What is Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis?
Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) is an affordable and non-invasive test which checks samples of your hair for 29 minerals and 9 toxic elements. HTMA has a long history of use in both mainstream and alternative medicine.
The process to test a hair sample is carried out at a highly regulated laboratory in the United States at a high temperature to break down the hair and separate it from the elements. Once separated, the sample is analysed by a process called Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) to identify the mineral status and toxic metal accumulation found. This process shows the nutrient levels in your body and reveals the evidence of long term or acute exposure to heavy metals that you had no idea you’d been vulnerable to.
Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis tests for the following elements: calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, copper, zinc, phosphorus, iron, manganese, chromium, selenium, cobalt, molybdemun, sulfur, uranium, arsenic, berylium, mercury, cadmium, lead, aluminium, germanium, barium, bismuth, rubidium, lithium, nickel, platinum, thallium, vanadium, strontium, tin, titanium, tungsten and zirconium. Antimony and boron are available to test for an additional fee, as these are not usually required.
Download a sample report by clicking here.
Why might a hair mineral test be useful?
- When you would you would like to have as much information as possible in order to help you to reclaim or optimise your health more effectively. HTMA results can bring up information that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to determine otherwise.
- If you have a stubborn health issue or symptoms that keep reoccuring and you can’t work out why. A hair mineral test may well shed light on the issue.
- When you would like to have children (as a mother or father). Would you like to give them the best start in life? Or are you having trouble conceiving? The hair tissue mineral analysis was used with outstanding results in a fertility program, achieving many successes when other more expensive options had failed. This is due to the powerful effects on health of balancing mineral ratios and removing toxic metals, all of which can be illuminated by the test results.
- If you are concerned about the nutrition and mineral status of your children and want to make sure they have all they need to develop to their highest potential.
- When you are taking too many supplements and would like to know what exactly you need to be your at your best.
A HTMA can help to pinpoint hidden toxicity, mineral imbalances, excesses and deficiencies which could be playing havoc with your body. Identifying the issue is often the hardest part. Once identified with the help of the hair mineral test, I am trained to put together a clear plan of action to correct the issue.
What’s the difference between a blood test and a hair mineral test?
A blood test will only give information on what is currently moving around the body in the blood stream. The blood is used to transport minerals around the body. The levels in the blood can fluctuate at different times of the day and from day to day. However, the tissues are where minerals are stored. They therefore give a far more useful indication of the body’s mineral status and reserves from the last few months.
You could compare a blood test to checking the stock of a product in an Amazon delivery van. But the hair tissue test goes straight to the Amazon warehouse. Thus, a more accurate insight into the stock, or in this case, the mineral reserves, is provided.
There are of course some instances where blood tests can be more useful, but the hair is the best way to know mineral status.
Aren’t vitamins more important?
While most people focus on vitamins, in many ways minerals are far more important. Vitamins are substances that the body cannot synthesise by itself and has to get through the diet. But this also applies to minerals! Minerals form the basic building blocks of enzymes, hormones, blood, bones, neurotransmitters, they affect genetic expression and the function of practically the entire body. When there is an imbalance in the mineral ratios in the body, some minerals can take the place of others in enzymes, reducing the efficiency of processes in the body and causing a wide range of issues. This is not only limited to minerals which are toxic to the body like mercury, although the HTMA also tests for these.
How can I get a hair mineral test?
Tests are available for all of my clients, whether you are seeing me for nutrition/naturopathy based consultations or Bowen treatments. I have been trained directly by UK representatives of the laboratory to intepret the results in the first practitioner training offered in the UK.
The cost of the test is £74 or included within the Reclaim Your Health Gold Package. The results would be discussed and interpreted in the context of your case and health history during a consultation. This would either be an intake consultation if you are a new client or a follow-up if you are already seeing me (nutritional therapy or naturopathy).
Contact me via this website to book your test or email michael@reclaimyourhealth.co.uk
I trained in the first UK practioner training to interpret and utilise these tests to a high level, see below:
