A slow oxidizer under stress
A fast reading after age 8 to 10, and the retest that follows it
Past age 8 to 10, the pattern workbook reads a fast rate as almost always temporary: a slow oxidizer under stress. Analytical Research Labs lists what raises the oxidation rate.
The pattern workbook Eileen reads charts against gives temporary fast oxidation a second name, slow oxidizer under stress, and records that this is almost always the case in anyone over the age of 8 to 10: a fast rate in that age group is almost always temporary. It places true fast oxidation mainly in babies and children under 3 to 8 years old.
The fast criteria are the same at every age: a calcium/potassium (Ca/K) ratio below 4 to 4.2 and a sodium/magnesium (Na/Mg) ratio above 4 to 4.17, spanning Analytical Research Labs (ARL) at 4 and 4.17 and Trace Elements, Inc. at 4.2 and 4 (2010 set).
ARL records that many people's metabolic pattern is a mixture of fast and slow oxidation because of toxic metals, nutrient deficiencies and other factors, so that a first hair mineral analysis may indicate fast or slow oxidation, and the pattern changes on later tests. ARL also records that a high sodium/potassium (Na/K) ratio in a slow oxidizer is an acute stress response occurring within the exhaustion stage, and calls it a common occurrence.
ARL's children's documents record a shift over about 20 years: children between 5 and 12 were usually fast oxidizers and are now often slow oxidizers; most children become mineral-depleted by age 5 or 6; it is not unusual to encounter a 5-year-old with a very slow oxidation rate; and the hair analyses of most teenagers and some pre-teens show extremely slow oxidation rates.
For adults, ARL reports that 80 percent of the tests at Accutrace Laboratories showed sluggish thyroid and adrenal activity, and that 70 to 80 percent of people tested reveal weak adrenal glands. ARL's Stress Document estimates 10 to 20 percent of the American population in the alarm stage at any given time. Trace Elements' 2020 figures, from over one million hair tests, put parasympathetic-dominant patterns at approximately 70 percent and sympathetic-dominant patterns at approximately 30 percent, and its 2002 figure placed about 80 percent of women in the slow pattern.
The pattern workbook places the Three Highs pattern, three macrominerals above ideal with the fourth low, in the same category as temporary fast oxidation: almost always a slow oxidizer under stress or a secondary alarm reaction. The Na/K ideal is 2.4 (Trace Elements) to 2.5 (ARL).
ARL records that sodium retention by aldosterone is part of the alarm reaction, and that early in the alarm reaction potassium stays low, so the Na/K rises. Sodium is also the numerator of the adrenal ratio, so a raised sodium reading lifts Na/Mg toward the fast side.
ARL's Fatigue document lists what raises the oxidation rate: protein; sugar and carbohydrate, as a temporary stimulation often followed by a slowing of the rate; vitamins B1, B3, B5, B6, C and E; manganese, potassium and chromium; and increased tissue sodium and potassium. On the other side it lists fat, choline and inositol, copper, calcium, magnesium and zinc, and increased tissue calcium and magnesium as lowering the rate.
ARL's caffeine material records that caffeine stimulates the adrenal and thyroid glands and is followed several hours later by a rebound in which one feels more tired than before. ARL also records that cadmium, mercury, copper, iron and nickel raise the hair sodium reading; the hidden toxicity article covers metals that shift other readings.
ARL states that there is no way to predict the shifts in the oxidation rate; the oxidation rate swings article covers a rate that moves between fast and slow from test to test. In the 2020 Trace Elements subtype paper, the Fast 4 subtype shows both adrenal and thyroid activity reduced and converts to Slow 1.
Each hair reading averages about 2 to 3 months of growth, so a fast rate is compared with a retest 3 to 5 months later. A sample cut too far from the scalp will not show recent changes, which is why the retest sample is taken at the scalp.
| Reading | What the source records | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Fast rate at age over 8 to 10 years | Almost always temporary | Pattern workbook |
| Three Highs pattern | Slow oxidizer under stress or secondary alarm reaction | Pattern workbook |
| High Na/K in a slow oxidizer | Acute stress response within the exhaustion stage | ARL, high Na/K document |
| First test fast, later test slow | The pattern changes on later tests | ARL |
| Fast 4 subtype | Converts to Slow 1 | Trace Elements, 2020 |
Each line is a trend on the mineral pattern, read against the rest of the chart and the previous test.
A hair tissue mineral analysis is a screening test for nutritional and toxic-element patterns. It does not diagnose, 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. Where the laboratory literature describes a trend, that trend belongs to the mineral pattern rather than to any person reading about it.
The age on the request form is read beside the rate, because the pattern workbook places a fast rate over age 8 to 10 as almost always temporary. Then Ca/K and Na/Mg against 4 to 4.2 and 4 to 4.17, and the Na/K ratio against 2.4 to 2.5.
The next test, 3 to 5 months later, shows whether the rate stays fast or reads slow.
A fast rate, Ca/K below 4 to 4.2 and Na/Mg above 4 to 4.17, that the pattern workbook records as almost always the case in anyone over the age of 8 to 10. Its second name is slow oxidizer under stress.
Protein, sugar as a temporary stimulation, vitamins B1, B3, B5, B6, C and E, manganese, potassium and chromium, and increased tissue sodium and potassium.
On a retest. ARL records that a first test may indicate fast or slow oxidation and that the pattern changes on later tests.
A swing is the rate moving from fast to slow and back between tests. Temporary fast oxidation is the workbook's name for a fast rate past age 8 to 10.
A full hair tissue mineral analysis reports the Ca/K, Na/Mg and Na/K ratios on one chart, and a retest 3 to 5 months later shows whether a fast rate holds.
Published 2026-10-13 · Updated 2026-10-13
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. Wellness Shopping Online is operated by Nuco Enterprise Solutions LLC.
