If you've been following us for a while, you would know that we don't just use Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) for just physical ailments. The beauty of HTMA and focusing in on minerals is that we can also understand how the body is reacting to life, how it is influenced by the nervous system, both in which can point to energetic blocks in an individual.
What's so fascinating about minerals is that they not only influence us physically, but in a way, they can influence our resiliency to life and even our personality to a certain extent. Don't get me wrong, you are who you are, but how you pursue life and your ability to move through issues or problems in which reflect the state of your mental health can come down to mineral status.
We have already spoken about The Bowl Pattern, The Step Up Pattern, The Lifestyle Pattern , and The Trauma Ratio in the following links, but today we wanted to touch on something called the L Pattern and the Reverse L Pattern, also recognized as a patterns that signify one not living their truth and chronic stress.
The L Pattern is a pattern on the HTMA that we can see with the first four elements: calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium. The levels of magnesium, sodium, and potassium on the graph measuring every essential element individually will show up at similar levels, drawing out an L shape with calcium being the highest. Regarding ratios, this will show up as a high Ca:Mg ratio and a perfect (or near perfect) Na:K ratio of about 2.5.
Energetically speaking, this pattern signifies that there is an imbalance in how someone is living, connecting it to their lifestyle or even attitude in it. They are in a pattern that they are "holding onto", very similarly to the Lifestyle Pattern as mentioned above. It's a pattern linking to mental exhaustion where if someone is not "living their truth", they become tired and depleted. There is a severe dissatisfaction regarding their life and they become overly hypercritical, obsessive, and live very tense.
Symptoms of this pattern include aggression, depression, irritability and tension. The individual experiencing this pattern most likely will feel weak, tired, on the brunt of burn out almost, struggle with weight loss, concentration and adrenal issues overall. With the calcium being high, a calcium shell is typically present also linking to copper toxicity or dysregulation. If calcium is high, it also usually sets someone into a slower oxidation, slowing the metabolism to preserve energy due to the stress.
On the flip side however, a Reverse L Pattern on an HTMA will show up as the first 3 minerals (calcium, magnesium and sodium, being relatively equal with potassium being the highest. Usually, when potassium is above normal range, it signals a loss and high levels of cortisol are being excreted. The Ca:Mg ratio is typically found perfect, as well as the Na:Mg, but the Na:K is below normal and is associated with unresolved trauma.
Emotionally, unlike the L Pattern, the Reverse L Pattern is showing someone trying to run away from an issue or a stress and burning through their reserves to "fix" their problem. This pattern is usually correlated to poor lifestyle choices or mannerisms like an inability to regulate a good sleeping pattern, poor diet, or a persistent chronic stress that isn't letting up environmentally or socially.
In addition, because calcium is not high on this pattern, it is safe to assume they are in a fast oxidative state, meaning the body is burning through energy very quickly and cannot keep up. Just like how the individual is living through life and handling their problems.
To get a good visualization of these patterns and to see if these might be yours, we recommend running an HTMA with us by clicking here and then booking a call with one of our nutritionists to help you understand!
Barbara Madimenos
Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis Practitioner
Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner
Integrative Health Coach