balance Archives - Natural Helping Hands

Empower yourself with information about your heatlh

(The following services are not intended for diognostic purposes but to enable the client to determine the best possible state of their nutrition. )

WHAT IS HAIR MINERAL ANALYSIS?

Hair is used as one of the tissues of choice by the Environmental Protection Agency in determining toxic metal exposure. A 1980 report from the E.P.A. stated that human hair can be effectively used for biological monitoring of the highest priority toxic metals. This report confirmed the findings of other studies in the U.S. and abroad, which concluded that human hair may be a more appropriate tissue than blood or urine for studying community exposure to some trace elements

WHY USE THE HAIR? WHY NOT USE THE BLOOD?

Hair is ideal tissue for sampling and testing. First, it can be cut easily and painlessly and can be sent to the lab without special handling requirements. Second, clinical results have shown that a properly obtained sample can give an indication of mineral status and toxic metal accumulation following long term or even acute exposure.

A HTMA reveals a unique metabolic world: intracellular activity, which cannot be seen through most other tests. This provides a blueprint of the biochemistry occurring during the period of hair growth and development.

WHY TEST FOR MINERALS?

Trace minerals are essential in countless metabolic functions in all phases of the life process.

Zinc is involved in the production, storage and secretion of insulin and is necessary for growth hormones.
Magnesium is required for normal muscular function, especially the heart. A deficiency has been associated with an increased incidence of abnormal heart conditions, anxiety and nervousness.
Potassium is critical for normal nutrient transport into the cell. A deficiency can result in muscular weakness, mild depression and lethargy.
Excess sodium is associated with hypertension, but adequate amounts are required for normal health.

In the words of the late author and noted researcher, Dr. Henry Schroeder, trace elements (minerals) are “…more important factors in human nutrition than vitamins. The body can manufacture many vitamins, but it cannot produce necessary trace minerals or get rid of many possible excesses.”

WHAT CAN CAUSE A MINERAL IMBALANCE?

There are many factors to take into consideration, such as:
Diet – Improper diet through high intake of refined and processed foods, alcohol and fad diets can all lead to a chemical imbalance. Even the nutrient content of a “healthy” diet can be inadequate, depending upon the soil in which the food was grown or the method in which it was prepared.
Stress – Physical or emotional stress can deplete the body of many nutrients while also reducing the capability to absorb and utilize many nutrients.
Medications – Both prescription and over-the-counter medications can deplete the body stores of nutrient minerals and/or increase the levels of toxic metals. These medications include diuretics, antacids, aspirin and oral contraceptives.
Pollution – From adolescence through adulthood the average person is continually exposed to a variety of toxic metal sources such as cigarette smoke (cadmium), hair dyes (lead), hydrogenated oils (nickel), anti-perspirants (aluminum), dental amalgams (mercury and cadmium), copper and aluminum cookware and lead-based cosmetics. These are just a few of the hundreds of sources which can contribute to nutrient imbalances and adverse metabolic effects.
Nutritional Supplements – Taking incorrect supplements or improper amounts of supplements can produce many vitamin and mineral excesses and/or deficiencies, contributing to an overall biochemical imbalance.
Inherited Patterns – A predisposition toward certain mineral imbalances, deficiencies and excesses can be inherited from parents.

CAN VITAMIN REQUIREMENTS BE DETERMINED FROM A MINERAL TEST?

Minerals interact not only with each other but also with vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Minerals influence each of these factors, and they, in turn, influence mineral status. Minerals act as enzyme activators, and vitamins are synergistic to minerals as coenzymes. It is extremely rare that a mineral disturbance develops without a corresponding disturbance in the synergistic vitamin(s). It is also rare for a disturbance in the utilization or activity of a vitamin to occur without affecting a synergistic mineral(s). For example, vitamin C affects iron absorption and reduces copper retention. Boron and iron influence the status of vitamin B2. Vitamin B2 affects the relationship between calcium and magnesium. Vitamin B1 enhances sodium retention, B12 enhances iron and cobalt absorption, and vitamin A enhances the utilization of zinc, while antagonizing vitamins D and E. Protein intake will affect zinc status, etc. Therefore, evaluating mineral status provides good clues of vitamin status and requirements. Continuing research at Trace Elements involves the recognition of many synergistic and antagonistic interrelationships between minerals and vitamins.

IS HAIR TISSUE MINERAL ANALYSIS SUPPORTED BY RESEARCH?

Hair tissue mineral analysis is supported by an impressive body of literature in a variety of respected national and international scientific publications. Over the past twenty-five years hair mineral testing has been extensive. Each year in the United States alone, federally licensed clinical laboratories perform over 150,000 hair mineral assays for health care professionals interested in an additional screening aid for a comprehensive patient evaluation. This does not take into consideration the thousands of subjects used in numerous continuing research studies conducted by private and government research agencies.

CONTACT ME FOR AN INITIAL CONSULTATION AND TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW I CAN HELP YOU.

Remedies and More Remedies, Part 1 – Let the Healing Begin!

Biofeedback is amazing. I am a biofeedback specialist with a SCIO device, a stress reduction facilitator. (more information about biofeedback) There is much to learn about the amazing mind, body, and soul from stress studies, and indicator patterns from the device. I am going to give you some education about your body, some common, yet overlooked, perspective, and recommended remedies tried and true.

Heart Disease and Circulation indicators

part one

ADRENAL EXHAUSTION

Adrenal and kidney are in the same complex of the body…they are the battery of the body. They can become exhausted. Quote from Quantum Academies: ” They say that this battery is 50% rechargeable, which means you can exhaust it to a point, and by resting and rejuvenating, your body will naturally recharge. Maybe this is the intelligence behind resting on the seventh day. However, if we push ourselves beyond normal exhaustion, we may get a ‘second wind’ of energy, but at this point, we are dipping into our non-rechargeable half of the battery.”

THINK ABOUT THIS! I loved the 7th day thing because I am a firm believer in it, and it works. But, think on the rest of what was said. Listen to your inner core. Do you hear the truth of what you just read?

The adrenals are little glands perched atop our kidneys. Without them, our bodies could not adapt to stress. I once knew a school teacher who relied on caffeine to get him through his workday for his entire career. Caffeine and sugar are two of the worst dietary adrenal stressors, by the way. By the time he retired, his adrenals were ‘toast’, and he was on medication on which his life depended. Under-active and exhausted adrenals are a prime signature of chronic stress. A combination of poor nutrition in the first place along with accumulated habitual stress responses conspire to exhaust our batteries, sometimes beyond repair. Under chronic stress, the adrenals can become initially overactive (hyperadrenia). Symptoms and conditions include: (males) muscular ‘square build’, baldness, excess body hair(testosterone)…(females) excess body hair, unusual physical strength, puffy face, fluid retention, rapid pulse, high blood pressure. This then turns into low adrenals (exhausted) due to chronic stress and poor nutritional support. Symptoms are: excess neck, head, and shoulder tension, sensitivity to bright lights, unusual craving for salt, ‘lump’ in the throat when upset, must lie down when stressed or upset, allergies-(especially skin, inhalant, asthma), form goosebumps easily, excess perspiration, cold sweats, high pitched voice when stressed, easily strained by noise, heart ‘pounds’.

The adrenals have an inner core and outer core. The inner (Medulla) is directly affected by Stress and the Sympathetic Nervous system (the gas pedal). The outer (cortex) produces hormones that affect almost all bodily systems. With a strong stress link, issues like chronic anxiety, fear, anger, and hypervigilance can lead to adrenal exhaustion. The emotional correlates would be chronic defeatism, feeling overpowered, self-neglected, self-anger (depression) and lack of self-approval. Knowing these issues points to the importance of considering adrenal exhaustion and supporting adrenal regeneration when dealing with these emotional themes. (Addison’s disease and Cushing’s syndrome are more serious conditions of this exhaustion). Hypoglycemia and menopausal symptoms are also low adrenal issues.

Daily minerals and vitamins to help recharge Adrenals:

B5 (pantothenic acid) depletion is a huge contributor to atrophy (shrinkage of the glands). Never take B’s single; use a multi B with 100 mg of each in the formula.

Vitamin C (2000 mg), Vitamin E (400-800 mg natural source, vegan source), B-12(sublingual), B-6, Potassium (1/4 tsp creme of Tartar daily), Adrenal Glandular (natural source or vegan)

A hair analysis is a lifeline to knowing what your body needs and the amounts it needs. I do these as well, long distance or local. Contact me for more information on this amazing test (simple and inexpensive but worth its weight in gold).

LOOK FOR PART TWO, AND MORE PARTS, TO THIS SERIES OF BLOG POSTS, covering more heart disease and circulation truths and indicators including low stomach acid/hypochloridia–HCL, chronic indigestion, low thyroid, pancreatic function, and mental-emotional.

Be healthy, Be wise, Take care of yourself