Test for Heavy Metals & Nutrition

What nutrition do I need and how can I tell if I am toxic with chemicals or metals?

There are many ways to assess your unique nutritional needs to achieve optimal health. Options available to patients include symptom questionnaires, iridology, kinesiology, diet sheets, computer analyses, blood test, and many more, but the preferred method at Dr. Cushing’s clinic is hair analysis/tissue mineral testing.

Why is Hair Analysis/Tissue Mineral Testing the Best Method for Determining My Nutritional Needs?

Reason 1:  Hair Serves as a “Window” to cell Health

• Nutritional physiology takes place at the cellular level, not within blood or any other location. What you eat is not as important as what is reaching your body cells.
• Hair Analysis, also known as Tissue Mineral Tests, is unique in that it inexpensively provides information directly about cellular activity the main site of nutritional metabolism.

Reason 2:  Detection of Toxic Metals

• In our modern society, toxic metals are a serious problem and contribute to many metabolic disorders and distressing symptoms including fatigue, infections, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.  While routine blood tests cannot detect chronic heavy metal poisoning, tissue mineral analysis is one of the few methods approved by the Environmental Protection Agency for detecting toxic metals in the body.

Reason 3:  The Relationship Between Biochemistry and Emotions

• Biochemical imbalances can contribute to many mental and emotional conditions. Dr. Cushing knows of no other tool that even comes close to Tissue Mineral Testing to effectively identify nutritional solutions for common complaints, including as anxiety, depression, hyperactivity, phobias, insomnia, etc.

Reason 4: Rebuilding the Body’s Energy Mechanism

• Having an adequate energy level is essential for health. All body activities, including healing, depend upon adequate energy synthesis. Tissue mineral analysis can be used to assess the efficiency of the energy system of the body, including the glycolysis and citric acid cycles.  Tissue mineral analysis can also be used to recommend nutrients and foods that will assist in rebuilding the energy system.

Reason 5:  Determining Oxidation Types

• Dr. George Watson discovered that some people burn food at a more rapid rate than normal, and some at a slower rate. Knowing a person’s “oxidation rate,” as he called it, a doctor can identify the foods hat would be most helpful to a patient in achieving a balanced metabolism.  Tissue mineral analysis can be utilized to determine an individual’s oxidation rate with mathematical precision.

Reason 6:  Identifying Disease Trends

• One of the most useful concepts in health care is to be able to predict diseases before they occur, so that action can be taken to avoid them. Twenty or more disease trends can be identified from a properly interpreted tissue mineral analysis. The ability to identify disease trends alone makes tissue mineral analysis an invaluable test.

Reason 7: Determining the Exact Amount of Supplements and Portions of Food

• One problem in designing nutrition programs is determining the type and amount of nutrients and foods to recommend. Because of its mathematical nature, hair mineral analysis offers a way to determine supplement dosage and portions of foods with greater accuracy.

Reason 8: Assessing Organ, Gland, and Tissue Function

• Levels and ratios of tissue minerals relate to the activity of specific organs and glands. By calculating ratios on a Tissue Mineral Test, the function of major glands and organs can be assessed, often long before abnormalities appear on x-rays and blood tests.

Reason 9: Constructing a Picture of Your Body Chemistry

• The correct interpretation of the hair test allows construction of a metabolic ‘picture’ of the way your body is functioning and the way it is responding to stress. Dr. Cushing know of no other simple test that allows for the construction of this metabolic blueprint.

Reason 10: Monitoring Your Progress Towards Optimal Health

• A common problem in nutritional therapy is determining if a person is actually improving, especially if some symptoms persist or new symptoms arise. Follow-up Tissue Mineral Tests and comparison with previous tests can often provide answers as to whether improvement is occurring, why some symptoms persist, and what to expect in the future.

Reason 11:  Superiority Over Blood Tests

• Blood tests will always be valuable to determine cholesterol, hemoglobin levels, and many other parameters. However, blood tests are incapable of providing the information provided by the hair analysis. There are several reasons why:
• Mineral levels in blood are ten times less than they are in the tissues, making measurement difficult. Also, blood levels are kept within very narrow limits by the body for various reasons, so that readings vary but little and less information can be gleaned.
• Blood testing is subject to daily fluctuation due to foods eaten the previous day, emotional states, etc. Hair analysis will not vary from day to day, and provides a clear long-term metabolic blueprint. Understanding this difference avoids much confusion.