Calcium, magnesium, potassium
A cramp at night, in the calf, at rest: the calcium reading the labs tie it to
David Watts at Trace Elements sorted cramps by place and time: a resting night cramp of the calf or thigh with calcium, an exertion cramp of the hands and feet with magnesium. Each points to a different line on the hair chart.
In "The Nutritional Relationships of Magnesium," published in the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine in 1988, David L. Watts of Trace Elements, Inc. separated cramps by location and timing. Calcium-type cramps occur at night without exertion, in the calves and thighs rather than the hands or feet. Magnesium-type cramps occur on exertion, and carpopedal spasm, a cramp of the hands and feet, is among the magnesium-deficiency signs (Watts 1988).
Cramps in the hands or feet at rest may reflect either a magnesium need or a potassium need, because magnesium is required for cells to retain potassium. The same paper splits two sleep complaints by mineral: difficulty falling asleep (Type I insomnia) sits with calcium, and falling asleep easily but waking repeatedly (Type II insomnia) sits with magnesium.
A night leg cramp in the calf therefore points first to the calcium line on a hair chart, then to magnesium and potassium, and to the ratios built from those three minerals.
Analytical Research Labs (ARL), in its 1990 document on the nutritional causes of insomnia, gives the first night pattern as calcium below 40 mg% and magnesium below 6 mg%, usually with elevated sodium and potassium. That is the fast oxidizer shape: a calcium/potassium (Ca/K) ratio below 4 and a sodium/magnesium (Na/Mg) ratio above 4.17 on ARL's figures. Trace Elements places the same balance points at 4.2 and 4 (2010 set), so they publish as ranges: Ca/K 4 to 4.2 and Na/Mg 4 to 4.17.
ARL records that calcium and magnesium act as sedatives on the central nervous system, and that in the alarm reaction they are excreted rapidly to raise alertness. ARL's condition documents cite Hans Selye for the faster kidney excretion of calcium and magnesium during the alarm reaction. ARL lists the muscle tension and cramps that follow from low calcium and magnesium as one of the reasons this pattern interferes with sleep, and records the pattern as especially common in children and in adults under stress.
The calcium ideal differs by lab: 40 mg% at ARL, and 60 mg% at Trace Elements since 2008 (42 mg% in its 1985-1993 reference). Both labs place the magnesium ideal at 6 mg%.
Watts' Trace Elements newsletter of September to December 1986, on osteoporotic tendencies, lists "muscle cramps especially at night" among the calcium-deficiency complaints of the pattern he called Type I. The same list includes insomnia, nervousness, irritability, a warm body temperature, increased perspiration and an elevated systolic blood pressure trend.
The Type I hair pattern is a low calcium/phosphorus (Ca/P) ratio, calcium and magnesium below ideal, and sodium and potassium above ideal, with a low Ca/K and a high Na/Mg. The Ca/P ideal is 2.5 (ARL) to 2.6 (Trace Elements, 2010).
A high hair calcium does not rule out a calcium-type cramp. ARL's insomnia document describes a copper imbalance accompanied by elevated calcium and magnesium, which it reads as biounavailable calcium and magnesium: the minerals are present in tissue but not in a usable form, so symptoms of high calcium (fatigue) and of low calcium (cramps, tightness, sleeplessness) appear at the same time.
The pattern workbook Eileen reads charts against defines biounavailable calcium as calcium above 100 mg% with magnesium above 9 mg%, and lists muscle tightness and muscle cramps among its associations. Its mechanism: sodium and potassium are the solvent minerals that keep calcium and magnesium in solution, so as sodium and potassium fall, calcium and magnesium precipitate out of the blood into tissues, including the hair. The calcium shell article covers calcium above 200 mg%.
ARL's copper indicators in the same insomnia document are copper above 3.5 mg% or below 1.0 mg%, a zinc/copper (Zn/Cu) ratio below 6 or above 12, a Ca/K above 12, potassium below 4 mg%, mercury toxicity, or a sodium/potassium (Na/K) ratio below 2.5. ARL records that copper stimulates the catecholamines, and that copper-toxic individuals report a racing mind when they try to sleep.
The pattern workbook names a magnesium level below 3 mg% as its own pattern, half of the 6 mg% ideal both labs use, and lists muscle tension and muscle cramps among its associations. It ties low magnesium to the fight-or-flight reaction, which includes urinary excretion of calcium and magnesium, and names low soil magnesium, refined food, and the low magnesium content of dairy products and meat as dietary causes.
Watts considered tissue magnesium a more useful screen than serum magnesium, because serum magnesium is held steady at the expense of intracellular stores and shifts with tourniquet technique and temperature. ARL's fibromyalgia document records that magnesium may become depleted from the tissues long before serum magnesium levels decrease. ARL also records that magnesium is rarely lost through the hair, so a false magnesium reading is uncommon.
Potassium is read next because magnesium is required for cellular potassium retention. For that reason Watts placed resting hand and foot cramps under either a magnesium or a potassium need. The potassium ideal is 10 mg% at both labs.
ARL's insomnia document gives a separate set of readings for waking during the night, which it associates with a low blood sugar trend: an Na/K below 2.5, a calcium/magnesium (Ca/Mg) ratio below 3.3 or above 10, potassium below 3 mg%, and low manganese, zinc or chromium. The Ca/Mg ideal is 6.67 (ARL) to 7 (Trace Elements, 2010), and the Na/K ideal is 2.4 (Trace Elements) to 2.5 (ARL).
| Hair-test reading | Cramp or sleep association | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Calcium below 40 mg%, magnesium below 6 mg%, sodium and potassium high | Muscle tension and cramps; alarm-reaction excretion | ARL, Insomnia (1990) |
| Low Ca/P, low Ca/K, high Na/Mg (Type I) | Muscle cramps especially at night | Trace Elements newsletter, 1986 |
| Calcium above 100 mg% with magnesium above 9 mg% | Muscle tightness and cramps beside a high calcium | Pattern workbook; ARL |
| Magnesium below 3 mg% | Muscle tension and cramps | Pattern workbook |
| Copper above 3.5 or below 1.0 mg%, potassium below 4 mg% | Racing mind at bedtime | ARL, Insomnia (1990) |
| Na/K below 2.5, potassium below 3 mg% | Waking during the night; low blood sugar trend | ARL, Insomnia (1990) |
Each line is a trend on the mineral pattern. The location and timing of the cramp, as Watts recorded them, set which line is read first: calcium for a night cramp in the calves and thighs, magnesium for a cramp on exertion, magnesium and potassium for a resting cramp in the hands or feet.
A hair tissue mineral analysis is a screening test for nutritional and toxic-element patterns. It does not diagnose, it does not establish a cause, and it does not measure what is circulating in blood today. Each mineral reading reflects roughly 2 to 3 months of hair growth. Where the laboratory literature describes a trend, that trend belongs to the mineral pattern rather than to any person reading about it. Anything medical belongs with your own licensed provider.
Calcium and magnesium come first, calcium against 40 to 60 mg% and magnesium against 6 mg%, then the Ca/K and Na/Mg ratios against 4 to 4.2 and 4 to 4.17 to place the oxidation rate. A low calcium on a fast rate and a high calcium beside a high magnesium are two different calcium readings.
Next: potassium against 10 mg%, the copper level and the Zn/Cu ratio against 8, and the Na/K ratio against 2.4 to 2.5. Each reading averages about 2 to 3 months of hair growth, so it is compared with the next test 3 to 5 months later.
Calcium first. Trace Elements placed calcium-type cramps at night, without exertion, in the calves and thighs. Magnesium and potassium are read next, because magnesium is required for cells to retain potassium.
Yes. ARL reads elevated calcium and magnesium with a copper imbalance as biounavailable: present in tissue but not usable, producing symptoms of high and low calcium at the same time.
No. Serum magnesium is held steady at the expense of tissue stores, and ARL records that tissue magnesium may be depleted long before serum magnesium falls.
Each reading averages about 2 to 3 months of hair growth, so the pattern is compared on a retest 3 to 5 months later.
A full hair tissue mineral analysis reports the calcium, magnesium and potassium levels and the Ca/K, Na/Mg, Ca/Mg and Na/K ratios together, which are the readings the labs tie to a night-cramp trend.
Published 2026-10-08 · Updated 2026-10-08
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; anything medical belongs with your own licensed provider. Wellness Shopping Online is operated by Nuco Enterprise Solutions LLC.
