Experts at Brigham Young University (BYU) say that by analyzing nitrogen and carbon in a person's hair, they can successfully detect eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia.
Kent Hatch, lead researcher and an assistant professor of integrative biology at BYU explains, "By taking some hairs from an individual and analyzing it for carbon and nitrogen, we can tell with 80 percent accuracy whether someone has anorexia or bulimia."
What's important, Hatch says, is that many people deny they have an eating disorder, or simply don't know that they do.
Now, however, Hatch believes "The test provides an objective way of discerning whether they have an eating disorder... Your body records your eating habits in the hair. So, we can use that to tell the nutritional health of an individual."
According to HealthDay, as hair grows, new proteins are added to the base of each strand, pushing the strand up and out of the hair follicle. These proteins are influenced by what you eat. And the nutritional state of each individual is affected by his or her eating patterns. So, each strand of hair is a chemical "diary" that is a record of day-by-day nutrition, the researchers said.
Hatch adds, "with further work, we hope to not only use the test as a diagnostic tool but be able to use it to help monitor a person's recovery."
