by Lawrence Wilson, MD

THE BOWL PATTERN ON A HAIR TISSUE MINERAL ANALYSIS

The bowl pattern is a more complex pattern seen commonly on hair mineral analyses. The hair must not be washed at the laboratory for accurate assessment of this pattern.

The pattern is defined as a combination of a low sodium/potassium ratio along with a high calcium/magnesium ratio. More specifically, the sodium/potassium ratio must be less than about 2.5 and the calcium/magnesium ratio must be greater than about 9.5 or 10.

This pattern is associated with feeling stuck, mentally and emotionally, as though one has few options. It is often not true, but the person feels that it is true. It is often related to nutritional imbalances, because when a person follows a nutritional balancing program, the pattern often goes away after 3 to12 months.

A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THIS INTERESTING PATTERN

To understand this pattern, consider the two ratios that it consists of. A low sodium/potassium ratio is associated with exhaustion, chronic stress, and often frustration, resentment and hostility.

This is combined with a high calcium/magnesium ratio. This is associated with defensiveness. One may be defending a lifestyle factor or an attitude that is not helpful for a person.

The combination of these two situations – fatigue, hostility, resentment, frustration – along with defensiveness, it is not surprising that one begins to feel stuck emotionally, mentally and perhaps physically as well. This is an example of how two interesting patterns on a hair mineral analysis can combine to form another interesting and more complex pattern.

Visual understanding. The bowl pattern is so named because the first four macrominerals on a hair analysis from ARL appear to form the shape of a bowl, unless one or more of the numbers are off the chart, in which case one cannot use the visual cue to identify the pattern.

OFTEN A YIN AND A BLOOD DEFICIENCY

In acupuncture terminology, a bowl pattern is associated with deficiency. This is a word used in acupuncture to describe a kind of empty feeling in the wrist pulses that the acupuncturist measures. It corresponds to a kind of emptiness in the body. This may be due to a nutritional imbalance, and it often is. However, it can be due to other causes as well that are discussed in acupuncture textbooks. The many amazing correlations between hair analysis and acupuncture are fascinating, and are discussed in another article entitled Acupuncture.

STUCK IN A PLANNED LIFE SITUATION

A bowl pattern may be related to a planned life situation that one is temporarily caught in. This may seem strange, but at certain times a person can seem to be stuck in a situation, with no apparent way out, in order to learn various lessons for oneself and/or to assist others to learn various lessons.

VARIANTS ON THE BOWL PATTERN

The bowl pattern is interesting because it combines with other common patterns on a hair analysis, which then skew or influence the shape or nature of the bowl pattern. Each of the different variants has subtle shades of meaning, though they are not as important as the basic concept of the bowl. Among the most common variants are:

1. Fast oxidizer bowl, also called a fast bowl.

2. Slow oxidizer bowl, also called a slow bowl.

3. A deep bowl – with very unbalanced Na/K and Ca/Mg ratios

4. A shallow bowl – fairly good Na/K and Ca/Mg ratios

5. A low bowl – as found with four lows pattern

6. A high bowl – as found with a four highs or three highs pattern.

7. A drastic bowl pattern. This is similar to a deep bowl pattern, but just more extreme.

Each of these variants on the bowl pattern can have meaning on a hair mineral analysis. However, they are more complex and are not needed for the interpretation in most cases. One could refer to some of these variants as a double bowl, or even a triple bowl pattern instead of a deep or a drastic bowl pattern. Sometimes, we find that expressing patterns as doubles or triples, for example, is more meaningful for their interpretation.

QUANTIFYING BOWL PATTERNS

One could certainly quantify the bowl pattern as a single, double, triple, etc. I don’t usually do this, and I am not sure of how to do it at this time. Instead, I usually just refer to the pattern as mild, moderate or extreme.

One could also quantify the pattern in terms of whether it is more slow than fast, or more about an imbalanced calcium/magnesium ratio or an imbalanced sodium/potassium ratio. Once again, at this time, I have not gone to this degree or extreme in understanding and labeling various bowl patterns.

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