a personalized nutrition approach based on serum biomarkers, gender, age and ethnicity as well as individual nutritional habits and exercise. Clinical data demonstrate that even though subjects might be in the normal range for some of the tested blood parameters, improving these parameters can improve athletic performance and give you an edge. This is complemented by the InsideTracker diet and supplement recommendations. Note that Segterra is not affiliated with any supplement vendor and these recommendations are based solely on the biomarker results.

Where should I have my blood drawn?

After registration, you will be directed to one of the 1500 testing locations operated by our Partner, Labcorp where you will have your blood drawn and analyzed. If that location doesn't suit you let us know. We also have an at-home/office option available in some areas for an additional fee.

How will I receive my personalized recommendations?

Once the results of the blood tests are transferred from the lab into Segterra's server, the expert system will analyze your blood test results, match it with your preferences from your questionnaire and will upload the results and recommendations to your account. When you log in you can retrieve the recommendations and follow your InsideTracker. This generally takes three business days from the date of your blood test.

How can I benefit from InsideTracker?

You can use InsideTracker one time only and follow your personalized plan on your own, but we recommend that you continue to use InsideTracker on a regular basis to plan and monitor your nutrition. The best way to do it is to track your progress against your goals by repeating the blood test and analysis. You may test as often as you like but we generally recommend 2-6 times per year.

What is in my nutrition and food menu?

You will receive a personalized nutrition plan compiled out of thousands of food items. Based on your diagnostic results InsideTracker will recommend individualized food items that will help you improve your performance while taking into account your deficiencies and abnormalities of specific vitamins or minerals derived from your blood test. You can also exclude specific food items from the list or specific food groups due to personal preference. For example, if you want to watch your cholesterol levels, you can opt out of high fat, high cholesterol foods. That way you can customize your plan and make it more specific to your individual needs. If you are not sure about the nutrition plan you can ask an expert.

How is the supplement plan in the food plan derived?

You will have a personalized supplement plan that take into account hundreds of clinical trial publications. Based on your blood test results, InsideTracker will recommend an individualized supplement plan that will help you improve your performance taking into account your deficiencies and specific vitamin or mineral levels. In contrast to other plans that recommend generic supplements, InsideTracker will recommend supplements that have been proven in clinical trials to improve athletic performance and increase the level of the specific marker in the blood that you have been determined to be deficient in. . Inside Tracker will also recommend a decrease in supplement use when indicated by your blood results. It will provide instructions how to use the supplements derived from the same clinical trial publication: The amount of supplement you should take, how many times per day, and whether to take it before or after a meal, with what type of beverage, and how long should you take it. If you are not sure about the supplement plan you can ask an expert.

Is there an expert I can ask specific nutrition or exercise questions?

InsideTracker may be able to connect you to a fitness or weight management expert who you can consult with about any aspect of your plan, goals, and progress. If you are interested in such an option let us know. Additional fees may apply.

How hard is InsideTracker to use?

InsideTracker is simple and easy to use. Unlike many fitness and weight management plans, the foods recommended for you to incorporate into your diet can be found at the local grocery store and the recommended exercise plan is tailored to the activities and equipment already available to you. It can be used as a one-time recommendation, or as an on-going plan.