“You're in the Normal Range”: The Hidden Consequences of Mineral Imbalance and New Insights for Emotional Eaters
by Lorrel Elian

Tired of always feeling tired and grumpy? Dieting and exercising but nothing changes? No matter how diligently you supplement or exercise, if you still find yourself exhausted and moody, you might start wondering—”Is this all in my head?” I’ve listened to doctors repeat the same phrase for over forty years, “You’re in the normal range.” Like many women on a healing journey, my path began with misdiagnosis, unanswered questions, and frustrating medical dead-ends.

I’ve navigated the intense challenges of a cancer journey, multiple surgeries due to endometriosis, and still struggled to feel fully healthy. Recently, in a conversation with my naturopath, she suggested something called Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA). She explained that this simple test reveals what’s happening in the body at a cellular level, finally providing clarity on what my body truly needs. Why hadn’t anyone told me about this sooner. Eager for answers, I dove right in. And finally, I found an explanation for the invisible scenario unfolding inside my body—an imbalance undetectable by traditional blood or urine tests. 

Why does mineral balance matter so much? Simply put, when your minerals are out of sync, your body becomes susceptible to dysfunction and disease. HTMA provides a snapshot of your mineral interactions and depletion, acting like a roadmap to your body’s hidden imbalances. The balance—or imbalance—of essential minerals like calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, and copper forms the foundation of your health. Understanding this balance can inform critical choices about food, supplements, water quality, and even environmental toxin exposure.

Here’s a key insight: stress isn’t just emotional or mental—it’s deeply physiological. Chronic stress and unresolved trauma throw your body into constant high alert, altering your mineral balance profoundly. Ever been told to just lose weight? Well, it’s not always that simple. The real solution lies in understanding why emotional eating occurs in the first place.

When you’re caught in a heightened emotional state—like fight or flight—your body can’t effectively absorb nutrients from food, leaving you nutritionally starved. If you exist on processed foods, this further depletes crucial minerals, sabotaging your satiety signals and leading to binge cycles, mood swings, or even behaviours mistakenly labelled as personality traits. Understanding exactly what you’re dealing with allows you to make meaningful changes.

Let’s talk specifically about calcium. Most people see calcium purely as beneficial, but an imbalance can significantly disrupt your central nervous system. Excess calcium acts like a sedative, resulting in lethargy, depression, and emotional withdrawal. Over time, if this imbalance persists, sodium and potassium levels drop, causing calcium to deposit in your soft tissues instead of remaining bioavailable. This condition, known as Calcium Shell, was identified through hair mineral analysis by Dr. Paul Eck.

In a Calcium Shell state, calcium isn’t properly utilized. Instead, it accumulates dangerously in arteries, the brain, kidneys, and organs. Emotionally, Calcium Shell acts as insulation, dulling sensations and feelings. Physically, it leads to issues like bone spurs, arthritis, chronic pain, arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure, kidney stones, and reduced mobility due to spinal deposits.

When calcium isn’t bioavailable, you may experience muscle tension, anxiety, cramps, irritability, and trouble sleeping. In later life, your body may desperately pull calcium from bones, potentially leading to osteoporosis. Knowing this, would you still take calcium supplements without ensuring your body could effectively absorb them?

I’ll admit when I look at it now, my supplement routine has been based on guesswork. I didn’t know it was possible to access such precise information. The beauty of HTMA is its unique ability to provide a detailed snapshot of your body’s activity based on a bit of history, unlike blood or urine tests, whose results are from generally the present moment.

Another factor HTMA highlights is copper accumulation, which exacerbates emotional symptoms like skin rashes, headaches, PMS, hot flashes, menstrual irregularities, panic attacks, fears, and phobias. Copper toxicity can even influence personality traits, pushing you into an intense, overly driven state, constantly feeling the need to work harder.

Today, knowing exactly what’s happening within my body empowers me to take precise, effective steps towards genuine health and vitality. If you’re feeling trapped in a cycle of unexplained fatigue, mood swings, and unresponsive dieting, consider exploring hair tissue mineral analysis.

Isn’t it time you discovered what’s really happening in your body at the deepest level? After all, true wellness begins when you stop guessing—and start knowing.

Understanding the role of minerals in your body and mind, allows you to take charge of your health in a way that traditional medicine often doesn’t recognize. Dismantle the effects of prolonged stress, reclaim your emotional balance, restore your body. Having a hair tissue mineral analysis gives you a true accounting and guidance, to bring your body back into balance.

Lorrel Elian has been a teacher of mind-body practices for over a decade, and is presently completing case studies to complete her Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis training. You can learn more by visiting her online, or visit her in person at her, exclusively for women, boutique spa Conscious Body Studio in Bruno, SK, www.consciousbodystudio.com. Also, see her display ad on page 15 of the 31.1 May/June issue of the WHOLifE Journal.