Minerals are the spark of life, and without them we simply wouldn't function. Minerals are the basic components of all matter. They are built into key enzymes and hormones, and are part of cells, tissue, bone, blood and body fluids. They also assist in every aspect of life from the production of hormones and energy, digestion, nerve transmission and muscle contraction, to the regulation of pH, metabolism, cholesterol, and blood sugar. Our physical well-being is more directly dependent upon the minerals we take into our systems than upon calories or vitamins, or upon the precise proportion of starch, protein or carbohydrates we consume. Macro minerals and trace minerals supply neither energy nor fuel to the body but are instrumental in their production and use. All the vitamins in the world do us little good without minerals. Enzymes, which are composed of vitamins, minerals and proteins, also do us little good without adequate minerals.

There are more than 100 mineral elements found on earth. Four of these, oxygen, hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen, make up 96% of our body. The remaining 4% of our body is basically made up, in part, of the other minerals, which are available to us, and these may vary somewhat, depending on where we live. Our daily mineral intake is about 1.5 grams--our total intake of carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids are about 500 grams. Thus our mineral intake represents only about 0.3% of our total intake of nutrients, yet minerals are so potent and so important that without them we wouldn't be able to utilize the other 99.7% of foodstuffs and would quickly perish. There are seven major minerals. They are calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, sulfur, sodium and chlorine. Our bodies should contain significant amounts of each! Trace minerals, on the other hand, are present in the body in very small amounts. Each makes up less than one-hundredth of one percent of our body weight. Rocks are the parent material for soil which is the main source of nutrition for plants, animals and ultimately humans. The absorption of many minerals declines with old age. Stress and exposure to environmental pollution raise our requirements for minerals, especially zinc, calcium, and iron.

The health and survival of all plants, domestic or wild, depends on the health of the soil and its ability to provide a constant supply of minerals. According to science, millions of years ago the soil near the earth's surface, where our plants are grown, was saturated with dozens of minerals. At least 84 minerals were available nearly everywhere and some areas of the planet contained 100 minerals. When humans began to till the soil, wind and rain erosion began to take its toll along with continuous cropping, which gradually strip-mined the nutrients from the soil. Soil tests from all over the world have revealed that our soils are severely lacking in minerals, leaving us with mineral-deficient plants with very little food value. Most farmers never put back more than 6 minerals. Animals require at least 60 minerals, 12 essential amino acids, 16 vitamins, and 2 essential fatty acids. Soil depletion is the only reason today's plants contain no more than 16 minerals, on average, in most of the food available today, compared to more than 70 minerals millions of years ago. Man-made, chemical fertilizers, introduced in 1908, upset the delicate balance of minerals and organisms in humus-rich soil by killing off the beneficial bacteria. Lacking in the naturally occurring minerals, they are less available to plants. Farmers add 46 billion tons of synthetic fertilizer to their crops annually in an attempt to compensate for the useless soil. The more chemical fertilizers are used, the weaker the plants become, the more insects attack, and the more insecticides have to be used. Chemical fertilizers also saturate plant roots with too much of one nutrient, making it difficult for plants or crops to pick up and absorb other minerals they need so much.

Refined Food

We cheat ourselves of even more nutrients by eating refined foods. Food refining is the process of removing parts of a food. In the course of refining flour the grain is stripped of its bran and germ and virtually all that's left is starch. The body has a hard time processing starch without the trace mineral chromium, which affects the pancreas' handling of starch and throws the blood sugar out of balance. When removing the bran from grains, we lose trace minerals like silicon and zinc, by removing the germ we lose vital oils, zinc and vitamin E. We are left with high levels of the toxic trace element cadmium that accumulates in the starchy part of rice and wheat--the part we eat. Normally, the zinc would prevent the body from absorbing the cadmium, but zinc is taken out with the bran and germ. Eating refined sugar causes the body to use and lose more trace minerals than people realize. At every stage of sugar metabolism, minerals are withdrawn.

Mental Health

Scientists are aware that trace element deficiencies can affect both mind and body; in fact, every physical and mental process. Electrolytes are the sparks, which fire and fuel the neurotransmitters that enable us to think and process information. They are vital for good brain function and sanity.

Protein

In order for a body to grow and heal, it must have adequate, high quality, low stress protein, in an easily digested form. Specific trace minerals enable plants to produce protein. Legumes require molybdenum for it is an essential element for the growth of nitrogen-fixing bacteria on their roots. These bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen to soluble nitrates, which are absorbed by the plants to synthesize proteins. The protein content of food is high or low in about the same proportion as the minerals. This is because just about all the minerals are used in the amino acid enzymes which in turn are catalysts helping to make all the protein compounds.

Healing

Simple problems like muscle cramps and spasms have their origin in calcium, magnesium and electrolyte deficiency. Serious age-related disorders like deterioration of brain tissue, or senility are linked to electrolyte imbalance. Digestive enzyme production is impaired if minerals aren't available. Specific minerals create the starch digesting salivary enzyme amylase, which, if deficient, results in incomplete digestion of starches and intestinal fermentation. This limits the production of lactic acid, alters pH, and creates the kind of environment that putrefactive bacteria and candida love, and acidophilus bacteria struggle to survive in. As putrefaction takes place, food-decomposing bacteria produce toxins that are absorbed into the circulation. This condition adds to the risk of developing arteriosclerosis, kidney, gall bladder and liver disease. Cataracts, fungal infections, insomnia, glaucoma, allergies, digestive upsets, anorexia, immune disorders, fatigue, eczema, upsets, anorexia, immune disorders, fatigue, eczema, and psoriasis, are all involved with mineral depletion. In order for the body to effect rebalancing and regeneration it needs minerals and electrolytes in conjunction with any other treatment. They are the catalyst for healing. In the areas of the world where quality of life and longevity are legendary, there's high mineral content in soil, plants and water.

Mineral Assimilation

Most of the mineral supplement formulations available today contain no more than 10 to 15 minerals because most are derived from the earth, from ancient sea beds, clay or ground up rock and soil. This type of mineral is known as a metallic hydrophobic mineral! The type of mineral which comes from a plant has been assimilated or digested by the plant and is known as a water soluble, plant derived, hydrophilic mineral. No more than 5% to 8% of metallic minerals are actually assimilated by the human body. The hydrochloric acid in our stomach isn't strong enough to dissolve metals during the short 15 to 21 hour digestive cycle. The balance, or up to 92%, merely passes through the waste system without benefit. You could not live on soil or ground up rock, because it is not alive or enzymatically active like plant derived minerals from raw plants. Minerals create a healthy environment in which the body, using vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates and fats, can grow, function and heal itself.

A complete spectrum of minerals balances the pH level of bodily tissues. Most all microorganisms thrive in and prefer an environment of high pH or alkaline nature. A combination of many minerals lowers the pH of hydrochloric acid, thereby inhibiting microorganisms from gaining entrance to the digestive system and reproducing there. Both extra- and intra-cellular fluids function only because of a carefully maintained ratio of minerals, in conjunction with vitamins, in solution. The interaction of the two enables the body cells to take in nutrients and dispose of toxins, which are the by-products of that metabolism.

The human body is not designed to absorb or assimilate and use metallic or elemental minerals. Metallic minerals only have an 8% absorption. Chelated minerals were developed in the laboratory. This process involves wrapping amino acids or protein around metallic minerals to help the body metabolize them. But, this form of minerals has at best only a 40% assimilation. Chelated or not, they are still metallic minerals. If there is insufficient digestive acid in the stomach, minerals are poorly assimilated and deficiencies may develop quite rapidly. The aging process and stress both weaken digestion and stress itself is a major cause of mineral deficiency as it speeds up the body's use of these elements. It is best to add minerals to the soil, and eat the plants grown on it, rather than ingesting colloidal minerals in their "raw" state. Microorganisms act as an interface at the plant roots, ingesting minerals and altering them to a form that plants can use, then plants bio-transmute them to a form we can use.

Electrolytes

The body is an electromagnetic organism. There is a vibrational emanation from every organ. These emanations have been tested with radionic instruments. Every organ has its own aura. It is the electromagnetic current that is received through the atmosphere that gives life to every plant, animal and human on Earth. Electrolytes are responsible for transferring energy and for the regeneration and rejuvenation of every cell. From the moment the sperm is attracted to the egg in the body of the mother, the electromagnetic forces of electrolytes are at work. Bodies cannot be built without electrolytes. Electrolytes are ionized salts (minerals) found in body fluids and the blood stream. In solution, or dissolved and transformed in water, the molecules split into electrically charged particles or ions. In this form, the ions then become capable of conducting an electric current. Electrolytes are essential to the production of enzymes, the function of cells, and in maintaining a normal pH balance in the body and digestive system. Electrolytes also maintain normal fluid balance including osmosis, and blood pressure. But they go one stage further--they bring a special aliveness to the body. All cellular structures become alive through electrolytic activity. Life begins with electrolytes. Trace minerals carry the life force in our bodies more than any other substance.

The whole body is a bioelectric organism and the nervous system and brain also operate on electrical energy. Electrolytes are both the switch and the energy source. When electrolytes are depleted, body systems become run down and sluggish, similar to weak batteries running a tape recorder that runs weaker and slower. Cells use fatty acids, water, and glucose. Each cell acts as a battery with a different electrical charge or voltage potential on the inside and the outside of its wall, and minerals act as positive and negative electrodes producing the voltage potential. The stimulation of a nerve cell sends a wave of depolarization down the nerve fiber, releasing potassium and moving sodium into the cell. As the current passes, the charge difference at the cell wall is re-established as potassium is pumped back inside the cell. This sets up an electromagnetic current which makes up our energy system. It is this subtle energy that produces life. As the magnetic iron in our red blood cells pass through capillaries, they pass through spirals of nerve cell fibers, acting like a coil of wire. When the iron passes through these spirals, a current of electricity is induced in them and this continuously keeps us "turned on"--as long as the blood is flowing freely and not anemic.

Balance

The balance of minerals is as important a consideration in health as their availability and assimilation. Minerals can compete with one another for absorption, especially if too much of one is available and not enough of others. For example, too much zinc can unbalance copper and iron levels in the body and large amounts of calcium reduce absorption of magnesium, zinc, phosphorus and manganese. A similar unbalancing of minerals can occur with excessive intake of single vitamins, either by producing a deficiency or increasing the retention of a particular mineral. The body can tolerate a deficiency of vitamins longer than it can a deficiency of minerals. Stress, pregnancy, growth, athletic training, sweating, illness, aging and drugs all increase normal electrolyte requirements. But most of us aren't even getting "normal" levels. Because of our diminishing mineral sources, anything that increases the body's need for them can send health into a tailspin and set the stage for degenerative disease later on.

Medication

We add insult to injury by taking drugs like corticosteroids and diuretics, which have a catastrophic effect on mineral and vitamin levels in the body. Potassium is only one of many minerals lost. Macro-minerals, including magnesium, are excreted in significant amounts, especially with thiazide diuretics; so too are vital trace elements including zinc. This loss, in the long-term, increases the chance of kidney and cardiovascular damage--precisely the organs that are malfunctioning when the physician prescribes diuretics for high blood pressure or edema. Because a loss of magnesium prevents the body from utilizing potassium properly, glucose tolerance is impaired. Drugs may deplete minerals by increasing their excretion, by interfering with mineral balance, or by antagonizing synergistic factors. Antacids, laxatives, anti-convulsants, corticosteroids and antibacterial agents exert a chelating action upon calcium and antagonize the metabolic effects of vitamin D, leading to rickets, osteomalacia and other calcium deficiency disorders. Antibiotics block the absorption of macro- and trace-minerals, and minerals play an integral role in the health of the immune system. This includes zinc, which is important in the production and health of T-lymphocytes.

Plant Minerals

Plant minerals are different than metallic minerals. Their size and molecular weight is much smaller than metallic minerals and in most cases the plant minerals are attached to a different molecule even though they possess the same name. A plant mineral is several thousand, to as much as a hundred thousand times smaller than the smallest metallic mineral. A plant derived mineral is less than 0.00001 micron in size or 1/10,000th the size of a red blood cell. Their small size gives them an enormous surface area with an electrical charge. Plant minerals are much easier to assimilate or absorb than metallic minerals. Clay, silt and hydrophobic metallic minerals, on average, are considerably larger than hydrophilic acids or hydrophilic plant minerals. Pure plant minerals can be pumped through a pharmaceutical grade, .15-micron (absolute) filter. Most metallic minerals will not pass through this small membrane. Only the water passes through. A water molecule is only slightly smaller than hydrophilic complexes. Aluminum, arsenic, lead and nickel are minerals found in nearly all food we eat. As elemental minerals, if ingested in sufficient quantity they would be extremely toxic or fatal. But, these minerals found in foods are no longer the same as metallic minerals. Plant derived minerals are 100% absorbable. If you drank even 2 grains of free iodine, it would kill you. But, in its plant-derived form, iodine is not only harmless--it is beneficial.

Soil Bacteria

Rocks provide the foundation for the creation of topsoil; living organisms slowly ingest them and release the minerals. Soil bacteria thrive when minerals are readily available, and their life cycle converts these raw elements into a smorgasbord of protoplasm and bioavailable minerals that are taken up by plant roots. The soil, micro-organisms, and plants have an intimate relationship. The plants rely on the presence of micro-organisms for their nourishment and immunity. The microorganisms act as an interface, converting the "raw" minerals in the soil into bioavailable minerals and nutrients for the plants. Like us, plants can build up their own autoimmune system and natural defenses as long as the nutrients are available to them. Earthworms are also important in nature's scheme of things--their burrowing aerates the land and breaks up hard soils. Their casts act in the creation of living soil because they contain ground minerals and microorganisms.

Sources

This is why any successful health-building program will include fresh, raw, organically grown fruit and vegetable juices. These foods contain the colloidal and crystalline form of minerals that have been through the microorganism and photosynthesis charging process. Also, Sea vegetables (sea weed) such as dulse, kelp, arame, hijiki, kombu, nori, alaria, etc. are a superior source of abundant minerals. All of the topsoil that was eroded from the land, ended up in the oceans. If you eat plants that grow in the ocean, then you can obtain these plant-derived minerals in a biologically utilizable form.

Sprouted seeds, especially alfalfa seeds, provide an abundance of minerals. The alfalfa plant has deep roots that reach up to 90 feet into the ground and pull in many rare trace elements. Raw spinach has an exceptional amount of minerals. All root vegetables have many minerals. Black-strap molasses can be used to add plant-based minerals that were removed during the refining of sugar cane or sugar beets. Another source of plant derived minerals is available from an area known as Emery County, Utah. Supposedly, a glacier or other cause of earth movement buried a large quantity of vegetative matter, which may have been a dense growth, or a washed-in bog of numerous plants, which is believed to have accumulated over a 600 year period. This material now exists as humic shale. On average, the humic shale is a 30 feet thick layer of prehistoric plant derivatives that was or still is under great pressure from the earth. All of the moisture has been compressed out of the humus. By submerging in pure, cold water, more than 70 plant minerals are leached from this humic shale. The mineral water is taken as a mineral supplement.

Thyroid and Adrenals

The thyroid gland and the adrenal glands are the main energy producing glands in the body, supplying the body with more than 98% of its energy. If you did not have these glands, you would not have enough energy to blink an eyelid. The thyroid gland, located right behind the Adam's apple in your neck, is about the size of a plum. The adrenal glands are much smaller and are located on top of each of your kidneys. Everyone has one thyroid gland (with two lobes) and two adrenal glands. These glands work very closely together. In non-technical terms, the adrenal glands "release" simple sugars in the body, which serve as the fuel for the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland then takes these sugars and ignites them into energy. The thyroid gland is like the spark plugs of your car in that it ignites the fuel and turns it into power. So it is these glands, working together, which produce the body's energy. To have maximum amounts of energy, these glands have to be functioning at peak capacity.

These are the glands that determine a person's rate of metabolism, the "oxidation type." If both the thyroid gland and the adrenal glands are overactive, a person will be known as a fast-oxidizer. In other words, he will have a very fast metabolism. These are the people who usually abound with energy. Now, if just one of these glands is overactive and one is underactive, a person will be a mixed-oxidizer. And if both of these glands are underactive, a person will be a slow-oxidizer. A slow oxidizer has a very slow rate of metabolism. These are the individuals who are usually lacking in energy. It is the adrenal glands which give a person extra energy when he needs it. Whenever a person faces an emergency, the adrenal glands release adrenalin, which gives the body the extra "boost" it needs.

There are four main minerals in the body, which help to regulate the thyroid and adrenal glands. These minerals are calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), and potassium (K). These minerals could be called macro-minerals because they appear in larger proportions in the body than other minerals. If these four minerals are all at normal levels, the thyroid and adrenal glands will function at peak efficiency. However, if any one of these macro-minerals deviates much from normal range, this is when a person is going to have problems. Sometimes, even a relatively minor fluctuation in one of these minerals can cause either one of these glands to become underactive. A simple analogy, which further explains this principle, is to compare the mineral levels of the human body to a battery. Both the human body and a battery derive their energy from mineral electrolytes. When a battery has the perfect balance between certain minerals, it will be capable of producing its maximum energy potential. Likewise, when the human body has the perfect balance between certain minerals, it to will be capable of producing its maximum energy potential. However, when either the body or a battery has an imbalance in the minerals they contain, they lose their potential of carrying a charge. The minerals in your body determine the biochemical environment in which your organs must work. The more optimal is the mineral environment in your body, the better your organs will function, and the more energy you will have.

The real key to understanding health is the ratios between different minerals. The normal levels for each of these minerals are expressed in milligrams/percent. The normal level for calcium is 40, magnesium is 6, sodium is 25, and potassium is 10. If you add one zero to each of the numbers, you will get a figure representing parts per million. So the 40 for calcium represents a certain percentage of calcium which appears in the tissue cells of the body. The real key to understanding minerals and their effect on human health does not lie merely in evaluating individual mineral levels. Mineral levels can certainly help to give a tremendous amount of information about a person's energy levels. However, looking at individual levels can be deceiving if you look at them just by themselves.

Calcium and potassium ratios are called the thyroid ratio. Calcium and potassium are the two specific minerals that regulate the thyroid gland. Calcium slows down the thyroid and potassium speeds it up. In order for this gland to operate at its maximum capacity, there has to be just the right balance between these two minerals. If a person has too much calcium in his tissues (in proportion to potassium) he will have an underactive thyroid gland. If he has an excess of potassium in his tissues (in proportion to calcium) he will have an overactive thyroid gland. This is why once you know the ratio of calcium to potassium in the body you know immediately if this gland is too fast or too slow. And not only that, but you will know exactly how fast or slow it is. The normal value of the calcium to potassium ratio is 4. You get that by looking at the normal values for calcium and potassium, where calcium is 40 and potassium is 10. 40 divided by 10 is 4. If a person has a ratio of 4 to 1 between these two minerals, the thyroid gland will be functioning at peak capacity, assuming that the levels for these two minerals are also near normal. By comparing a person's actual ratio with the normal ratio, you can tell if the thyroid gland is underactive or overactive.

And once you know this, you will know approximately how much energy a person has. If a person has a thyroid ration (calcium to potassium ratio) which is greater than 4.7, his thyroid gland is underactive. The greater this ratio is between these two minerals, the weaker this gland will become and the less energy a person will have. It is impossible to have a poor thyroid ratio and still have an efficient thyroid gland. Even a 10% loss of efficiency can cause fatigue. Ten percent doesn't sound like a big number, but it is. If the average lifespan of 70 or so years were cut 10%, that would be a loss of 7 years. That's quite significant. If your average body temperature of 98.6 degrees were cut 10%, that would be a temperature of almost 9 degrees lower, which is a big difference. If the temperature went up 10%, that would be a temperature of almost 110 degrees, which for many people would mean death. So you can see that 10% in biological terms can be a pretty significant number. These mineral ratios are amazingly accurate. A person can have normal levels of thyroid hormone in his blood and still have a weak thyroid gland. The routine test for thyroid function is not very reliable. This test basically measures the levels of a number of thyroxin proteins in the blood. But many doctors fail to understand that a person can have normal levels of thyroxin (thyroid hormone) in the blood and still have a weak thyroid gland. Or, because of mineral imbalances the thyroxin may just be circulating around without being fully effective. So, in many cases, the doctor may be drawing false conclusions from the test. A hair analysis gives a more accurate measure of the function of the thyroid.

When you're talking about the adrenal gland, it is the sodium and magnesium which do the regulating. This could be called the adrenal ratio. When the ratio of these two minerals becomes unbalanced--even slightly, it can have a major impact on the adrenal gland. Too much magnesium, in relation to sodium, will slow down the adrenal gland. Just by looking at the ratio between these two minerals lets you know immediately how well this gland is performing. The normal level for the sodium to magnesium ratio is 4.17 to 1. You get this by dividing the normal levels for sodium (25) by the normal level for magnesium (6). So, if a person has an adrenal ratio of 4.17, the adrenal gland will be functioning at peak capacity, again assuming that the levels for these two minerals are also normal. The adrenal gland is underactive when the adrenal ratio (sodium to magnesium) is less than 3.2. Once you know a person's mineral ratios and fully understand them, you can determine the efficiency of major organs--without guessing. The normal sodium level in the body is 25. When the sodium level drops much below 20, a person's adrenal medulla will start to slow down. Many people have sodium levels that are lower than 15 and they usually have diminished levels of energy. Now, if your sodium level is very low, don't try to compensate by eating a lot of salt (sodium). If you do this, it won't help at all. It will probably only aggravate the problem.

You wouldn't expect this to happen, but it does. If you multiply the energy level of the thyroid gland times the energy level of the adrenal gland you get the total energy loss. If a person has a perfect ratio for the thyroid gland (100%), but has a 50% ratio for his adrenal gland, the person would have a total energy loss of approximately 50%. Multiply the energy level of the thyroid gland (100%) times the energy level of the adrenal gland (50%). This would be a bare minimum as far as a loss of energy is concerned. One strong gland will not usually make up for a weak gland. If someone else has a thyroid gland with a 50% energy loss and he also has adrenal glands with a 50% loss, that person would be operating on approximately 25% of his available energy. The main thing you should remember is that you have to take into consideration both glands when figuring a person's total energy loss. It gets a little more complicated when a person is a mixed oxidizer. Just remember that one strong gland will usually not make up for a weak gland. Most people are more fatigued than they would ever realize. They're so tired that they can't comprehend how exhausted they really are.

Oxidation Types

When we refer to various individuals as slow oxidizers or fast oxidizers, etc., this is just a way of classifying the rate at which the body is releasing energy from the foods a person eats. Some refer to this as a person's metabolism. There are four main classifications: slow oxidizer, fast oxidizer, mixed oxidizer and balanced oxidizer. The word oxidizer comes from the term oxidation. Oxidation comes from the word oxygen. Oxidation is the process by which certain elements in the body chemically combine with oxygen to release energy. Oxidation is the basic chemical process of burning. For example, when you burn a piece of wood, you are oxidizing the wood. You are causing the wood to combine rapidly with oxygen to cause a high-intensity energy release. Oxidation can occur at different speeds. It is not necessarily a fast process. It can occur quickly, as with burning wood, or it can occur slowly, as in the case of a rusting nail. When a nail is rusting, it is reacting with the oxygen in the air and being consumed. The rust you see is merely the evidence of incomplete combustion. All oxidation releases energy, whether you feel it or not. The reason you do not feel the heat from a rusty nail is because the oxidation process is occurring too slowly. Heat is being released, but it is dissipating as quickly as it is being released.

The human oxidation rate is the rate at which your cells are burning their fuel. When you hear that there are various types of oxidizers, it doesn't really mean that there are different kinds of oxidation. It means that people release energy from their foods at different rates. A slow oxidizer releases energy too slowly. He is like a wood stove whose fire is too small to heat the room. To help him, you must speed up his metabolic furnace or increase his oxidation rate. A fast oxidizer releases energy too quickly. He is like a wood stove with a fire of soft wood that is burning too fast, overheating the room (the body), and running out of fuel. His oxidation rate must be decreased. A mixed oxidizer has an erratic metabolism. Sometimes it is too fast. Other times it is too slow. To give a mixed oxidizer more energy, you must stabilize his oxidation rate. The balanced oxidizer has the most efficient metabolism. It is neither too slow nor too fast. His system produces the maximum amount of usable human energy. To bring a person into a state of balanced oxidation is the real goal of mineral rebalancing programs. Some rates of energy-release are more efficient than others. That's why some people are energetic and others are tired. It all has to do with oxidation rates. This is what the science of human energy is all about, the production of human energy. The more efficient a person's oxidation rate becomes the more energetic the person.

Chronic Fatigue

When your body is chronically fatigued, one of two things happens. You may burn up your minerals too quickly until you run out of minerals and die. This is what happens in fast oxidation. The second possibility is that you will be unable to utilize your minerals. They will deposit in your blood vessels and other tissues and choke your system. This is what happens in slow oxidation. Either route leads to premature death. Neither of these two possibilities needs to occur. By balancing the minerals, we can eliminate the fatigue. Then, the minerals will be used at a proper rate and in a proper way. This is what is meant by balanced oxidation, which is neither too fast nor too slow. Once we approach a state of balanced oxidation, premature aging will be prevented. Or, if it has already occurred, it will be reversed. It is the sodium and potassium from your adrenals and thyroid gland that keep your body pliable and flexible. Sodium and potassium are the great solvents in the body. They are the great dissolvers. They keep everything in solution that should be in solution. When you are chronically fatigued, your thyroid and adrenal glands become exhausted. When this occurs, your sodium and potassium can go either too low or too high. Too low is slow oxidation. Too high is fast oxidation. If your sodium and potassium levels go too low, it means there is not enough solvent left in your body. So your minerals begin to drop out of solution. They precipitate. They begin to pile up in your tissues, arteries, joints, your heart, your skin, etc. You become rigid and stiff. In other words, you age prematurely. The process is the same whether you are 20 years old and exhausted, or whether you are 65 years old and exhausted. Exhaustion is premature aging. There is no way around it.

You can compare slow oxidation to a woodstove that is not getting enough air. The fire is not hot enough. Combustion is not complete. Residues form, (clinkers) and these clog up the stove. Eventually, they clog it so much that the fire goes out. This is how slow oxidizers die; their bodies suffocate. The slow oxidizer is actually turning into stone. Fast oxidizers are just as tired as slow oxidizers. The only difference between fast and slow oxidizers is how they react to fatigue. The slow oxidizer slows down to conserve energy. The fast oxidizer speeds up to compensate for his underlying lack of energy. He burns out the little reserves he has, so that he does not have to slow down. The fast oxidizer appears to have more energy than the slow oxidizer, but he is just as tired. Fast oxidizers can be recognized as seeming to run on nervous energy, not calm energy. They are hyped-up. They have to be, to keep going. But there are consequences. When the thyroid and adrenals of the fast oxidizer become overactive, the sodium and potassium levels go too high. This causes too many minerals to go into solution. To keep going, the body starts cannibalizing tissues for minerals like you would strip down a car for parts.

A fast oxidizer can be compared to a fire that is getting too much air. The fire burns too hot. Everything burns completely with no residue. But the fire burns out quickly because it runs out of fuel. Either route is not good. The slow oxidizer dies from mineral accumulation, the fast oxidizer dies from mineral bankruptcy. Both of these conditions are the inevitable consequences of chronic fatigue. People are usually fast oxidizers early in life. If they lead a healthy life, they will become normal oxidizers for many of their years. Then as they become older, one gland will eventually weaken and slow down, and they will become mixed oxidizers. Then as they grow older still, both glands will weaken and they will become full-fledged slow oxidizers. Ninety-five percent of people die as slow oxidizers. Aging is just another word for chronic slow oxidation. The tragic thing about today's world is that many men and women have become chronic slow oxidizers while they are still in their teens. This alone explains why so many young people are tired.

Every single mineral in the body as an effect on every other mineral in the body. So if just one mineral is imbalanced in the body, this affects all minerals by starting a massive chain reaction of mineral imbalances. People say, "I'm just taking a little magnesium," or a little zinc or whatever it is. If people only knew the harm they could cause by taking even one mineral supplement they didn't need, or taking the right supplement in excessive quantities. For instance, consider iron. Thousands of people take iron tablets because they are tired. Unfortunately, if iron is not taken in the right ratio with other minerals, it will make you more tired. Everybody's mineral chart is different and the amount of iron, and other minerals, which you need for more energy may be completely different than for the person next to you. Here is what could happen to a person who takes an iron supplement.

1. Sodium goes up. This is the first thing that happens. The iron will cause sodium levels to rise as a consequence of stimulating the adrenal glands.

2. Magnesium goes down. Magnesium levels will go down because sodium lowers magnesium.

3. Calcium goes down. When magnesium goes down, calcium also goes down to try to maintain the same calcium/ magnesium ratio.

4. Potassium goes up. Calcium and potassium also move in opposite directions. So when calcium goes down, potassium moves up.

5. Nitrogen goes down. Since the person is going into fast oxidation, he is starting to cannibalize his own proteins, instead of building them. This lowers the nitrogen level.

6. Copper goes down. Since tissue respiration is speeding up, copper is being used more quickly. If the copper is already at low levels, or, if the person has a high zinc to copper ratio, then his copper availability could plunge to dangerously low levels. At levels below 1.0, the person moves into a cancer danger zone.

7. Zinc goes down. As copper goes down, zinc goes down to maintain the proper ratio with it. Since zinc is needed for proper functioning of the adrenal glands, the lowering of zinc will eventually exhaust the adrenals. This will make you more tired than before you started.

8. Manganese goes up. As zinc goes down, the manganese goes up, since they normally move n opposite directions. Eventually, manganese reserves will become depleted.

This is unfortunate, because manganese in combination with iron makes a person very powerful--physically and emotionally. As the manganese levels collapse the person becomes weak and indecisive (exhausted adrenals)--weaker than before he began taking the iron tablets. In other words, the taking of iron has made the anemia worse. All these mineral imbalances could easily be caused by just one mineral, which has become too high in relation to the others--in this case, iron. You can see now what can happen when you take "just a little iron" to get your energy up. So when a person has 21 minerals out of balance, just imagine how complicated it can get trying to balance them. Each mineral in the body has an effect on all the other minerals. No mineral works alone.

There is no way of telling what you are doing without the intelligent use of hair tests and kinesiologic testing. Feeling better is not really a criteria that a supplement is "working." It is possible to make a person temporarily feel better by making their condition worse. For instance, lets take a fast oxidizer who has a high level of sodium and potassium; this means his adrensals are overactive or overstressed. This person is already overstimulating himself to keep himself going. Now if he takes supplements like vitamin E and vitamin C, and a high B-complex stress vitamin, he might feel better. Yet he is really making his pattern worse. What happens is that the vitamin C, E, and B-complex raise the sodium and potassium even more. It is a drug-like effect, like taking a cup of coffee. The person notices a pick-up. What he will probably not be aware of is that by raising the sodium and potassium he has pushed himself closer to a heart attack. He will also not be aware that his calcium and magnesium levels are being lowerd at the same time. If he keeps doing this, long enough, the calcium and magnesium levels--and the ratios between them--can move into a cancer resonance range. Of course, if the person was diagnosed with cancer, he would never connect it to the supplements he was taking. He would probably tell himself, "If it weren't for the supplements, I probably would have goten cancer much sooner." the real truth is that WITHOUT the supplements, he may never have gotten cancer.

In fact, if you change or rearrange a mineral pattern by 10-25%--in any direction--you can probably get relief from symptoms. You get short-term benefit by helping some parts of the mineral chart at the expense of others. Unfortunately, the damage you are doing does not show until later. It takes time to develop. So you never realize the harm you have done to yourself. Believe it or not, many times you have to make a person temporarily feel worse to get him better. Let's take the example of the fast oxidizer we were using before. The right way to help this person would be to lower his sodium and potassium levels. this would reduce the stress on his adrenal glands. It would slow down the person's metabolism and prevent him from burning out his mineral reserves and collapsing. You have to slow this kind of person down to save his life. But when you do it, he feels worse. He doesn't want to slow down. He wants to keep drivig himself. A person like this is won't voluntarily go into a healthfood store and buy supplements that will slow him down. No one would ever take supplements that would make him feel worse. If a person took something that made him feel worse, he would stop, and if it made him feel better, he would keep taking it. Now you can see some of the problems of randomly taking supplements without knowing what you are doing. So far, we've only mentioned four minerals, sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. You can imagine how complicated it can get when you consider the relationship between the other minerals, such as copper, zinc, manganese, chromium, phosphorus, iron, and so forth. The only way you can tell what supplements to take for your specific physical/emotional imbalances is to use the results of hair analysis or kinesiological muscle testing.

It is sad to see what goes on in the health field today. You could probably switch the labels on all the vitamins and minerals being sold and probably few people would physically notice the difference. Some people would even get better! That's how unscientific things are. People read in a magazine that zinc is good for them and they take some. They read that vitamin C is good for them and they take that too. They read that we are all deficient in magnesium, so they add some of that. If there is a special 20for-one sale on calcium tablets, they stock up on that. It is pathetic, but the way people go about choosing supplements, they could do almost as good using a roulette wheel. When you don't know what to take, you have to guess. Another thing you frequently find in the health field is the taking of a little of every mineral--"Just to be on the safe side." People believe that the body, with its infinite wisdom, knows exactly what to do with each and every mineral. They believe that whatever the body needs, it keeps; and whatever it doesn't need, it simply excretes in the urine, or through the proper body channels. If this were the case, then why do so many individuals have hair analyses which indicate that they have toxic amounts of copper, lead, cadmium, calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc in their tissues? If all the minerals not needed by the body were excreted, and if all you had to do to correct "deficiencies" in the body was to give people the minerals they were low in, then it would be the easiest thing in the world to correct mineral imbalances. All you would need to do would be to give them a mineral supplement which contained all the essential minerals. If it were this easy, few people on mineral programs would ever remain ill.

But, of course, this is not the case. Many of the multiple supplements on the market today generally contain magnesium, zinc and copper along with Vitamin A and Vitamin B₂. Unfortunately, a combination of these compounds will only serve to slow down an already slow metabolism. The idea behind taking a multiple mineral and vitamin supplement is logical. But you have to make sure that the multiple supplement is "balanced" for your particular metabolism. The whole philosophy of everyone taking the same kind of multiple supplement is just as absurd as everyone wearing the same shoe size. But, say that a balanced supplement has just the minerals which your body needs for your particular metabolism. The next question is, "Are all the minerals in the right ratios to one another?"

Sulfur & Mercury

Mercury, in its various forms, has a great affinity for certain minerals, and protein and nonprotein molecules in the body. Mercurials have a great attraction to the sulfhydryls, or thiols. The mercury atom or molecule will tend to bind withany molecule present that has sulfur or a sulfur-hydrogen combination in its structure. This process of combining with a metal to form a complex in which the metallic ion is sequestered and firmly bound is called chelation. A thiol is any organic compound containing a univalent radical called a sulfhydryl and identified by the symbol -SH (sulfur-hydrogen). A thiol can attract one atom of mercury in the ionized form and have it combine with itself. Because it is a radical, it can enter into or leave this combination without any change. Mercury and lead both have a great affinity for sulfur and sulfhydryls and are capable of affecting the transsulfuration pathways in the body. The primary sulfur-containing protein amino acids in the body are cystine, cyseteine, methionine, and taurine. There is also a sulfur-containing tripeptide (having three amino acids) called glutathione that is composed of glutamic acid, cysteine, and glycine. Sulfur exists in a reduced form (-SH) in cysteine and in an oxidized form (-S-S) as the double molecule, cystine. Whenever mercury binds to one of these sulfur-containing molecules, it reduces their availability for normal metabolic functions. Sulfur is present in all proteins, which makes it universally available throughout the body for binding with mercury. Some of the important biochemical sulfur-containing compounds of the body besides glutathione are insulin, prolactin, growth hormone, and vasopressin, and science has not yet investigated the effect of mercury upon them.

Mercury has a particularly high affinity for thiol groups and progressively less for other groups in the following sequence: Sulfur, amides, amines, carbon, and phosphate. Because of this capability, mercury has the potential of binding to proteins throughout the body. Mercury compounds are formed by the binding of mercury to the biological binders albumin or cysteine. The principal biological reaction fo mercury is with thiols to form mercury mercaptides. The sulfur groups are often referred to as mercaptans because of their marked affinity for mercury. Mercaptan is defined as any compound containing reduced sulfur bound to carbon. When a metal, such as mercury, replaces the hydrogen ion of the reduced sulfur, the resulting compound is called a mercaptide. Mercury can form at least three compounds with cysteine in which all or a part of the mercury is bound firmly as a mercaptide. Mercury may cause damage, especially to the placenta, by inactivation of sulfhydryl groups in cellular enzymes. Mercury interacts with sulfhydryl groups and disulfide bonds, as a result of which specific membrane transport is blocked and selective permeability of the membrane is altered. Mercury also combines readily with phosphate and heterocyclic base groups of DNA. It also combines with other ligands: amide, amine, carboxyl and phosphoryl groups.

Selenium

Selenium closely resembles sulfur in its physical and chemical properties. The selenium concentration in the blood is 19-25 micrograms per 100 milliliters (U.S. population). It is found in the highest concentrations in the kidney, heart, spleen, and liver, and to some degree in all other tissues except fat. Selenium is an essential nutrient and deficiencies or low dietary intake has a bearing on mortality and morbidity associated with several major diseases. The mean blood selenium level of a cancer victim is significantly lower than the blood selenium level of individuals who do not get cancer. Significantly lower levels of selenium have been seen in patients with various types of cancer such as lymphocytic leukemia, breast, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, colon, genito-urinary, skin cancer, and Hodgkins's disease. Although selenium can be toxic by itself, it also prevents the toxicity of several other metals such as silver, mercury, cadmium, and lead. Mercury causes the loss of the needed metals copper and zinc, and selenium helps prevent that loss by binding the mercury. Contrary to accepted belief that the kidney is the prime accumulator of inorganic mercury, the thyroid and pituitary retain and accumulate more inorganic mercury than the kidney. Selenium deficiency is a common component of the malnutrition seen in AIDS patients. The mean blood platelet GSH-Px (glutathione peroxidase) activity of a coronary patient is significantly reduced. A low enzyme activity is a risk factor for the development of coronary artery disease. Mercury's ability to complex with selenium, increases its excretion, and reduces its bioavailability for primary metabolic functions.

Zinc

It wasn't until 1974 that zinc was determined to be an essential element, but extensive research has associated zinc deficiency in humans with retarded growth, anorexia, hypogonadism, diminished sense of taste and/or smell, inadequate bodily development, dermatitis, dystrophy of the fingernails, and impaired wound healing. Zinc is an essential component of approximately 100 different enzymes. It is also involved in the synthesis of metallothionein, which is a complex involved in the storage or detoxification of cadmium, mercury, and copper. Zinc resembles cadmium and mercury in its ability to form complexes with thiols. Mercury can displace zinc in accordance with the binding affinities that metallothionein has for varioius metals. In order of attraction these are mercury, copper, cadmium adn zinc. Zinc-induced synthesis of metallothionein is perhaps the primary factor in reducing the toxicity of many heavy metals. Zinc also works together in the body with vitamin B₆ (which increases B6 absorption) and vitamin E. Zinc deficiency may intensify vitamin E deficiency and thereby increase the requirement for vitamin E. The process of excreting zinc through the bile appears to be glutathione-dependent, with the glutathione molecule acting as a carrier. This might involve competition with other heavy metals such as copper, cadmium, and methylmercury, which also use glutathione as a carrier for biliary excretion and which ultimately can affect zinc balance in the body. Zinc can protect vertebrate embryo from the harmful effects produced by several different agents that cause birth defects. Patients with secondary immunodeficiency syndrome have low-serum zinc and elevated-serum copper levels. When given zinc supplements, the patients' condition improves. Zinc and copper balance are significantly altered in many immunodeficiency disorders and may be the cause of immunodeficiency.

Mild zinc deficiency is associated with and can play a role in the susceptibility of women to recurrent vaginal candidiasis. Mercury impairs zinc's biological functions. Current candida treatment protocols are not totally effective until mercury amalgam dental fillings are replaced. The most important aspect of mercury's biochemical effect on zinc is its inhibitory effect on zinc-responsive enzymes and coenzymes. Mercury inhibits the following zinc-involved enzymes or coenzymes: alcohol dehydrogenase, delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydrogenase, carbonic anhydrase, alkaline phosphatase, and aldolase. Chronic inhalation of mercury vapor from amalgam dental fillings increases the overall body burden of mercury enough to represent a significant metabolic factor in development of the imbalances of selenium, zinc, and copper.

Calcium

One of the major effects of systemic exposure to mercury is neurological. Muscular function is controlled neurologically by the transmission of nerve impulses, which involve calcium and sodium, Mercury ions affect motor nerve terminals, causing irreversible depolarization, increased transmitter release, and subsequent irreversible block of transmitter release. The neurotoxic action of mercury is at an intracellular site and entry is gained through both sodium and calcium channels. Metals may inhibit transmitter release at either the calcium channel or at the release site, but irreversible toxicity is due to an intracellular action, possibly involving sulfhydryl groups.

Calcium is one of the great binders of nature: it causes cement to harden, blood to clot, bones to hold up. Every cell in the body uses it. It's needed for your nerves to fire, for your brain to function, and for your muscles to contract. Even your heart won't beat without calcium. Calcium maintains the organization of tissues. Coordination among the cells in a tissue is maintained mostly by bridges, known as tight junctions that bind the cells together physically and allow messages to be carried among them. The messages are carried by calcium atoms just like messages on a telephone line are carried by calcium atoms just like messages on a telephone line are carried by electrons. Tight junctions--and communication between cells--disappear when calcium in the fluid around the cells drops. The tissues become disorganized. Competition among the cells for food and oxygen replaces the usual cooperation, and a process of rapid evolution at the cell level begins. The result of this is that highly specialized, aggressive cells evolve that can command resources, invade other tissues, and kill other cells. This is called cancer.

The human body cannot manufacture calcium. We obtain calcium by eating or drinking foods that contain calcium. On a typical day, the average person takes in about one fortieth of an ounce of calcium, roughly the weight of a small feather (700 milligrams). Unfortunately, usually only 15-35 percent of the calcium we eat is absorbed by the body, depending upon a person's age, sex, vitamin D availability, and the presence of other foods that block calcium absorption. Your body will first allocate the calcium to your blood. If the calcium level in your blood is adequate, it will be shunted quickly to the extracellular fluid around your cells. The extracellular fluid surrounds each cell in your body and gives it the essentials that the cell needs for survival. Calcium from the extracellular fluid around the cells that make bone will be put to work. You are always making new bone. The process, called remodeling, allows the body to develop new and powerful bones throughout a person's lifetime. The ability to strengthen and develop new bone cells is particularly important for those who are physically active and during pregnancy. The typical adult woman consumes 490 milligrams of calcium per day and the typical adult man consumes 700 milligrams per day.

A 40-year-old man taking in an average amount of calcium for his age (700 milligrams) might absorb only 245 milligrams per day. At the same time, his body will lose 100 milligrams of the absorbed calcium in solid waste, 150 milligrams in urine, and 20 milligrams in sweat each day. He will have lost 270 milligrams, but only absorbed 245, leaving him with a daily loss of 25 milligrams. After a period ranging from minutes to hours, some of the calcium that is absorbed will be used to form a crystal called apatite in the bones throughout the body. It will move fastest to bones which specialize in storing calcium for fast access. These bones, called trabecular bones, are the body's equivalent of a 24-hour market, open day and night to meet unexpected needs. Some of the calcium that is absorbed goes to the kidneys, which excrete about 150 milligrams per day. The kidneys conserve calcium; only one one-hundredth of the amount of calcium that enters them is excreted under normal circumstances, although drinking lots of coffee, for example, can change this ratio, causing the kidneys to excrete much more calcium than they would normally. Calcium is used in two ways in your body. The first is for communication. The cells in your body talk constantly, using a special chemical code. They routinely communicate information necessary for you tissues to function properly. Calcium is vital to that communication between cells. Cells exchange information through tiny bridges between them, called calcium channels. Most calcium channels are located in structures called communicating junctions.

Cells transmit various kinds of messages, and we hypothesize that the most important of these is a "vote" to an adjacent cell on whether to divide. A normal cell in tissue called epithelium--the cells that make up the inside layer of your intestine, your skin, and which line the ducts of a woman's breast--decides whether to divide from adjacent cells using a calcium channel. Mercury blocks the calcium channel in cell membranes.

Your body can be seen as a giant cooperative venture with billions of cells working toward a common objective, your health. Many of the most important tissues in your body have an outermost layer that is only one cell thick. This is true of the cells lining the intestine, the cells in the lungs that exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide with the air we breathe, and the cells lining the inside of most of our internal organs. In the case of the small intestine, for example, a single layer of cells is devoted to absorbing nutrients. Cells exchange information or communicate by sending calcium ions from one cell to a neighboring cell via a communicating junction. When contact between cells is cut off for some reason, we cells interpret this as the loss of a neighboring cell. The apparent loss of nearby cells will stimulate the proliferation of cells that make new epithelium. Calcium carries a vital message between the cells that keeps them from dividing unnecessarily. When calcium in the fluid bathing the cells is very low, the communication system is disconnected. The cells can't receive signals from adjacent cells. And they don't have cell phones! If enough time passes without receiving signals from other cells, the cells that make new epithelium will divide. If the two cells produced do not receive signals from other cells, they too will divide, producing eight cells, and so on.

Before long, there will be several generations of new cells, each generation doubling the size of the previous generation. If these cells do not continue to receive growth-blocking signals via calcium channels from adjacent cells, they will continue to proliferate in a chain reaction. Soon this chaotic mitosis of cells will form a pileup, and take on peculiar shapes and sizes. When the pileup is large, the condition is called hyperplasia. Hyperplasia may be physical evidence of the breakdown in communication among cells. In the intestine, it appears long before cancer is present. The usual scenario of a breakdown in communication in the cells of the intestine may be for the cells to pile up until they form a polyp, which is an unusual extension of the lining of the intestine into the lumen, or opening, where the food passes through. Polyps seen under a microscope reveal that many are disorganized tissues. Most polyps don't start out as cancer, but rather seem to be a result of the body's attempt to deal with epithelial cells that are needlessly dividing due to a deficiency of calcium in the fluid bathing them.

Signals sent through a communicating junction to an adjacent cell inform it that another cell is nearby. Signals such as these sent from the surface of the cell are used by the cell nucleus, the specialized central command, to make a decision about the need to reproduce. If the signals coming to the cell membrane are constant, adjacent cells are considered to be present. If the signal from one surface of the cell stops coming in, it means that the adjacent cell is no longer present. Perhaps it had been washed away, as often happens in tissues such as the intestine. Or the cell might have died, shrinking slightly and leaving space. Cancer manifests in three phases: decoupling, initiation, and promotion. It is the first phase, decoupling, where calcium has the greatest effect. Decoupling is the process of cells splitting apart from one another. It happens when the amount of calcium in the extracellular fluid is low. It is due to loss of tight junctions that bind cells of the intestine, breast, and respiratory tissues together. When cell lose communication and begin to divide, the tissue becomes disorganized and the cells begin to pile up. The resulting mass of cells is called hyperplasia. If the cells are unusual shapes or are especially disorganized, it is called dysplasia. It isn't cancer, however--it often disappears spontaneously without a trace. Decoupling lays the groundwork for hyperplasia, which may precede the next stage in the formation of cancer, initiation.

Radiation or toxic chemicals can produce variation by attacking the DNA in the cells, causing mutations. Most of the mutated cells will die but a few will thrive. Those that thrive are better able to get food and oxygen than normal cells, and therefore better able to reproduce. If the generator of variation continues to act, more variation will occur. New mutations will arise in each generation of transformed cells. Again, most will die but those that survive will do so because they have an advantage in getting food and oxygen. These cells in turn will thrive and reproduce. Those that reproduce most rapidly are the most successful. If this process continues over many generations, a generation of highly aggressive, rapidly reproducing, mutated cells will come into being. These cells become potent competitors for food and oxygen at the expense of normal cells. In many cases they lose their fine structure and even some of their genes. These are cancer cells.

If the generator of variation is removed, the evolutionary process may be arrested before a new generation of cancer cells evolves. This is what happens when a person quits smoking. The predominant carcinogen in tobacco smoke is benzo-alpha-pyrene. Take it away and evolution of the cells toward cancer is usually arrested. If the cancer cells have evolved sufficiently already, then taking away the generator of variation will do little good. The die has been cast. This is why quitting smoking late in life doesn't always prevent cancer. The third stage of cancer is proliferation of the highly evolved cancer cells. A cancer can be promoted by a chemical that is not a cause of variation. There are many chemicals, such as the hormone estrogen, that do not appear to initiate cancer cells, but which can stimulate them to grow. The rate of spread of breast cancer can be reduced dramatically in many women by eliminating the promoter estrogen (hormone replacement therapy, birth control pills, meat & poultry, etc). Without the promoter, the cancer tissue slows its rate of reproduction.

Calcium seems to prevent cancer in the decoupling phase of the disease. Cells can function normally without communication with other cells, at least for short periods of time. Eventually, though, in the absence of communication from other cells, the cells will divide. On the other hand, if calcium levels remain normal, cells will not divide unnecessarily, and the evolution will be slowed. A sufficient intake of calcium slows the evolution or normal cells toward cancer and can help to prevent it. The second major role of calcium inn the body is to provide structure. There are only a few elements in the world that are used routinely to provide structure for plants and animals. Almost all rigid structures of plants and animals contain calcium. Each cell in your body, with a few exceptions, has a skeleton, called a cytoskeleton that keeps the cell together. These cell skeletons differ in degrees of rigidity, but in places where they must be very rigid they include crystals of calcium. The reasons for this are that calcium is strong, easily dissolvable, and transportable. The disease osteoporosis occurs because calcium is easily dissolvable and transportable.

In the months preceding birth, collagen, a tough substance used by the body where flexible strength is needed, forms a net where bone will be created. Calcium in the fetus is then carried from the placenta to this net, where the calcium crystals are neatly caught from one edge of the developing bone to the other. In the months and years that follow, more calcium is added to the bone structure, giving the bone strength. Calcium is essential to the body at the cellular level, as a structural support and as a means of communication between cells, and in the formation and endurance of bones as well. A sufficient calcium intake is crucial to health and fitness.

Calcium tables and values printed on food packages and other calcium books have been based on crude laboratory methods. They show you how much calcium is present, but do not show you how much is usable. Many foods "steal" calcium. Such foods are "calcium robbers." They can steal the calcium you take in, as well as the calcium stored in reserve (teeth and bones). The molecules of calcium robbers bond extremely easily to calcium. They will readily abandon another element for calcium should they come into contact with calcium. Phytate, a molecule in certain nuts, seeds, and vegetables is a prime example. Phytate is usually bound to sodium or other elements. However, when it comes into contact with a calcium molecule, it will desert the other elements it is attached to and has a preference for and bonds with the calcium. The problem is that when calcium is bound to phytate, the body is usually unable to unbind the two molecules, and the calcium passes through the small intestine in an unusable form until it is excreted from the body. The calcium, for all the good it has done, might just as well not have been eaten. Similar to phytate is oxalate, another molecule that binds with calcium and makes it unusable. Many foods contain phytates and oxalates, and it is these foods that we term calcium robbers. Eating such foods with calcium-rich foods negates the potential benefits of a calcium-rich diet. The tendency of bran to bind calcium has long been known. Experimenters since the 1930s have fed bran-rich foods to animals to induce rickets.

Mercury blocks the enzyme in the cell membrane that actively passes calcium in and out of the muscle cells by attaching to the thiol part of the enzyme. Calcium is necessary for the proper function of heart muscle. High blood pressure is caused by mercury preventing the passage of calcium into the heart muscle cells, increasing the force of the heart muscle contraction. It takes time for chronic mercury exposure to cause enough damage to result in a clinically detectable dysfunction. This is a predominant characteristic of heart disease.

Fluorine (fluoride) is the most reactive element known to chemists and its greatest affinity is for calcium. Anyone with a calcium deficiency can experience muscle spasms and convulsions from fluoride ingestion. Fluorine interferes with the normal process of calcification of teeth during the process of their formation, so that affected teeth, in addition to being unusually discolored and ugly in appearance, are structurally weak and deteriorate early in life. Fluoride stimulates abnormal bone development. High dose fluoride treatment increases bone mass but the newly formed bone is structurally unsound. Thus, instead of reducing hip fracture, high doses of fluoride increase hip fracture.

High intake of protein will also cause you to lose calcium. If you eat more than 90 grams, or three ounces, of protein per day you begin to enter a dietary range where the protein will acidify the body and cause calcium loss, especially if organic sodium is not adequately supplied in the diet. You will lose 50 to 70 milligrams of calcium per day for each ounce of protein you eat above three ounces. This can make a big difference if you're an avid meat eater. Heavy intake of sugar will also acidify the body and cause you to lose calcium through excess excretion. If you eat more than two ounces per day of sugar, honey, corn syrup, or other sugars in any form, you'll need to add calcium above the usual requirements to your diet. Coffee, tea, and alcohol also have an important effect on calcium absorption. The typical American drinks 24 ounces of coffee and soft drinks every day. Coffee is brewed in 85% of American homes. Many people drink ten to twenty cups per day. Each cup of coffee causes you to lose about 10 milligrams of calcium. This may not seem like a lot, but the loss may mean trouble if your calcium intake is already low. Most people who take in less than 500 to 600 milligrams of calcium per day are losing calcium from their bodies. This amount just isn't sufficient to maintain a positive calcium balance according to sophisticated studies using a tracing method based on a calcium isotope.

People who drink a lot of alcohol tend to absorb vitamin D and calcium from their diet poorly. The result for those who drink a lot of alcohol is bone loss, even in young people. There are changes in the microscopic structure of the intestine of people who drink a lot of alcohol that make it hard for vitamin D to pass through the fine structures of the cells. The ultimate result is that the calcium is not absorbed, which causes an increase in the rate of cell division of the intestinal wall.

Some substances found in food act more as calcium transporters--gently carrying calcium molecules to the large intestine. Foremost of those transporters is pectin, a substance found in many fruits and vegetables, particularly in apples. Pectin refers to both pectin and its relatives, the polysaccharides, in fruits and vegetables that aren't derived from cellulose or its relatives or starch. The Latin root word polysaccharide means "many sugars." These sugars are bound together so they can't be absorbed by your body. Your body is able to absorb free sugars such as fructose (fruit sugar), sucrose (table sugar), maltose (honey sugar), lactose (milk sugar), and glucose (a sugar found in carrots and other vegetables), However, the body would need a special enzyme to break the polysaccharides into smaller free sugars, and our bodies don't have the enzyme to do it. But it doesn't leave your body, either. It does something even more important. Pectin is a faithful carrier of calcium to your large intestine. It does this with a molecular structure that looks and acts like an egg crate. It has a fascinating molecular structure that consists of a long chain of up to a thousand units of a simple plant acid. If you add calcium to pectin, a gel forms. One ounce of pectin gel contains 750 milligrams of calcium in its molecular egg crate. Because we don't have an enzyme in our bodies that will break down pectin in our stomach or small intestine, it passes through those organs intact to the large intestine.

After traveling through the small intestine, all that's left of the apple is three compounds: cellulose, lignin, and pectin. Cellulose and lignin are the compounds that make up the woody arts of the plant cell wall. They're unusable by the body and pass through untouched until they are eliminated. Pectin, however, is another matter. Pectin next enters the large intestine, where friendly bacteria take it apart and use it as a source of fuel for themselves. They are able to do this because they have an enzyme we don't. Although bacteria eat it, it has no caloric value to us. When pectin is digested by friendly bacteria that live in the large intestine, it releases calcium, where it can interact with potentially dangerous carcinogens, neutralizing to protect against intestinal cancer. The calcium is also slowly absorbed by the intestine while some of it reacts with fatty acids, bile salts, and other carcinogens in the intestine to form inert compounds called soaps. Calcium safely binds up the attackers, rendering them unable to harm the intestinal cells. Apples, oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruits, kiwi, and a wide range of other fruits, as well as most vegetables, contain substantial amounts of pectin.

Overview of Minerals and Their Function

Although trivalent chromium is recognized as a nutritionally essential mineral, scientists are not yet certain exactly how it functions in the body. The two most common forms of chromium are trivalent chromium (III) and hexavalent chromium (VI). Chromium (III) is the principal form in foods, as well as the form utilized by the body. Chromium (VI) is derived from chromium (III) by heating at alkaline pH and is used as a source of chromium for industrial purposes. It is a strong irritant and is recognized as a carcinogen when inhaled. At low levels, chromium (VI) is readily reduced to chromium (III) by reducing substances in foods and the acidic environment of the stomach, which serve to prevent the ingestion of chromium (VI).

Refined Food

Mental Health

Protein

Healing

Mineral Assimilation

Electrolytes

Balance

Medication

Plant Minerals

Soil Bacteria

Sources

Thyroid and Adrenals

Oxidation Types

Chronic Fatigue

Sulfur & Mercury

Selenium

Zinc

Calcium

Overview of Minerals and Their Function

Function

Deficiency

Nutrient Interactions

CHROMIUM

Function

Nutrient Interactions

DEFICIENCY

COPPER

Function

Nutrient-nutrient Interactions

Deficiency

IODINE

Function

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