Hair Analysis: What You Can Do to Detox and Metal-proof Your Life
by Ann Louise Gittleman - 9/1/2002

Tissue mineral analysis of hair is one of the most sensitive and inexpensive indicators of exposure to heavy metals. While toxic metal exposure can also be detected through special blood and urine testing, a hair sample provides a three-month metabolic blue- print. Moreover, a hair sample does not involve invasive testing or a doctor's prescription.

Although some professionals dismiss hair analysis as unreliable, I have always found it to be a reliable and predictive measure of mineral levels and patterns of health. In fact, many times toxicity from heavy metals shows up on the hair long before elevated levels are detected in the blood or urine. Hair analysis is a reliable heavy-metal screen when you consider that hair follicles are washed by blood, lymph and extra-cellular fluids that deposit tiny fragments of any metal contaminants they contain. As the hair emerges from its follicle, it hardens and fossilizes the metabolic products within it. Tissue mineral analysis uses this record to show what toxic metals you have been exposed to (such as arsenic, mercury, cadmium, lead and aluminum) as well as the current levels and ratios of vital macro and trace minerals like calcium, magnesium, potassium, manganese, sodium, iron, zinc, selenium, and copper.

I have found hair analysis particularly helpful when it comes to evaluating calcium and magnesium levels as well as copper and zinc. Many of my clients and readers, for example, who are taking calcium supplementation are astounded to learn from their hair analysis reports that they are not absorbing the calcium they are taking causing levels to skyrocket on their mineral graphs. The calcium is being stored in their tissues – not in the bones where it belongs – resulting in arthritic conditions, constipation, and viral problems, for example. Sometimes the elevated calcium is due to an inferior and therefore improperly absorbed calcium product or a lack of calcium-balancing magnesium or a lack of hydrochloric acid in the stomach.

This test can also reveal mineral excesses from self-administered dietary supplement programs. I remember the case of one client, who, at the age of 25 was diagnosed with osteopenia – a condition of bone thinning leading which often is the precursor to osteoporosis. She had been everywhere and saw me as a last resort.

I immediately suggested a hair analysis.

And when her test came back to me, one thing was clear – her selenium levels were off the charts.

I then instructed my client to bring in every single supplement she was taking. After totaling up the various sources of selenium in about five different supplements, we found out that her selenium dosage was about 500 mcg on a daily basis, more than twice the amount considered to be adequate and safe.

The bottom line - high selenium levels can be toxic and can result in osteopenia.

Your specific treatment for mineral imbalances and/or heavy-metal toxicity will certainly vary based upon the testing results. The lab that I recommend provides 15 – 20 pages of recommendations regarding environmental sources and assaults, proper foods, nutrients as well as a tailor made dietary supplement program specifically designed to balance your current biochemistry. This program is generally followed for a two-to-three-month period after which a retest is recommended to monitor progress.

I personally do a hair analysis on myself once a year. If you would like to screen for possible toxic metal buildup and current levels/ratios of vital minerals, then I highly suggest you consider a hair analysis.

Please contact Uni Key Health Systems www.unikeyhealth.com or 1-800-888-4353.

A typical hair analysis report reveals levels of 32 major minerals as well as toxic elements including copper, aluminum, lead, mercury, and arsenic. Specific recommendations are given for lifestyle as well as specific foods and supplements individually tailored to enhance your Fat Flush journey.