YOUR MINERAL STATUS IS ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU ANXIOUS
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Keep in mind, blood tests are poor markers to test minerals. If you’re looking to test, I recommend doing an HTMA which I offer to all my clients!
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Potassium and sodium: Sodium is an extracellular mineral, whereas potassium is intracellular. In most cases, we want sodium to be a bit higher than potassium, for it travels through the body more abundantly and is excreted more easily via sweat and urine. However, when sodium to potassium ratios are too high, meaning low potassium, this could signal there is adrenal dysfunction, in which can directly impact our production of corticoids, particularly glucocorticoids (substances that the body makes to fight inflammation and modulate the immune system). When the body is under stress, anxiety can develop as a protective mechanism to stimulate and protect itself. Note here that low potassium is synonymous with high or low copper levels as well.
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Magnesium and calcium: The ratio between these two minerals is usually linked to adrenal health, but also blood sugar dysregulation. As a rule of thumb, when any type of stress is present, one should acknowledge that magnesium will be one of the first minerals the body will “burn” through. That being said, stress spikes cortisol which increases osteoblastic activity (bone breakdown) that can lead to higher calcium levels being released from bones. On the flip side, if calcium is too low, our cells don’t become sensitized to glucose, which we NEED in order to absorb the body’s source preferred source of energy.
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Copper: There is usually a strong correlation to those high in copper on an HTMA with other altered minerals and heavy metals than can trigger anxiety. As a reminder, copper toxicity is rare, but rather it is “unbound copper” that would be appearing high on the test, meaning one isn’t producing adequate ceruloplasmin, a protein that helps activate copper and do its job. Ironically, ceruloplasmin is made in a proper functioning liver and adrenal glands.
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See the correlation? Stress like blood sugar dysregulation, environmental factors, not eating enough, over exercising, etc it can all manifest.
