Slow or fast chart, Four Lows on the retest
A slow or fast chart that arrives at Four Lows by falling
The pattern workbook reads Four Lows reached through a falling-macromineral retest differently from Four Lows found on a first test.
The pattern workbook Eileen reads charts against defines this pattern as a falling-macromineral retest combined with a transition from slow or fast oxidation into a low Four Lows pattern. A falling-macromineral retest is one where one or more of calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium decreases and the others stay the same. Four Lows is all four below ideal: calcium below 40, magnesium below 6, sodium below 25 and potassium below 10 mg% on Analytical Research Labs (ARL) cutoffs. Trace Elements' (TEI) ideal levels are 60, 6, 24 and 10 mg%. The workbook's low Four Lows criterion is at least 2 of the 4 macrominerals extremely low, which it reads as less vitality and more toxicity than a typical Four Lows, and as possibly taking longer to move on from.
The workbook describes the transition as indicating "a fast process of healing." Its Four Lows entry makes the same distinction: Four Lows on an initial test indicates collapse or exhaustion, and on a retest it can be a healing reaction unless the program is not being followed. It lists stress, instability, fatigue and depression trends for Four Lows and calls the pattern a secondary alarm reaction. ARL lists fatigue worse at rest for the pattern and records that four-low cases can seldom handle a large supplement program.
ARL defines slow oxidation as a calcium/potassium (Ca/K) ratio above 4 with a sodium/magnesium (Na/Mg) ratio below 4.17, and describes the slow profile as calcium and magnesium elevated relative to sodium and potassium. To reach Four Lows by falling, calcium and magnesium must come down below 40 and 6 mg% while sodium and potassium end below 25 and 10.
ARL reads a falling calcium as a reduction in copper storage: "A drop in one's calcium level is indicative of a reduction in copper storage." A chart that starts with a calcium shell above 200 mg% and settles below 40 has crossed the workbook's 50% shell-drop line on the way. The oxidation type article covers the slow and fast criteria.
ARL defines fast oxidation as Ca/K below 4 with Na/Mg above 4.17: calcium and magnesium low relative to sodium and potassium. A fast chart already has calcium and magnesium on the low side, so the path to Four Lows runs through sodium and potassium falling below 25 and 10 mg%.
ARL's All-Four-Low Document describes the long-term version of this path: "all-four-lows are exhausted fast oxidizers," whose sodium and potassium fell below normal after severe stress over a prolonged period. The workbook reads Four Lows reached this way on a retest, during a program, as a fast process of healing.
ARL's retest document lists decompensation as the main reason a chart can look worse while a person improves. Two of its mechanisms apply here:
ARL adds that "higher toxic metals usually means one is actively eliminating metals, not a worsening of toxicity," and that a heavy metal elimination is the most common cause of an Na/K inversion on a retest. Toxic metals on the Four Lows retest are compared with the first chart for that reason. The hidden toxicity article covers metals that surface on later tests.
| Reading | First chart (slow start) | First chart (fast start) | Retest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ca/K | Above 4 | Below 4 | Depends on the four new levels |
| Na/Mg | Below 4.17 | Above 4.17 | Depends on the four new levels |
| Mineral picture (ARL) | Calcium and magnesium elevated relative to sodium and potassium | Calcium and magnesium low relative to sodium and potassium | All four below ideal |
| Toxic metals | Baseline | Baseline | Compared with baseline |
Each reading averages 2 to 3 months of growth (ARL Glossary), and Eileen retests every 3 to 5 months. ARL's Glossary also states that "on successive tests, different layers of metabolism are revealed," which is the basis for reading a Four Lows retest against the chart before it.
The workbook records four retest outcomes for a Four Lows chart. Resolution to slow oxidation reads as improved vitality. A change straight to fast oxidation, with no Four Lows, is "not the usual way to exit four lows" and is read as temporary. Four Lows on consecutive tests with improving Ca/K, Na/Mg, macrominerals and/or phosphorus is read as movement inside the pattern. Four Lows that continues on a retest without that improvement is read as needing more time, and the workbook notes that stress can slow it. The Four Lows pattern article covers the pattern on a single chart.
The previous chart comes first: its oxidation rate from Ca/K against 4 to 4.2 and Na/Mg against 4 to 4.17. Then the retest's four levels against 40 to 60, 6, 24 to 25 and 10 mg%, confirming Four Lows, and the direction of each mineral, with the others unchanged.
Next: the toxic metals on both charts, calcium for a shell drop, and Na/K against 2.4 to 2.5 on the retest.
A retest in which falling macrominerals carry a slow or fast oxidation chart into a Four Lows pattern.
No. The workbook reads Four Lows on an initial test as collapse or exhaustion, and on a retest as a possible healing reaction when the program is being followed.
ARL records that cadmium raises sodium and lead can replace calcium. As those metals leave, the sodium and calcium readings fall to their underlying levels.
Resolution to slow oxidation. A jump straight to fast oxidation is "not the usual way to exit four lows" in the workbook, and is read as temporary.
A retest hair tissue mineral analysis reports the four macrominerals, the oxidation ratios and the toxic metals on the same scale as the first chart, which is how this transition is identified.
Published 2026-11-03 · Updated 2026-11-03
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.
