Hair Trace Mineral Analysis for Acne

By Cris Brown, RHN, CNE / The CSS Program Director + Functional Test Advisor

Let’s chat about mineral imbalances and acne.

Inside The Clear Skin Solution (The CSS) we’re all about focusing on the 5 Acne-Clearing Pillars: Gut, Detox Organs, Hormones, Mindset & Skin Care. These are essential in any client’s plan.

Yet, how do we determine your plan? Your journey and focus?

Well here’s a little secret, we do so through utilizing functional medicine testing. More in-depth than your traditional blood labs, functional labs are great for identifying where your system is “off.”

There’s a myriad of functional labs that can be run to better determine and understand the root cause of health issues like acne. For our clients in The CSS, we first opt for a Hair Mineral Analysis Test (HTMA).

The hair is a great place to test because this is one way the body eliminates minerals and heavy metals. When the results come back, you’re able to see the individual minerals, their ratios in relation to each other, and levels of heavy metal toxicity.

This way we get factual data to show what body system needs attention first, what pillar is crying the loudest for some love, and (through the assistance of our qualified Naturopathic Doctor) know exactly what your journey with us will look like. 

An amazingly cool fact about minerals, once you replenish them, symptoms start fading away… including acne.

No guesswork. We have a clear and straightforward path ahead.

The Low Down on Minerals

Minerals are undervalued in Western Medicine and can even be overlooked in most modalities because they are tiny cofactors. Yet, they are needed for so many daily functions to keep us going. Cofactors are “precursors” that either help builds up (anabolism) or break down (catabolism) things in the body.

We MUST obtain minerals through our food supply. 

When someone is eating the Standard American Diet (aka SAD) you better believe minerals get depleted. If you’re wondering what’s considered part of the SAD, think processed foods, fried foods, refined sugars, alcohol, caffeine, and pseudo-food (chemically manufactured “foods” like Oreos).

SAD & The Minerals Impacted

• Standard American Diet overall – calcium, magnesium, strontium (including all minerals if they are not consumed)
• High sugar diet (aka blood sugar instability) – calcium, magnesium, chromium, vanadium 
• Poor hydration – potassium, sodium
• Soda pop – calcium, phosphorus
• Long-term antibiotics – manganese, sulphur, zinc, copper
• Heavy metals:
  • Mercury from large fish
  • Cadmium from smoking or glyphosates (pesticides)
  • Lead from pipes, water or burning candles
  • Arsenic from non-organic brown rice
  • Barium from white sugar

Other factors that can deplete our minerals are stress, heavy metals in our food supply, chemicals in drinking water, nutritionally depleted soil, lack of sleep and a sedentary lifestyle.

How the Body Gets Impacted

When specific mineral imbalances arise, a number of health issues can also pop up (causing further implications to the 5 Acne-Clearing Pillars):

• Stress – magnesium, potassium, sodium (pretty much every mineral can be housed here!)
• Hormonal imbalance  – copper, zinc, boron, potassium & sodium 
• Muscle weakness/function – calcium (PS. Vitamin D is not the golden answer)
  

The dysfunction of these minerals is not limited to just the list above. If your body does not receive an adequate amount of minerals through diet, you can get common symptoms like:

• PMS
• Cold hands & feet
• Anemia 
• Rosacea
• Hair loss 
• Joint pain
• Emotional woes: frustration, resentment, reduced awareness of other extremes of extroversion 
• Constipation or diarrhea 
• Low energy and fatigue (including chronic fatigue)
• Cravings (salt, sweet, or both)
• Lack of motivation to exercise
• Anxiety or depression
• Gas, bloat or belching 
• ACNE

So, now that you’ve read the list and some common symptoms, do you feel you have a mineral imbalance? 

The answer is most likely, yes! 

We all do to some extent and when you have a myriad of symptoms (including acne), your body is crying for some TLC for your inner walls. 

How to Start Addressing

While an HTMA seems like a simple enough test from a quick glance, it’s often one of the most misinterpreted labs. Correctly analyzing an HTMA requires proper education, skill and understanding of the nuances. This is why I will always recommend working with a practitioner who has a thorough knowledge of an HTMA.

That way they can analyze the lab results alongside your symptoms and provide a specific plan for you to correct the imbalances.

Outside of having an HTMA performed and reviewed, here are a few things you can do to help replenish minerals:

• Eat a whole food diet (shop the outside aisle of the grocery store).
• Grow your own food or shop at local, small-scale farms.
• Aim for a rotation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and animal products (if eaten).
• Eat a rainbow of colourful fruits and vegetables throughout the week.
• Buy organic when you can (or shop the EWG Dirty Dozen List).

Want to go more in-depth?

Listen to our podcast episode “The Right Way To Test For Acne Root Causes“ here!