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Do you feel like you’re doing all the right things for your health and still can’t get the results you want?

Have you adjusted your diet in a variety of ways, tried to balance your hormones, and worked extensively on chronic gut infections like H. Pylori, Candida or SIBO without getting the relief you hoped for?

If so, it might be time to run a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) test! 

In this post, I’m going to talk about the importance of balancing essential minerals for the body and healing, the impact of heavy metals, and the questions around accuracy of HTMA testing.

What Does This Test Evaluate?

First of all, what IS HTMA?

HTMA stands for Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis. It is a safe and non-invasive pathology test that measures the levels and comparative ratios of nutrient and toxic minerals found in hair. HTMA is one of the most valuable screening tools available in preventative health care.

Many people think of HTMA testing as a heavy metal toxicity test. While it is true that this test assesses for heavy metals, much of its power resides in its evaluation of nutrient mineral levels.

Why do we care about mineral levels? And why am I introducing this after all this time?

Good question! Minerals are like the “spark plugs” of the body and they are involved in almost every biochemical reaction. This includes those that are in charge metabolism, immune system function, hormone regulation (including adrenal and thyroid hormones), glucose regulation, and digestion.

When nutrient minerals are out of balance, all of the systems mentioned above can become dysregulated. I see it too often, that people are unable to make desired gains in these areas of their health because their mineral levels are out of whack.

For example, people with hypothyroidism often have low selenium levels. People with immune system problems often have low zinc. People with adrenal problems often have either high or low levels of sodium. People with ADHD have copper dysregulation. And on and on.

What Throws Minerals out of Balance?

Another good question! Poor nutrition and/or poor absorption of nutrients can lead to mineral imbalances. Stress, poor sleep, chronic infections, and, yes, heavy metal toxicity can also promote mineral imbalances.

It’s important to know that certain minerals are synergistic or antagonistic with other minerals. For example, copper and zinc are antagonists. When copper gets too high, zinc often gets too low in relationship to copper.

Having the right balance of specific nutrient ratios is critical! Proper hair mineral analysis interpretation goes beyond just looking at each individual value as an entity unto itself. Interpretation MUST involve the evaluation of multiple patterns and relationships amongst the detected values across the test results.

Additionally, heavy metals displace minerals. For example, cadmium displaces zinc so it is not uncommon to see elevations in cadmium when there are deficiencies in zinc. People with chronic infections have a higher demand for zinc which can give cadmium an opportunity to take hold. I have actually seen many examples of people with H. Pylori infections having lowered levels of zinc and elevated levels of cadmium. 

Is the HTMA Test Accurate?

YOU BET! And multiple scientific studies have been published in peer-reviewed journals proving this. (1, 2, )

The longer answer is that the test is ONLY as accurate as the practitioner’s ability to interpret the results. Accurately interpreting an HTMA test requires very specific knowledge, training, and understanding of the lab results, the various patterns, and the relationships between the minerals and their impacts of metabolic function.

Hair testing is actually considered to be a soft tissue biopsy. Hair is a rich source of minerals that provides a representation of soft tissue mineral levels over the past 3 months offering a longer-term reading of a person’s average levels within a window of time.

Rather than detecting a value relevant in a particular minute or day, hair testing gives us a broader glimpse into a person’s ongoing nutritional and metal status.

When it can, the body will remove toxic metals from the blood and dump it into tissues like the hair. 

For this reason, chronically problematic levels of toxic metals are often detectable in the hair long before they are detected in the blood. Just a note: acutely elevated levels of metals are often more accurately detected in blood but are measurable for a shorter period of time making it more difficult to assess long-term low-level toxicity.

What Are the Effects of Heavy Metals Anyway?

The truth is that heavy metals have absolutely NO physiological function in the human body and ANY level of these metals is toxic. Sure, our bodies are ALWAYS combatting toxins and can maintain fairly well when levels are low.

But given the toxicity of our world and the burden of all our daily exposures from multiple sources, it makes sense to just get rid of toxins wherever possible so that we have more resilience to those we can’t avoid.

HEAVY METALS AND YOUR GUT

For those of you with chronic gut challenges, it may be interesting to consider that certain bacteria and fungi have affinities for particular metals. (3)

Candida REALLY likes mercury and Candida can be protective against mercury toxicity due to the fact that it can bind to mercury and prevent it from entering the bloodstream. If you’ve treated candida multiple times yet struggle with recurrent overgrowths, it may be that you have an undetected mercury load that is promoting Candida. I've personally had this! And, as I  mentioned above, there is some connection between H. Pylori and cadmium. 

HEAVY METALS AND YOUR HORMONES

Toxic metals are known endocrine disruptors - THIS IS HUGE. (4) Several metals drive estrogen dominance, a problem plaguing many women and men in modern society! So if you’ve been struggling with hormonal issues and haven’t been able to balance them out with a targeted hormone protocol, you might have some heavy metal issues to deal with in order to move the needle in a way that supports eventual balance.

HIDDEN HEAVY METALS

OK... I know I like a broken record, but getting a proper interpretation of your HTMA is crucial! It is not uncommon for heavy metal levels to appear within the lab’s reference range on an HTMA result (um, I think we all have experienced "normal" labs and still experiencing symptoms!) However, when a skilled practitioner looks at the result through a knowledgeable lens, the toxicity becomes apparent. 

If a person has a poor eliminator pattern on an HTMA test (aka methylation issues or liver detox issues), then they may show low or in range levels of toxic metals like mercury even when they are highly toxic!

CLEANING UP YOUR SYSTEM

I’m actually not all that fond of offering a list of supplements to remove heavy metals in a blog post as I think it’s extremely important to know what you’re up against and have a customized strategy for dealing with toxins like this.

But what I will say, is you can start with these two things:

• Brassica veggies – These include things like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts, bok choy, and collards. These foods help support metabolic detoxification and liver health.

• Water – This is perhaps your best blood and cellular cleanser! Drinking appropriate amounts of clean water helps to flush toxins naturally and maintain proper inter and extracellular health.

Unfortunately, heavy metals are hiding everywhere, especially in personal care and beauty products. So, to further protect yourself, make sure you are using beauty products that have been tested for heavy metal content. If you aren't sure, head over to EWG and check their database for safe products.