The Deep Inversion
Sodium at less than four tenths of potassium: the deepest sodium/potassium cutoff in the workbook
The pattern workbook names an Na/K below 0.4 as its own pattern, a trauma pattern associated with chronic severe stress. At a 10 mg% potassium, that cutoff means sodium below 4 mg% against an ideal of 24 to 25.
The pattern workbook Eileen reads charts against defines this pattern by one number: a sodium/potassium (Na/K) ratio less than 0.4. It classes the pattern as a trauma pattern associated with chronic severe stress. The Na/K ideal is 2.4 at Trace Elements, Inc. and 2.5 at Analytical Research Labs (ARL), so 0.4 is about one sixth of the ideal.
The arithmetic sets what the chart has to show. At potassium's 10 mg% ideal, an Na/K below 0.4 means sodium below 4 mg%, against a sodium ideal of 24 to 25 mg%. At sodium's 25 mg% ideal, it means potassium above 62.5 mg%. A chart reaches 0.4 through a very low sodium, a very high potassium, or both, and the two levels show which.
ARL's Na/K table calls any ratio below 1 a severe inversion, with cardiovascular, abnormal cell growth, arthritis, kidney and liver trends. Its Fatigue document reads a ratio below 1 as an important indicator of chronic fatigue. Trace Elements' 1993 endocrine table lists increased adrenal catabolic dominance below 1.8, and its 2018 newsletter places the potassium-dominant resistance phase below 1.4. An Na/K below 0.4 sits under every one of those lines.
ARL's Stress Document records that a continuing drop in the ratio indicates a profound exhaustion. ARL's children's growth document reads an Na/K below about 1 during the growing years as excess cortisone, which reduces growth.
ARL records a ratio below 0.5 as rare in adults. Its children's document records that children's ratios are often below 2 and many times below 1, figures that ARL places in its severe-inversion band for adults. Its document on burnout in children, seen as young as age three or four, records that "it is not uncommon to see a ratio of 0.5:1 or even lower". The other chart indicators it lists: an oxidation rate either extremely fast with a low Na/K or, more often, slow; high toxic metals, most commonly cadmium, copper and aluminum, sometimes lead; and very low trace elements.
An ARL case history of a three-year-old records sodium at 4 mg% and potassium at 16 mg% on the first test, and sodium at 16 mg% with potassium at 59 mg% on a retest four months later, an Na/K of 0.27. Both tests sit below 0.4. Sodium rose four-fold, from 4 to 16 mg%, and the ratio barely moved, because potassium rose almost as much, from 16 to 59 mg%.
ARL's explanation for the potassium rise: a body on a corrective program breaks down poor-quality tissue holding metals, chemicals or infection, and potassium, the primary intracellular mineral with magnesium, is released and raises the hair reading. The same retest showed lead about halved and aluminum about one third of the first level. A ratio below 0.4 on a retest is therefore read with the level of each mineral, not as the ratio alone.
Trace Elements' November to December 2021 newsletter reports a case in which the Na/K moved from 0.56 to 1.66 over two months, which it described as a 300% increase. ARL's Hair Analysis and the New Nutrition records a man tested seven times over 18 months whose Na/K, under 1 at the start, eventually showed no inversion for the first time, after repeated releases of lead, mercury, cadmium, copper and nickel.
ARL states that the elimination of a heavy toxic metal is the most common cause of a sodium/potassium inversion on a retest chart, so the toxic-metal lines are compared across the same tests.
| Na/K | Reading | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Below 2.4 to 2.5 | Inversion | ARL; Trace Elements |
| Below 1.8 | Increased adrenal catabolic dominance | Trace Elements, 1993 |
| Below 1.4 | Potassium-dominant resistance phase | Trace Elements, 2018 |
| Below 1 | Severe inversion; chronic fatigue indicator | ARL |
| Below 0.5 | Rare in adults | ARL |
| 0.5 or lower | Not uncommon in children with burnout charts | ARL, Burnout in Children |
| Below 0.4 | Trauma pattern associated with chronic severe stress | Pattern workbook |
Each row is a trend on the mineral pattern.
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 two levels come first: sodium against 24 to 25 mg% and potassium against 10 mg%, to show whether the ratio comes from a low sodium, a high potassium, or both. Then the Na/K itself against 0.4 and against the ideal of 2.4 to 2.5.
Next: magnesium, because tissue breakdown raises magnesium with potassium, and the cadmium, copper, aluminum and lead lines. Each level is compared on the next test 3 to 5 months later.
The pattern workbook names it as its own pattern, a trauma pattern associated with chronic severe stress. It is about one sixth of the 2.4 to 2.5 ideal.
At a potassium of 10 mg%, sodium below 4 mg%. At a sodium of 25 mg%, potassium above 62.5 mg%. The two levels show which applies.
ARL records that children's ratios are often below 1, and that ratios of 0.5 or lower are not uncommon in children with burnout charts.
Yes. In an ARL case, sodium rose from 4 to 16 mg% while potassium rose from 16 to 59 mg%, so the ratio stayed near 0.27.
A full hair tissue mineral analysis reports the sodium and potassium levels beside the Na/K ratio, which is what shows whether a very low ratio comes from sodium, potassium, or both.
Published 2026-10-22 · Updated 2026-10-22
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.
