Hair mineral analysis

Chojin · 30 Dec 2015 at 11:02

I'm looking for a company that will do a hair mineral analysis to detect toxins and vitamin/mineral deficiencies.

Does anyone have experience in this and can recommend anywhere?

Thanks

Danthus · 30 Dec 2015 at 11:03

Drugs are bad, mmmmmmkay.

Avenged7Fold · 30 Dec 2015 at 11:19

What exactly is motivating you to seek out such a company?

I am going to reserve judgement on this one and give a serious answer until more is unveiled.

If you think you are at risk from anything, then the doctors is your best bet.

Deleted member 77746 · 30 Dec 2015 at 11:22

Danthus · 30 Dec 2015 at 11:29

Chojin · 30 Dec 2015 at 11:31

Avenged7Fold said:
What exactly is motivating you to seek out such a company?

I am going to reserve judgement on this one and give a serious answer until more is unveiled.

If you think you are at risk from anything, then the doctors is your best bet.

I would like to ensure my health is optimal and there aren't any red flags with my diet. I'm 33 and as far as I know the NHS only do health checks for people over 40.

Chojin · 30 Dec 2015 at 11:32

LOL at the **** posting in here

Glaucus · 30 Dec 2015 at 11:34

Why not just go ask the gp for free

arc@css · 30 Dec 2015 at 11:35

Contact a nutritionist in your area; if they don't specialize in this then they will pass you on to someone that can help.

MooMoo444 · 30 Dec 2015 at 11:36

If you need someone to analyze your hair to tell you if your diet has problems then I've got news for you son

It should be obvious from the stuff you shovel in your face.

neil_g · 30 Dec 2015 at 11:36

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_analysis_(alternative_medicine)

specifically the part titled "Inconsistent results".

Glaucus · 30 Dec 2015 at 11:40

MooMoo444 said:
If you need someone to analyze your hair to tell you if your diet has problems then I've got news for you son

It should be obvious from the stuff you shovel in your face.

Steedie · 30 Dec 2015 at 11:45

Glaucus said:

He does have a point as I'd imagine in the majority of cases, the sort of people who believe they have vitamin deficiencies are the sort that eat an apple a day and think they're eating healthy despite the other rubbish they put in their mouths.

OP is being rather vague, but if you're pretty knowledgeable regarding nutrition and already have your diet in check etc then it could be well worth doing.

Mynight · 30 Dec 2015 at 11:47

Surely urine/poo(can't spell the proper one) would be more accurate.

kayomani · 30 Dec 2015 at 11:49

Your doctors surgery will be able to charge you for a blood test to check for such things if you are not an OAP who will likely be able to get it on the NHS. You'll end up with some actionable info rather than the information with debatable quality.

Glaucus · 30 Dec 2015 at 11:49

Steedie said:
He does have a point as I'd imagine in the majority of cases, the sort of people who believe they have vitamin deficiencies are the sort that eat an apple a day and think they're eating healthy despite the other rubbish they put in their mouths.

OP is being rather vague, but if you're pretty knowledgeable regarding nutrition and already have your diet in check etc then it could be well worth doing.

He doesn't it is extremely hard to check your vitamin and mineral level. And even harder to it. Most people do not have a properly varied diet. And symptoms can be over easily overlooked.
The only site I know that you could even try to track it is http://nutritiondata.self.com/ but doesn't have processed stuff on there. Track a week and you realise how varied a diet actually needs to be.

Steedie · 30 Dec 2015 at 11:49

Blood tests are far less accurate for certain minerals/vitamins though.

Avenged7Fold · 30 Dec 2015 at 11:51

Chojin said:
I would like to ensure my health is optimal and there aren't any red flags with my diet. I'm 33 and as far as I know the NHS only do health checks for people over 40.

Well if it is for personal health reasons then there are far more accurate and better ways to have a check up. I would go private if it was on my mind that much, a health check cant cost all that much.

A hair analysis is usually inconclusive in terms of checking if you have any mineral deficiencies and is only really good for telling you if you have heavy metal poisoning or anything like that (which you don't). The standard stuff you do want to check like cholesterol, AFAIK cannot be checked with a hair sample.

Steedie · 30 Dec 2015 at 11:53

Glaucus said:
He doesn't it is extremely hard to check your vitamin and mineral level. And even harder to it. Most people do not have a properly varied diet. And symptoms can be over easily overlooked.
The only site I know that you could even try to track it is http://nutritiondata.self.com/ but doesn't have processed stuff on there. Track a week and you realise how varied a diet actually needs to be.

He really does have a point.

Yes it's impossible to know levels within your body, but knowing exactly what you're putting in your mouth on a day to day basis will solve this issue in 90% of cases, with the remaining 10% being due to other conditions or genetic issues putting someone at a higher risk of being deficient in a certain mineral or vitamin

Myfitnesspal is far better than that at tracking macro and micro nutrients

Glaucus · 30 Dec 2015 at 11:54

Myfotnesspal generally does not track vitamins and minerals