In Nutritional Balancing one of the most important concepts is the importance of minerals in human health. They regulate nearly every level of our biochemistry, as discussed in other sections of this website. Therefore, we realize the importance of measuring the mineral status of a person. A hair analysis allows us to do this and is the main tool we use for assessment of the biochemistry in Nutritional Balancing.

A hair test measures the minerals in the hair tissue during the months in which the hair grew. It does not measure the total body load of any mineral, as some claim, however the hair mineral values do give us clues to the overall mineral and heavy metal status of a person. The hair test measures 21 elements: the macro-minerals, trace elements, and toxic metals. The readings of the mineral levels do provide some information for our analysis, but the bulk of information that we glean from the test comes from the ratios between the minerals and the patterns the minerals make. We test about 1 ¼ to 1 ½ inches of hair and this gives us a reading of the mineral deposition over the most recent 3-month period. This allows us to look at longer-term metabolic trends. A hair analysis is not good for testing what is happening inside you right now, or even today, like many blood tests are.