The importance of magnesium cannot be overstated when it comes to conditions such as heart disease or osteoporosis.

The western world is currently far too over-calcified, and promoting calcium supplementation for people who are low in magnesium (which most are) not only increases soft tissue and arterial calcification while weakening bone structure, it also creates an increased risk of heart attack. Many people have high levels of calcium and very low levels of magnesium, and should these individuals undergo an extremely stressful event, or even undergo intense exercise, a heart attack could result.  Many individuals are put on blood pressure medication without ever even having their magnesium level checked (beyond the standard serum which typically shows everything within range).  In all likelihood, that person has an underlying low magnesium condition contributing to their high blood pressure. Ironically, the blood pressure medication can then further lower magnesium - the mineral most important for regulating blood pressure!

A lot of emphasis is also placed on cholesterol levels. A copper deficiency relative to zinc can lead to hardening of the arteries, regardless of the total serum cholesterol or triglyceride levels. 

As potassium plays a key role in regulating heart rhythm, heart palpitations and a-fib can very commonly be attributed to a simple potassium deficiency.  

Copper imbalance, a common factor leading to hypoadrenia, thyroid issues, depression, anxiety, and a host of other symptoms, is almost always incorrectly assessed through blood testing. Mineral levels in the blood, the transport system of the body, provide very little correlation to the stored mineral status at the cell and tissue level. HTMA can provide a much better understanding of such mineral imbalances and, in turn, provide improved guidance for corrective protocols. 

Mineral imbalances (especially a high level of copper, high calcium, or low magnesium or zinc) play important roles in many cases of depression, anxiety, ADD, schizophrenia, even Alzheimer's.   There are mountains of evidence showing these connections, such as explained further in:

* This article by David Watts, Ph.D., F.A.C.E.P

* My article on Nutrition & Relationships 

* Cases presented in this journal article

* This video by Dr David Watts

* The Complete Copper Toxicity Handbook

* This article further explaining the connections to violence, emotional apathy, depression, suicide, anxiety, anger, addiction...

As an example, let's say a patient exhibits anxiety or anger. This could be caused by anxiety or anger towards a specific person or situation, in which case psychotherapy can be helpful to work through and reduce those feelings.  However, if the anxiety or anger is caused instead by a biochemical imbalance such as low magnesium stimulating the CNS or a high Na/K stress ratio increasing one's fight/flight reaction, psychotherapy alone might not be enough to help the individual. 

As for copper, there are numerous connections between excess accumulation and neurodegeneration.  This can then manifest as any or all of the symptoms associated therewith. 

This quote by Cynthia Perkins, M.Ed. provides a good summary: "Copper inhibits the brain's ability to break down dopamine, increases norepinephrine and decreases histamine, which can result in a wide range of psychological symptoms like mind racing or racing thoughts, uncontrollable speech, anxiety disorders, depression, schizophrenia, restlessness, irritability, agitation, hyperactivity, insomnia, trembling, shaking, nervousness, inability to relax, paranoia, mania, dyslexia or other learning disorders, schizophrenia, bipolar, Tourette’s, autism, ADHD, violence, panic attacks, excessive sex drive, hallucinations, feeling like one is going to lose their mind and more."

So, before turning to psychotropic meds, it would be prudent to first look at the patient's underlying mineral levels wherein, often, a safe holistic solution can be found.

"A properly interpreted HTMA would save a lot of marriages and give desperately needed context to the problem behaviours that drive couples to seek therapy" ~Abdul Saad, MPsych

"I would venture to say that divorce courts are loaded with people who's relationships were destroyed by copper toxicity." 

~ Dr. Rick Malter, Ph.D.  

Copper toxicity plays a frequent role in broken relationships. Copper is linked very closely with estrogen, and as estrogen rises, so too does copper retention. In combination with other copper sources of exposure, the body's bio-unavailable copper level can rise so high that anxiety, depression, fatigue, irritability and moodiness take over one's personality, while at the same time libido drops.  Left unchecked, a condition known as a calcium shell may be created (easily recognizable through HTMA), which has the effect of numbing a person's emotions and decreasing their awareness to what's happened.

The initial love between partners can be essentially erased if the woman's copper level goes too high. Ironically, the birth control pill (or copper IUD), created to bring partners together in intimacy, can create the very rift that tears them apart. (Blood testing will only pick up on the elevated copper level during acute exposure to the copper source or during mobilization, but once the source is removed, blood returns to a homeostatic balance, even though large amounts of excess copper remain stored in tissue and many of the associated physical and psychological problems remain. Only through HTMA testing can a safe and informed detox protocol be designed and progress effectively measured).  

Adrenal burnout and other mineral imbalances as I discuss in my article here also play key roles in apathy and relationship withdrawal.   Without addressing such mineral imbalances, partners may never understand that it was a biological process that caused and controlled their split, and counselling alone may not be enough. 

The amount of attention currently given in most nutrition schools to the interrelationship of minerals and how mineral levels and ratios affect health is, unfortunately, quite lacking, and yet this is at the foundation of nutrition.

Most nutritionists are familiar with the concept of bio-individuality. We are all different, and so-called healthy food that may be great for one person can be devastating to another.  Yet, when it comes to dietary program design, this bio-individuality at the mineral level is almost always overlooked. We can say that avocados, kale, and sesame seeds are healthy. But, due to their high copper content, for a high-copper person, in excess they will only further increase the copper level, creating further imbalance.  Citrus fruits (if we overlook the sugar factor) tend to be more beneficial for slow metabolizers (those with higher calcium, magnesium and copper relative to lower sodium and potassium) as they can help bring down the high calcium level.

Fast metabolizers can tolerate more fat than slow metabolizers.  Vitamin D supplementation, which lowers potassium and can lead to increased tissue calcium, (especially if not taken together with other key nutrients such as K2), can be risky for the slow metabolizer with an already low potassium level. 

The examples can be endless, but the point is made.  Without the evidence of HTMA to provide an understanding of a person's mineral levels, any nutritional program is really being done blindly at the expense of creating further mineral imbalances. And yet, this blind approach still pervades throughout the field (though slowly shifting as more and more nutritionists come to understand the powerful tool that HTMA offers). Dietary programs can certainly help achieve short-term weight and fitness goals, but at what long term cost of imbalance? 

With HTMA, the educated nutritionist can be infinitely more powerful in designing a dietary plan that addresses not only the client's immediate goals, but can also provide life-saving long-term benefits.