Oxidation type and fat storage
Hips and thighs, or above the waist: the oxidation rate points to the site
Analytical Research Labs recorded one fat-storage site for each oxidation type, plus six mineral readings that carry a weight-gain trend in either one.
Analytical Research Labs (ARL) sets the oxidation rate from two ratios on an unwashed hair sample. A fast oxidizer reads a calcium/potassium (Ca/K) ratio below 4:1 together with a sodium/magnesium (Na/Mg) ratio above 4.17:1. A slow oxidizer reads Ca/K above 4:1 and Na/Mg below 4.17:1. Trace Elements, Inc. puts its ideals at Ca/K 4.2 and Na/Mg 4, so the balance points publish as ranges: Ca/K 4 to 4.2 and Na/Mg 4 to 4.17.
In level terms, a slow oxidizer carries elevated calcium and magnesium against low sodium and potassium, and a fast oxidizer carries the opposite. ARL's ideal levels are calcium 40 mg%, magnesium 6 mg%, sodium 25 mg% and potassium 10 mg%. Trace Elements lists calcium at 60 mg% and sodium at 24 mg%, with magnesium and potassium the same.
ARL's prevalence figures place about 85 percent of the population in slow oxidation. Its Stress Document places ten to twenty percent in the alarm stage at any given time, which is a stress-stage figure rather than a count of slow or fast oxidizers. Trace Elements, across more than one million tests, reports parasympathetic dominance in about 70 percent, a different construct from ARL's slow oxidation. The full definitions are on the oxidation type page.
ARL's 1990 paper on body fat records a site difference between the two types. Slow oxidizers tend to accumulate extra weight on the lower body: the hips, thighs and legs. Fast oxidizers tend to carry extra weight above the waist, most often in the abdomen.
The paper's thesis is that stored fat functions as an emergency fuel reserve when glycogen cannot be stored or mobilized adequately. Fat yields about 2.5 times the energy of carbohydrate or protein, so the body holds it when its access to glucose is unreliable. On this reading the fat-storage trend follows the mineral pattern and the thyroid and adrenal activity behind it, and the storage site follows the oxidation type.
ARL lists eleven contributors in slow oxidizers, and the mineral ones are specific. Low sodium and potassium reflect low adrenal output. Low glucocorticoid output limits conversion of liver glycogen to glucose, which produces low blood sugar and carbohydrate cravings. Low aldosterone limits sodium retention, which raises salt intake and leaves a relative potassium deficiency with tissue water retention.
Elevated, biounavailable calcium and magnesium, together with a sluggish thyroid reading (Ca/K above 4), reduce transport of nutrients into cells, which ARL calls cellular starvation and links to a raised appetite. Excess insulin secretion converts more sugar to stored fat. Copper above 3.5 mg% reduces the desire for animal protein, and protein is the macronutrient ARL associates with raising the metabolic rate.
ARL lists seven contributors in fast oxidizers. The central one is cortisol: chronically high circulating cortisol converts amino acids and glycogen to fat, and that fat is deposited in the abdomen. High cortisol also depletes liver glycogen, so the body stores extra fat as a reserve.
Calcium, magnesium and zinc are the minerals ARL names as stress buffers, and in a fast oxidizer all three read low. High tissue sodium from excess aldosterone adds water retention. Sugars, starches and alcohol burn quickly in a fast oxidizer, and the resulting blood sugar swings raise cortisol again. ARL also records a heavier bone structure in the fast, adrenal body type.
ARL lists six individual mineral readings linked to a fat-storage trend in both oxidation types:
Zinc below 14 mg% and magnesium below 4 mg%. Both minerals reduce stress-induced aldosterone secretion, which holds sodium and water down; a deficit of either also impairs sugar metabolism. Phytate-rich grain diets lower both zinc and magnesium.
Copper above 3.5 mg%. Copper raises sodium and lowers potassium, correlates with estrogen, slows the oxidation rate and reduces the desire for meat protein. ARL associates copper imbalance with cellulite and records that correcting copper balance may take several years.
Cadmium. Cadmium raises sodium, which adds water retention, and displaces zinc, which impairs insulin activity. ARL lists canned food, refined food, cigarette smoke and tap water as its main sources.
A sodium/potassium ratio above 4.5:1 carries a water-retention trend, especially when sodium itself reads above 25 mg%. An Na/K ratio below 2.5:1 carries four routes: protein loss from catabolism, water retention from kidney stress, fat deposition from excess cortisol, and carbohydrate cravings. The Na/K ideal is 2.4 (Trace Elements) to 2.5 (ARL).
A calcium/magnesium ratio above 8.5:1 or below 4.5:1 carries a carbohydrate-intolerance trend. On the high side the reading points to excess insulin converting glucose to fat; on the low side it points to low insulin and a craving for quickly absorbed foods. The Ca/Mg ideal is 6.67 (ARL) to 7 (Trace Elements), covered on the calcium-magnesium ratio page.
ARL's stated principle is that a diet works when it moves that person's chemistry toward balance. For slow oxidizers the published split is about 40 percent of calories from low-fat protein, 40 percent from complex carbohydrate and 10 percent from fat, because protein raises thyroid activity and fat slows the rate further. For fast oxidizers it is about 30 percent protein, 40 percent fats and oils and 20 percent complex carbohydrate, because fat slows an excessive rate.
The same paper records that high-protein, low-fat plans suit the slow oxidizer and high-fat, low-carbohydrate plans suit the fast oxidizer. A diet that moves one oxidation type toward balance moves the other type further from it. It also records that fasting breaks down fat quickly and so releases stored toxic metals and pesticide residues, and that a rebound in weight often follows.
ARL records that periodic exercise raises adrenaline secretion and lowers cortisol secretion, which matters for the fast-oxidizer pattern. It also records that excessive exercise can lead to endocrine gland exhaustion, the pattern described on the overtraining page.
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.
I read the oxidation type before any single level, because the two types store fat in different places for different mineral reasons. Ca/K and Na/Mg set the type, and the type sets which of the six readings I check first: copper, potassium and the Na/K ratio on a slow chart; zinc, magnesium and the Ca/Mg ratio on a fast chart.
Then I compare the retest. A fat-storage trend is tied to thyroid and adrenal activity, and that activity shows up as movement in Ca/K and Na/Mg across tests taken every 3 to 5 months.
On the lower body: the hips, thighs and legs, according to ARL's 1990 paper on body fat. A slow oxidizer reads Ca/K above 4:1 and Na/Mg below 4.17:1.
Above the waist, most often in the abdomen. ARL ties this to chronically high cortisol, which converts amino acids and glycogen to fat deposited abdominally.
ARL lists zinc below 14 mg%, magnesium below 4 mg%, copper above 3.5 mg%, cadmium, an Na/K ratio above 4.5:1 or below 2.5:1, and a Ca/Mg ratio above 8.5:1 or below 4.5:1.
The ARL split differs: about 40 percent protein, 40 percent complex carbohydrate and 10 percent fat for slow oxidizers, and about 30 percent protein, 40 percent fat and 20 percent complex carbohydrate for fast oxidizers.
A full hair tissue mineral analysis reports Ca/K, Na/Mg and the six fat-storage readings together, so the oxidation type and its fat-storage trend are read from the same page.
Published 2026-08-30 · Updated 2026-08-30
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.
