Learning about your own personalized health is SO insightful. I like to think I have a good grasp on my health, putting into practice all the things I preach to my community and clients but also living a life that I enjoy. It's never going to be perfect. But there is a balance.
And that's what is so helpful about getting a hair tissue mineral analysis (HTMA) scan done so you can check where your mineral balances are to help guide your choices. It also can be so validating if you are experiencing symptoms and your doctor is telling you everything is fine. There is always strength in having more data to support your health.
I got my HTMA results back & it was eye-opening to learn about what was actually happening in my body.
I'll go through this how I would go through any client consultation results.
Let's start with the Metabolic Type: Slow 1
This means that I am burning through food at a slower than usual-rate. This is helpful to inform me that I need to support speeding up my metabolism. I use this to guide what foods I should increase in addition to what we learn from the minerals.
This can be experienced as tired or apathetic. But also when you find yourself relying on food, drugs, or other methods to keep going.
Here are the individual mineral balances and heavy metal elements.
Let's start with the single minerals. We ideally want them to fall in the middle range on the graph.
Calcium: these high levels reflect an abnormal amount of calcium being deposited into the soft tissues (instead of the bones). This can play a role in a sluggish thyroid since calcium can inhibit the thyroid hormone getting into the cells.
Magnesium: high levels reflect magnesium being lost through the hair.
Sodium & Potassium: Low levels can relate to other minerals being lost due to not enough solvent in the body. They also can be lost from high stress.
Copper: High levels could be because of several reasons, but is important to look at copper in relation to zinc and iron as they impact each other. But could be from the history of being on birth control, estrogen dominance from xenoestrogens in products, or adrenal burnout.
It's important to note to get started, I will start by just looking at the first four minerals (calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium) as these have an influence over the other minerals. Often when you implement changes targeting these, other mineral levels will shift. One of the reasons a re-test is important after 3-4 months.
The heavy metals you will note the presence of Uranium This could be contributed to the fact I live in Arizona where the soil often has a higher concentration or is related to potential water sources.
After looking over the single mineral levels, its also important to look at the mineral ratios as they can be indicators for different functions and symptoms in the body.
Calcium/Phosphorus (Ca/P): This ratio is very high indicating a Parasympathetic dominance from burnout & exhaustion.
Sodium/Potassium (Na/K): The vitality ratio is very high indicating inflammation and acute stress
Calcium/Potassium (Ca/K): The thyroid indicator is also very high leaning towards a sluggish thyroid. This could be because of too much bio-unavailable calcium
Zinc/Copper (Zn/Cu): This is low which can indicate copper dominance or copper toxicity.
Again, its important to start with the first four minerals as they will influence the rest of them.
So after looking over these results, some changes I'm going to make.
My priorities will be supporting my need for rest and relaxation to rebuild adrenal glands and focus on reducing stress & inflammation using diet, supplements, and lifestyle.
Diet:
Continue to eat organic & cook at home as often as I can
Increasing protein intake, leaning into more complex carbohydrates, and naturally occurring fats
Increasing potassium-rich foods like spinach, coconut water, celery juice, avocados, sweet potatoes, and brussels sprouts.
Drinking bone broth daily
Getting a quality water filter to support clean, mineral-rich water
Supplements:
Adding in a liver & adrenal support supplement (from Ancestral Supplements)
Being more consistent with my digestive enzymes (this was something I already had for when I ate out or introduced more dairy back in, but will be adding it in regularly)
Boosting magnesium intake (starting by adding a scoop of Calm to my water).
Lifestyle:
No excessive exercise
Prioritizing walks and restorative movement.
If you are interested in learning more about what your hair can tell you, it might be time to take an HTMA test. I'd love to chat with you further.
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