The Northern Virginia
CFS/FMS
Support Group

Sam Makoul, M. Div, CNC
Certified Clinical Nutritionist; Stress Counseling; Spiritual Counseling
Speaker, Practitioner, Member

From Elly's NoVA CFS/FMS Support Group Meeting Notes, Emails, & Experiences

Mr. Makoul has been a speaker and attended several of our events. He is a steady positive and helpful presence in our community, helping those with severe chronic illness in his nutrition and Advanced Health & Wellness practice. Sam offers nutrition counseling, trace mineral hair analysis, stress management, and pastoral counseling. We get significant feedback of how open and accepting he is, how knowledgeable he is about CFS, FM/FMS, OI, MCS, IBD/IBS, MVPS/D, and more.  Sam's work involves taking a very detailed history and seeking clues in a trace mineral analysis tests. He works with individuals, couples, and children. Because much research on nutrition was done on dogs and other animals, and Sam loves dogs, we often have much to discuss about nutrition for the whole family!

Sam Makoul does not sell any supplement products. Clients receive recommendations and are even given some shopping advice as to brands, price and convenience, but there are no requirements to buy any particular product.  He find one test particulary helpful, which he orders from his office...

Hair Tests

Sam uses a hair test called Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis by Trace Elements, Inc, to determine how your body is storing and utilizing minerals over time. Nutritional recommendations can be much more personalized using this information. The client receives a 10-16 page report about the results with food suggestions. What a little hair could reveal can reveal is amazing! Many of the suggestions about foods for my metabolism type helped me. It isn't much respected in the medical community, but forensic scientists rely on hair tests. Hair can tell much about you - whether and which drugs you are on, whether you've been poisoned, so why not more? 

Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis Patterns found in FM by TEI

I found the tests invaluable in my journey because even though my blood always tested normal for potassium, potassium couldn't be measured or was very low in the tissues/hair. My blood was stealing what it needed to look normal from my tissues and explained for me why I could have normal blood work and still feel weak and depleted. It gave me the confidence to take my all time favorite and most helpful prescription medication, KCl CR (time released potassium chloride), even though the blood test was normal. The test can also detect toxic metals like lead and mercury. If you can get a prescription to look specifically for toxic metals, sometimes the test ($125) is paid for by insurance.

Trace Elements has a line of supplements called Trace Nutrients. I found their minerals to be the most gentle and effective I ever took, in particular the (Calcium Plus, Magnesium Plus, Potassium Plus, Iron, Copper Plus). You can buy direct from the company if your are working with a knowledgeable and registered practitioner. The order form lists the ingredients. The only place Northern VA place to to buy them is Vitamins + More in Herndon, VA. Purchasing them there, you wouldn't need to be working with an approved practitioner. Vitamins + More has many other brands as well and will ship anywhere in the country. There is sometimes a 35% off coupon on their website. (703) 787-0700, Kmart Shopping Center, 472 Elden St. 

Calming the Heart, Soothing the Mind

He has a soothing, calming presence. He listens like no one else. Sam is excellent at talking one through the short exercises to calm down, HeartMath exercises and others. He helps you develop the ability to calm and heal yourself.

More Background

Sam attended our first really big speaker event to hear Dr. Hyde of Canada in May 1993. At that time Sam was collaborating with Daniel Clauw, MD, on some fibromyalgia research at Georgetown University. Sam has attended CFS meetings at NIH. Sam was a volunteer for our group at the kNOw MORE CFS Education and Empowerment Seminar June 2005.

Sam has authored articles for FM Frontiers for FM Partnership when it was called FMAGW. He took part in "Panel on Nutrition," a speaker presentation at FMAGW, on 6/4/97.