With my clinical training and experience as a psychotherapist, I can confirm that emotional health is emerging as a vital issue in our society. Numerous people are seeking alternative methods to enhance their emotional well-being. A significant yet frequently neglected aspect is the impact of minerals on mental health.
In this blog post, we will explore how minerals can profoundly influence mental wellness and how Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) can assist you in understanding your mineral balance.
The Connection Between Minerals and Emotions
Our bodies depend on a variety of vitamins and minerals to function properly. While most commonly focus on broad nutritional guidelines, the specific impact of minerals on mental and emotional health demands our attention. Key minerals like calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, potassium, copper and calcium play essential roles in influencing mood, thought processes, and overall brain function.
Numerous studies indicate that mineral deficiencies can lead to feelings of anxiety and depression. For instance, research shows that about 60% of individuals with depression also have low magnesium levels. Additionally, studies reveal that zinc deficiency may increase the likelihood of experiencing anxiety by up to 32%. Excess copper is also implicated in postpartum depression, anxiety and even bipolar. Recognizing the significance of these minerals can encourage individuals to make dietary choices that support better mental and emotional health.
What is HTMA?
HTMA, or Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis, is a testing method that assesses the mineral content found in hair samples. Unlike blood tests that capture temporary mineral fluctuations, HTMA provides a long-term view of your mineral status. This can be crucial for spotting deficiencies or imbalances that negatively affect your mental health.
By evaluating the minerals in hair, HTMA reveals their levels and how they relate to each other. This information helps health practitioners create personalized strategies to improve your nutritional intake, ultimately enhancing your emotional well-being.
The Benefits of Key Minerals for Mental and Emotional Health
Calcium: Protection & Support
Calcium, a fundamental mineral in the body, plays a crucial role in managing stress. Essentially, it serves as a protective barrier against stress. Reduced calcium levels may result in increased vulnerability to emotional fluctuations, irritability, restlessness, hyper-sensitivity and hyper-reactivity and a short fuse. This deficiency can also cause a continuous feeling of tension. Conversely, elevated calcium levels can lead to inflexibility, withdrawal, emotional numbness and defensiveness, introversion, lethargy, insensitivity, and decreased alertness. This is symbolically referred to as a "calcium shell." This is often a result of trauma as the body forms a protective mineral cocoon.
Furthermore, calcium, together with potassium, is closely connected to insulin. It is recognized that individuals with poor glycemic control, or fluctuating blood sugar levels, may exhibit symptoms resembling mental health conditions, such as anxiety, irritability, and worry. This also applies to children.
Magnesium: The Stress Reliever
Magnesium has a soothing effect on the muscular and nervous systems, functioning as a strong sedative. Inadequate magnesium levels can cause individuals to be tense, irritable, hyperactive, have noise sensitivity, PMS, anxiety and inclined towards aggression. We often see this in children with ADHD tendencies. Conversely, elevated magnesium levels may induce withdrawal, lethargy, feelings of sadness, and excessive drowsiness resembling the condition seen in hibernating animals.
Magnesium is recognized for its interaction with GABA (a calming neurotransmitter) receptors, enhancing the calming effects of this neurotransmitter. It also helps maintain glutamate (an excitatory neurotransmitter) within safe levels. A lack of magnesium can lead to decreased serotonin levels. Additionally, magnesium is vital for the synthesis of dopamine. Both serotonin and dopamine are known as our happy neurotransmitters. Essentially, the body needs magnesium for the production of neurotransmitters and to support their effective transmission.
Sodium: Emergency Energy
During emergencies, sodium, a mineral, becomes important, as does its mineral partner; magnesium when it comes to the adrenals. Aldosterone, a hormone from the adrenal cortex, controls its levels. Low sodium can cause fatigue, apathy, depression, fear, despair, and trouble starting tasks. Conversely, high sodium levels bring increased aggressiveness, anger and fright.
Additionally, sodium plays a significant role in regulating blood pressure, and research suggests that fluctuations in sodium levels, particularly excessive high levels, may be linked to triggering panic attacks and anxiety in susceptible individuals.
Potassium: Adaptive Energy
Potassium is connected to persistence and flexible energy. Low levels of potassium levels can lead to tiredness, depressive moods, mood swings, social withdrawal, decreased energy, and diminished endurance. On the other hand, elevated potassium levels are also associated depressed mood, reduced sensitivity, and poor memory.
Research suggests that altered potassium levels in the brain may be linked to mood disorders, including bipolar disorder and depression.
Zinc: The Mood Booster
Zinc is often known as the mood boosting mineral. Low zinc levels can lead to emotional fragility, low mood, increased anxiety and aggression, hyperactivity, irritability and deficits in social behavior. Zinc's role in mood may be closely tied in the synthesis of neurotransmitters like dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. On the other hand, elevated zinc levels may result in reduced emotional responses - including depression, causing individuals to exhibit a detached martyr-like demeanor.
Additionally, zinc levels are related to testosterone, progesterone, and other reproductive hormones. Hormonal imbalances can directly contribute to emotional dysregulation by causing mood swings, irritability, anxiety, depression, and difficulty managing emotions.
Copper: Gentleness
Copper is frequently associated with gentleness and emotionality, earning it the nickname "feminine element." Low copper levels are linked to reduced emotional responses, depression, psychosis, confusion, and irritability. On the other hand, high copper levels may lead to anxiety, depression, irritability, and difficulty concentrating. Bio-unavailable copper can also produce an amphetamine-like effect, enhancing nerve transmission and causing feelings of agitation, overstimulation, and racing thoughts. Additionally, it can be related to issues such as violence, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), and postpartum psychosis.
Viewing copper on HTMA can offer insights to one’s levels but a HTMA is best paired with a specific blood labs that can give us a more clear indication of one’s copper levels. We recommend a blood panel called the Full Monty, which can be purchased here.
Iron: Fuel for the Mind
Iron is crucial not just for transporting oxygen to the body's tissues, but also for being a key player in energy production processes. Low iron levels can increase the risk of anxiety, depression, psychotic disorders, irrational behavior, hyperactivity and sleep disorders. On the other hand, excessive iron levels can be associated with hostility, hyperactivity, aggression, depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia.
Iron's role in generating cellular energy significantly contributes to overall vigor and robustness. Its dual role in oxygen delivery and energy production highlights its significance in upholding physical and mental health. Iron and copper both have critical roles in neurotransmitter formation and are key players in ADHD. It's important accessing high and low levels can be complex and its ideal to run specific blood labs along side a HTMA to get the full picture.
It's All About Balance
Achieving mineral balance is more complex than simply addressing high and low levels indicated by an HTMA or blood tests. Each mineral interacts with others, having synergistic and antagonistic effects on different minerals and vitamins. Similarly, specific vitamins and heavy metals can influence your mineral levels.
Consider iron as an example. Many of my clients have been advised at some point that they are anemic and should take iron. However, excess iron can disrupt gut health, which can, in turn, impact mental health by nourishing harmful bacteria that downstream impacts our gut-brain axis. To regulate iron, bioavailable copper is necessary, but taking only zinc reduces copper levels. Additionally, if you lack magnesium and retinol (vitamin A), your iron recycling system might become sluggish, leading to a diagnosis of anemia. In reality, you may need to optimize your iron recycling system by balancing minerals first to accurately assess your levels. To top it all off, your adrenals and liver need to function optimally to support this process.
Finally, your body must effectively absorb nutrients into the cells, requiring your sodium and potassium pump to function optimally, and ensuring calcium remains in your bones and teeth rather than in your tissues. This is just one example highlighting the complexities of maintaining mineral balance.
The Gut-Brain Connection
Gut health is intimately linked to mental and emotional health by way of the gut-brain axis. When evaluating ones emotion status; we must access their microbiome. Much research has been done connecting the microbiome with specific mental and emotional health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, autism and ADHD.
A frequent challenge I encounter with my clients is their ability to absorb and assimilate nutrients due to their gut health. No matter how nutrient-rich your foods are, if you cannot digest and assimilate them, you are not fully benefiting. Pathogens like H. pylori can hinder your body's ability to effectively break down these foods into usable substrates. Moreover, a dysbiotic gut can also lead to a deficiency of co-factors produced by our commensal bacteria, such as essential vitamins, fatty acids and amino acids. These three substrates, along with minerals, are strongly linked to mental and emotional well-being.
ReBoot Your Mental Health
We have created a power-packed combination package to not only access your key minerals and toxic metals, but also your ability to digest and assimilate those minerals. Our ReBoot: GI-Map & HTMA may be the missing piece to your mental and emotional health puzzle. This package reviews a detail analysis of your digestive capacity, along with your key minerals and heavy metals patterns.
We invite you to discover our Reboot package to understand how balancing minerals and optimizing gut health can significantly impact your emotional wellness.
Resources:
Test: Reboot: GI Map & HTMA, here
Test: Suggested Blood Chemistry, here
Cheat Sheet: Minerals & Emotions, here
Quiz: Minerals Questionnaire, here
Quiz: Gut Health Questionnaire, here
As a clinically trained psychotherapist, I spent thousands of hours working with those with a diagnostic level of mental health imbalances. Our approach is never intended to replace your relationship with your doctor and any prescribed medication. It is recommended to share any changes with your doctor if you are under their care for your mental well-bring.