Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) involves taking a hair sample and evaluating it for its mineral content, which gives us a window into your cells mineral activity over 3-4 months. Unlike a blood test, urine analysis or saliva testing which is just a moment in time.

Minerals are the spark plugs of the body, needed for millions of enzymes (cofactors, facilitators, inhibitors and are even apart of some enzymes themselves). They are even how our vitamins are absorbed and this can be the basis of many of our health issues.

It will show me how your body is detoxing some heavy metals, your metabolism/oxidation type, your autonomic state (sympathetic vs parasympathetic), your vitality, your thyroid function, adrenal function, how well your body is balancing hormones, how well your managing your blood sugar (even better than A1C) and if you have an infection (viral or bacterial)!

"The HTMA is the window into our physiology, our psychology, and revealing our pathology." 

~Dr. Robert Selig

"[HTMA] may be the most important health test that exists… Only when you and your doctor know for sure your mineral status and important ratios can you adapt your diet, minerals and supplements to work toward proper balance."  

~Dr. Robert Thompson, MD 

Unfortunately, most allopathic doctors tend to negate HTMA, as the nutritional approach to healing health conditions at the source is overshadowed by the pharmaceutical approach to simply bury symptoms. Most doctors are not adequately trained in nutrition, let alone the intricacies of how mineral imbalances affect physical and mental health. They are obsessed with measuring the blood level of minerals, including the serum copper level, without stopping to question what the cellular level is - the level that actually matters! Many broader thinking practitioners are now adopting HTMA as they learn the importance of it. While this is certainly a step in the right direction, it also necessitates a warning. At present, any doctor is able to open an account at an HTMA testing lab and request a test. This presents a problem if that practitioner attempts to diagnose or prescribe based on the charts, without adequate training. This does happen frequently though, and the unsuspecting patient sees poor results. The doctor (and patient) then dismiss HTMA because it 'failed'. However this is not the fault of the test, but rather a lack of dedication on the part of the practitioner to verse himself in this essential testing tool. HTMA charts appear deceptively simple, yet are infinitely complex.

If HTMA is so important, why don't more practitioners use it? For most, it's simply a lack of training in how to apply HTMA data and concepts, as HTMA interpretation is extremely complex. Those who dismiss HTMA are doing so based on their own lack of understanding, reluctance to learn, or ulterior motive. Dismissing HTMA as pseudo-science shows complete ignorance on the person making such a claim, and begs the question 'what is their agenda?'. Though human hair has been accepted as an effective tissue for biological monitoring of toxic heavy metals by the US Environmental Protection Agency and is being used for this purpose throughout the world. When correcting any condition through nutrition, or when taking supplements, we must recognize that nutrients do not operate independently from other nutrients. Having a clear picture, as presented through HTMA, is essential prior to supplementation, and makes supplementation and corrective guidance much more practical, meaningful, manageable and safer. Understanding one's various mineral levels should be an essential first step to any dietary, weight loss, or health restoration program.