Let me share my background first so you can understand why hair analysis made so much sense to me.
I’ve been raising Suri alpacas for their fiber since 2008. Over the years, our focus on fiber quality has taught us the different factors that affect fiber quality. We learned food and mineral supplements as well as stress levels are important factors that we have control over. Proper nutrients help optimize their fleece so it’s soft and lustrous. Stress can affect fiber in the form of “stress breaks”- brittle sections of the fiber which makes them useless. That’s why we try to avoid or minimize stress when working with our alpacas.
With this background, I was fascinated to learn about Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) for people because I knew the valuable insight this could provide us about our overall health.
The specialized HTMA labs only require a very small sample of hair and can give accurate information on the levels of 15 nutritional elements (including magnesium, calcium, sodium, and potassium), 8 toxic elements (such as mercury, aluminum, and arsenic), 14 additional elements, and most importantly 7 significant ratios calculated from the nutritional elements.
This data alone is impressive, but what does it mean for our health? And more importantly, how can we use this information to optimize our health?
You could be deficient in just ONE of the 15 nutritional elements measured on the HTMA and experience all of the following:
- Low energy
- Muscle pain
- Trouble sleeping
- Feeling anxious
- Headaches
You don’t need to guess where your nutritional deficiency is because your hair will reveal the mineral levels.
HTMA is a wealth of information. Have you been unsure what the best foods are for you? Using HTMA, you can find out your metabolic type and start eating in a way that gives you more energy and satiation.
Are you worried about how toxic your body might be? We are exposed to heavy metals through vaccinations, mercury fillings, and lead from old house paint. With HTMA, you can find out which toxic elements your body is currently eliminating through hair.
If this wasn’t already enough information in the little bit of hair, there’s still more insight you can gain from the mineral ratios. Do you feel exhausted and burnt out? The significant ratios can give you further insight into how well your adrenals are handling the various stressors in life.
It is remarkable how much insight you can gain about your health through this simple cost effective test. I think everyone who wants to improve their health can benefit from an HTMA.
Find out more about getting an HTMA test.
