Ep. 166: How balancing minerals transforms your period and fertility, with Tori Black

When thinking about women's health, it can feel overwhelming to know where to start. Tori Black is a Hair & Tissue Mineral Analysis tech who helps her clients focus on the foundational aspects of our body's building blocks, which affect every system of our bodies. In this episode, she talks about what HTMA is, how it can help prioritize where to begin, and what it can reveal. 

GUEST BIO: 

Tori is a registered nurse, Mercier Therapist, and fertility coach with a passion for helping couples struggling with unexplained infertility find answers and proven strategies to improve their chances of conception. In her practice she uses health foundations, HTMA testing, and a big dose of Jesus to support her clients.  She's also a wife, mom of two, lover of iced coffee, and Alabama girl. 

Note: This episode is appropriate for all audiences. 

Show Notes: 

• Fruitfulfertilityco.com
• Is the Copper IUD the best non-hormonal birth control for me, with Rick Fischer? 
• Why you need to consider fertility awareness with Caitlin Estes (Tori Black's podcast)
• Ep. 64: Unexplained Infertility

Transcript

Caitlin Estes (00:23)
Welcome back to the Wovenwell podcast. Okay, we talk all the time about how we as women are beautiful, complex human beings and how important it is to understand that on a physical, mental and spiritual level. We also talk about how our reproductive health is not isolated to just reproductive organs and hormones, but is really impacted by our whole body health. Well,

One area we haven't talked enough about yet is the role minerals play in that whole body health. Now we did have a great episode with Rick Fisher several weeks ago where he talked about the impact of copper on our physical and mental health and how copper IUDs can impact that. But what about all the others? How can we investigate and optimize them? Well, I've brought in a friend to help us learn more about minerals and the role they play in our reproductive health.

Tori Black is a registered nurse, Mercier therapist, and fertility coach with a passion for helping couples struggling with unexplained infertility find answers and proven strategies to improve their chances of conception. In her practice, she uses Health Foundations, HTMA testing, and a big dose of Jesus to support her clients. She's also a wife, mom of two, a lover of iced coffee, and Alabama girl. Tori, welcome to the show.

Tori (01:40)
Thank you so much, Caitlin. It's so good to see you again. I know we just recently saw each other and it's good to get to do another episode with you.

Caitlin Estes (01:48)
Absolutely. And if you want to listen to my episode on Tori's podcast, we'll make sure to have a link to that in the show notes as well. So Tori, why don't you start off by telling us what is HTMA? I think a lot of us have seen it maybe on Instagram posts or in the area of fertility, but we don't even know what does that stand for? What does it mean? So kind of introduces to it. What is

HTMA and how does it fit into your practice?

Tori (02:18)
It is, in my very biased opinion, the really coolest and most root cause testing you can do. So, HTMA stands for Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis, and it's really exactly what it sounds like. are analyzing the minerals in our hair. And the reason why this is really cool and really powerful is because this gives us an idea of what's going on in the body over a longer period of time, like a three month period. So,

For example, if we go to get our blood drawn at the doctor's office and they're taking mineral levels like let's say potassium. Well, if you just ate a banana for breakfast and then got your blood drawn, that level is not, it's going to be reflective of that day. It's a snapshot in time. But hair tissue mineral analysis lets us look at it over time. Like what's happening on a regular basis. And very similar to fertility awareness method. It's like we talked about on our, the last time we met that

kind of looking at it over time gives us a much more accurate picture of what's going on than just a one time shot. So I really love it because looking at these mineral levels helps us distinguish things like what's going on with the thyroid, what's going on with blood sugar, what's going on with our nervous system, all these things that are truly foundational. And just like you mentioned in the intro that our fertility is so much more than just our reproductive organs and our sex hormones. It is foundational

So, HTMA gives us a really good insight into what's going on on a foundational level. And I also love it because I often have clients come to me with quote unquote normal labs. So, and the best example is thyroid. They'll be told that their thyroid is normal. And then when I look at their HTMA, I'm like, it's not optimal. And I can see exactly where...

we're struggling, so if you are someone who's had normal labs, but maybe your period's still irregular or you can't get pregnant or something's happening, HTMA really gives us that no guessing root cause situation that's going on underneath.

Caitlin Estes (04:24)
Wow, that's a great description. it makes me think about, we talk a lot about blood sugar regulation and blood sugar health, because obviously it has a huge impact on reproductive health as well. And it's kind of the difference between having a fasting glucose or insulin level tested versus looking at A1C. A1C is looking at the last three months overall, what has your glucose level been at versus just that specific moment in time.

make big difference. And I would imagine that understanding that can provide an incredible amount of information. You mentioned things like thyroid specifically, and I'm sure a lot of people don't even know the connection between minerals and thyroid and why do our minerals matter so much? just for the average woman out there, why would this be beneficial for them? I think on like a practical level,

How could they take this information? could they do with it?

Tori (05:26)
Yeah, I, HTMA gives me a really great way to look at my client's overall health. We do like an intake form. And so this is for even women who aren't trying to get pregnant, but really anybody, men, women, absolutely anybody. But it helps us to look at what is the biggest priority. Cause a lot of times we're dealing with multiple issues, right? We're dealing with fatigue and an irregular period and maybe headaches or skin issues. And so we don't really know what to focus on.

And then we get on Google and we go down a bunch of rabbit holes and we try this supplement and we do this one thing, but it really doesn't fix anything. so, HTMA gives us a really pinpointed or what I call a priority because there's a lot of things looking at HTMA. gives us so much information. There's a lot of things we can work on, but HTMA really prioritizes what we need to focus on. For example, if you're looking at a test, we look at a bunch of different minerals, but the first...

are called the macro minerals, calcium, potassium, sodium, and magnesium. And if those are out of balance, then we can't really worry about anything else. So you were talking about Rick Fisher and talking about copper. Copper is a whole beast in itself. Like it's such a complicated topic. So I like to tell people we have to focus on first things first. We can't jump straight to copper. We have to focus on those first four macro minerals.

and that will give us a really easy, simple protocol to follow to maximize those. And then we can start working on everything else. So oftentimes with clients, I'm giving them something very simple to do, like a few nervous system regulation exercises. A lot of times it is blood sugar. More often than not, we are working on blood sugar regulation, and so we'll work on actually eating more food. Nine times out of 10, my women are not eating enough calories, and that's why they're seeing

imbalanced blood sugars. So it gives us something really something to really focus on a priority so we're not so overwhelmed because health can be crazy overwhelming with all the information out on the internet. So I love that because it gives us something really simple something really pinpoint and my clients typically see really I don't want to say like they're getting pregnant instantly that's not always the case but they're seeing

results almost instantly because it's so pinpointed to the most root cause, the most prioritized issue we need to focus on.

Caitlin Estes (07:54)
I like your use of the word foundational because that's what I think of when we're going back to the foundations of how our bodies work. Those minerals are so crucial to that. And so if there is something that's really off with it, then it's going to affect every other system. And so it's important to go there first. Also, you you mentioned a whole host of symptoms that someone could be experiencing.

Well, in our Western medical system and our Western philosophy, each one of those things would be under a different header for a different medical specialist. So you could end up going to 10 different specialists to try to figure out what's going on and either none of them will know what's going on or maybe they'll all give you a different diagnosis, but there really could be coming back down to this root issue of

an imbalance in the mineral system. And I would imagine this is going to be especially beneficial to women of reproductive years too. So obviously this is a podcast about natural fertility approaches. So fertility is pretty important to us. That's also a passion of yours. You work very closely with women who are trying to conceive. And you mentioned if they're being told they have unexplained infertility, which

we do not believe in here at Wovenwell. I've yet to meet a couple that actually struggled with unexplained infertility. So we just need to work with people who will get to that explainable reason and hopefully treat it. But talk with me a little bit about how HTMA testing can be beneficial for those women who are of reproductive years specifically.

Tori (09:43)
Yeah, so a lot of times when we're in our reproductive years, not everyone, but most of us are coming off birth control. We've been on birth control for years and years and years. That's what the doctor gave us when we turned 18 because our periods were painful. That's what they gave us for our PCOS to help manage it. That's what they gave us for endometriosis pain, or we were just using it as birth control. So just like you're saying, IUDs, those types of things. So...

Caitlin Estes (09:50)
Hmm.

Tori (10:08)
when we come off of those things, we're often met, not always, but often met with a slew of new side effects. Now, all of a sudden we have acne when we didn't have acne. Now our periods are not regulating. Our pain is back. Maybe it's even worse. so, HTML can be really great for women of those reproductive years because one, it can really help with those things that we're told are normal, but they're not normal, right? Like overly painful periods are not normal. They are common.

but they're not normal. even if you're not trying to get pregnant, but maybe you're having issues with your period, you just want to be normal, or even if you just want to feel better, maybe you're dealing with fatigue or something even more minuscule, HCMA can really give us that personalized approach to address our symptoms. Because like you were saying, you could go to...

Caitlin Estes (10:39)
Preach.

Tori (11:01)
a chiropractor and get adjustments. You could go to an acupuncturist. You could see all these different doctors that have different approaches, but HTMA is kind of unbiased in that way. HTMA has no agenda. It's like, I'm just gonna look at the mineral levels and see how I can improve these metabolic processes. And if that is with supplements, okay. If that's with movement, okay. If that's with protein, okay. it's really...

It has no agenda, which is really cool. I'm not, you know, me or anybody using HTMA. It's like, what is the priority? Is it gut health? Is it movement? Is it, I mean, a lot of times with my clients, it's just emotional. I had one client who her nervous system ratio was showing really dysregulated. It was showing acute stress, but she ate pretty healthy, exercised pretty regularly, but she had a very unhealthy.

Caitlin Estes (11:43)
Hmm.

Tori (11:55)
relationship with her sister and her family, like just a lot of emotions there. So we talked about drawing healthy boundaries around our family interactions and what that needed to look like and how we could focus on biblically surrendering that to God. So sometimes it's not even a supplement regimen you need. Sometimes it's talk therapy, but HCMA really pulls back the, you know, what's the blinds on all of that. It really opens us up to what really is going on because sometimes it is gut health.

Caitlin Estes (12:15)
Yes.

Tori (12:25)
Sometimes it's emotional. Sometimes it's you're not moving enough. So it gives us that really root cause explanation. And like you said, with unexplained infertility, I agree. think that's a lazy diagnosis. And I've always said that HTMA will tell me exactly what the explanation is. So your doctor may say it's unexplained, but I can tell you what it is just by looking at your HTMA. But even if you're just in your reproductive years and you're wanting to get ready for a pregnancy or feel better, HTMA can give you that simplified road roadmap.

Caitlin Estes (12:25)
Yeah.

Tori (12:55)
with no agenda and nothing else.

Caitlin Estes (12:59)
Well, and I, that's where I think it's so important to have someone like yourself who can interpret all that information for you, because you could go to someone and they say, well, you need to take all these supplements or you need to do A, B, C, but you're looking at it from this holistic perspective of what we talked about at the very beginning of the episode. We are mind, body, spirit. God created us as these amazingly

complex beautiful human creations. And so I think it's fantastic. I love that not only are you seeing physical health data through htma testing, you're also getting insights to maybe that emotional health or spiritual health and those are sometimes the answers that is so important because it's not always

one more supplement or one more procedure or one more test. Sometimes it's the answer is something very soul nourishing. Sometimes the answer is rest, you know, and we need those things in our lives and even our bodies can tell us that sometimes. So having somebody who can interpret it is important and in a minute I may ask you a little bit about what to look for in

someone who offers HTMA, but first I just want to go back to your example of women coming off of birth control because even though I know you focus so much on women who are trying to conceive, I think that's a great example. Coming off of birth control, you are so depleted. And I would imagine that especially for those ladies who have been on birth control for years, I get clients all the time who are put on it at 16, 17, sometimes younger than that.

and they were just on it without question for the next 10 years. Like, what do you typically see in women like that when it comes to their minerals? Like, does birth control really deplete you, minerally, if you can say it like that?

Tori (15:02)
Yes, any medication does really any medication that you are on long time does because any medication you take is a little bit taxing to your liver. So there are times when medication is absolutely needed. So it's not that medication is bad and you shouldn't take medication, but there's always the side effects. And typically with when it comes to minerals, we don't see that we no one tells us that we don't go to the doctor's office and they'll say, hey, we're gonna put you on this birth control, but you're gonna it's really gonna

Deplete your B vitamins. That's the main one for birth controls. We see that B vitamins are just plummeted and I won't go into my whole story because it is like a whole story in itself but when I came off I had came off birth control had my children back-to-back and Got back on birth control and came off I went into a state of having panic attacks all the time and I am a very chill go with the flow Like I am NOT and not an anxious person. And so was like, why am I having these panic attacks?

And then working with a nurse practitioner that was a more holistic approach, she was like, we really need to get some B vitamins in you. And sometimes we see a heavy metal as well, especially with IUDs and things. So on HTMA, we're looking at single mineral levels, we're looking at mineral ratios, meaning like how they work together. And then there's also a heavy metal section that shows us, hey, we're dealing with lead or aluminum or cadmium and those types of things. And we'll see.

sometimes those numbers increase with women that have IUDs. So not only are we looking at mineral levels, usually a depletion of B vitamins, sometimes we're looking at an increase in heavy metal exposure.

Caitlin Estes (16:37)
Hmm, that's so helpful. So if somebody is looking for a provider like yourself who does htma testing, can you just go to anyone out there? Do you just Google htma? Or are there certain things that you feel like help when you're looking for a really quality professional?

Tori (16:57)
Yeah, I would say looking for someone, and maybe this is a biased opinion, but looking for someone who specializes in women's healthcare specifically, someone who understands the cycle of women's hormones because as you know, we are on a follicular phase, our menstrual phase, follicular phase, ovulation, luteal, and things change within those parameters. So working with someone who specifically works with women has a...

Caitlin Estes (17:03)
That's okay, you can be biased.

Tori (17:25)
proven track record. I do have a certification for HTMA. I actually don't know if that is a qualification, but I would look for somebody with some kind of certification, qualification, even if that's a dietician or like me, I'm also a nurse. know a lot of HTM, MercyA therapists do HTMA as well. So looking for someone that has that education and that specialty with women is a really great way. And also women or practitioners that have

reviews from women like you that actually got the results. You want that proof of concept.

Caitlin Estes (17:55)
Mm. Mm.

Yeah, that's a really good point. And one I'll throw in there too from our conversation just today is I think someone who shares your faith values as well, because like you mentioned, you were able to spot when that spiritual health is a component in this or in the emotional health or mental health, you want someone who's going to see you as the full person that God created you to be and be able to honor that and work within that too. So man,

Tori (18:26)
Absolutely.

Caitlin Estes (18:27)
Tori, this is fascinating. I know it's gonna be super educational to a lot of listeners. So thank you so much for coming on the show and sharing your knowledge with us.

Tori (18:37)
Yeah, thank you so much for having me. I feel like you and I on the same path to helping women in the whole holistic and spiritual aspect. I love it.

Caitlin Estes (18:45)
Listeners, if you'd like to connect with Tori, we'll be sure to have her contact information in the show notes. And if you appreciate these short episodes about natural fertility care, be sure to leave us a quick five-star review or like to help put them in front of other ladies looking for the same resources. And join us next week for another great episode. As always, thanks for listening as we continue to explore together what it means to be woven well.