Measuring Progress on
Nutritional Balancing Program
ASSESSING PROGRESS WITH A NUTRITIONAL BALANCING PROGRAM CAN BE DIFFICULT. REASONS FOR THIS ARE:
- Progress can be hidden. In some cases, I call this “laying the foundation for health” because, like the foundation of a home, it is often hidden.
- Symptoms of retracing can arise at any time, and occasionally are vigorous and scary.
- Your most important symptom may not go away quickly. The body heals symptoms and health conditions in its own order with a nutritional balancing program. Please always remember this. It can be very frustrating when the symptom you think is most important does not go away. However, this does not mean you are not progressing on the program. It may just mean there are other, perhaps hidden conditions that need healing first.
- You may be developing, and this requires extra rest and sleep. As a result, you may find yourself very tired for several years. This does not mean you are not progressing, and in fact it may be an indicator of your progress.
- Another principle to recall is that if you follow a nutritional balancing program properly, you will progress, even if you don’t notice it. On the other hand, my experience is that if a person follows other programs, symptoms may well go away, but very often the impact on one’s overall health and development is negative. This occurs because it is often easy to make a symptom vanish using remedies (drugs, herbs, homeopathic remedies or vitamin/mineral products). However, most remedies are yin in macrobiotic terminology, and many are slightly toxic in other ways. This is why I suggest avoiding most healing remedies.
- The indicators below all have flaws in them. However, IF CONSIDERED TOGETHER, they can help one assess where one is with the healing process.
- Even with these indicators, assessing progress can still be difficult, so be cautious when attempting to measure your progress.
- For another method of assessment that can be most helpful, please read The Stages Of Development.
THE PROGRESS INDICATORS
- Out of four lows. This is especially important if you were in a four lows pattern when you began a nutritional balancing program.
- Weaknesses: Many people go in and out of a four lows pattern several times as they heal. This is perfectly acceptable, and almost always indicates healing. Eventually, you should remain out of a four lows pattern. For more on this topic, please read Four Lows Pattern on this site.
- A normal or slightly high sodium/potassium ratio (in a range of about 2.5 to 5).
- Weaknesses: Many people experience a temporary low Na/K ratio as they retrace infections, and during some toxic metal eliminations. Even just passing through a stressful situation can lower the Na/K ratio temporarily. This is not necessarily a backslide.
- Out of the cult. If you formerly drank the red or rooibos tea, ate a tunafish and fruit diet, used anti-perspirants, or did any of the other things associated with the cult diet, a milestone is when these no longer show up on your hair test. For more on this, please read The Cult Diet
- Eliminating some cadmium. Cadmium is a more difficult toxic metal to eliminate deeply. It usually requires at least several years on a program before it begins to be eliminated. When this occurs, it is a positive sign of progress, particularly restoration of the adrenal glands.
- Weaknesses: At times, cadmium may be eliminated early during a program. Usually, however, there is much more of it left inside the body. So this is not a perfect indicator.
- Balancing the oxidation rate. Ideally, the rate should not be extremely fast or extremely slow. Also, it should not be a mixed oxidizer pattern with one ratio indicating extreme fast oxidation and one ratio indicating extreme slow oxidation. Eventually, the rate will settle down into a mild to moderate slow oxidizer pattern. A measure of progress is when the oxidation rate is only mildly fast or mildly slow.
- Weaknesses: At times, the oxidation rate may become imbalanced, especially during a toxic metal elimination such as boron, which can increase the oxidation rate for a few months.
- Out of a calcium shell. This means the calcium level for a woman must be less than 165 mg% and for a man less than about 155 mg%. This is another indicator of a more balanced body chemistry, and often an indicator that some trauma has been cleared, as well.
- Weaknesses: Now and then, a shell may remain for years, either steadily or it may come and go. This does not mean that one is not making progress with healing.
- Out of double low ratio pattern on the first four macrominerals and on the second four minerals, as well. Double low ratio patterns indicate double give-up and are considered death patterns. It is excellent to be free of this common pattern.
- Weaknesses: At times, a double low ratio pattern, especially on the second four minerals, will persist for a few years. This is not a problem and does not mean that no progress has been made.
- Few or no poor eliminators. Poor eliminator patterns indicate that the body is having difficulty eliminating a toxic metal or a toxic form of a physiological mineral. Usually, the body is quite toxic with this element. As one progresses on a program, there should be fewer of these patterns present on the hair analysis retests.
- Weaknesses: As one heals, poor eliminator patterns may come and go for complex biochemical reasons. This does not mean that no progress has been made.
- A good phosphorus level. The hair phosphorus level reflects the ability of the body to synthesize protein. This is an important function. As one heals, the hair phosphorus level should approach 14 to 16 mg%, and should ideally remain at these levels.
- Weaknesses: Now and then, a hair phosphorus level will dip down for a few months, even when one is progressing well. One reason for this is an elimination of lead from the body. Lead seems to displace upward the hair phosphorus level, in some cases.
- Good toxic metal levels. As one progresses, the levels of the toxic metals move toward their ideal ranges. The ideal range is not too high, and not too low (the poor eliminator pattern). These ranges are listed in the article Hair Mineral Ideals.
- Weaknesses: Two weaknesses are: 1) at times, more of a toxic metal will be eliminated, causing an elevated toxic metal reading, and 2) at times, the body may retain a toxic metal, causing its level to move very low into a poor eliminator pattern.
- Good zinc and copper levels. Copper toxicity is very common. As one progresses, the copper level should move into a good range between 1.5 and 2.5 mg%. Zinc levels also vary a lot on hair mineral tests. As one progresses, the zinc level should settle into a good range of about 16 to 18 mg%.
- Weaknesses: Stress, and occasionally a toxic metal elimination, can temporarily upset the zinc and/or copper levels, even though one is making excellent progress.