Ratios first, then levels
Low calcium and magnesium, high sodium and potassium: the level profile behind a fast rate
Analytical Research Labs defines fast oxidation from the Ca/K and Na/Mg ratios. Its fast profile also carries a level picture, and the pattern workbook assigns true fast oxidation mainly to babies and young children.
The term oxidation rate comes from George Watson, whose 1972 book Nutrition and Your Mind measured it with blood and odor tests; Paul Eck at Analytical Research Labs (ARL) derived the rate from hair mineral ratios instead. ARL defines fast oxidation with two ratios: a calcium/potassium (Ca/K) ratio below 4 and a sodium/magnesium (Na/Mg) ratio above 4.17. Trace Elements, Inc. places the ideals at Ca/K 4.2 and Na/Mg 4 (2010 set), so the balance points publish as ranges: Ca/K 4 to 4.2 and Na/Mg 4 to 4.17.
Ca/K is called the thyroid ratio and Na/Mg the adrenal ratio. A Ca/K below 4 indicates increased thyroid activity at the cellular level, and an Na/Mg above 4.17 indicates increased adrenal activity, so fast oxidation in ARL's terms is both glands reading over. ARL places fast oxidation in the alarm stage of Hans Selye's stress model. David Watts at Trace Elements describes the same territory as a Fast Metabolic type, read as sympathetic dominance; the stress stages article covers his subtypes.
ARL's ratio ideals are its level ideals divided into each other. ARL's ideal hair levels are calcium 40 mg%, magnesium 6 mg%, sodium 25 mg% and potassium 10 mg%. Calcium 40 divided by potassium 10 gives the Ca/K ideal of 4. Sodium 25 divided by magnesium 6 gives the Na/Mg ideal of 4.17. The same four levels give ARL's other two macromineral ideals: 40 divided by 6 is a calcium/magnesium (Ca/Mg) ratio of 6.67, and 25 divided by 10 is a sodium/potassium (Na/K) ratio of 2.5.
Trace Elements' figures follow the same arithmetic with its own levels. Its 1985-1993 calcium ideal of 42 mg% over potassium 10 gives a Ca/K of 4.2, and its sodium ideal of 24 mg% over magnesium 6 gives an Na/Mg of 4, matching the ideals its 1986 newsletter described as means of the reference range. Trace Elements has used 60 mg% as its calcium ideal since 2008, so the calcium comparison point publishes as 40 mg% (ARL) to 60 mg% (Trace Elements).
Because a ratio is one level divided by another, Ca/K and Na/Mg can read fast at many different mineral levels. A Ca/K below 4 can come from a low calcium, a high potassium, or both, and an Na/Mg above 4.17 can come from a high sodium, a low magnesium, or both. The four levels show which.
ARL's fast oxidation profile is low calcium and magnesium, often low zinc, and high sodium and potassium, with the sodium and potassium raised by increased aldosterone and glucocorticoid secretion. ARL records that in the alarm reaction the body stores or excretes calcium, magnesium, zinc and copper, and that this lowering produces the adaptive rise in metabolic rate, muscle tone and reflex speed. ARL's condition documents cite Hans Selye for the faster kidney excretion of calcium and magnesium during the alarm reaction.
On zinc, ARL records that the majority of fast oxidizers are seriously deficient in zinc, and that zinc lowers an excessively high sodium. The zinc ideal is 20 mg% at Trace Elements. Watts' 1986 Trace Elements newsletter on bone-density tendencies describes the same level shape for its Type I pattern: calcium and magnesium below ideal, sodium and potassium above ideal, with a low Ca/K and a high Na/Mg.
ARL lists the physical profile as high energy levels, a rapid pulse, quickened reflexes from stress-induced calcium and magnesium deficiency, and profuse perspiration, with a raised blood pressure trend and a raised blood sugar trend. ARL's butter document records that true fast oxidizers run lower cholesterol levels and burn fats more rapidly and efficiently.
The pattern workbook Eileen reads charts against places true fast oxidation mainly in babies and children under 3 to 8 years old. ARL's children's document states the same starting point: every human being begins life as a fast oxidizer, with hair calcium and magnesium low compared with sodium and potassium.
ARL's children's document lists rapid pulse, high nervous sensitivity or irritability, and more activity as the characteristics of fast oxidation in a child, and extreme irritability, inability to relax and often aggressive behavior at a very fast rate. Past age 8 to 10, the workbook reads a fast rate as almost always temporary rather than true fast oxidation.
The sodium/potassium (Na/K) ratio is read beside the profile, against an ideal of 2.4 (Trace Elements) to 2.5 (ARL); ARL's sequence for a fast rate whose Na/K falls below 2.5 is covered in the stress stages article. The toxic metals are read as well, because ARL records that cadmium, mercury, copper, iron and nickel raise the hair sodium reading; the hidden toxicity article covers metals that shift other readings.
| Reading | First stage of a fast pattern | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Ca/K | Below 4 to 4.2 | ARL; Trace Elements (2010) |
| Na/Mg | Above 4 to 4.17 | ARL; Trace Elements (2010) |
| Calcium | Below ideal: 40 mg% (ARL) to 60 mg% (Trace Elements, 2008) | ARL fast profile; Trace Elements Type I (1986) |
| Magnesium | Below the 6 mg% ideal | ARL fast profile; Trace Elements Type I (1986) |
| Sodium and potassium | Above ideal: sodium 24 to 25 mg%, potassium 10 mg% | ARL fast profile; Trace Elements Type I (1986) |
| Zinc | Often low | ARL |
| Na/K | About 2.5 | ARL children's document |
Each row is a trend on the mineral pattern. The oxidation type page gives the full fast, slow and mixed definitions.
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.
The rate comes first, from Ca/K and Na/Mg against 4 to 4.2 and 4 to 4.17. Then the four levels against their ideals: calcium against 40 to 60 mg%, magnesium against 6, sodium against 24 to 25, and potassium against 10, and the zinc level beside them.
After those: the Na/K ratio against 2.4 to 2.5, and the cadmium, mercury, copper, iron and nickel lines.
Low calcium and magnesium, often low zinc, and high sodium and potassium, with the sodium and potassium raised by increased aldosterone and glucocorticoid secretion.
From ARL's level ideals: calcium 40 divided by potassium 10 gives a Ca/K of 4, and sodium 25 divided by magnesium 6 gives an Na/Mg of 4.17.
Mainly babies and children under 3 to 8 years old. ARL records that every human being begins life as a fast oxidizer.
A ratio is one level divided by another, so a Ca/K below 4 can come from a low calcium, a high potassium, or both. The four levels show which.
A full hair tissue mineral analysis reports calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium and zinc beside the Ca/K and Na/Mg ratios, which are the readings in ARL's fast oxidation profile.
Published 2026-10-09 · Updated 2026-10-09
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.
