Why You May Be Copper Toxic Even With Low Copper Levels

Sometimes, a patient may present with almost all of the symptoms of copper toxicity like fatigue, PMS, chocolate cravings, yeast infections, hypoglycemia, and depression, yet their first hair test shows that they actually have a low level of copper. 

When I tell this patient that we may still be looking at a case of copper toxicity, they often ask, “Why am I copper toxic even though my HTMA shows I have low levels of copper?”

To give you a better understanding, low copper is often paired with a low Na/K stress ratio (lower than the ideal of 2.5) and low adrenal ratio Na/Mg (lower than the ideal of 4.2), meaning that the adrenals are tanked.

Once this patient begins a nutritional balancing program that supports the adrenals, the next test will often reveal a hidden copper toxicity shown by now elevated copper levels. 

This reading is referred to as “latent” copper toxicity because the elevated copper is not immediately present in the first test but is likely to appear in a second or third test. 

This is due to the fact that when proper nutrition is given to the adrenals, ceruloplasmin (the copper-carrying protein) production increases in the liver. 

The ceruloplasmin then binds to copper, making it bioavailable.  

Only when the copper binds to ceruloplasmin can it become bioavailable and used for the important functions of copper like energy production in the Krebs cycle, killing off yeast, fertility, and maintaining pregnancy. 

Otherwise, when the copper doesn’t bind to ceruloplasmin, it becomes biounavailable and begins to store in the soft tissues of the body.

Remember, copper is vital to your health when bioavailable.

It is the buildup of biounavailable copper hiding in tissues of the body that then causes the classic copper toxic symptoms which wreak havoc on the adrenals.

So even if you have a high level of copper appear on a test, this can actually mean that you are deficient in copper. 

To visualize this better, I’ll use an example from Dr. Rick Malter Ph.D. who compares copper toxicity to being stranded in the ocean, you may be surrounded by water, but none of it is drinkable.