High Sodium/Potassium Ratio
Mild from 2.5 to 4, moderate from 4 to 6, severe above 6: the bands on the high side
The sodium/potassium ratio reads the balance between aldosterone and cortisol. ARL grades the high side in three bands, Trace Elements marks the alarm stage at 5, and the pattern workbook reads it by a count of criteria.
The sodium/potassium (Na/K) ideal is 2.4 at Trace Elements, Inc. and 2.5 at Analytical Research Labs (ARL), so it publishes as 2.4 to 2.5. ARL calls Na/K the life-death ratio and also the vitality ratio, and ties it to the sodium pump and the electrical potential of the cells: sodium is normally outside the cell and potassium inside.
ARL pairs each mineral with an adrenal cortical hormone. Aldosterone tracks sodium: it increases renal sodium retention, it is pro-inflammatory, and ARL describes it as required to initiate a healing reaction. Cortisol and cortisone track potassium: they are anti-inflammatory glucocorticoids that convert amino acids and glycogen to glucose. ARL's document on a high Na/K defines the high ratio as relatively greater secretion of aldosterone in relation to cortisol.
| Na/K | ARL reading |
|---|---|
| 2.5 to 4 | Mild elevation; good adrenal function |
| 4 to 6 | Moderate elevation; tendency toward inflammation |
| Above 6 | Severe elevation; inflammation and adrenal imbalance, with asthma, allergy, kidney and liver trends |
| Above about 10 | Inflammation tendency particularly marked |
ARL's document gives the normal range as 2.5 to 4, and its acceptable range in the pattern report Eileen issues is 2.5 to 4.1. Trace Elements' acceptable range is 1.4 to 3.4 (2010). ARL states that a high Na/K is considered preferable to a low Na/K.
David Watts of Trace Elements extended Hans Selye's three stress stages to five in 1990 and read each from the Na/K: alarm at 5 or higher, driven by aldosterone and antidiuretic hormone, with sodium and water retention; resistance below 2.4; recovery when the ratio returns to 2.4. Trace Elements' 2018 refinement places resistance below 1.4, and reads a ratio that stays above 5 as chronic alarm, with a chronic inflammation trend.
ARL describes the same direction: sodium retention by aldosterone is part of the alarm reaction, and early in the alarm reaction potassium stays low, so the ratio rises. ARL reads a high Na/K as acute stress and a low Na/K as chronic stress.
The pattern workbook Eileen reads charts against defines its high Na/K pattern by a count: two of its listed criteria present on one chart. The criteria are an Na/K over 5, a calcium/magnesium (Ca/Mg) ratio over 9.5, a four lows, three highs or four highs pattern, elevated toxic metals, a calcium shell, elevated copper, and elevated chromium or selenium. The workbook lists an inflammation trend among the associations and names acute stress, nutritional depletion and toxic metal excess as causes.
ARL lists hidden metals that raise sodium and can create a high ratio even when the metal does not show on the test: copper, which elevates sodium and depresses potassium, plus cadmium, mercury and nickel, and at times aluminum, manganese and iron. ARL suspects hidden copper when potassium is below 4 mg% or calcium is over about 80 mg%.
Zinc and magnesium deficiency raise the ratio too: zinc lowers sodium and raises potassium, and magnesium lowers sodium. ARL records that salt is secondary and that a high ratio frequently occurs in people who consume no salt; the main causes are excessive aldosterone from stress, or zinc or magnesium deficiency. Sodium from household water is covered in the softened water article.
ARL records cadmium's effect on the Na/K in two directions that depend on timing. Eliminating cadmium improves the ratio. A retest taken during the elimination may show the ratio rise further, because cadmium leaves through the kidneys and stresses them; the ratio settles when the elimination is complete.
ARL describes a high Na/K in a slow oxidizer as an acute stress response occurring within the exhaustion stage, and records it as a common occurrence; a slow oxidizer with a low Na/K is the less desirable double exhaustion stage pattern. Trace Elements' 2020 Slow Metabolic Type 2 is the matching reading: elevated Na/K and Na/Mg, an alarm phase of stress.
ARL's immune reading divides by direction: a low Na/K goes with a weak immune trend and a very high Na/K with an overactive immune trend. ARL's children's growth document lists an Na/K greater than 10 among its critical zinc-deficiency indicators, beside zinc below 10 mg% and phosphorus of 14 mg% or less.
A hair tissue mineral analysis is a screening test for nutritional and toxic-element patterns. It reports mineral levels in milligrams percent (mg%) and the ratios between them, and it measures soft tissue rather than blood. Each reading averages roughly 2 to 3 months of hair growth, and samples are analyzed unwashed, because washing removes over 90% of the sodium and potassium in hair (Trace Elements). Where the laboratory literature describes a trend, that trend belongs to the mineral pattern rather than to any person reading about it.
The Na/K comes first, against 2.4 to 2.5, and placed in its ARL band: 2.5 to 4, 4 to 6, or above 6. The oxidation rate follows, because a high Na/K in a slow oxidizer is read as acute stress within the exhaustion stage.
Next: copper, cadmium, mercury and nickel, which raise sodium, then potassium against the 4 mg% hidden-copper line and the zinc and magnesium levels.
Anything above the ideal of 2.4 to 2.5. ARL grades 2.5 to 4 as mild, 4 to 6 as moderate and above 6 as severe elevation.
The alarm stage of stress, with increased aldosterone and an inflammatory response that may be in effect.
Not usually. ARL records that a high ratio frequently occurs in people who consume no salt, and names stress-driven aldosterone and zinc or magnesium deficiency as the main causes.
Yes. ARL lists copper, cadmium, mercury and nickel, and at times aluminum, manganese and iron, as metals that raise sodium even when they do not show on the test.
A full hair tissue mineral analysis reports sodium, potassium, zinc, magnesium and the toxic metals beside the Na/K ratio, which together show where a high ratio is coming from.
Published 2026-10-20 · Updated 2026-10-20
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.
