IdeaLabs Service - Mineral Analysis (hair and/or (toe)nail)

[haidut]

How long would it take to see changes in the steroid levels in the toenails? For instance if I did a before and after analysis after using Pansterone to see how it changed?

Probably just a few days is enough to make a difference, but since nails show a longer term average levels (1+ month) and show data from the past (2-3 months ago), you'd probably need to take is for at least 2-3 months so that the levels are consistent and also the tip of the nail you send for analysis after 2-3 months reflects the timeframe when you started using it. So, if you send a nail now it should show the "before" state and if you send a nail 2-3 months later (while using Pansterone) it should show the "after" state.
Also, we are not yet offering the steroid analysis, as it is not ready yet. The currently available service only covers minerals and heavy metals in nails, but we should have it the steroid service in a few months so you can clip the nail now to preserve the "before" state and start growing the nail for the "after" state while using Pansterone.

 

[Happycat]

Growing toenails!

Me too ?

I'm especially interested in the steroid levels testing.

 

[Drareg]

This is amazing.
I think there will be lots of questions about what to do when ranges are above or under, we will have to start a thread on it and figure it out with our experiences, once agreed the actions will need to be formatted in a comprehensible way.

Its going to be fascinating to see the correlations unfold, for example the big questions we currently can't answer, baldness, grey hair, finasteride issues etc, the patterns should unfold.

 

[retroactive]

Can you test for markers of inflammation?

 

[yerrag]

This is amazing.
I think there will be lots of questions about what to do when ranges are above or under, we will have to start a thread on it and figure it out with our experiences, once agreed the actions will need to be formatted in a comprehensible way.

Its going to be fascinating to see the correlations unfold, for example the big questions we currently can't answer, baldness, grey hair, finasteride issues etc, the patterns should unfold.

I share your excitement in the promise of knowing our mineral deficiencies in a better way. I've seen my health skyrocket just being able to remove mercury from my system. And it's holding. It sure saved me from endless trips to the conventional doctor and from being pushed drugs by white coats.

I hope it would also provide a key piece of the puzzle as to why despite knowing of Ray Peat and his ideas, many still struggle with their thyroid and with their blood sugars.

 

[haidut]

This is amazing.
I think there will be lots of questions about what to do when ranges are above or under, we will have to start a thread on it and figure it out with our experiences, once agreed the actions will need to be formatted in a comprehensible way.

Its going to be fascinating to see the correlations unfold, for example the big questions we currently can't answer, baldness, grey hair, finasteride issues etc, the patterns should unfold.

Yep, very psyched about this. Would love to get Peat's take on some of the results too. As far as the steroids are concerned, we will try to develop methods for cortisol and DHEA as their levels, and especially their ratio, have emerged as perhaps the most reliable predictor of all-cause mortality as well as the risk of pretty much any chronic disease - i.e. cortisol/DHEA ratio >10 is a bad sign. Aside from the obvious remedies to lower cortisol and maybe even increase DHEA directly with supplements, I am hoping we would eventually be able to test thyroid steroids like T3 and rT3 as well, vitamin D, etc and when a steroid panel is done we may be able to show definitively that when thyroid goes down other systemic biomarkers like cortisol/DHEA ratio go out of whack, and then minerals do as well as a downstream result of derange hormonal balance. However, even with the minerals simple things like low magnesium, high calcium/sodium, low potassium are themselves pretty good indicators of low metabolic rate and/or potentially high stress.
Anyways, will keep everybody posted and hopefully some good knowledge comes out of this that can be used by everybody and can be shown to doctors to potentially change their attitude towards metabolism and disease in general.

 

[haidut]

Can you test for markers of inflammation?

Most of the biomarkers of inflammation are reliably testable in blood. We may be able to test for things like prostaglandins, leukotrienes, arachidonic acid, etc and that should give a pretty good estimate of overall inflammatory status, but other biomarkers like CRP, ESR, TNF-a, HDL, the various interleukins, etc are testable in blood and pretty reliable, so not much need (at least for now) in testing them in nails/hair.

 

[haidut]

Me too ?

I'm especially interested in the steroid levels testing.

Should have at least cortisol and DHEA available in the next month or so. The good thing about this is that once a method is developed for measuring 2-3 steroids it should be easily extensible to all of them. So, best case scenario, we may be able to test not only the 10+ major hormones people usually test in blood, but even extensive hormonal profiles (with 20+ steroids) such as the the DUTCH service, ZRT labs, etc.

 

[Drareg]

Yep, very psyched about this. Would love to get Peat's take on some of the results too. As far as the steroids are concerned, we will try to develop methods for cortisol and DHEA as their levels, and especially their ratio, have emerged as perhaps the most reliable predictor of all-cause mortality as well as the risk of pretty much any chronic disease - i.e. cortisol/DHEA ratio >10 is a bad sign. Aside from the obvious remedies to lower cortisol and maybe even increase DHEA directly with supplements, I am hoping we would eventually be able to test thyroid steroids like T3 and rT3 as well, vitamin D, etc and when a steroid panel is done we may be able to show definitively that when thyroid goes down other systemic biomarkers like cortisol/DHEA ratio go out of whack, and then minerals do as well as a downstream result of derange hormonal balance. However, even with the minerals simple things like low magnesium, high calcium/sodium, low potassium are themselves pretty good indicators of low metabolic rate and/or potentially high stress.
Anyways, will keep everybody posted and hopefully some good knowledge comes out of this that can be used by everybody and can be shown to doctors to potentially change their attitude towards metabolism and disease in general.

We won't need doctors when we have data, having this kind of data may well be the trigger for them to come after us on here, to think they still do the same kind of blood checks, its laughable at this point.

Interesting how the ruling class promote free markets yet medicine is becoming more controlled and specific substances mandated.

 

[haidut]

We won't need doctors when we have data, having this kind of data may well be the trigger for them to come after us on here, to think they still do the same kind of blood checks, its laughable at this point.

Interesting how the ruling class promote free markets yet medicine is becoming more controlled and specific substances mandated.

We will publish the steroid analysis method in an open-access (free) peer-reviewed journal so even if they come after my lab, the knowledge will be out there and if this method for analyzing biomarkers works it would be impossible to stop. Especially considering how desperate medicine is for things that work. I mean, just 5 years ago every layer of govt in the Western world pledged illegal drugs will NEVER be allowed in medicine. And now we have MDMA being used for PTSD, psylocybin for depression, LSD for suicide, and even cocaine for dulling (or even stopping) alcohol "addiction".

 

[Ledo]

Maybe you could develop a webpage form/questionnaire associated to the customer sample so that if the customer chooses, he/she could agree to anonymously release the resulting data for analysis against their questionnaire.

The questionnaire could be comprehensive including many health conditions and personal data, grey hair, hypothyroid, etc. You could develop associations over time with nothing but a daily automated running of results against questionnaire data and the customer could benefit greatly from the leads.

This would sure beat slow clumsy testimony on the forum as each person responded in ad-hoc fashion.

 

[Soren]

This is awesome! Wish I hadn't just cut my nails

 

[gabys225]

Thank you!
Well, I think the mineral testing by itself should be interpreted with caution. As Ray's quotes suggest (and contrary to what ALL the companies offering mineral hair analysis claim) high levels of say calcium in nail would probably suggest dietary calcium deficiency, not excess. So, in such a situation I would increase calcium intake and/or vitamin D/K intake, as Peat suggests. On the other hand, I think low magnesium levels in nail would be pretty good indication of low thyroid function, as magnesium cannot really be retained without sufficient ATP synthesis, and the latter depends on thyroid/metabolism. One could try to increase magnesium intake but without also addressing thyroid the effects of increased magnesium intake would be short-lived. I guess the mineral analysis would be a good method to test for that - i.e. if the person has low magnesium in say nails and despite increasing magnesium intake the levels do not budge, then low thyroid function should probably be strongly suspected. Low potassium levels in nail would also be potentially problematic and may signal things like high cortisol or generally catabolic environment. All in all, it is hard to guess what all the possible problems and their corrections would be. Ideally, the mineral test would be combined with steroid analysis of the same sample, so the picture would be clearer. I mean, if the steroid analysis shows low T3/T4 in nail and then also low magnesium, it is pretty much 100% established that metabolism is low and the person may even need to take thyroid. A simpler situation would be discovering heavy metal toxicity, which many people suspect they have, in which case dietary measures that can displace the toxic metal and/or chelation would be the likely steps a doctor would suggest.

You're right Haidut, it's just another tool to have, not the only tool. When my rat got it's hair results back 6 months ago, it's magnesium was off the charts (reference range 1.3-17.1, I was 66.5). Calcium elevated, but only slightly.

Do you think a very high reading could indicate tissue/cell loss of said mineral? That could also indicate hypothyroidism, so sometimes interpretation is tricky. As you come across research or ideas about how to interpret these results for our rats, please keep us updated in this thread if it's possible.

 

[Drareg]

We will publish the steroid analysis method in an open-access (free) peer-reviewed journal so even if they come after my lab, the knowledge will be out there and if this method for analyzing biomarkers works it would be impossible to stop. Especially considering how desperate medicine is for things that work. I mean, just 5 years ago every layer of govt in the Western world pledged illegal drugs will NEVER be allowed in medicine. And now we have MDMA being used for PTSD, psylocybin for depression, LSD for suicide, and even cocaine for dulling (or even stopping) alcohol "addiction".

Fingers crossed, we need change, the mental state of people is becoming more incoherent.

 

[haidut]

You're right Haidut, it's just another tool to have, not the only tool. When my rat got it's hair results back 6 months ago, it's magnesium was off the charts (reference range 1.3-17.1, I was 66.5). Calcium elevated, but only slightly.

Do you think a very high reading could indicate tissue/cell loss of said mineral? That could also indicate hypothyroidism, so sometimes interpretation is tricky. As you come across research or ideas about how to interpret these results for our rats, please keep us updated in this thread if it's possible.

I try to stay away from interpreting the results as it would be legally risky. My personal opinion is that magnesium value are often whacky/high in hair, based on what we have seen in our tests so far, but when tested in nail or in erythrocytes it is normal or even low. So, you can search for that red blood cell magnesium test on Google and then do it as a follow-up. I think at this point several companies offer it, and it used to be only one 3-4 years ago.

 

[gabys225]

Yes, I understand. Still, you just shared a very valuable piece of information, thanks!

 

[tastyfood]

3mm toenail is a hell of a big toenail. I wish I hadn't cut mine before this announcement was made. Waiting patiently for the nails to grow enough to send the sample. I'll have to load up on gelatin and see if that speeds up the process.

 

[haidut]

Maybe you could develop a webpage form/questionnaire associated to the customer sample so that if the customer chooses, he/she could agree to anonymously release the resulting data for analysis against their questionnaire.

The questionnaire could be comprehensive including many health conditions and personal data, grey hair, hypothyroid, etc. You could develop associations over time with nothing but a daily automated running of results against questionnaire data and the customer could benefit greatly from the leads.

This would sure beat slow clumsy testimony on the forum as each person responded in ad-hoc fashion.

Good idea, thanks, but we cannot do that, mostly for legal reasons. We cannot suggest result associations with specific conditions or symptoms of such conditions. That is for the person getting the analysis done to determine with their health care provider. Also, collecting personal and medical information triggers many compliance requirements on the data collection site, that we are really not keen on getting involved with. So, it would be just the analysis service for now and if things change legally then we can look into implementing what you suggested.

 

[haidut]

3mm toenail is a hell of a big toenail. I wish I hadn't cut mine before this announcement was made. Waiting patiently for the nails to grow enough to send the sample. I'll have to load up on gelatin and see if that speeds up the process.

Depends on the person. Most women who do pedicure would probably say 3mm is not much. Depending on how big the toe is, smaller pieces may also suffice. We need 100mg-150mg of nail, so if the toe is big and the nail is say an inch wide, then a length of 2mm or even 1mm would suffice.

 

[tastyfood]

Depends on the person. Most women who do pedicure would probably say 3mm is not much. Depending on how big the toe is, smaller pieces may also suffice. We need 100mg-150mg of nail, so if the toe is big and the nail is say an inch wide, then a length of 2mm or even 1mm would suffice.

Noted. Good to know there is a weight estimate to account for as well.