Paul Eck: Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis to Assess Mineral Balance, Stress, and Energy — and Escape Burnout

More Energy and Less Stress Make You Stronger, Happier, and Brighter

Paul Eck, D.N. (1925 - 1996) pioneered hair tissue mineral analysis (HTMA) to assess mineral balance, stress, and energy.

At his hair mineral analysis lab, Analytical Resarch Labs (ARL), Dr. Eck uncovered the most important mineral levels and mineral ratios, applied proper hair mineral analysis technique in his lab (no washing the hair in the lab before testing), and researched the ideal mineral levels and ratios based on many thousands of HTMAs. Dr. Eck also formulated supplements appropriate to specific hair mineral patterns.

Dr. Eck observed the profound effect of mineral balance on energy. He found many people were in a burnout state of much reduced energy — operating far below their potential. However, they reported amazing improvements in energy as their minerals came into better balance on a hair tissue mineral analysis.

Burnout causes loss of ability in work and business and school. Also, it involves unexplained emotional withdrawal and erratic behavior. Therefore, burnout destroys many relationships unnecessarily.

Dr. Eck believed that, as an attempt to patch over underlying burnout, many people turn to stimulants, overactivity, excessive exercise, sweets, cigarettes (containing the stimulating toxic metal cadmium), marijuana (also with cadmium), alcohol, and drugs. The stimulation provides a quick burst of energy but ultimately further depletes resources. People will feel terrible if they simply try to stop the stimulating things. Dr. Eck advocated that the mineral imbalance underlying the burnout must be corrected too.

People in burnout don't have energy to digest food well, Dr. Eck found. They will crave sugary, starchy and processed foods that are easy to digest, for a quick lift, and will tend to avoid meat.

Children can go into burnout, or even be born with it. Mineral deficiencies and toxicities can pass from mother to child and accumulate generationally. So some irregularities that we think of as "genetic" might not be. Widespread burnout today might reflect mineral deficiencies and toxicities accumulating for a few generations.

Dr. Eck found that burnout can be caused by biochemical factors or external events, but always results in a change in mineral pattern. It won't be corrected with any amount of rest or by withdrawing from stressors. The person has changed. The internal stress of mineral imbalance remains — inability to produce one's energy for life. Only addressing the underlying mineral pattern will restore that person's energy to work, love, and live their potential.

Energy fuels us to face our circumstances, Dr. Eck found. Without energy, life may seem like a series of constant obligations, emergencies, resentments, and traumas — regardless of circumstances. With energy, life may seem like a playground of joy, humor, love, strength, and human potential — regardless of circumstances.

As one's energy increases with mineral balancing, one gracefully faces and heals past issues and even traumas, and makes a new brighter future. Past conditions reappear temporarily, and heal. Old emotions and experiences are processed. Old memories resurface. As the body cleans and upgrades at the deepest levels, one passes back through one's prior mineral patterns. Dr. Eck called this process "retracing."

With more energy and less stress, we become stronger people, better able to love and brighten the world. This was Dr. Eck's result from thousands of hair mineral analyses.

Annotated References:

Chatsworth, Colin, Chatsworth, Loren, & Eck, Paul, D.N. (1985). Energy: How it affects your emotions, your level of achievement, and your entire personal well-being: A course on increasing your energy through the balancing of your body's minerals. Charlottesville, VA: Healthview. Ebook at https://amzn.com/B00P6UJYUG. An enthusiastic overview of Dr. Paul Eck's mineral balancing science. Includes:

• Thoughtful interview with Dr. Eck in 7 parts about the hidden role that burnout plays in the lives of so many people. (ch. 1).
• Aging occurs differently depending on oxidation type. Slow oxidizers are like a woodstove without enough air, the fire not hot enough, with residues piling up. Fast oxidizers, in contrast, get too much air, burn too hot, and burn completely with no residue, but quickly use up all the resources. (ch. 2).
• Thyroid ratio (Ca/K) and adrenal ratio (Na/Mg) numbers correlate with specific percentages of loss of energy. (ch. 4).
• One mineral out of balance affects all others. (ch. 6).
• Though individuals vary in nutritional needs, the perfect proportion of minerals in the tissues is common to the human species, Dr. Eck asserts. (ch. 7).
• How increased energy will bring repressed emotions and traumas to the surface for processing. And they must be processed to continue progress. When metabolic release happening too quickly, temporarily cut back supplements for a day or two or more to process and consolidate changes. (ch. 9).
• Dr. Eck's experience with vegetarians: They are slow oxidizers with copper dysregulation and poor digestion. They will feel better at first as vegetarians due to stimulating carbs and copper in diet, plus omitting poorly digested fats. In years later, slow oxidation, copper dysregulation and zinc deficiency will worsen. Anxiety is the dominant symptom. Low energy to assert and express feelings. Potassium passes through like a sieve. Dr. Eck says vegetarianism is a symptomatic solution (feels good, especially initially), whereas mineral balancing a true solution (optimizes energy). Dr. Eck believe the above also applies to those who don't eat meat every day, or who eat red meat rarely if at all. Interview with Dr. Eck on vegetarianism recommended for anyone interested in vegetarianism, regardless of point of view. (ch. 10).
• "It is the relationships between the minerals in your tissues that help determine your physical and emotional destiny. Through an understanding and control of these basic laws of human energy, you can vastly increase the intensity and quality of your life." (front matter).