High Calcium Levels In A Hair Analysis Explained

high calcium on hair analysis

Biounavailability

Biounavailable is defined as the level of calcium being above 100mg% on a hair tissue mineral analysis.
A high calcium level is a fairly common issue and one that I have found is greatly misunderstood. Part of the challenge has resulted from modern medicines tendency to diagnose and label things. In this example, the easy and incorrect thing to do is to report back to the patient just telling them they have high calcium
The truth is usually far more involved. Whenever you see ANY nutrient being high a better approach is not to say that the high level is the issue but to ask the bigger question of WHY is that nutrient so high?
high calcium on hair analysis
The most common reason for the high tissue calcium is some form of burnout as defined by a slow oxidation rate and weakened adrenal and thyroid activity. Stress is overwhelming in our society and comes in physical, emotional and chemical forms. Simply put, when our stresses overwhelm our body’s ability to heal and repair, burnout and a breaking down of the body occurs.

Solvent

Chemically this causes a reduced level of sodium and potassium in the tissues which you can see in the above diagram. This is important to understand as sodium and potassium are referred to as the body’s solvents. This means they are responsible for keeping the minerals like calcium in solution. When they go low this ability decreases and the calcium starts to change its form.  It precipitates out of the blood and into the tissues, including the hair, hence the high levels we frequently see on hair tissue mineral analysis.

The bad news about this movement of calcium out of the blood is that it is not just going into the hair it is going to many other tissues. Stop and think about what calcification (hardening) of the body would look like. There would be a predisposition for arthritis, muscle aches, bone spurs, gall and kidney stones, hardening of the arteries and then high blood pressure, and memory loss to name a few. This is a very real and significant issue in the aging and chronic degenerative process.

Psychological Qualities

There are also psychological qualities associated with high levels of calcium such as stability, hardness, rigidity. One might imagine that while these might be considered positive traits, when applied in excess they would become negatives. The opposite would also be true with not enough of these traits as calcium is also an important sedative mineral.

A calcium “shell” occurs when the hair tissue calcium level is above about 170mg%. As Dr. Wilson writes “It is common, especially in adult women, and is associated with psychological withdrawal, depression and emotional suppression in most cases.  It lowers one’s awareness level, like living behind a concrete wall of calcium.” One is virtually trying to wall oneself off and away from the overwhelming stresses of life.

The Calcium Dichotomy

An interesting dichotomy also occurs with this biounavailable calcium. Obviously on the hair tissue analysis we are seeing a high level of calcium but as we have mentioned it is in a form that the body cannot properly use. This allows the situation to exist where one will potentially have symptoms of both high and low calcium at the SAME time. This can be most confusing unless you understand what is going on and is important to know so that you can determine the right amount of calcium for the individual.

Remember too much OR too little is an issue.

Thyroid Connection

Finally another reason for a very high level of calcium is if the thyroid stats to fatigue and slow down. When this occurs the opposite gland, the parathyroid, will typically speed up. The thyroid puts calcium into the blood and the parathyroid puts calcium in the tissues as a general rule. High tissue calcium can therefore be reflective of a tired underperforming thyroid and the resultant higher parathyroid activity.

Hopefully from the above examples you can see how important it is to have a proper hair tissue mineral analysis done and interpreted. Blood is a different medium altogether and will often show normal while the tissues and a person’s symptoms are saying something totally different. With this knowledge much can be done to address and reverse the many and varied chronic degenerative diseases that are plaguing us in modern times.

To have a test performed visit us at www.lifestyleintegration.com.au

My Hair Mineral Analysis And Blood Tests Show Different Results?

hair mineral analysis

My daughter is pregnant with what will be our first grandchild.  This got me thinking a bit about nutrition and how it’s assessed.  Most of us are familiar with the old belief that the foetus’s nutritional needs would be accommodated for, regardless of what the mother ate. Turns out this isn’t entirely true, but it gets you thinking about how a nutrient could be normal in one area of the body and not another.  A hair mineral analysis is a lot like this and the levels we see in a hair mineral analysis are often completely different to what we see on blood tests.

The first thought most people have when they see this is that the blood test is the gold standard so the hair mineral test must be flawed or inaccurate.  This is not the case at all.

Blood will take nutrients from your tissues and cells.

Our blood is under strict homeostatic control.  For the most part, it has to stay within the normal ranges for the body to function optimally so if a mineral like magnesium is dropping in the blood our body will take it from the tissues and cells so that it can stay normal.  If this goes on for a long time you will then have normal levels of a mineral in the blood but deficient levels in the tissue.  A hair mineral analysis is very helpful in assessing these sorts of scenarios

We need to be very careful when we are comparing hair analysis results with other tests such as blood.

The Right Test

If you broke your arm, would you want an X-ray or a blood test?  Clearly an X-ray but does that make a blood test an inherently BAD test?  No.  But it does make it the wrong test in that situation. 

When it comes to biochemistry in our bodies it’s pretty easy to understand that if it goes “off” then illness will result.  The thing is that when you really think about it, biochemistry is going on in our tissues like muscle, bone or brain NOT just blood.  When we understand most of our biochemistry is occurring in our tissues, not blood, AND that blood will take at the expense of the tissues it becomes clear that a hair mineral analysis is a valuable test even if, especially if, it is giving different results to the blood test.

Short Term vs Long Term

When you take the hair, and have it tested, you take the most recent 3cm of growth.  In other words, the 3cm closest to your scalp and you throw the rest away.  Hair grows at a consistent rate. About 1cm per month so our 3cm sample is representative of the 3 month AVERAGE of the nutrients we are measuring.  This has a distinct advantage. Let’s say you eat bananas before having a blood test taken.  Your blood potassium level may be high that day. However, if you have your blood tested the next day and did not eat bananas, your blood potassium may be normal, or even low. The hair mineral analysis potassium level is reflective of overall, or long term dietary habits NOT what is consumed just for a day or two.

This is important if you are looking to determine what you should be supplementing with.

This is just a short list of some of the differences that exist between hair mineral analysis and blood tests.  The reality is that there is not one single test that will give us all the information we need.  We need different pieces of the puzzle as they say to see the whole thing.  We need to know your symptoms, sometimes exam you, look at blood or urine tests and sometimes we need a hair mineral analysis.

At Lifestyle Integration we have been providing hair mineral analysis testing for well over 10 years.  If you are looking for that missing piece of information or just want to know what is actually happening in your tissues we can help.

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For most of us it’s like a switch gets thrown and at some very distinct moment in time we become aware of our health, or loss of it, and its importance.

If you’ve clicked through this far, please continue to have a quick read to see how we can help you reclaim your health and well-being. We think you will find this very logical, practical and something you will want to understand better and implement in your life.

In short, we can help with two related but different pathways.

1.Purchase a product if you feel it will help with your challenge.
2.Start with a hair mineral analysis

For most men we suggest the hair mineral analysis

One reason is we need objective data. Blood tests are great, but they don’t measure what is going on in the tissues and it’s in the tissues where you are having your problems!

Here is the link again and we strongly suggest you give it a read.

Once you have read that, and if you still aren’t sure, have a look at this.

Should you order the hair mineral analysis, when the results come back to us from the lab, we will email you these, along with a comprehensive interpretive report and some computer generated suggestions on supplements.

When you get the results, you will also have the options of setting up a personal consultation where we will help you design a personalised lifestyle and wellness plan to help you reach your specific goals.

On a final note.

As you know at Lifestyle Integration we provide natural solutions for stress and lifestyle-based health issues for men over 50.

Choosing a practitioner to assist with your health care can be difficult. Here are some reasons you may wish to work with Lifestyle Integration

Experience. We’ve been helping people with their nutritional balancing programs for over 11 years as of 2021. This means we are likely to have experience with your challenges.

Background. Dr Todd Lizon has been a registered chiropractor since 1999. This intensive FORMAL training ensures we understand your problems physiologically at a very deep level. Please note that medical advice will not be offered as this is not in our scope of practice.

Paradigm. The chiropractic paradigm in how health is viewed is different to many others. We look at root causes and don’t just address the symptom. This is healing at a deeper more complete level.

Value. Experience and knowledge helps us get to the root causes and solutions quickly and efficiently saving you time, money and energy.