Two workbook patterns together
A slow rate, low potassium and/or an elevated Na/K, and three of four macrominerals below ideal
The pattern workbook combines sympathetic dominance with three lows. Put together, the two definitions leave only calcium or magnesium as the mineral that can read above ideal.
The pattern workbook Eileen reads charts against defines this pattern as sympathetic dominance and a three lows pattern combined. Sympathetic dominance occurs when there is a slow oxidation rate combined with a low potassium level and/or an elevated sodium/potassium (Na/K) ratio; it is reinforced by a calcium/magnesium (Ca/Mg) ratio over 9.5 and by poor and very poor eliminators. Three lows occurs when three of the four macrominerals, calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium, are below their ideal values and one is above.
Analytical Research Labs (ARL) defines slow oxidation as a calcium/potassium (Ca/K) ratio above 4 with a sodium/magnesium (Na/Mg) ratio below 4.17. Trace Elements places the ideals at Ca/K 4.2 and Na/Mg 4 (2010 set), so the balance points publish as ranges: Ca/K 4 to 4.2 and Na/Mg 4 to 4.17.
The level ideals at ARL are calcium 40, magnesium 6, sodium 25 and potassium 10 mg%, and ARL's four core ratio ideals are those levels divided into each other: 40 over 10 is a Ca/K of 4, and 25 over 6 is an Na/Mg of 4.17. That arithmetic settles which mineral can read high in this combined pattern.
| Candidate for the one raised mineral | Result with the other three low | Fits this pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Sodium above 25 mg% | Na/Mg above 25/6 = 4.17: fast side of the adrenal ratio | No |
| Potassium above 10 mg% | Na/K below 2.5: neither low potassium nor an elevated Na/K | No |
| Calcium above 40 mg% | Ca/K above 40/10 = 4: slow side | Yes |
| Magnesium above 6 mg% | Na/Mg below 4.17: slow side | Yes |
So in this pattern potassium and sodium both read below ideal, and the raised mineral is calcium or magnesium. On Trace Elements' ideals the sodium result holds only against its own Na/Mg cutoff of 4: sodium 24 over magnesium 6 gives 4.
The workbook reads the combination as a fight-or-flight response with very weak adrenal activity, and records that a person with this pattern may push themselves extra hard to overcome stress. It lists hypoglycemia, muscle tension, insomnia, acute stress, low calcium, low magnesium, elevated blood pressure, water retention, edema, anger and exhaustion as associations, read here as trends of the mineral pattern.
The three lows definition reads the chart as moving toward four lows, with either a lot of toxic metals or too many nutrient minerals in a toxic form. The sympathetic dominance definition adds that four lows is also considered a sympathetic dominance pattern. Measured against ARL's ideals, four lows is calcium below 40, magnesium below 6, sodium below 25 and potassium below 10 mg%.
ARL's All-Four-Low document records that normally a reduction in sodium and potassium causes calcium and magnesium to elevate as a buffer against further stress. In the four lows pattern that buffering fails, because the individual keeps pushing beyond current capabilities. When calcium is the raised mineral here, magnesium is one of the low minerals; when magnesium is the raised mineral, calcium is one of the low minerals.
ARL's 1987 blood sugar document lists slow oxidation, especially with potassium below 5.0 mg% or a Ca/K higher than 100, as a hypoglycemia trend. ARL's 1990 insomnia document lists copper-imbalance indicators that fit a slow, low-potassium chart: potassium below 4 mg%, a Ca/K above 12 and an Na/K below 2.5.
A Ca/Mg over 9.5 is 42 percent above the ARL ideal of 6.67 and 36 percent above the Trace Elements ideal of 7. In this pattern a Ca/Mg over 9.5 points to calcium as the raised mineral, because a raised magnesium against a low calcium lowers the ratio. ARL's trend table in "Ratios and Their Meaning" reads a Ca/Mg of 10 to 12 as a hypoglycemia trend and 12 and above as a diabetes trend.
The workbook defines a separate pattern for the low potassium of sympathetic dominance together with an Na/K under 2.5. Where the Na/K on this chart reads under 2.5, that pattern's criteria are checked as well. The Na/K ideal is 2.4 (Trace Elements) to 2.5 (ARL).
Trace Elements uses sympathetic dominance for its Fast Metabolic type, a fast pattern. The workbook uses the term for a slow-oxidation finding with low potassium. Both labs read a low calcium/phosphorus (Ca/P) ratio as a sympathetic state and a high one as a parasympathetic state, with the Ca/P ideal at 2.5 (ARL) to 2.6 (Trace Elements, 2010). Trace Elements' Slow Metabolic Type 1 profile reads decreased adrenal activity from elevated magnesium with low sodium and potassium, which is the magnesium branch of this pattern.
A hair tissue mineral analysis is a screening test for nutritional and toxic-element patterns. It reports tissue mineral levels and ratios; it is not a diagnosis, 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, and a retest 3 to 5 months later shows the direction of change. Where the laboratory literature describes a trend, that trend belongs to the mineral pattern rather than to any person reading about it.
The rate comes first, from Ca/K above 4 to 4.2 and Na/Mg below 4 to 4.17. Then the potassium against 10 mg% and the Na/K against 2.4 to 2.5, then the count of the four levels to confirm three below and one above.
Next: which of calcium or magnesium is the raised one, the Ca/Mg against 9.5, and the poor eliminator section. An Na/K under 2.5 with the low potassium meets the workbook's separate low potassium, low Na/K pattern as well.
Sympathetic dominance, a slow oxidation rate with low potassium and/or an elevated Na/K, combined with three lows, three of the four macrominerals below ideal and one above.
Calcium or magnesium. On ARL's ideals, a raised sodium with a low magnesium puts Na/Mg above 4.17, which is not slow oxidation, and a raised potassium with a low sodium puts Na/K below 2.5 without low potassium.
A fight-or-flight response with very weak adrenal activity, and hypoglycemia, muscle tension, insomnia, elevated blood pressure and water retention trends.
Three lows is read as moving toward four lows, and the workbook counts four lows as a sympathetic dominance pattern in its own right.
A full hair tissue mineral analysis reports the Ca/K and Na/Mg ratios beside calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium, so the slow rate, the low potassium and the three lows count are all read from one chart.
Published 2026-11-10 · Updated 2026-11-10
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.
