What Your Hair Can Tell You About Your Health
By Melinda Fouche’
Most of us are familiar with lab tests using urine and blood samples, but do you know that hair is a not only an excellent sampling for DNA, but also a reliable method of determining the toxic metals you’ve accumulated through the years? As a functional nutritionist interested in the biochemistry and individuality of my own clients, I rely upon hair analysis to develop a highly customized approach to supplementation and diet, and also as a way of monitoring the results of their program.
I have been using hair analysis for over 16 years in my clinics. I am familiar with all of its limitations and strengths. It has become one of my favorite labs, but I do not use it to the exclusion of other testing and I am careful to use controls and reliable laboratories.
Since the structure of hair remains fairly constant, the minerals and heavy metals tend to be fixed in the hair—meaning, unlike blood, they are not as likely to fluctuate from meal to meal. The hair must be clean, dry and free of mouse, gel, hair spray and perspiration on the day of collection. I also require that the hair has been washed at least five and preferably ten times since the last chemical treatment such as a perm, bleaching or dying. I take a minimum of one half, and preferably one inch of hair at the root, and cut off the dead ends to equal approx. one half ounce of cut, dry hair. I take this sampling from the top and back of the head from two or three locations in small plugs.
It is important to know that hair analysis is the gold standard for toxic metal testing, but for nutritional analysis it is still controversial, and in my own opinion, only because so few practitioners take the necessary time to really study the interrelationships of minerals and their biochemical effect on the body and mind.
Vitamins simply cannot function and or be properly assimilated without the aid of precise minerals and though the body can synthesize some of its own vitamins, it cannot manufacture one single mineral. This means, minerals MUST be supplemented, and supplementation is a science, not a dart game.
The Function of Minerals
Every living cell in your body depends on minerals for proper function and structure. Minerals are needed for your bodily fluids, the formation of bones and teeth, the maintenance of healthy nerve function, and the regulation of muscle tone. Approximately seventeen minerals are essential in human nutrition. Minerals are absolutely necessary for healthy mental and physical well being. Like vitamins, minerals function as co-enzymes, enabling the body to digest and assimilate nutrients and convert these nutrients into energy for growth, vitality and healing. Because all enzyme activities involve minerals, minerals are essential for the proper utilization of vitamins and other nutrients.
Minerals are stored mostly in bone and muscle tissues; and often, they are so tightly bound, it takes years to restore balanced levels. I like to think of hair analysis as a diary of what is going on in your body. Each person's needs vary, and what is right for one may be totally wrong for another. Just like Hippocrates said, “One man’s food is another man’s poison.” When it comes to diet and nutrition, nowhere is this more clearly demonstrated!
There are many health conditions that may be caused by mineral imbalances and/or deficiencies, and there are many factors that can contribute to a mineral imbalance. Some of these include: diet, stress, medications, pollution, nutritional supplements and inherited patterns.
Toxic Metals
Toxic metal accumulations in the body such as aluminum, arsenic, cadmium and lead may interfere with proper mineral and vitamin use and can cause many metabolic consequences. Excess copper can increase the release of estrogen, even in the male body, and cause irritability and weepiness. High scrontium can interfere with calcium assimilation. For every imbalance, there are consequences that impact both the body and the mind.