HTMA Mineral Levels, Ratios & Patterns: Understanding Stress & Energy

Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) provides insight into how your body has been managing stress, energy production, and detoxification over time.

Unlike blood tests — which reflect what is happening in circulation at a single moment — HTMA reflects mineral activity stored in tissues over weeks to months. This makes it especially helpful for understanding chronic patterns such as fatigue, burnout, slow recovery, and why certain health approaches help or backfire.

This page isn’t about fixing or optimising anything quickly.
It’s here to help you understand what your body may be adapting to, so decisions can be made with clarity rather than urgency.

You don’t need to read this all at once.
If it helps, use the sections below to explore what feels relevant right now.

• Mineral levels: what they show (and don’t)
• Mineral ratios: stress, energy & recovery
• Mineral patterns: reserve & adaptation
• Detox capacity: when timing matters
• Explore specific ratios & patterns

What They Show — and What They Don’t

Mineral levels on an HTMA report indicate the relative presence of minerals in the hair sample compared to reference ranges.

Both high and low values can have multiple meanings, depending on context. A low mineral may reflect depletion, reduced absorption, or conservation. A high mineral may reflect excess, stress-related accumulation, or reduced utilisation.

On their own, mineral levels rarely tell the full story. They become meaningful when viewed alongside ratios and patterns, which show how minerals interact and how the body is prioritising its resources.

Think of mineral levels as data points — useful, but incomplete without context.

Mineral ratios on an HTMA report show how the body is balancing stress, energy production, and recovery over time.

Rather than indicating simple deficiencies or excesses, ratios reflect functional regulation — how minerals interact under pressure, fatigue, and long-term stress.

Key ratios commonly assessed on HTMA include:

• Sodium / Potassium (Na/K) – energy and vitality (vitality ratio)
• Calcium / Magnesium (Ca/Mg) – blood sugar balance and relaxation (blood sugar / lifestyle ratio)
• Sodium / Magnesium (Na/Mg) – stress output and adrenal drive (adrenal ratio)
• Calcium / Potassium (Ca/K) – metabolic pace and efficiency (thyroid ratio)

Together, these ratios help explain how much the body can realistically handle, why energy may feel inconsistent, and why certain interventions support healing while others backfire.

Explore further:
Mineral Ratios Explained

While mineral ratios show how the body is responding to stress and recovery, mineral patterns reveal how much reserve the body has overall.

Patterns are not diagnoses.
They describe adaptive states that tend to develop after prolonged stress, illness, depletion, or long-term compensation.

These patterns help explain why:

• Symptoms can persist despite rest 
• Energy feels inconsistent or fragile 
• Detox or stimulation may worsen how you feel 
• Healing often requires stabilisation before progress 

Rather than interpreting patterns in isolation, they are best understood as part of the body’s broader stress and energy landscape.

Explore further:
Mineral Patterns: The Bigger Picture Behind Symptoms

• Ratios show how the body is balancing stress, stimulation, and recovery right now
• Patterns show overall reserve and adaptive capacity

Together, they help answer an important question:

What can my body realistically handle at this stage?

This context helps prevent approaches that overwhelm rather than heal.

Detoxification is an energy-dependent process.

While exposure to toxins is common, the body’s ability to eliminate them safely depends on mineral reserves, stress capacity, and nervous system stability.

This is why detox approaches can feel supportive at one stage — and overwhelming or destabilising at another.

Rather than asking “What should I detox?”, a more useful question is often:
“Is my body ready to detox right now?”

Mineral ratios and patterns help answer that question.

Learn when detox supports healing — and when it backfires

If you’re looking for something specific, the pages below are there to explore when helpful.

Mineral Patterns

• Sympathetic Dominance
• Slow Oxidation
• Low Sodium & Potassium
• Four Lows Pattern
• Impaired Detox Patterns

Mineral Ratios

• Sodium / Potassium (Na/K)
• Sodium / Magnesium (Na/Mg)
• Calcium / Magnesium (Ca/Mg)
• Calcium / Potassium (Ca/K)

If this page resonates, you may find it helpful to:

• Learn how HTMA works and what it reveals
• Explore whether HTMA testing is appropriate for you
• Understand when detox supports healing — and when it doesn’t

There’s no need to rush.
Understanding comes first.