Low Sodium/Potassium Ratio
An inversion below 2.5: the sodium pump, cortisol, and the bands down to 1
The pattern workbook defines a low sodium/potassium ratio as anything below 2.5. ARL grades it in bands, Trace Elements reads it as the resistance stage, and ARL names toxic-metal elimination as its most common cause on a retest.
The pattern workbook Eileen reads charts against defines a low sodium/potassium (Na/K) ratio as one below 2.5. Its definition rests on the sodium pump, which moves sodium out of the cells and potassium into them to keep the osmotic balance and the electrical charge of the cells. The workbook records that the ratio becomes low in an exhaustion stage of stress.
Analytical Research Labs' (ARL) glossary calls a ratio below 2.5 in an unwashed sample an inversion, a reversal of a normal mineral ratio. Trace Elements, Inc. sets the ideal at 2.4 with an acceptable range of 1.4 to 3.4 (2010), so the ideal publishes as 2.4 to 2.5. In hormone terms, a low ratio is cortisol, which tracks potassium, high relative to aldosterone, which tracks sodium.
| Na/K | ARL reading |
|---|---|
| 2 to 2.5 | Mild inversion; beginning of adrenal exhaustion |
| 1 to 2 | Moderate inversion; kidney and liver trends, allergy and arthritis trends, adrenal exhaustion, digestive trends, low hydrochloric acid |
| Below 1 | Severe inversion; cardiovascular, abnormal cell growth, arthritis, kidney and liver trends |
ARL's Fatigue document adds two lines: when the Na/K is below 2.5, fatigue is always present to some degree, and a ratio below 1 is an important indicator of chronic fatigue. ARL's Stress Document flags exhaustion below 2.0 and records that a continuing drop in the ratio indicates a profound exhaustion.
ARL attaches several readings to the same number. Protein catabolism: its athletes document associates a low Na/K in an unwashed sample with excessive protein breakdown, and its vegetarianism material records that an inversion indicates impaired capacity to use or synthesize protein, more so as the inversion deepens. Hidden copper: ARL lists an Na/K below 2 among its hidden copper indicators, beside copper below 1.0 mg% and potassium below 3 to 4 mg%. Immune readings: ARL describes the inversion as the prime indicator of impaired immune system activity, a weak-immune trend in adults, and its children's document lists an Na/K below 2.5 among its immune-suppression indicators in children. Glucose use: ARL reads an Na/K persistently below about 1.5 as a diabetes trend, from impaired glucose use.
The workbook lists the same territory as trends: adrenal exhaustion, fatigue, infection, kidney, liver, allergy, arthritis and digestive trends. It names a poor diet, fatigue, chronic infections, hidden toxic metals and nutrient deficiencies as causes.
David Watts of Trace Elements read the resistance stage of stress from the Na/K in 1990: below 2.4, glucocorticoid dominant and catabolic, with protein breakdown. Trace Elements' 2018 refinement places it below 1.4, a potassium-dominant resistance phase. Its 1993 endocrine table lists increased adrenal catabolic dominance at an Na/K below 1.8, and decreased insulin at an Na/K below 2 with a calcium/magnesium ratio below 3 and a calcium/potassium ratio below 4.
In the 2020 metabolic-type paper, a low Na/K appears in Fast Type 3, where it reflects excess glucocorticoid production, and in Slow Type 3, read as a chronic resistance stage with catabolic dominance. That paper adds that any major imbalance between sodium and potassium could indicate renal involvement, since both are under renal control.
ARL states it directly: "The elimination of a heavy toxic metal is the most common cause of a sodium/potassium inversion on a retest chart." Mercury or cadmium toxicity, or their elimination, can move the ratio. ARL's case histories add a second retest cause: tissue breakdown releases potassium, an intracellular mineral, which raises the hair potassium and lowers the Na/K.
A new inversion on a retest is therefore read against the toxic-metal lines on both charts before it is read as a change in adrenal activity. The stress stages article covers how the ratio tracks the stages across tests.
The workbook folds its allergy reading into this ratio: a low Na/K can indicate an allergy tendency from insufficient adrenal activity, because the adrenal anti-inflammatory hormones are what hold back an allergic response. ARL's allergy document lists three hair patterns: an Na/K below 2.5, which it calls the burnout pattern; the four lows pattern; and sodium below 6 mg% with potassium below 4 mg%. ARL also records that as energy rises on a program, allergies can return, a sign that the body is again able to react.
ARL's children's document records that children's Na/K ratios are often below 2 and many times below 1, figures that ARL places in its severe-inversion band for adults. Children appear to tolerate the low ratio better, though ARL associates it with an infection tendency, chronic stress and carbohydrate intolerance. Its growth document adds that an Na/K below about 1 during the growing years reflects excess cortisone, which reduces growth.
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 to 2.5, 1 to 2, or below 1. On a retest, the toxic-metal lines on both charts are read next, because metal elimination is ARL's most common cause of a new inversion.
After those: potassium against the 3 to 4 mg% and copper against the 1.0 mg% hidden-copper lines, then the oxidation rate.
A ratio below 2.5, which ARL calls an inversion. The ideal is 2.4 (Trace Elements) to 2.5 (ARL).
2 to 2.5 is a mild inversion and the beginning of adrenal exhaustion, 1 to 2 a moderate inversion, and below 1 a severe inversion.
ARL states that the elimination of a heavy toxic metal is the most common cause of a sodium/potassium inversion on a retest chart.
As the resistance stage of stress: glucocorticoid dominant and catabolic, below 2.4 in its 1990 paper and below 1.4 in its 2018 refinement.
A full hair tissue mineral analysis reports sodium, potassium, copper and the toxic metals beside the Na/K ratio, which together separate an adrenal reading from a retest elimination.
Published 2026-10-21 · Updated 2026-10-21
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.
