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| Why Take Mineral Supplements? |
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Researchers differ on exactly how many essential minerals there are (the general consensus is around 60), but they all agree that a diet which lacks enough of these minerals can eventually lead to disease and death.
Unfortunately, minerals don't occur in a uniform blanket around the crust of the Earth, but rather, are found in veins and patches. Since different minerals appear in different concentrations from place to place, there have always been a wide variety of deficiency-related diseases.
To eliminate random mineral-deficiency diseases in livestock, the agricultural industry adds minerals and trace minerals to animal feed so that every mouthful delivers optimal nutrition. By contrast, humans have historically been told that "you can get everything you need from your four food groups." Today, people are beginning to realize that this just isn't true.
For over 100 years, American farmers have used the simple fertilizer NPK to achieve the maximum yield per acre possible. As a result, our farm and range soils are exhausted of organic material and depleted of essential minerals. It is more important now than ever before to supplement our diets with minerals.
Minerals are the basic building blocks of all things, both living and non-living. Their functions in our bodies are critical and are essential for good health. The body utilizes over 60 minerals for maximum function. Because our plants and soils are so nutrient depleted, even if we eat the healthiest foods, we are not getting all the minerals we need. Evidence of mineral malnutrition are various minor and serious health conditions such as energy loss, premature aging, diminished senses, and degenerative diseases like osteoporosis, heart disease, and cancer.
In many cases, these could be prevented with proper mineral supplementation. The more you learn about the benefits of minerals, the more control you will have over your own health!
Every living cell depends on minerals for proper structure and function. Minerals are needed for the formation of blood and bones, the proper composition of body fluids, healthy nerve function, proper operation of the cardiovascular system, among others. Like vitamins, minerals function as co-enzymes, enabling the body to perform its functions including energy production, growth and healing. Because all enzyme activities involve minerals, they are essential for the proper utilization of vitamins and other nutrients. Nutritionally, minerals are grouped into two categories: bulk or essential minerals, also called macro-minerals, and trace minerals or micro-minerals. Macro-minerals such as calcium and magnesium are needed by the body in larger amounts. Although only minute quantities of trace minerals are needed, they are nevertheless important for good health. Micro-minerals include boron, chromium, iron, zinc, and many others.
Three basic classifications of minerals exist. They are "metallic minerals," "chelated minerals," and "colloidal minerals."
Metallic minerals are found in their pure elemental form or as salts such as sodium chloride and zinc sulfate. They are the most commonly used form in nutritional supplements, especially for the essential minerals, because larger amounts are indicated. They are generally the least expensive form of minerals but their primary disadvantage is that their degree of absorption is the least of all three forms. Although they have their place, metallic minerals do not represent the full spectrum of all the trace minerals that are known to be of value in human nutrition.
Chelated minerals are the next step up the ladder in so far as the body's ability to assimilate. The term "chelate" originates from a Greek word that means "claw". In this process, be it either in the laboratory or in nature itself, a metallic mineral is "chelated" with an amino acid. The amino acid actually surrounds the metallic mineral like a claw and thereby helps to solubilize it, making the "mineral chelate" more bioavailable or useful to the body. Examples of chelated minerals are the magnesium aspartate (magnesium chelated with the natural aspartic acid) and chromium picolinate (chromium chelated with picolinic acid). In many cases, chelated minerals are about 40% more efficient in regards to absorption and assimilation into the body than metallic minerals.
Colloidal minerals are those that occur in nature in the colloid state. That is, they are minute particles that either are or can be easily dispersed in a medium such as water. In that they are made up of such small particles, there is a major increase in surface area giving them greater exposure to the liquid or solvent they are to be distributed in. This results in increased solubility, bioavailability, absorption, and usefulness to the body. Plant-derived colloidal minerals provide the best of all forms of minerals not only because of this increased solubility but also because they are associated with natural plant tissue. This gives them all the advantages of chelated and metallic minerals and more!
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