Dear Detox Diary is a series I created so you can follow my own detox journey. This article reveals my third hair mineral analysis and my interpretation of the test. Hopefully, it inspires you to walk down your own road of detoxification and healing when you see my incredible results!
Note this test is from December 2012. I still have quite a few tests to post! The rest of my tests are coming soon!
I had some incredible detoxing happen on this test! I detoxed a lot of biounavailable calcium and magnesium – forms my body was not able to use. Plus, I detoxed aluminum and cadmium, which you can see as increases in these metals on this test compared to my last test in Dear Detox Diary #2. I had a rough two weeks of being really grumpy when one or both of these were dumping in my hair, but I’m glad they’re out now! I’m feeling a lot better.
Improvements
On my third test, done three months after my second test, you can see some marked improvements. I felt significant improvement in my mood, memory and energy. After detoxing some metals and eating the slow oxidizer diet for the last six months I was happy to start seeing some good detox results. The fruits of my labor were beginning to pay off!
Healing Reactions (Detox Symptoms)
Healing reactions are another word for detox symptoms. They are to be welcomed and are the whole point of detoxing! You must “walk through the fire” to find optimal health on the other side.
Metals and chemicals are causing you ill health, but they really cause trouble when mobilized from storage sites on a Myers Detox Protocol (formerly called Nutritional Balancing) and begin wreaking havoc on your body and brain. Since I clearly had some metals coming out, I was feeling a bit crabby, most notably for a two week period. It’s not always fun when metals are coming out. But it’s only temporary. Once a metal is mobilized, the body excretes it out of the skin, kidneys, liver and intestines. Once the metal is out of your body, it’s smooth sailing – until the next dump.
During these three months I had episodes where I was extremely irritable and angry. This was evident in me snapping at my husband a few times. I realized this was due to me dumping aluminum and cadmium during the months prior to this hair test. Aluminum makes you pretty irritable when it comes out.
Brain fog was getting markedly better. I still have a long way to go but I can think more clearly and don’t have as many memory issues.
I frequently felt that I was getting sick leading up to this test. I got frequent sore throats and that heavy feeling in your chest you get before you get sick. But the next day it would be gone. This is a common healing reaction.
Though my fungal infection on my feet had cleared for a time on my last hair test, it reared its ugly head again! A fungal infection on the tops of my feet was very irritating. This is a clear sign of copper coming out the body for elimination. It eventually went away!
Test #3 Interpretation
Minerals
Calcium/Magnesium. On my last test, my calcium and magnesium went down to a more normal level. Awesome! This test I had a large dump or increase in these minerals. When this happens on a test, this means I dumped a ton of bioUNavailable calcium and magnesium from my body that it could not use. After I got rid of it, I noticed that my muscles and joints were not as tight and achy.
Sodium/Potassium. My sodium and potassium, indicators of adrenal health, increased a little on this test, revealing that my adrenal health had improved a little. The adrenals take some time to heal. Slow and steady wins the race!
Iron. My iron levels are quite low, which could mean I’m really low on iron (due to being vegetarian for two years). It could also mean that iron is not coming out in the hair because my body does not have the energy to release toxic forms of iron. It will soon enough. Iron is frequently stored in the liver, causing anger.
Copper. Copper levels went down on this test, meaning that I may have released some copper on my last test. I definitely have a lot of copper toxicity symptoms.
Manganese. This level is very low, but don’t let this fool you. The only reason it’s not higher is because I don’t have enough energy for my body to release toxic forms of manganese, which is very commonly absorbed by our bodies by drinking or bathing in tap water. It will certainly pop up at some point when I release toxic forms of manganese.
Zinc. My zinc went up a lot because I goofed and used a shampoo that had zinc in it. This will alter the results of the test. Some shampoos have zinc in them for various reasons.
Chromium. My chromium levels stayed about the same.
Selenium. My selenium levels went down a bit. This program supplements selenium as its levels are very low in soils and the food supply. It is, however, abundant in sardines. It took me awhile get used to eating sardines on my Myers Detox Protocol. I now gobble them up happily! I love them! The silvery skin of the sardines is very high in selenium.
Phosphorus. My phosphorus levels went down a notch. Nothing to worry about. Phosphorus levels show your digestive ability and your ability to synthesize proteins (repair your muscles and tendons).
Metals
Cadmium. On this test, my cadmium dumped quite a bit. My practitioner at the time, Nikki Moses, said that this was quite unusual and that it usually takes some time before the body has the energy to get rid of this very toxic metal. I could only speculate that this toxicity came from the fact that I smoked marijauna in high school and a few years after quite heavily. Anyone who smokes cigarettes or marijuana are going to have toxic cadmium in their bodies. Here’s some more info on cadmium if you’re interested.
Sources of cadmium include cigarettes, marijuana, processed and refined foods, large fish, shellfish, tap water, auto exhaust, plated containers, galvanized pipes, air pollution from incineration and occupational exposure.
Aluminum. Whoa! Big jump here! My body was dying to get this stuff out. Hair aluminum levels appear to correlate well with bone levels of aluminum. Several hair tests may be needed before aluminum is significantly dumping on the test, but I find that almost all of my clients are dumping a little on their first hair test. We are very aluminum toxic! This is also evident in the fact that 50% of people eventually suffer dementia caused by aluminum and other heavy metals.
Sources of Aluminum toxicity include antiperspirants, cookware, beverages in aluminum cans, tap water (aluminum is frequently added to municipal water), table salt, baking powders, antacids, processed cheese, bleached flour, and occupational exposure.
Mercury. My mercury level is .11. Unfortunately it has gone up a bit since my last test when it was 0.86. Hair levels of mercury should be below 0.02 mg%.
Sources of mercury include dental amalgams, large fish, shellfish, medications, air pollution, manufacture of paper, chlorine, adhesives, fabric softeners and waxes.
My mercury is higher because I’m still eating too much contaminated fish. I admit it!! I was having too much sushi!! I’m having it about 2-3 times a month. Old habits die hard. It’s amazing to me that my mercury can be so high from eating fish this infrequently. You can tell from a hair mineral analysis who is eating sushi and other contaminated seafood. You’re only supposed to eat small fish that don’t accumulate mercury like salmon, sardines, anchovies and other small fish. I suffer from an addiction, okay?!
The list of mercury toxicity symptoms is so exhaustive that I decided to just give you a link to Dr. Wilson’s article on mercury if you’d like to explore the list of symptoms. It’s handy to know that almost everyone is mercury toxic today because the burning of coal for energy releases it into the air. If you breathe, you’re accumulating mercury.
Mineral Ratios
Ca/Mg Ratio. You may recall that Dr. Eck called the calcium/magnesium ratio the sugar and carbohydrate tolerance ratio because a high ratio indicates that a person is eating excessive carbohydrates in their diet – more than their body can handle. My calcium/magnesium ratio went down. By following the recommended diet for a slow oxidizer, I began eating fewer carbs and sugar. As a result, I scored better on my carbohydrate tolerance ratio.
Ca/K Ratio. The calcium/potassium ratio on a hair mineral test is called the thyroid ratio. My calcium to potassium ratio stayed about the same. That’s better than it getting worse!
Na/Mg Ratio. Sodium/Magnesium is called the adrenal ratio. As the ratio elevates, it reflects an excessive adrenal effect, while a low ratio indicates underactivity. My sodium to magnesium ratio decreased even further, indicating reduced adrenal function. Ugh. This explains why I got pretty tired after beginning the program. Again, metals on the first two tests were “propping up” the reading. Metals stimulate and irritate the adrenals, causing them to have a higher reading on initial hair mineral analyses. This test reveals more accurate functioning. Hopefully from here on out I will begin seeing improvement as my adrenals heal.
Na/K Ratio. This ratio indicates a tendency for acute stress, inflammation or pain somewhere in the body. My sodium to potassium ratio markedly decreased, meaning I had a reduction in inflammation. Yay! I can definitely tell because I’m having fewer injuries when I work out.
My goal is ultimate health and brain functioning. I want to achieve levels of health and energy I’ve never experienced. Of course, I also wish to heal my thyroid and increase my metabolism on the program. I truly feel I am well on the way to healing my body and am really happy with my progress so far. Stay tuned!
If you want to detox your own heavy metals, be sure to check out the program that I am doing called Myers Detox Protocol. There is no program that is safer or more effective for deeply detoxing heavy metals.
No matter how healthy you eat or take care of yourself, you cannot achieve true health unless you purge heavy metals, environmental chemicals, and toxic forms of minerals from your system and replace them with bioavailable minerals. Everyone has toxic metals and chemicals embedded in their tissues and must actively purge them from their body. A Myers Detox Protocol based upon a hair mineral analysis reveals your body chemistry and provides a thorough program to detox from these carcinogens.
