Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) is a safe, non-invasive test that measures levels of 20+ essential minerals and toxic metals using a small sample of hair. Unlike blood tests that reflect a moment in time, HTMA provides a long-term view of your mineral status and heavy metal exposure.
The test can be easily done from home—just collect a small amount of hair and send it to the lab using the instructions provided. No clinic visits or needles required.
HTMA offers a detailed “mineral blueprint” of your unique biochemistry, making it one of the most valuable tools for personalized, preventive health care.
HTMA is a tissue mineral biopsy that provides a reading of the minerals deposited in the cells of the hair. It provides a lot of information about cellular metabolism that is not revealed in blood and urine tests.
HTMA is a well-established laboratory test used around the world to monitor nutrient levels and toxic metal exposure in both humans and animals. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognizes hair analysis as a reliable method for detecting heavy metal toxicity.
Hair mineral analysis reveals a person’s biochemistry and metabolic type. This allows the correct diet and supplement program to be determined.
At Health Balancing, we use hair tissue mineral analysis performed by Analytical Research Labs (ARL) in the United States. ARL uses the most advanced and sophisticated instrumentation available today, the Perkin Elmer Elan 9000 ICP Mass Spectrometer to assess mineral levels in parts per million or parts per billion.
- Nutritional Elements: Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Iron, Copper, Manganese, Zinc, Chromium, Selenium, Phosphorus
- Toxic Metals: Arsenic, Mercury, Cadmium, Lead, Aluminum
- Additional Elements: Boron, Cobalt, Molybdenum, Lithium, Nickel
- Mineral Ratios: Calcium/Magnesium, Calcium/Potassium, Sodium/Magnesium, Sodium/Potassium, Zinc/Copper, Calcium/Phosphorous
Minerals are the “sparkplugs” of life.
They are needed for millions of enzymes as co-factors, facilitators, inhibitors and as part of the enzymes themselves. As a result, they have a great deal to do with the health of our bodies. By analyzing mineral imbalances in the body, one can learn a lot about the causes and correction of hundreds of common physical and mental health conditions.
Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis identifies individual nutritional needs and heavy metal burdens not revealed in blood and urine tests. This is because nutritional physiology takes place at the cellular level, not within the blood or any other location. Hair analysis inexpensively provides information directly about cellular activity. Below are reasons why we use hair analysis.
Blood moves nutrients in or out of tissue cells to create homeostasis. For example, when the body is deficient in calcium, the blood borrows from the bone to keep the levels up. Hence the blood test can show normal calcium levels even though there is a deficiency. This explains why many people have normal blood tests even when they are quite ill. Blood results can be a late indicator of a problem. Urine analysis is also of limited value for indicating what the body is utilising and storing.
On the other hand, hair is a safe place for the body to unload excess minerals away from the vital organs. Elevated or deficient mineral levels show up earlier and more dramatically in hair than in other body tissue. Concentrations of most elements in the hair are significantly higher than that found in the blood and other tissues.
Blood or urine shows an instantaneous snapshot of what is happening in the body. Blood and urine readings can vary from minute to minute depending on a person’s activity.
On the other hand, hair samples can give long term metabolic readings and show us where metabolic patterns are deviating from normal over a period of time.
