Are Minerals Important?

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Two-time Nobel prize winner Linus Pauling thought so: "You can trace every sickness, every disease, every ailment to mineral deficiency."

Four elements compose 96% of the body's makeup: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. The remaining 4% of the body's composition is mineral.

There are several opinions about how many minerals are essential. Macro minerals are defined as those with daily requirement of over 100 mg. Trace usually means we don't know how much we need.

Essential Minerals

The controversy primarily involves the second column - trace minerals.

Of the 14 trace minerals listed above, three or four may not have universal agreement as essential, but a majority of creditable sources admit that most of them are essential. Deficiency amounts have never been determined for most trace minerals, although several diseases have been linked with deficiencies of certain ones. Conclusive evidence has not been found regarding the exact daily intake amounts necessary, since some of the actual requirements may be too small to measure; hence the name "trace."

Minerals trigger the vitamins and enzymes to act; that means digestion. "The alarming fact is that food... now being raised on millions of acres of land that no longer contain enough... minerals are starving us, no matter how much of them we eat."

"Lacking vitamins, the system can make use of minerals, but lacking minerals, vitamins are useless."

Different studies show different figures, of course, but there is certainly no lack of explanation for mass deficiencies of mineral intake. The most obvious of these is soil depletion and demineralization.

The second contributor to mineral deficiency within the population is obviously, diet. Even if our produce did contain abundant minerals, less than 4% of the population eats sufficient fruits and vegetables to account for minimal RDAs. To compound matters further, mass amounts of processed food, excess protein, and refined sugars require most of our mineral stores in order to digest it and remove it. The removal process involves enzymes, which break things down. Enzyme activity, remember, is completely dependent on minerals like zinc and copper and chromium.

No minerals - no enzyme action. In addition, milk and dairy products, alcohol, and drugs inhibit the " absorption" of these minerals, further 'depleting' reserves. So it is cyclical: refined foods inhibit mineral absorption, which then are not themselves efficiently digested because of diminished enzyme activity. And then we go looking for bugs as the cause of disease?

The third reason for inadequate minerals in the body is a phenomenon known as "secondary deficiency". It has been proven that an excess of one mineral may directly cause a deficiency of another, because minerals compete for absorption, compete for the same binding sites, like a molecular Musical Chairs. Secondary deficiency means an "excess" of one mineral may cause a "deficiency" of another.

For example, iron, copper, and zinc are competitive in this way. Copper is necessary for the conversion of iron to hemoglobin, but if there is "excess" zinc, less iron will be 'available' for "conversion". This may cause a secondary deficiency of iron, which can manifest itself as iron deficiency anemia. All due simply to excessive zinc. Researchers have found that these secondary deficiencies caused by excess of one mineral are almost always due to mineral supplements, since the quantities contained in food are so small.

A fourth reason for mineral deficiency in humans is overuse of prescription drugs. It has been known since the 1950s that antibiotics interfere with uptake of minerals, specifically zinc, chromium, and calcium. (The Plague Makers). Also Tylenol, Advil, Motrin, and aspirin have the same inhibitive effect on mineral absorption. When the body has to try and metabolize these drugs to clear the system, its own mineral stores are heavily drawn upon. Such a waste of energy is used to metabolize laxatives, diuretics, chemotherapy drugs, and NSAIDs, such as Tylenol, Advil, and aspirin out of the body.

This is one of the most basic mechanisms in drug-induced immunosuppression: minerals are essential for normal immune function. Ultimately, the only issue that really counts with minerals is bioavailability. Really doesn't matter what we eat; it only matters what makes it to the body's cells.

Food-bound iron, like that contained in raisins or molasses, will have a much higher rate of absorption, since it is complexed with other living, organic forms, and as such is classed as a nutrient mineral.

Minerals are not living, though they are necessary for life.

Minerals are necessary for cell life and enzyme reactions and hundreds of other reasons.

Minerals must be in a form that can travel through the digestive system all the way to the cells. What is not bioavailable passes right through the body, a waste of time and money. Food-bound minerals are attached or complexed to organic molecules. Their absorption into your body tissues is vastly increased. Minerals are integral part of food. Fruits and vegetables with high mineral content are the best way to provide the body with adequate nutrition. Food-bound minerals are the natural modality for us to ingest.

Most minerals can be toxic if taken to excess. And this excess would not happen from wholesome food; only from contaminations. Mineral supplements we take should be as absorbable and as bioavailable as possible - that way we won't have to take much. There will be less chance of toxicity, too.

Many essential minerals are toxic in excess, but essential in small amounts. Iron, chlorine, sodium, zinc, and copper are in this category. Toxic levels have been established, and resulting pathologies have been identified: we know what diseases are caused by their excesses.

Heavy metal toxins

Heavy metals are involved in many patients suffering with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, autism, headaches, PMS, and menopausal symptoms. Our exposure to toxins such as mercury, lead, aluminum, arsenic, copper, cadmium, and others is increasing with time. After exposure to toxins our body often stores toxins that it is not able to detoxify.

Dr Walsh says: "This is particularly common for those with learning disabilities. One young man I saw had an extraordinary copper/zinc ratio. He was taking multiple vitamins which contain copper, and this was like poison to him." Treatment in such cases is to avoid multiple vitamins and enriched foods containing copper, prescribing instead a supplement that will bring the copper and zinc levels back to normal. "We make sure that they don't drink water that may be copper- bearing, and suggest that they stay away from other possible sources of copper," adds Dr. Walsh.

"Swimming pools, for example, are treated with antialgae agents which are loaded with copper, and people ought to make sure they shower afterward and not drink any of the water."

Our path to better health is to build up our natural immune system. Nutritional supplementation is a must. It need not be dramatic, but daily deposits to the immune system bank account will pay off down the road. Healthy people don't get sick, right?