Let’s take a deeper dive into your More Than Healthy Hair Analysis Report. This week is Tip #66: How to understand the Gut Support Indicators Page in your hair analysis report. To watch our weekly Video Tip, click this link. To listen to the audio podcast, click on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
We’re so excited about the amount of information available through hair analysis! This report is an absolute gold mine of information that is 100% specific to you and your body. We want to help you understand what all of this information means so that you can use it on your journey to optimal health.
Why does gut support matter?
You know that at More Than Healthy, we are focused on gut health. That’s because we know that health begins and ends in the gut! For more in-depth information on how your gut affects overall health, and how it relates to the information in your hair analysis report, check out this post here.
The Gut Support Indicators page is usually page 7 of your report. As you can see on the page, or on the images we’ve shared below, so many other areas affect gut health. These include toxins and stressors in the environment, nutrition imbalances and deficiencies, everything that makes up the System Support Energetic Indicators (see our thorough breakdown of that page here), and food intolerances.
Gut Support Indicators Page scoring
Just like on other reports, there is a score to the right of each section, with a total at the bottom. And, as always, the lower the score, the better.
Here is the Gut Support Indicators Page score breakdown:
- If you have a score of 20+, you need high maintenance to get healthy again.
- If you have a score of 11-19, you need moderate help.
- If you’re ten and below, you will be in maintenance.
Let’s take a closer look at each section, and what they mean. I’m going to list them by priority; in other words, in the order that I have my clients address them.
Additionally, I am using David’s hair analyses as examples. We’re including the Gut Support Indicators Page from his initial hair analysis test results and his follow-up test after 90 days as we walk through each of these sections.
What are Environmental Stressors?
The first section at the top of the chart is the Environmental Stressors section. This section is also at the top of my priority list.
We’ve discussed the Environmental Stressors in-depth in our post on Personal Immune System Support Indicators. You’ll want to check it out, as we break down each of the stressors and explain what they mean and why they matter. These indicators include:
- Toxic metals
- Chemicals and hydrocarbons
- Electro sensitivity
- Radiation
- Molds/Spores
- Fungus
- Parasite
- Bacteria
As we’ve discussed in previous posts, if anything in this area is highlighted, you will want to address it first. All of these are so bad for your gut that it doesn’t do much good to address anything else until you take care of these first. We explained all of this in our Week 62 Tip, so be sure to check that out if your test highlights any of these areas.
If your report shows you have inflammation, then we will suggest things you can do to mitigate that along with removing any marked environmental stressors. These will be highest priority, and you definitely don’t want to ignore anything in this area.
David’s first hair analysis: An example
The pictures below show David’s first and second hair analyses. In his initial hair analysis, his total score for this page was 26, which meant he was still in the high-maintenance category. He had no idea he had a parasite and a virus. We addressed those first with the 10-day cleanse we recommend, which you can read about here.
The EMF exposure was not a surprise, as most of us live in a very high-tech world. We get exposure absolutely everywhere. (Read more about this here.) So he started taking a supplement called spirulina that helps the immune system to fight EMFs.
David’s Initial Hair Analysis, Gut Support Indicators Page
David’s Follow-Up Hair Analysis after 90 Days, Gut Support Indicators Page
What about food intolerances?
After talking with my clients about environmental stressors, the next thing I focus on are Food Intolerances. This is an area that affects your gut health a lot. If there are foods your body doesn’t tolerate, they will often show up in this part of the report.
We recommend you eliminate any foods highlighted in green in this section for 90 days, if possible, and then retest. If you feel like you cannot eliminate some of the foods listed, at least try to cut back on them.
Wheat and gluten
We talk a lot about wheat and gluten here at More Than Healthy, as they cause so much inflammation and damage in the gut.
We were surprised to see that although David cannot tolerate wheat, it’s not highlighted in his report. I have a theory that it’s not marked because he never eats wheat, ever, but I don’t know that for sure. Rye, another grain with gluten, is marked, however, along with barley. He has to avoid all gluten products because he will have such a severe reaction to them.
David can tell within about 20 minutes if he’s been exposed to gluten. We’re always extra cautious when ordering food at a restaurant, as that’s where unintentional exposure can happen. Not too long ago, David ordered a gluten-free pizza at a new restaurant we’d never been to. Within 20 minutes, he had excruciating abdominal pain. He was so sick he thought he had food poisoning. I told him that food poisoning doesn’t happen that quickly, but if there was gluten in that pizza, that would do it.
I can tolerate gluten, but I know when I’ve eaten it because it gives me gas and bloating. That pizza for sure had some gluten, because I experienced both of those symptoms that night. David went home and straight to bed and was sick until the following day. For him, gluten means pain, so he’s not even tempted to eat it.
Alcohol
Alcohol is another food category that is often marked in this Food Intolerances section. For some of my clients, this is very difficult for them to modify. They usually cut back, but it doesn’t help much. It’s not until they remove it completely that they see the real benefits in their future hair analysis and overall health conditions.
What are Nutrition Markers?
The next area I look at is the nutrition markers. This is a big area. The vitamins critical to the gut (but not limited to) and included here are:
- Histidine
- Tryptophan
- Zinc
- Cysteine
- Betaine
- Superoxide Dismutase
- Molybdenum
- Vitamin D3
- Alpha Lipoic Acid
- Sulforaphane
- Omega-3
- Selenium
- Vitamin B12
- Iron
- Vitamin C
- Glutamine
We have informational posts on many of these markers on our website and have linked them in the list above. These posts have many suggestions on how to get more of them into your diet. And for those we haven’t done yet, don’t worry; they’re coming in the near future.
If any of these markers are highlighted in green, you’ll want to address them once your environmental stressors have been taken care of.
As you can see, in David’s first hair analysis, he had several green areas and a score of 14. Since he had environmental stressors to address first, we didn’t do much in this area. I wanted to see what would happen in each of these areas once the parasite and virus were gone.
If you look at his second report from 90 days later, you can see all the improvements. His vitamin markers improved simply by removing the parasite and the virus and mitigating the EMF exposure with the spirulina supplement.
Your 90-day plan
Most of these nutritional markers can be increased through food. Here is what I have my clients do:
- Go to the 90-Day Optimize Immunity & Wellbeing Foods* page (usually pages 27-29 of the report, see example below) and start at the top.
- Look at each of the vitamin markers listed that page 7 says you need to increase. In David’s case, one example was tryptophan. It lists the foods to increase that particular vitamin marker, in this case including eggs, spirulina, cod, salmon, cheese, soya beans, pork, turkey, chicken, beef, lamb, and white rice. We added spirulina as a supplement to help with the EMFs.
- Take note of any food intolerances you have. David can’t have cheese because he’s lactose intolerant, and we limit his soya beans because they can cause an upset stomach. But he increased his intake of all the other items on this list for the next 90 days.
- After 90 days, retest. This allows you to see exactly what’s working and how your levels are improving.
*90-Day Optimize Immunity and Wellbeing Foods Page
David’s results – It’s working!
We were so happy with the results of his follow-up hair analysis. (Refer to both of his hair analyses shown above.) We weren’t surprised that the Super CleansR (the gentle cleanse we usually recommend) got rid of the parasite. But we were anxious to see how that would affect all the vitamin markers.
Originally, David had six of these nutrition markers highlighted and a score of 14. In his follow-up after 90 days, no markers were highlighted, and his score in this area was now 0. Wow! That was a great improvement, just by doing the cleanse.
Increase nutrition markers through food
I’m glad he didn’t go load up on all those vitamins he was deficient in, because this proves he didn’t need to do that. Not only is it expensive, but getting too much of them isn’t good for you, either.
I always encourage my clients to get their nutrition from food first and only supplement when it doesn’t seem to work. If you’ve upped your intake of these foods and it hasn’t made a difference, or if you simply can’t tolerate eating the foods on the list, then it’s time to consider supplementing. If your follow-up analysis shows these markers as still deficient, that’s when I recommend a safe and effective supplement. We also encourage you to work with your doctor on supplementation.
No more guesswork!
The hair analysis took all the guesswork out of his 90-day nutrition plan. And you can do the same thing. By using your hair analysis report and following the steps above, you’ve got your highly specialized action plan for the next 90 days.
System Support Energetic Indicators
The last area we need to look at is System Support Energetic Indicators. (Be sure to see our post on the System Support Energetic Indicators page.) These include:
- Digestion
- Microbial Balance
- Oxidative Stress/Inflammation
- Detoxification System
- Emotions
- Energy Production
- Immune System
- Brain
This is also an important area for gut health. We talk a lot about the effect of inflammation on gut health. It’s also probably obvious how microbial balance, digestion, detoxification, and maybe even the immune system affect the gut. But many of my clients don’t understand how emotion (stress), brain, and energy production play a vital role in healing or destroying that gut lining that’s so important.
Unless you’ve researched it, you might not know about the gut/brain connection. This is an area we have spent much time researching and learning about. We have many posts on managing stress, improving sleep, the power of the brain on your health, and a whole lot more.
We’ve lived it!
In fact, this is probably the area we’ve focused on most since David started this health journey seven years ago. If you’ve heard our story, you know that he completely destroyed his gut lining with sugar, gluten, NSAIDs, antibiotics, antacid medicines, and dairy. (He admits that deep down, he knew he was lactose-intolerant, but he loved his ice cream and hated to give it up!)
He added insult to injury to his poor gut by eating the Standard American Diet and downing plenty of sugary sodas and processed foods. He rarely ate green leafy vegetables (preferring corn and potatoes), and he simply popped more pills when he had more pain and indigestion. He had no idea how his poor sleep habits and super stressful life were adding to the destruction of his gut lining.
Gratefully, David now knows better. Now he makes sleep a priority. He manages stress levels with meditation, breathwork, and exercise (check out our posts on all these). He also enjoys all the wonderful foods we eat on a daily basis (check out our amazing gut-healthy recipe repository). He says he feels better than ever.
Is gut health the key to anti-aging?
And… what we’re doing is working! David just had an epigenetic test. That’s a test that looks at the methylation sites of our DNA. It shows which genes are turned on and off to determine your biological age. So even though David is 66, at the cellular level, he’s 43. 43!! He’s actually growing younger!!
I think that’s a pretty good indicator that what we’re doing dramatically affects our lives. Could gut health be the actual fountain of youth? David and I think it is!
Understanding the Gut Support Indicators page
We hope this helps you better understand some of the data in your hair analysis. If you haven’t yet done your More Than Healthy hair analysis testing, what are you waiting for? With just a few strands of your hair, you receive a full report that looks at everything we talked about today, plus toxins, nutrients, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, electromagnetic frequency exposure, chemicals, radiation, parasites, and immune factors, as well as which foods you should avoid.
Go to our website to schedule a local hair analysis or order it online to be mailed to you today.
Please remember, we’re not doctors. We’re sharing what’s worked for us on our health journey. You will want to consult your doctor before significantly changing your diet and supplementation.
Let us help YOU become More Than Healthy!
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We’d love to become your health coaches as you work to become “more than healthy” and achieve optimal health.
