Mineral testing

[Caze]

Has anyone had experience of using a mineral check service which uses a hair sample to provide a report re yr mineral status and recommendations for supplements if required. Wd be grateful for feedback especially regarding how reliable such a test would be.

[humanbean]

This is a personal opinion only...

I wouldn't trust using hair for checking mineral status or anything else.

I am very dubious about what exactly is getting measured. Do you ever cycle on busy roads or walk to the bus stop every day going to work? Do you ever drive with the window down and get traffic fumes on your hair? If you did a test, no matter how clean your hair was, I would still bet there would be a residual effect from any pollution you are regularly exposed to.

Do you smoke or ever sit near smokers? That would taint your hair too.

What minerals and substances in your shampoo/conditioner/gel/mousse/hair spray would distort the results?

Another question... Where are the reference ranges coming from, that your results would be compared to? Were they generated from people local to the testing company? What happens if you live in the countryside and the reference ranges were created from a group of city dwellers? If your levels of substance X are lower than the reference range what does that really mean? Unless the reference range was created out of a group of people exactly like you then the result probably wouldn't be that meaningful.

And finally - if you have a level of 50 units for substance Z in your hair, how can you be sure that reflects the amount of substance Z in your body? I would want to see evidence that the two had some connection that wasn't altered by changing your brand of shampoo or changing your route to work or changing the frequency at which you washed your hair.

[silverfox7 in reply to humanbean]

Wasn't going to reply as my experience was so long ago now I can't remember the outcome but what I do remember was I had to say which Shampoo was used so it sounds as though back then the firm my GP used did take this into account.

[mauledtodeath]

Hi

I had this done last year. All my minerals were at the low end of normal but mercury was well within normal limits. No idea how accurate this is though. you could get it done to add to the picture.

[Chancery]

Hi, hair analysis doesn't work. All it shows is the state of your hair, not your body. Aside from the fact that there is no reason for your hair to show your true health, it also grows so slowly that anything in it would be representative of your past rather than your present.

I had a friend who treated her horse using hair analysis and homeopathy. The horse had heavy mucous and was just generally poorly. She sent the hair analysis off and they recommended homeopathic tablets to redress the balance of its health. After showing no improvement, the horse died a fortnight later from pleurisy, an entirely treatable disease that a vet could diagnose. If hair analysis couldn't spot pleurisy, what chance does it have of giving you a subtle picture of your health?