Hair Mineral Analysis: Insight into Inflammatory Patterns: Including Weight Gain as a By-Product of Inflammatory Stress.
The use of hair mineral analysis (HMA) to gain insight into mineral status and the metabolic states associated with them is well established scientifically and is gaining widespread acceptance among many health professionals. HMA reports when properly interpreted give an enormous amount of very useful information regarding nutritional and metabolic balances, mineral excesses, deficiencies, the presence of toxic minerals, and the inter-relationships between them that can contribute to a state of optimal health or the increasing risk of developing health problems. HMA by itself cannot show or predict any disease state. It is however extremely accurate in allowing us to gain insight into the metabolic trends and patterns that signify increased risks of distress that at some point may manifest into a health challenge.
One of the most important pieces of information that an HMA can show is the amount of “inflammatory stress” that a person’s body is experiencing. When most people think of inflammation, immediately and rightfully the –itis’s come to mind. Arthritis, bursitis, tendonitis, and gastritis are a few of the most common inflammatory manifestations. However, inflammatory patterns are not limited to these –itis’s only. In the last twelve years, we have analyzed several thousand HMA’s. In many respects, the most important piece of information gathered from the HMA’s is the number of ways and the degree of inflammatory stress that the body is attempting to manage.
Inflammatory stress and the subsequent changes associated with it can be shown in any number of ways. Since each person is genetically unique, the actual signs associated with inflammatory stress can be very different from one person to another, even if there are common genetics – such as blood relatives, and/or common environments. It is possible to have several people with the same or similar inflammatory stresses on an HMA and show a completely different “set of problems or conditions” or no problems at all in each of the individuals. This is dependent on the genetic strengths and weaknesses of the individual. Every person will have inherent strong and weak points. Wherever the genetic weaknesses are, this is the most likely area that inflammatory changes will occur. For example, a person with hives is manifesting an inflammatory pattern associated with the skin. Breathing distress is an inflammatory pattern manifesting specifically in the respiratory system. A person with joint problems is showing an inflammatory stress pattern that is affecting the joint, and so on.
One of the greatest concerns people have is an allergic reaction. This is a great example of the "individualized manifestations" concept of inflammatory stress. Allergies are notorious for showing themselves in any number of different ways. Hives and respiratory issues are at the top of the list in terms of the types of changes that inflammatory stresses can generate. We now know that the “allergic” reactions can affect almost any tissue in the body and that this occurrence is a direct result of an inflammatory stress that has not been controlled within the body.
Keep in mind that inflammation in and of itself is not all negative. The body utilizes specific forms of inflammation to destroy viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Forms of inflammation are absolutely essential for normal immune function, but in a very tightly controlled manner that allows the body to maintain optimal function and disease resistance. Inflammation is also a crucial component of wound healing. Inflammatory compounds aid in tissue repair after injury and also aid in the normal moment to moment, day to day tissue repair that replaces older, worn out cells with new normal, healthy functioning cells.
When these normal inflammatory processes are not kept under these tight controls, the balance that maintains good health is disrupted and the amount of inflammatory compounds inappropriately increases. At this point, you have the beginnings of excessive inflammatory stress and potentially the changes and problems as a result of this excessive inflammation.
The HMA’s contribution in determining this excessive inflammatory stress is shown clearly in any number of ways. Interpretation of the HMA results gives an effective method to identify the stresses in a person’s metabolism.
The presence of any toxic mineral automatically increases the amount of excessive inflammation. Every toxic mineral will uniquely affect certain aspects of the body and the metabolism. Aluminum, arsenic, and mercury are three of the most common environmental toxins that have been found in the HMA’s. Aluminum is by far the most common toxin that is found. Aluminum exposure can occur from airborne aluminum, certain food processing techniques, and the effect of acid rain on soil that increases aluminum’s uptake into produce. Aluminum affects calcium metabolism, bone mineral reserves, and will imbalance the metabolism in the direction of the dominant imbalances. For example, if the basic metabolism is imbalanced on the slow side, aluminum toxicity will slow the metabolism to a greater degree; if the metabolism is imbalanced on the fast side, aluminum will increase the degree of imbalance by increasing the metabolism. The result of this is an automatic increase in the inflammatory stress from the presence of aluminum directly and as a result of compounding the metabolic imbalances.
The toxic mineral arsenic can also generate major inflammatory stresses. Arsenic can also occur in airborne exposures, usually from pesticide and herbicide residues even if the source of those chemicals is several hundred miles away. Well-water contamination is a very common source of arsenic exposure. In some states, up to 70% of the wells are estimated to be contaminated with arsenic. Arsenic affects the gastrointestinal tract, immune function, hormonal balance, and can mimic or cause gastritis and ulcer symptoms. Recently, as a result of the Environmental Protection Agency’s recommendations, the acceptable level of arsenic in hair samples was reduced by a factor of five.
The toxic metal mercury is of particular importance. Mercury is a common airborne pollutant from industry. This can also occur as a result of pollution as far away as China because of prevailing winds. Mercury is utilized in many cosmetics, dental fillings, and vaccines. Over-consumption of high mercury seafood such as swordfish, tuna, mahi-mahi, grouper, and mackerel can contribute significantly to a toxic body burden. Mercury is a very powerful generator of inflammatory stress and can disrupt or inactivate a number of hormones involved in normal metabolic balance, especially the thyroid. Mercury is a known “neuro” poison; that is, it is toxic to the brain and nervous system. Mercury can cause multiple adverse effects on the metabolism by altering hormone efficiency, disrupting blood sugar balance, causing sugar cravings, and increasing the overall stress patterns associated with inflammation.
The levels of nutrient minerals can also indicate increases in inflammatory stress. Nutrient minerals that are either too high or too low can directly reflect inflammatory trends. Minerals such as selenium that allow the body to effectively control inflammatory stress are often high or low during periods of increasing inflammatory stress. Selenium blood tests can be normal and the levels of selenium in the tissue can actually be low. This is not inconsistent. Normal selenium blood tests indicate only that the circulating selenium levels are normal. This does not necessarily indicate that the levels of selenium in the tissues of the body are normal. By the time a blood selenium level is low, the tissue levels of selenium most often have been low for some time. Selenium is well known as an antioxidant and an anti-inflammatory. Interestingly, selenium is also involved in allowing the body to detoxify excess arsenic and mercury. Selenium can reduce the inflammatory stress that is associated with arsenic and mercury toxicity and/or exposures.
There are many other indications of inflammatory stress that an HMA can easily show. Major imbalances between the minerals, stress response and recovery, blood sugar control, insulin patterns and immune defense patterns, are just a few of the many indicators of inflammatory stress in the HMA. Incorporating HMA with proper interpretation can be a storehouse of information that indicates the inflammatory stresses and gives insight into which nutritional interventions are the most important to rebalance the metabolism, reduce toxic minerals, and ultimately stabilize the inflammatory stress patterns to reduce or eliminate the dangerous and damaging effects of excessive inflammatory stress.
Recent research has shown a very strong relationship between the amount of inflammatory stress and the degree of weight management issues that a person is dealing with. Simply stated, the higher the inflammatory stress the more likely a person is to experience body fat increases. Sometimes this is referred to as “toxic” fat because all toxic substances contribute to inflammation.
The mechanisms by which inflammatory stress causes weight gain are multi-faceted. There are hormonal changes because of the stress. Most notably cortisol, adrenalin, and insulin are over-released and/or over-relied upon. These hormones in excess by themselves or in combination can cause body fat increases. An inflammatory event itself can also cause increases in water retention as a result of the body’s attempt to dilute and manage the direct negative effect inflammatory stress has on the body’s tissues.
These are only two of many proposed mechanisms through which inflammatory stress can contribute to weight gain and body fat increases. Ultimately, no matter what the mechanism, controlling excessive inflammation is a major factor in diminishing risks for a number of health issues and is a major step in attaining and maintaining ideal body weight and body fat percentage.
