Hair Mineral Test Results - Feedback Needed

[Chris1]

Hi,

About two months ago I purchased a cheapy hair mineral/vitamin test online. The results came back and didn't make much sense+ a lot was left out. After emailing the company who do the test they confirmed just how unreliable there methods were - lesson learned.

So looking for a more professional and expensive testing lab I found one that done minerals and seemed to be a legit lab.

I know of and do some Peat like practices such as carrot salads, ACV, consuming liver, drinking coffee etc. I also eat a bit of junk food and things with PUFA.

The lab results say I have very high levels of zinc( supplemented it for better skin , exercise recovery) and high in some toxic ratios.

Can some knowledgeable human here shed some light on the toxic ratios and how they work plus whats best to do diet wise?

32 year old male, my hair has really became bad quality in the last 2 years, drying , losing color and thinning a little - I still have a full head of hair but its the main thing I want to improve along with skin tone. Feeling tired more than usual , I though it might be anemia or something along those lines.......................but the test confirms low but in range iron levels. Help appreciated!

 

[mmb82]

Unfortunately, as someone who has done about 10 of these tests, the copper, zinc and iron levels are better represented with blood tests. I would suggest getting a plasma zinc test to get another data point on zinc status. With hair tests, minerals can show up high because the body is dumping it due to excess or dumping it because the body cannot hold onto it. Blood + hair tests together than clear up which one is happening. For example, I once had two hair tests, spread 6 months apart, come back with copper levels of 2.9 and 4.2. One would think I had an excess of copper just by looking at the hair test. However, I got blood tests at the same time I got my hair test and the blood levels came back 92 ug/dL and 76 ug/dL, respectively. In reality, my copper tanked and it was due to increasing my zinc supplementation.

If you get tests from either LabCorp or Quest, they measure plasma zinc in micrograms per deciliter. Plasma zinc should be at least 74 in males and a more optimal range is probably between 100-120. The test will cost you about $50. How much of what zinc supplement did you take? You might have just overdone the zinc supplementation or you are not absorbing any of it.

If you think you have iron-related issues, I would also suggest getting an iron panel.

Finally, you want the toxic ratios on your hair test to be high. The higher, the better. In general, you want those to be in the "acceptable" or white portion of the graph.

 

[Chris1]

Thanks for the feedback. I took a lot of ZMA and straight zinc pills over the years as it really was effective with clearing acne. If anything I'd say having high zinc levels is spot on considering the amount of zinc supplements I have taken.

About the ''toxic ratios'', would it not be best for those to be lower as they're, well, toxic?