Metabolic Testing in Louisville, KY
Most people sacrifice their metabolism when they lose weight. Sano patients don’t.
- Performed by Dr. Meredith Sweeney, MD, FACS, FASMBS
- Speaker, Longevity Fest 2025
- PNOĒ Platform | 17-page Metabolic Blueprint report
30-minute call. No obligation. Concierge practice. HSA and FSA eligible.
Reviewed by Dr. Meredith Sweeney, MD, FACS, FASMBS | Board-certified bariatric surgeon, A4M member, founder of Sano Longevity in Middletown. Last updated April 2026.
Sano Metabolic Testing Quick Facts
Your Primary Care Doctor Calculates Your Metabolic Rate from a Formula. That Formula Has Nothing to Do with Your Actual Physiology.
When your primary care doctor or your fitness app tells you your metabolic rate, they are using a formula. The most common one is the Harris-Benedict equation. It takes your age, sex, height, and weight and returns a number of calories. That number has no relationship to what is actually happening inside your body.
Two people with identical age, height, and weight can have resting metabolic rates that differ by 400 calories per day. The formula gives them the same number. One of them is being told to eat 400 calories per day more than they actually burn at rest. They follow the plan. It does not work. Their physician tells them to try harder.
Sano Longevity measures your resting metabolic rate on the PNOĒ platform. You arrive fasted, sit still, and breathe normally for 10 to 15 minutes. The platform analyzes your exhaled gas exchange and returns your actual caloric burn at rest, your fat-burning efficiency, and a 17-page Metabolic Blueprint with exact protein, fat, and carbohydrate targets in grams.
What the Test Measures (And Why Each Number Matters).
Resting metabolic rate (RMR).
The actual number of calories your body burns at rest. Compared against the Harris-Benedict prediction so you can see exactly how far off every formula-based nutrition plan has been.
Fat-burning efficiency at rest.
What percentage of your resting caloric burn comes from fat versus carbohydrate. Most adults in metabolic dysfunction burn predominantly carbohydrate even at rest. Improving this number is one of the primary goals of the Sano nutrition protocol.
Metabolic dysfunction risk score.
A composite risk flag derived from the pattern of your gas exchange. High metabolic dysfunction risk correlates with insulin resistance and elevated chronic disease risk.
Heart Rate Variability (HRV).
Millisecond fluctuations between heartbeats are a clinical-grade marker of your autonomic nervous system, stress load, recovery, and cardiovascular resilience.
Caloric balance.
RMR plus estimated daily activity plus active calories burned during exercise. The actual maintenance calorie number that your nutrition plan should be built from.
What You Walk Out With: Your 17-Page PNOĒ Metabolic Blueprint.
The PNOĒ platform delivers a 17-page personalized Metabolic Blueprint report after every test. This is not a one-page printout with a single calorie number on it. It is a clinical-grade nutrition and metabolic analysis that includes your measured RMR vs Harris-Benedict prediction, your caloric balance, your fuel source split (fat percent vs carb percent at rest), your metabolic dysfunction risk score, and the foundational data for your individualized longevity or weight loss plan.
About one month after the test, Dr. Sweeney walks you through every page of the report in a 60 to 90 minute roadmap appointment alongside your VO2 max, body composition, and blood panel results. Your nutrition protocol is built from the measurement, not from a population average.
Most People Lose Metabolism When They Lose Weight. Sano Patients Often Do the Opposite.
When most adults restrict calories to lose weight, their body responds by lowering its resting metabolic rate. The body adapts to the reduced caloric load. The scale stops moving. The physician says to cut more calories. The metabolic rate drops further. This is the standard weight loss spiral.
At Sano, the metabolic rate is measured before, during, and after weight loss interventions. The protocol is built around preventing the metabolic drop: a protein target in grams that preserves lean mass, a strength training plan that maintains muscle tissue, and body composition retesting to verify that the weight being lost is fat, not muscle. One Sano patient (a 51-year-old male, third shift worker) increased his resting metabolic rate by 100 calories per day while losing 21 pounds (18 lbs of pure fat) and gaining 3 pounds of lean muscle. That is the strength training protocol working as designed.
The Sano Patient Whose Metabolism Went UP While He Lost 21 Pounds.
A 51-year-old male, third shift worker. His wife noticed him slowing down and putting on weight. He had never taken his health seriously. By the time he came to Sano, his resting metabolic rate was measurably suppressed from years of inconsistent eating and no structured exercise. His fasting insulin was elevated. His visceral fat was high.
Six months on the Sano Longevity Program:
Body weight: down 21 lbs
Fat loss: 18 lbs of pure fat
Muscle gain: 3 lbs lean mass
Resting metabolic rate: up 100 calories per day
Visceral fat: reduced
Fasting insulin: normalized
The metabolic rate going up while losing weight is not a side effect. It is what happens when the protocol is built from a measurement, not a formula.
Who Should Get Metabolic Testing in Louisville.
The patient who has tried calorie tracking and stopped seeing results.
You used a formula. You stuck to it. You stopped losing weight after the first month. The most likely explanation is that the formula is wrong and your actual metabolic rate is different from what the calculator returned. Measure it.
Anyone whose physician prescribed weight loss without measuring their metabolism.
Every nutrition plan built on a formula-based calorie target is built on an estimate. Some of those estimates are 300 to 400 calories per day wrong. That error compounds across 12 months of a weight loss protocol.
Anyone considering GLP-1 medication.
Resting metabolic rate is the foundation of the protein target and caloric structure that preserves muscle during GLP-1. Without it, the GLP-1 is running without a plan.
Any longevity patient who wants their nutrition plan built on measurement.
Metabolic testing is part of the comprehensive longevity assessment on every new Sano patient first visit.
What to Expect at Your Metabolic Test at Sano.
Step 1:
You arrive fasted, in comfortable clothing. The Sano team calibrates the PNOĒ rig and fits you with the analysis mask.
Step 2:
You sit still in a comfortable position and breathe normally. PNOĒ platform captures real-time oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide output. No treadmill, no bike, no exercise. Sit and breathe.
Step 3:
Platform generates the 17-page Metabolic Blueprint report.
Step 4 (approximately 1 month later):
Roadmap appointment with Dr. Sweeney. She walks you through the full Blueprint alongside your VO2 max, InBody 580, and blood panel results. Your nutrition protocol, protein target, and caloric structure are built from the data in this appointment.
Frequently Asked Questions About Metabolic Testing in Louisville
Six questions patients ask most often about resting metabolic rate testing at Sano Longevity.
What is metabolic testing and how is it different from a metabolism estimate?
Metabolic testing measures your actual resting metabolic rate (RMR) by analyzing the gases you exhale during a 10 to 15 minute breathing test on the PNOĒ platform. A metabolism estimate is a calculation based on age, sex, height, and weight using a formula like Harris-Benedict. Two people with the exact same demographics can have resting metabolic rates that differ by hundreds of calories per day. Sano Longevity in Louisville measures it instead of estimating it.
What does the PNOĒ Metabolic Blueprint report include?
The PNOĒ Metabolic Blueprint is a 17-page report that includes your measured resting metabolic rate compared to the Harris-Benedict prediction, your caloric balance, your fuel source split, your metabolic dysfunction risk score, and the foundational data for your individualized longevity or weight loss plan.
How long does metabolic testing take at Sano Longevity?
The actual resting metabolic rate test takes 10 to 15 minutes. You arrive fasted, sit still, and breathe normally through the PNOĒ analysis mask. About one month later, Dr. Meredith Sweeney walks you through the full 17-page report in a 60 to 90 minute roadmap appointment alongside your VO2 max, body composition, and blood panel results.
Who should get metabolic testing?
Metabolic testing is appropriate for any adult who wants to know their actual caloric burn instead of an estimate, anyone struggling with weight loss despite following a calorie target, anyone whose physician prescribed weight loss without measuring their metabolism, anyone considering GLP-1 medication who wants the protein and caloric data to preserve muscle, and any longevity patient who wants their nutrition plan built on measurement instead of formula.
Can my resting metabolic rate change?
Yes. RMR is not fixed. With a structured strength training protocol and adequate protein, RMR can be maintained or even increased during fat loss. One Sano patient, a 51-year-old male third shift worker, increased his resting metabolic rate by 100 calories per day while losing 21 pounds (18 lbs of pure fat) and gaining 3 pounds of muscle.
Is metabolic testing covered by insurance?
Metabolic testing at Sano Longevity is included in Longevity and Weight Loss membership programs and is also available standalone. Sano Longevity is a membership-based practice and does not bill insurance. The practice is HSA and FSA eligible. See the pricing page for current standalone rates.
Stop Guessing at Your Metabolism. Measure It.
Book a free consultation. We will walk you through what the metabolic test covers, what the Blueprint report includes, and whether Sano is the right fit before you commit.
We respond within 24 hours. No pitch. Just data. Or call (502) 208-6476.
Or send us your details and we will reach out within 24 hours.
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Reviewed by
Dr. Meredith Sweeney, MD, FACS, FASMBS
Founder, Sano Longevity in Middletown, Louisville. Board-certified bariatric surgeon. Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS) and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (FASMBS). Member, American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M). Speaker, Longevity Fest 2025. More than ten years of metabolic medicine experience at Norton Healthcare before founding Sano Longevity in March 2025.
Sano Longevity
(502) 208-6476