1 Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis
1 Interpretation PDF (Trends & Ratios)
NO Food & Lifestyle Recommendation Writeup (5-20 pages)
NO List of Recommended Doses of EndoMet Vitamins + Supplements
NO Phone or Zoom Call to Discuss Results
NO Check-ins
Please be clear that this purchase does not include a program, coaching, or recommendations.
From the Analytical Research Labs website + my own writing to inform you of their practices, why I choose them for my lab work, and why I have chosen to use exclusively HTMA for my nutrition practice.
About HTMA
A hair tissue mineral analysis (HTMA) simply stated, is a screening test that measures the mineral content of your hair. However, a hair tissue mineral analysis is much more than a test for minerals.
Unlike blood tests, which are useful for acute situations, rather than getting a minute-to-minute reading of circulating mineral and enzyme levels HTMA is able to provide information about if and how the body is able to metabolize incoming nutrients. On an HTMA, we can see what a person’s current oxidation rate and stage are, hormone levels, glandular output, metabolic function, and much more. Rather than looking at individual levels, we are paying more attention to relationships (ratios) between minerals and metals and using their interconnected relationships to calculate a very precise custom supplement and dietary program to manipulate their body chemistry into regulation.
With this information, we are looking at the last couple months average worth of mineral and metals secretions to assess the function of the body’s basic biochemical balance. A very simplified way of putting it is that we are using this test to assess and correct biochemistry based on a whole-system view.
We don’t typically use symptoms or diagnoses in this program because symptoms arise as a result of an underlying biochemical imbalance. We work to correct this, and so a person on a committed program for a period of time will begin to notice symptoms go away on their own with no “remedies,” because the root imbalances are being corrected.
In all cases, this involves a remineralization of the body which removes the toxic metals that have accumulated and are functioning in their place.
Blood and other tests are not able to identify metal toxicities and biounavailable minerals (which also create toxicities) that are stored away in the soft tissues. While we typically observe the most surface level imbalances and ratios currently seeking to be fixed, as the person comes more into balance we begin to see eliminations of accumulated biounavailable minerals and metals exiting the body. This is why it is so important to retest every 3-4 months, ideally even 8-12 weeks, so that we do not overshoot or undershoot eliminations and imbalances for the most accurate development programs.
An HTMA gives insight to how in alignment the person is living with their values and emotional needs. It reveals external and internal stressors, relationship and work stress, level of coping and frustration, outlook on life, blood sugar metabolism, stress response, and much more than we could describe here. Lifestyle and emotional support are a very big part of this. To bring the physical body into harmony, all aspects of life must be considered and adjusted to fit what the person needs to thrive.
Mineral Blueprint
Providing a mineral blueprint of one's biochemistry, a hair tissue mineral analysis can provide pertinent information about one's metabolic rate, energy levels, and stage of stress.
A hair tissue mineral analysis performed by Analytical Research Labs, Inc., is a screening test for the level of 20 minerals and toxic metals in a sample of hair. It is a tissue mineral biopsy that is non-invasive, relatively inexpensive and extremely accurate. Our laboratory uses only the most advanced and sophisticated instrumentation available today, the Perkin Elmer ICP-MS nexION 2000B Mass Spectrometer to assess mineral levels in parts per million or parts per billion.
A hair tissue mineral analysis is considered a standard test used around the world for the biological monitoring of trace elements and toxic metals in humans and animals species. The same technology is used for soil testing and testing of rock samples to detect mineral levels.
Hair, like all other body tissues, contains minerals that are deposited as the hair grows. Although the hair is dead, the minerals remain as the hair continues to grow out. A sample of hair cut close to the scalp provides information about the mineral activity in the hair that took place over the past three to four months, depending on the rate of hair growth.
Why is Our Hair Analysis Unique?
Several factors combine to make our hair tissue mineral analysis the best in the industry!
We are one of only two laboratories that do not wash the hair at the laboratory. Washing hair samples at the laboratory has been shown to erratically wash out the water-soluble elements. This creates much less accurate results. In a 2001 study in the Journal of the AMA (Seidel, S. et al., Assessment of Commercial Laboratories Performing Hair Mineral Analysis, JAMA, 285(1) Jan 3:67-72.) the two laboratories that did not wash the hair, of which we were one, showed superb reliability.
We use technologically advanced testing instruments, including the Perkin Elmer Elan 9000 ICP Mass Spectrometer.
We are proud of our laboratory quality control procedures. These include known controls which are tested at the beginning, middle and end of every batch of hair samples to insure the accuracy of the results.
We automatically retest any reading that is out of a normally expected range, provided sufficient hair is available for a second sample.
Test results are printed on an easy-to-read graph, unlike many of the other laboratories. This is a great benefit for both practitioners and their clients as well. The printed graph includes the mineral results, major mineral ratios and the oxidation type.
We offer the only complete individualized test interpretation by the method developed by the late Dr. Paul C. Eck, our founder. This is unique as it includes information related to one's metabolic rate, energy levels, autonomic balance, a personal dietary supplement program, basic diet recommendations and other information that can be inferred from the test results.
We offer the only personalized transition dietary plan based entirely upon the results of one's hair tissue mineral analysis. This report includes three transition diets, menu plans and a wealth of information covering food preparation, eating habits, changing one's habits, cooking, shopping and other valuable information.