Trace Elements, 1986
One low-calcium pattern, one high-calcium pattern, both tied to thinning bone
David Watts read two bone-density tendencies from over 100,000 hair profiles. Type I runs sympathetic with calcium and magnesium below ideal; Type II runs parasympathetic with calcium and magnesium above the mean.
In the Trace Elements newsletter of September to December 1986 (Volume 1, Numbers 7 to 10), David L. Watts published "Determining Osteoporotic Tendencies from Tissue Mineral Analysis of Human Hair: Type I and Type II." The paper draws on clinical evaluation of over 100,000 hair tissue mineral profiles, and records that bone loss is detectable radiographically only after a 30 to 50 percent reduction in bone mass. Watts quotes Albright's definition: a failure of the osteoblast to lay down bone matrix.
The paper's central finding is that the same bone-density trend arrives from two opposite mineral patterns, which Watts named Type I and Type II. Watts' Type I and Type II are his own labels. They are distinct from the conventional Type I (postmenopausal) and Type II (senile) usage, and partly invert it: Watts' Type II includes the senile and most postmenopausal cases.
Type I is a negative calcium balance from low intake, decreased absorption or increased excretion, with any elevated urinary calcium usually resorptive. Its endocrine trend is toward increased thyroid and adrenal activity, decreased parathyroid activity and lower insulin, which Watts classes as sympathetic dominant.
On the hair chart, Type I reads as a low calcium/phosphorus (Ca/P) ratio, a low calcium/lead (Ca/Pb) ratio and a low zinc/cadmium (Zn/Cd) ratio, with a low calcium/potassium (Ca/K) ratio and a high sodium/magnesium (Na/Mg) ratio. Calcium and magnesium read below ideal and sodium and potassium above ideal; phosphorus may or may not be elevated.
The physical findings listed for Type I are a warm body temperature, increased perspiration, anxiety, noise sensitivity, hyperreflexia and tachycardia, with calcium-deficiency complaints including muscle cramps especially at night, insomnia, nervousness and irritability, and an elevated systolic blood pressure trend.
Type II has adequate calcium intake and normal or decreased excretion, with metastatic calcification of soft tissue; any elevated urinary calcium is usually absorptive. Its endocrine trend is toward increased parathyroid activity, decreased thyroid activity, decreased adrenal activity and increased insulin, classed as parasympathetic dominant.
On the hair chart, Type II reads as an elevated Ca/P, an elevated calcium/magnesium (Ca/Mg) ratio and an elevated Ca/K, with a low Na/Mg. Calcium and magnesium read above the mean; sodium, potassium and phosphorus read below it.
The physical findings listed for Type II are fatigue, a cold body temperature especially in the hands and feet, postural hypotension, hyporeflexia and bradycardia, with a diastolic blood pressure trend that rises with the degree of decreased thyroid activity, and soft-tissue calcification often in the lymph nodes and gall bladder.
| Ratio | Ideal (ARL to Trace Elements) | Type I | Type II |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ca/P | 2.5 to 2.6 | Low | High |
| Ca/K | 4 to 4.2 | Low | High |
| Na/Mg | 4 to 4.17 | High | Low |
| Ca/Mg | 6.67 to 7 | Calcium and magnesium both below ideal | High |
| Ca/Pb | 84 to 1 or higher (Trace Elements) | Low | Not listed |
| Zn/Cd | 500 to 1 or higher (Trace Elements) | Low | Not listed |
Trace Elements' ratio ideals are from its 2010 reference set; ARL's Ca/P of 2.5 derives from its 40 mg% calcium ideal. Bone resorption also differs by type in the paper: greater in cortical bone where thyroid activity is increased, and greater in trabecular bone where parathyroid activity is increased.
Analytical Research Labs (ARL), in its 1991 document on bone density, gives the slow oxidation mechanism behind a high-calcium bone pattern. Sodium and potassium are the solvent elements that keep calcium ionized in the blood. When sodium and potassium fall, calcium leaves the blood and precipitates into tissues, blood calcium drops, and bone calcium is withdrawn to compensate.
ARL's arthritis document adds that the slow oxidizer's tissues become relatively alkaline, which further favors precipitation of calcium in joints and arteries. ARL's headache document gives the same reading as a general example of biounavailable calcium: the elderly often lack calcium in their bones but have calcium deposits in their arteries, joints and kidneys. That is the soft-tissue calcification Watts lists for Type II, read from the ARL side.
Slow oxidation is a Ca/K above 4 to 4.2 with an Na/Mg below 4 to 4.17, the same direction as Watts' Type II ratios.
In fast oxidation (Ca/K below 4 to 4.2, Na/Mg above 4 to 4.17), ARL records that the fight-or-flight reaction excretes calcium, magnesium and zinc, and that if the reaction is chronic, calcium is withdrawn from bone to replenish blood calcium. ARL lists copper deficiency, elevated cortisone, tissue acidity, and high-phosphorus, high-sugar and caffeinated foods as contributors, and records that copper is essential for calcium retention in bone.
On the slow side ARL adds decreased thyroid activity with increased parathyroid activity, unavailable copper from low ceruloplasmin, low zinc and manganese, and cadmium and lead, which displace calcium in storage sites.
The 1986 newsletter records that a negative calcium balance of as little as 40 mg per day can produce bone calcium loss of 1.5 percent per year, and that protein makes up about 30 percent of bone. Oxalic acid in spinach, rhubarb, cocoa, chard and beet greens, and phytic acid in grains and cereals, impede calcium absorption. Alcohol and high sodium intake increase urinary calcium. Immobilization or prolonged bed rest increases urinary calcium excretion, and exercise decreases it.
Watts lists reduced bone density among the earliest signs of copper deficiency, because the enzymes of collagen synthesis and matrix cross-linking require copper. Ascorbic acid oxidase is copper-dependent, so elevated tissue copper oxidizes vitamin C and creates a functional vitamin C deficiency, while excessive vitamin C depletes copper. In the Trace Elements copper paper, Type I tracks with copper deficiency and Type II with copper excess.
The zinc/copper (Zn/Cu) ratio, ideal at 8 to 1 at both labs, reports the copper level beside the zinc level on the same test.
Watts set sampling conditions for comparisons: hair from the same location each time, stainless steel instruments only, any hair preparations noted, and a federally licensed clinical laboratory. On interpretation he wrote that a low hair mineral does indicate a deficiency but a normal level does not rule one out, and that mineral ratio determinations are of greater importance than individual levels alone.
The newsletter records that the majority of patients with bone loss do not show hypercalciuria, and that over thirty factors unrelated to bone can raise urinary calcium, which is why the type is read from the mineral ratios.
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.
The Ca/P ratio comes first, against 2.5 to 2.6, because Trace Elements places it first in its ratio table. Next come Ca/K against 4 to 4.2 and Na/Mg against 4 to 4.17, which sort a chart toward the Type I or Type II side.
After those: Ca/Mg against 6.67 to 7, the calcium and magnesium levels against their ideals, and the Ca/Pb and Zn/Cd ratios against 84 and 500, because lead and cadmium both displace calcium.
Two bone-density tendencies David Watts of Trace Elements described in 1986. Type I reads low Ca/P with calcium and magnesium below ideal; Type II reads high Ca/P, Ca/Mg and Ca/K with a low Na/Mg.
No. They are Watts' own labels, distinct from the conventional Type I (postmenopausal) and Type II (senile) usage, and his Type II includes the senile and most postmenopausal cases.
ARL records that sodium and potassium keep calcium ionized in the blood. When they fall, calcium precipitates into tissues and bone calcium is withdrawn to compensate.
No. A hair tissue mineral analysis reports mineral levels and ratios, and the bone-density association is a trend on that pattern. Watts noted that bone loss is detectable radiographically only after a 30 to 50 percent reduction in bone mass.
A full hair tissue mineral analysis reports the Ca/P, Ca/K, Na/Mg and Ca/Mg ratios and the Ca/Pb and Zn/Cd toxic ratios, which are the readings Watts used to separate the two bone-density patterns.
Published 2026-10-10 · Updated 2026-10-10
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. Wellness Shopping Online is operated by Nuco Enterprise Solutions LLC.
