LatteMenta hair test

[lattementa]

Below are the results for ARL hair test analysis did Jan-2018.
According to ARL, I am a slightly fast oxidizer. A little background for context:
- 45year old male, play sports (mostly tennis) and do some weights.
- have a little stubborn abdominal fat, been balding for 20yrs
- on more intense exercise days, calf cramp at night (but magnesium spray on calf helps)
- don't take any supplements regularly - do wash/scrub hair with coarse salt
- I do feel really tired after intense exercise - usually take a nap





I appreciate the feedback - a few questions:
- the copper seems out of whack (especially for a fast oxidizer) - any comments/remedies?
- I started taking zinc 20-30mg and manganese 10mg, mostly for potential hair regrowth - does this also help copper imbalance?
- to help hair regrowth does it makes sense to fast (I dont believe so given fast oxidizer)?
- given my biochemical profile, what should I be doing/taking to improve health?
Thanks a lot and enjoy this community

 

[lattementa]

follow-up: the first few days I took zinc/manganese, the urine was a lighter/pale color. I seemed to have a little more energy.

 

[lattementa]

Have been reading other threads here (on excess copper) and had a consultation with a Dr. re: my hair test. The one anomaly in my case, is the higher oxidation rate with copper toxicity (hence other threads don't seem to address this issue since I don't need to increase my metabolism).
The consultation concluded with the following supplement recommendations:
- Magnesium + B6 + Chromium
- Zinc + Manganese + Vit C
- Selenium
- diet-wise: reduce carbs - reduce/avoid alcohol

Also, I have history of jaundice (when performing stressful exercise) and been diagnosed with Gilberts syndrome (in my teens). The Dr. mentioned that jaundice is a symptom of copper toxicity
I wonder if @gbolduev or @mattyb have any input here? Or anybody else on this forum that may have similar symptoms?
Thanks

 

[Aleksandr]

Have been reading other threads here (on excess copper) and had a consultation with a Dr. re: my hair test. The one anomaly in my case, is the higher oxidation rate with copper toxicity (hence other threads don't seem to address this issue since I don't need to increase my metabolism).
The consultation concluded with the following supplement recommendations:
- Magnesium + B6 + Chromium
- Zinc + Manganese + Vit C
- Selenium
- diet-wise: reduce carbs - reduce/avoid alcohol

Also, I have history of jaundice (when performing stressful exercise) and been diagnosed with Gilberts syndrome (in my teens). The Dr. mentioned that jaundice is a symptom of copper toxicity
I wonder if @gbolduev or @mattyb have any input here? Or anybody else on this forum that may have similar symptoms?
Thanks

Was this an actual doctor or a hair testing practitioner from ARL?

It is curious you have fast oxi and high copper.

In your case looking at the test alone, i think you could have both types of balding; pattern baldness (since CA is higher than MG) and diffuse thinning since youre a fast oxidiser. I agree you seem to need magnesium. I wonder if gilberts syndrome is affecting the copper retention? It might be a genetic thing. Zinc should help lower ur copper

Reducing carbs / alcohol should help your magnesium to CA ratio, they say. I play tennis too and i take an electrolyte supplement "genesis sea minerals" which is high in magnesium chloride among other electrolytes, which i've found really beneficial. Improves my performance a lot in terms of physicality (running / strength output) - important on hardcourts!!

Selenium is easy to get through tuna. you might enjoy eating something like tuna and mayonnaise. they usually say fast oxi should have more fats as well.


I wonder if your copper is also not being retained - i.e. pushed out of the cell, and you actually have none in your bodies cells?? I just wonder because your iron is so low, and usually taking copper helps to increase that. but i'm not a practitioner, just some dude researching this stuff too.

 

[supernature]

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[mattyb]

The jaundice is from the billirubin from GS, nothing to do with the copper.

You don't sound like a true fast oxidizer to me, the balding, the need for naps after exercise, the stubborn abdominal fat that won't go away despite exercising. Those all point to a natural slow oxidizer to me. The super high copper is more supportive of that, whereas your ratio of Na/K is barely significant for a true fast oxidizer. You're also a 45 year old male, much more likely to be slower on the metabolism side of things. But, I trust symptoms and traits over tests.

The high copper could be related to GS. Some reports are of billirubin and copper forming a redox complex. This could potentially impair proper copper utilization. Hard to say though - do you know the cause of your GS? Is it the UGT1A1 mutation? Are you predominantly high in conjugated or unconjugated bilirubin? I did find one study showing that people with Alzheimer's and high copper were more likely to have raised direct bilirubin as well, but there doesn't seem to be much research on their relationship. I am suspicious though and suspect there might be one.

 

[lattementa]

@m_arch it was a retired doctor that believes in hair mineral testing (I also got a consultation with ARL a month ago or so - the interesting thing coming out of that was the recommendation of using thymus thump). The sea minerals sound like a good idea - glad to find a fellow tennis player. The doctor mentioned that the copper could be due to dumping and hence not as bio-available.

@supernature I'll look into getting a blood test for ceruloplasmin and follow up here. - thanks!

@mattyb thanks for input. For full disclosure I do have a sedentary job and like my ice cream (doesnt help stubborn fat). I was on paleo a few years back and I was leaner back then (higher fat/lower carb vs today) - bodyfat was ~12% vs 17-18% today. Regarding cause of Gilberts, I was officially diagnosed in my teens but had jaundice/tired after sports from an early age (~7yrs old on). I wasn't born with jaundice. I don't know if Gilberts is due to UGT1A1 mutation. Should I test that?

Over the last 10 years, I have been diagnosed (on and off) with slight hyper-throidism - doctors have concluded it was transient due to stress at work.
A few months back I got my blood test, here are some of the results (bolded are out of range):
A1c 5.7% (range 4.8-5.6%)
Sodium 140 mmol/L 136 - 145 mmol/L
Potassium 4.5 mmol/L 3.5 - 5.1 mmol/L
Chloride 104 mmol/L 98 - 107 mmol/L
CO2 (Bicarbonate) 29 mmol/L 21 - 32 mmol/L
Glucose 98 mg/dL 70 - 100 mg/dL
BUN 14 mg/dL 6 - 25 mg/dL
Creatinine 0.96 mg/dL 0.50 - 1.30 mg/dL
Calcium 9.1 mg/dL 8.2 - 10.2 mg/dL
Total Protein 7.4 g/dL 6.4 - 8.2 g/dL
Albumin 4.2 g/dL 3.2 - 4.7 g/dL
Total Bilirubin 1.7 mg/dL <1.1 mg/dL
Alkaline Phosphatase 43 U/L 26 - 137 U/L
AST 25 U/L 0 - 37 U/L
ALT 44 U/L 15 - 65 U/L
TSH 0.31 uIU/mL 0.34 - 4.82 uIU/mL

 

[Aleksandr]

The jaundice is from the billirubin from GS, nothing to do with the copper.

You don't sound like a true fast oxidizer to me, the balding, the need for naps after exercise, the stubborn abdominal fat that won't go away despite exercising. Those all point to a natural slow oxidizer to me. The super high copper is more supportive of that, whereas your ratio of Na/K is barely significant for a true fast oxidizer. You're also a 45 year old male, much more likely to be slower on the metabolism side of things. But, I trust symptoms and traits over tests.

The high copper could be related to GS. Some reports are of billirubin and copper forming a redox complex. This could potentially impair proper copper utilization. Hard to say though - do you know the cause of your GS? Is it the UGT1A1 mutation? Are you predominantly high in conjugated or unconjugated bilirubin? I did find one study showing that people with Alzheimer's and high copper were more likely to have raised direct bilirubin as well, but there doesn't seem to be much research on their relationship. I am suspicious though and suspect there might be one.

Matty i had a similar hair test, i think napping after exercise could be due to adrenals crashing temporarily if such a thing can happen? The adrenal ratio is mg: na so his is like mine, quite high adrenal activity. When my ratio was 33 i had to have mid day naps (as a 26yo) but now its 15 and i dont get that tired anymore, but 15 is still off the charts as a ratio on TEI.

The abdominal fat... in hair testing it can ve explained by the high potassium which is supposed to reflect cortisol levels. I think na and k are ideally balanced.

@lattementa just make sure you use sea minerals with low sodium (since yours is already high). You could even try magnesium chloride? Might not work quite aswell but its super cheap. Do you use electrolytes when you play now? I was doing scalp massage trying to decalcify my scalp for over a year, i could hear the calcifications crunching under my knuckles. It worked, but it would always feel a bit extra crunchy after intense exercise like playing tennis. It makes sense, since exercise retains sodium (in the cell) and depletes magnesium. Now since using the sea minerals high in magnesium chloride (300mg per 1L), it doesnt happen anymore.

 

[supernature]

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[lattementa]

@m_arch I don't currently use electrolytes before/after play (I do drink coconut water once in a while during play but doesnt seem to make a difference). I'll try magnesium chloride - the sea minerals you mentioned are pretty expensive unless you live in Australia. Re: scalp calcification, I don't notice any 'crunchiness' when using my knuckles. I read your thread for 2nd hair test and using the same approach (mineral interaction chart), my main goal should be reducing copper and secondarily get my magnesium (na/mg ratio) in better range (and helping other ratios) - by taking Zinc, Magnesium.
Have you seen hair regrowth by improving your mineral ratios?

 

[lattementa]

Below is my 2nd hair test, one year later.
This time used TEI, seems I shifted to a metabolizer slow#3, from fast metabolizer last year (wonder if last year's reading was a fluke because other signs tend towards slow metabolizer - e.g. some stubborn abdominal fat - as @mattyb stated above)
Some observations:
- the copper is in normal range vs last year (probably a fluke measurement last year)
- since last hair test, have been taking magnesium during/after workouts (not consistently). Also have been taking (sporadically) zinc and manganese in small amounts.
- have been eating more shellfish, otherwise diet has been similar to before last hair test
- potassium is 'sticky' on the high end, other core minerals are within normal range
- haven't seen any difference in balding/hair loss due to taking of zinc/manganese
- still playing tennis as main sport

any comments?

 

[TubZy]

Below is my 2nd hair test, one year later.
This time used TEI, seems I shifted to a metabolizer slow#3, from fast metabolizer last year (wonder if last year's reading was a fluke because other signs tend towards slow metabolizer - e.g. some stubborn abdominal fat - as @mattyb stated above)
Some observations:
- the copper is in normal range vs last year (probably a fluke measurement last year)
- since last hair test, have been taking magnesium during/after workouts (not consistently). Also have been taking (sporadically) zinc and manganese in small amounts.
- have been eating more shellfish, otherwise diet has been similar to before last hair test
- potassium is 'sticky' on the high end, other core minerals are within normal range
- haven't seen any difference in balding/hair loss due to taking of zinc/manganese
- still playing tennis as main sport

any comments?


View attachment 1437
View attachment 1438

Have a few questions, is this a scalp hair sample you used both for ARL and now TEI?

How long have you been on either ARL (or now TEI) without taking any other supps at all (i.e. like zinc/mang etc.) besides the ones ARL or TEI suggested?

 

[lattementa]

Have a few questions, is this a scalp hair sample you used both for ARL and now TEI?

How long have you been on either ARL (or now TEI) without taking any other supps at all (i.e. like zinc/mang etc.) besides the ones ARL or TEI suggested?

Yes - these were both scalp hair samples.
I didnt follow the ARL protocol a year ago - all I did was take more MG during/after workouts and zn/mn i mentioned above. the recommended supplement list at ARL was pretty long. And after consulting with a couple of hair mineral analysis practitioners (one from ARL and another independent) it seemed to me that the supplements I took and occasional thymus pump should help ~80% of imbalances.
Currently considering the TEI supplement recommendations (not too onerous)

 

[brix]

Looks prettt good to me. I thought abdominal fat usually meant fast oxidizers too. Lean arms/legs with stubborn belly fat from high cortisol.

 

[Aleksandr]

Below is my 2nd hair test, one year later.
This time used TEI, seems I shifted to a metabolizer slow#3, from fast metabolizer last year (wonder if last year's reading was a fluke because other signs tend towards slow metabolizer - e.g. some stubborn abdominal fat - as @mattyb stated above)
Some observations:
- the copper is in normal range vs last year (probably a fluke measurement last year)
- since last hair test, have been taking magnesium during/after workouts (not consistently). Also have been taking (sporadically) zinc and manganese in small amounts.
- have been eating more shellfish, otherwise diet has been similar to before last hair test
- potassium is 'sticky' on the high end, other core minerals are within normal range
- haven't seen any difference in balding/hair loss due to taking of zinc/manganese
- still playing tennis as main sport

any comments?


View attachment 1437
Q

Looking much better, getting close to balanced. I think run a round of tei supps.

Btw your copper is only just average, you were probs fast before

The fast slow thing isnt that important for you imo, just gotta get the ratios right

 

[lattementa]

Looking much better, getting close to balanced. I think run a round of tei supps.

Btw your copper is only just average, you were probs fast before

The fast slow thing isnt that important for you imo, just gotta get the ratios right

Why do you say the fast/slow thing isn’t that important in my case?