The Indicator Count
Sodium, potassium and three ratios: the count ARL reads for low adrenal activity
Analytical Research Labs lists five hair readings for adrenal insufficiency and reads them as a count: the more indicators present, and the more extreme the values, the stronger the trend.
Analytical Research Labs (ARL), in its Adrenal Insufficiency document, lists five hair-test indicators of reduced adrenal activity: a sodium level below 25 mg%, a potassium level below 10 mg%, a sodium/potassium (Na/K) ratio below 2.5, a sodium/magnesium (Na/Mg) ratio below 4.17, and a calcium/potassium (Ca/K) ratio above 10. ARL reads them as a count. The more of the five that are present, the greater the evidence; the more extreme the values, the more suggestive the pattern.
The first four cutoffs are ARL's own ideals. Trace Elements, Inc. places the sodium ideal at 24 mg% (1993), the Na/K ideal at 2.4 and the Na/Mg ideal at 4, so those publish as ranges: sodium 24 to 25 mg%, Na/K 2.4 to 2.5 and Na/Mg 4 to 4.17. Both labs place potassium at 10 mg%. The fifth cutoff sits about two and a half times above the Ca/K ideal of 4 (ARL) to 4.2 (Trace Elements, 2010).
| Indicator | ARL cutoff | Ideal (ARL to Trace Elements) | What it reads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sodium | Below 25 mg% | 24 to 25 mg% | Aldosterone, the sodium-retaining hormone |
| Potassium | Below 10 mg% | 10 mg% | Cortisol and cortisone |
| Na/K | Below 2.5 | 2.4 to 2.5 | Aldosterone against cortisol |
| Na/Mg | Below 4.17 | 4 to 4.17 | The adrenal ratio |
| Ca/K | Above 10 | 4 to 4.2 | The thyroid ratio, on the slow side |
ARL describes two parts of the adrenal gland. The medulla secretes epinephrine and norepinephrine, fast-acting neurotransmitters that start the fight-or-flight response. The cortex secretes aldosterone, cortisol and cortisone, which act more slowly and for longer. ARL pairs each cortical hormone with a mineral: aldosterone with sodium, because aldosterone increases sodium retention by the kidneys, and cortisol and cortisone with potassium. The Na/K ratio is the balance between the two.
David Watts of Trace Elements made the same point in 1990, answering critics of hair sodium and potassium: the adrenals have more significant regulating effects on sodium and potassium than any other gland, and studies that found no adrenal signal used preparation methods that invalidate sodium and potassium results.
ARL separates adrenal insufficiency from adrenal burnout. Adrenal insufficiency is the inability of the adrenal glands to produce a normal quantity of hormones, also defined as a reduced ability to cope with stress. Adrenal burnout is a more severe mineral imbalance affecting the energy-producing mechanisms of the body, with symptoms similar to insufficiency but more extreme and slower to correct. The five indicators are ARL's hair markers for insufficiency, read as a trend.
ARL's burnout document separates burnout from fatigue by one feature: fatigue clears with a good night's sleep or a vacation, and burnout does not clear with rest. The pattern workbook Eileen reads charts against records the same distinction, and adds that toxic metals may replace some of the depleted nutrients in the adrenal glands.
Indicators one, three and four share sodium as an input, and indicators two and five share potassium. A sodium below 25 mg% with potassium at its 10 mg% ideal gives an Na/K below 2.5, so indicators one and three appear as a pair. The same sodium with magnesium at its 6 mg% ideal gives an Na/Mg below 4.17, adding indicator four. At ARL's 40 mg% calcium ideal, a potassium below 4 mg% takes the Ca/K above 10, and potassium below 4 mg% is also one of ARL's markers for hidden copper.
The four lows pattern, with calcium below 40, magnesium below 6, sodium below 25 and potassium below 10 mg% on ARL's figures, meets indicators one and two by its own definition. ARL's allergy document names a lower floor: sodium below 6 mg% with potassium below 4 mg%, a pattern it associates with severe adrenal exhaustion.
ARL's Na/Mg table grades the fourth indicator by depth. From 2 to 4.17 it reads mild sluggish adrenal activity, with an estimated energy loss of 10 to 25%. From 1 to 2 it reads moderately sluggish adrenals, with 25 to 50%. Below 1 the table reads adrenal insufficiency, with 50% or more.
ARL grades indicator three the same way. An Na/K of 2 to 2.5 is a mild inversion and the beginning of adrenal exhaustion, 1 to 2 a moderate inversion, and below 1 a severe inversion. ARL's Stress Document lists an Na/K below 2.5 among its exhaustion-stage criteria and flags exhaustion below 2.0.
Trace Elements' 1993 endocrine table lists decreased adrenal activity at an Na/Mg below 4 with a Ca/K below 4.2. That Ca/K criterion runs opposite to ARL's fifth indicator, and each lab's figures apply to its own procedure. Its 2020 description of Fast Metabolic Type 3 reads a low Na/Mg as adrenal insufficiency that "may be developing or is actually present", with a low Na/K reflecting excess glucocorticoid production.
ARL records that sodium can read falsely high: cadmium, mercury, copper, iron and nickel raise the hair sodium level temporarily while adrenal function is actually low. ARL's instruction is to check every chart for these metals when the adrenal ratio is evaluated. A metal-raised sodium can remove indicators one, three and four from the count. ARL also records that sodium and magnesium are rarely lost through the hair, so a falsely low Na/Mg is uncommon.
ARL describes cadmium's aldosterone-like effect, which raises sodium, and records that as cadmium is eliminated, sodium drops and the oxidation rate slows. The hidden toxicity article covers metals judged against their antagonist minerals.
ARL divides the cortical picture by which hormone leads. Aldosterone high relative to cortisol gives a high Na/K, with an inflammatory trend: gastritis, colitis, arthritis, bursitis and sinusitis are the examples ARL lists. Cortisol high relative to aldosterone gives a low Na/K, with a diabetes trend, an immune-deficiency trend, an infection trend, an arteriosclerosis trend and a cardiovascular trend among the associations ARL lists.
The pattern workbook Eileen reads charts against lists low blood pressure, fatigue, weakness, low stamina, feeling cold, depression, excessive cravings and joint aches with this pattern. ARL's Adrenal Insufficiency document adds allergies, a need for excessive amounts of sleep, subnormal body temperature, hypoglycemia, low gastric hydrochloric acid and a tendency to constipation. Each is a trend on the mineral pattern, in the form the labs list them.
ARL's document gives the conventional figures: serum sodium below 130 mEq/L and serum potassium above 5 mEq/L, with low glucose and elevated BUN. It records that urinary 17-ketosteroids alone are not considered accurate, and that the test is run with an ACTH loading dose, then measuring 17-OHCS and 17-KGS, because many people with adrenal insufficiency are relatively without symptoms when the adrenal glands are not called upon to respond. ARL gives recovery time by depth: a matter of months in mild cases and several years in long-standing ones.
A hair tissue mineral analysis is a screening test for nutritional and toxic-element patterns. It reports mineral levels in milligrams percent (mg%) and the ratios between them, and it measures soft tissue rather than blood. Each reading averages roughly 2 to 3 months of hair growth, and samples are analyzed unwashed, because washing removes over 90% of the sodium and potassium in hair (Trace Elements). Where the laboratory literature describes a trend, that trend belongs to the mineral pattern rather than to any person reading about it.
Sodium comes first, against 24 to 25 mg%, then potassium against 10 mg%. The three ratios that complete the count follow: Na/K against 2.4 to 2.5, Na/Mg against 4 to 4.17, and Ca/K against the indicator line of 10.
Next: cadmium, mercury, copper, iron and nickel, because each raises the sodium reading. The count is compared on the next test 3 to 5 months later.
ARL lists sodium below 25 mg%, potassium below 10 mg%, an Na/K ratio below 2.5, an Na/Mg ratio below 4.17 and a Ca/K ratio above 10.
ARL states that the more of the five that are present, the greater the evidence, and that the more extreme the values, the more suggestive the trend.
Yes. ARL records that cadmium, mercury, copper, iron and nickel raise the hair sodium reading temporarily while adrenal function is low.
No. ARL describes burnout as a more severe imbalance of the energy-producing mechanisms, with similar symptoms that are more extreme and take longer to correct.
A full hair tissue mineral analysis reports sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium with the Na/K, Na/Mg and Ca/K ratios, which are the five readings ARL counts for low adrenal activity.
Published 2026-10-15 · Updated 2026-10-15
By Eileen Durfee — Practitioner, NBS (Nutritional Balancing Science), NASM-CPT; wellness educator, inventor and author.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Hair tissue mineral analysis is a screening test and is not diagnostic. This article is for educational purposes only. Wellness Shopping Online is operated by Nuco Enterprise Solutions LLC.
