How a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis changed my life - and how it could change yours.

Ask anyone who’s known me from a young age, one thing I’ve always been passionate about is nutritionally dense foods. I became passionate about fruits and vegetables and their healing properties after reading a book with my dad in high school, Fit For Life by Harvey & Maryland Diamond. Although I don’t follow a lot of their advice today, the foundations of what they believe have stayed with me; vegetables, fruit, and other foods contain minerals, enzymes, and factors that are necessary to live a healthy, abundant life. As such, I’ve spent most of my life eating a plant dense diet.

You can imagine when my own health started to suffer, that I felt perplexed and lost. I had spent two years working with a nutritional coach that opened my eyes to balance and proper macronutrient intake, and I had reached goals I never thought possible– all while utilizing a balanced way of eating and working out.

However, after an extremely stressful life event with my father’s stroke and health, my own health started to decline. I had unexplainable feelings of exhaustion. I was unable to do my job as a nurse. Unable to maintain a balanced mentality. Unable to do workouts that brought me joy.

Slightly concerned, I started seeing doctors. I decided to see an endocrinologist and a new gynecologist since I’ve been told in the past that I had PCOS. Part of me wondered if this was related to that diagnosis, but the symptoms seemed too extreme. These are the symptoms that persisted:

• Fatigue
• Nausea
• Stomach pains
• Anxiety
• Constipation
• Bowel discomfort

to name a few…

With little guidance answers and relatively normal blood work from the doctors, I decided to start working on stress management. I knew stress played a key role in well-being. But in the midst of trying to manage stress, my gynecologist found a mass through an ultrasound but couldn’t decipher its origin. After a follow-up MRI he said it was unlikely a problem, but I still needed to go to the ER with any new onset GI pain due to its unknown origin.

THEN in May, I had stomach pains I couldn’t bear. The pain I was having was excruciating. It was so bad, I went to the ER and was treated for ileitis and monitored overnight for risk for a small bowel obstruction. Thankfully, I was discharged the next day. I followed up with a GI doctor who told me I might have Crohn’s or a GI tumor. My pain persisted and I could barely tolerate adequate nutrition.

As I went through a colonoscopy, endoscopy, and then a capsule endoscopy, everything came back relatively normal. I finally did a stool sample. With the results normal, and the discomfort, fatigue, and nausea persisting, I felt frustrated and upset with the amount of energy and money given to a medical route that left me with no answers. It was at this point I finally decided to pursue a natural route.

Through that frustration, God led me to an Instagram account that discussed minerals - Nutrition by Robyn. Many of the symptoms that Robyn stated would be relieved with adequate mineral intake were the exact symptoms I was experiencing. I immediately pursued getting set up with the lab to do a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) sample, an assessment of a small hair sample that provides insight into the mineral and metal status of your cells. I did my own test and started supplementing with her go-to mineral mocktail. As I waited for my results, I also invested in an HTMA educational course to be able to analyze results properly.

My life changed the minute I added in minerals. For a long time, I felt like a wilted flower. I knew I didn’t feel well, but once I started feeling better, it highlighted how horrible I felt for so long. My HTMA results showed a number of things:

• Extremely low potassium
• A need for magnesium
• Low sodium
• Excess calcium
• Potential copper toxicity

HTMA also looks at minerals in ratios. These ratios give insight into many health-related aspects. Mine showed:

• adrenal burnout
• extremely low thyroid function

Through implementing food and supplement measures, my health, vitality, and energy are at levels I didn’t know were possible.

Minerals are the spark plugs of the body - and I have felt my body come alive as I have balanced them in my life. It hasn’t been an immediate recovery, but it has been a gradual, successful one! I feel alive, and I’m so thankful for the power and healing that mighty minerals (and their balance) can bring!

To learn more about HTMA and its benefits, visit my HTMA page here.

Think an HTMA might be beneficial? Contact me here and let’s talk about it!

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