Hair is the ideal biopsy material for determining the body's levels of nutrient and toxic minerals. Hair analysis is an extremely precise analytical test, which is used to measure the mineral content of hair. Research studies have shown that this test, performed under very strict laboratory conditions, is able to determine the body's current mineral levels.
Blood
The blood and serum do contain minerals, but they may not be completely representative of the body’s mineral storage. In many cases, the serum level of minerals is maintained at the expense of tissue concentration (homeostatic mechanisms).
Serum concentrations may fluctuate with emotional changes, the time of day the blood is drawn, or foods eaten prior to taking a sample.
For example:
· Serum magnesium can fluctuate depending upon the blood drawing technique. The longer the tourniquet is applied, the higher the magnesium rises as a result of tissue hypoxia.
· Symptoms of iron deficiency can be present long before low serum levels can be detected, as iron deficiency symptoms before anemia is very common.
Excess accumulation of minerals in the body are often undetected in the serum due to their removal from the blood for deposition into the tissues. When this occurs, the mineral may fail to be excreted through the urine or intestinal tract. Thirty to forty days following an acute exposure to the toxic metal lead, for instance, elevated serum levels may be undetectable as a result of the body’s removing the lead from the serum as a protective measure and depositing the metal into such tissues as the liver, bones, teeth, and hair.
Minerals may fluctuate between the serum and tissues in acute or chronic conditions. This is seen with copper and iron during infections, inflammatory disorders, and certain malignancies. Also, calcium loss from the body can become so advanced that severe osteoporosis develops without any appreciable changes noted in the blood levels of calcium.
Urine
Minerals found in the urine indicates what is being removed from the body. It does not indicate the current level of minerals in the body. Hence it is not a good tool to detect mineral and heavy element status. However, urine analysis is good for testing organic acids and peptides.
Toxic minerals and substances
The Environmental Protection Agency or EPA of the USA has identified hair as the tissue of choice for biological monitoring of toxic heavy metals. In situations where one is continuously exposed to low levels of toxic metals, blood and urine tests are poor indicators. The body will remove these toxins from circulation and sequestrate them to storage depots such as the hair and nails. Hair is thus a good indicator of whole-body accumulation, while blood and urine are not.
However, for acute poisoning where one ingest a large amount of toxic substances, blood and urine test will show high levels of the toxins immediately. Over time, when these toxic substances get stored in various tissues and bones in the body, the amount circulating in the blood and those excreted through the urine will be undetectable.
Time-Average Characteristic of Hair Analysis
In a hair analysis, about one and a half inches of hair close to the scalp is sampled. This length of hair contains approximately six to eight weeks of information about the body's internal metabolism. Thus the result is actually averaged over this period of growth, making it more reflective of one's lifestyle and dietary habits.
Instantaneous Characteristic of Blood Test
Blood mineral analysis will tell which minerals are circulating extra-cellularly at the time the blood is sampled. If you have just eaten a banana, your blood test can indicate that you are high is potassium, even though you may actually need potassium supplementation. On the other hand, hair analysis will indicate your overall level of potassium - your actual storage levels over a period of time, not just what you ate that day or even that week. So a blood test will only accurately report what is being transported in your blood at the time of the test.
Urine analysis will tell which minerals have been excreted, not necessarily what has been absorbed and utilized by the body.
Preventive Health
Our body has a homeostasis control which regulates the blood contents of the body within narrow high-low limits. When a mineral intake is very high, the body will remove or eliminate it as quickly as possible. If the mineral is not eliminated, it will be stored in the body tissues, such a hair or nails. If a mineral intake is very low, the body will draw from storage areas to maintain blood levels. Only when the storage areas are markedly depleted, then the blood will reflect a deficiency.
Unlike blood, hair is a metabolic by-product and is not regulated by the homeostasis mechanism. It is a tissue storage site. Any mineral deficiency or trend towards deficiency will show up in a hair analysis first. This makes hair analysis a very good tool for preventive health programs.
Blood test and urine analysis are like snapshots of what's going on in the body. Only hair analysis will reveal the unique mineral absorption during a very specific period of time. This analysis allows for exact recommendations of only those supplements that are actually needed. This is important knowledge to have for those concerned about maintaining good health and discovering the body's toxic metal levels.
ADVANTAGES OF HAIR ANALYSIS
Hair specimen can be collected more quickly and easily than blood, urine, or any other tissue, using a non-invasive method.
Hair analysis is more cost-effective than mineral testing through other means.
Unlike blood, hair is less susceptible to the homeostatic mechanisms that quickly affect trace element levels.
Long-term deviations of mineral retention or losses are more easily detected in hair than blood.
Concentrations of most elements in the hair are significantly higher than found in the blood and other tissues.
Hair provides a record of past as well as present trace element levels, i.e. biological activity.
Hair provides information of substances entering the hair from the blood serum as well as from external sources.
Hair is invaluable in the assessment of toxic metal levels.
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