Minerals! The Absolute Necessity of Life

There Is Magic In Minerals-That's Why More People Are Taking Minerals Every Day! The time you spend taking your MINERALS today, could save you all the time in the world tomorrow. Perhaps, that is why more people than ever before take minerals daily. They understand that minerals are the absolute necessity of all life.

Minerals originate directly from the earth, and although the body can manufacture some vitamins, it cannot produce minerals. Therefore, if a mineral does not reside in the soil, it stands to reason, it is not going to be in the food grown there either. This leaves us with nutritional supplementation as the primary source for minerals.

In the 21st century, nutritional supplementation has become a standard way of life. Fruit and Vegetable Juice Capsules, Calcium, and OPC Grape Seed Extract are designed for leading healthier, more productive lives. However, in spite of the attention given to vitamins, proteins, fats, amino acids, enzymes, and calories, you will find that minerals -- the basic constituents of all matter -- are given very little press.

Although minerals make up a very small portion of the human body's total weight, their influence on its physiology is profound. From acid base balance to osmotic action, from elasticity and soft tissues, to muscles, from the healing of cuts, scratches, bruises, and other wounds, to improving mental activity and energy levels, all require minerals for maximum efficiency. In the blood, minerals combine with other essential nutrients to promote germ-killing effects. Thus, the body produces its own natural antibiotic. Furthermore, because minerals are engaged in almost every physical contraction of the body, one could neither breathe nor drink without their presence.

It is now very clearly understood that certain, specific minerals provide structure to the bones, participate in muscle contraction, assist in blood formation, help build protein, and are involved in energy production.

Electrically-Charged Minerals

Other minerals become electrically charged and act like magnets. They attach themselves to other "likeminded" electrically-charged substances to form complex molecules. Some mineral combinations may help with low back pain, panic attacks, manic depression, heart palpitations, scoliosis, anemia, cardiomyopathy, and obesity.

Minerals also work in synergistic harmony with other life-giving nutrients. For example, a deficiency of one mineral, like a weak link, may eventually disrupt the entire chain of life, rendering other nutrients useless or inefficient. So, every mineral needs every other one to influence the action of vitamins, proteins, enzymes, amino acids, carbohydrates and fats.

Additionally, minerals are essential for the conversion of dietary carbohydrates, protein and fat into energy. They have the power to control body fluids, and permit other nutrients to pass into the bloodstream. Mineral action also controls blood coagulation. Therefore, bruises, cuts, scratches, etc, all must have minerals to enable the body to contribute to its own healing process.

What Does It Mean for A Mineral To Be "Essential?"

Like other nutrients, when our bodies cannot produce them, or produce them in quantities sufficient to support the functions in which they are used, they are said to be essential. Most commonly, a mineral is considered essential if deficiency symptoms are seen when it is lacking in the diet, and the symptoms resolve when it is re-supplied.

This is easy to demonstrate with many of the body's bulk minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium; many problems arise when these are not supplied in the diet. Recent research has shed a great deal of light on many important subtleties of the trace minerals. Chromium and selenium, for years primarily the subject of toxicity concerns, now are know to be essential to carbohydrate metabolism and blood sugar regulation, and to proper immune function, heart function, and cancer prevention.

Aluminum is Important

Inorganic sources of aluminum are harmful, while organic sources are beneficial. The aluminum intake we should be concerned about comes from food additives. Sodium aluminum phosphate is an emulsifier in processed cheese.

Potassium alum is used to whiten flour and aluminum calcium silicate is added to common table salt. In addition, with the use of aluminum pots and pans and aluminum foil, some aluminum leaches into food, especially with acidic foods like tomatoes.

On the other hand, aluminum makes up 12% of the earth's crust, qualifying it as one of the abundant elements. ORGANIC plant source aluminum is found in such plants as alfalfa, asparagus, beans, brussels sprouts, cabbage, canola, carrots, celery, corn, cucumbers, lettuce, melons, mint, mustard greens, peanuts, peas, peppers, potatoes, soybeans, spinach, sunflower seeds, tomatoes, turnips, and wheat. So you see, it is virtually impossible to eat any gain, vegetable, fruit, or nut, or drink any natural water source or juice without taking in some aluminum.

Selenium is Important

Selenium was once looked upon solely as a toxic mineral, but is now regarded as one of the most exciting nutrients of the past 20 years. The Food and Nutrition Board developed the RDA guidelines for the desirable amounts of essential nutrients in the diet. As part of its comprehensive analysis of diet and major chronic diseases, it was determined that, Low selenium intake, or decreased selenium concentrations in the blood are associated with an INCREASED risk of cancer in humans.

Additional research indicated that supplementation of the diet with selenium, "Protects against tumors induced by a wide variety of chemical carcinogens."

Moreover, a selenium deficiency is most commonly associated with Keshan Disease, a severe disorder that primarily affects children and women of childbearing age.

Iodine is Important

This is not the iodine you apply topically to cuts and scratches, or iodine itself, which is a poisonous gas. But it is the trace mineral iodine, which is required for the production of thyroid hormones that regulate the metabolic energy of the body, and set the basal metabolic rate (BMR).

Nickel is Important

This is not from the inhaled nickel carbonyl, a carcinogenic gas that results from the reaction of nickel when heated with carbon monoxide, from cigarette smoke, car exhaust, and some industrial wastes. The mineral nickel has been considered essential for decades. Although studies reveal the biological function of nickel is still somewhat unclear, it is found in most human tissue.

Speculation suggests nickel may activate certain enzymes related to the breakdown or utilization of glucose. Furthermore, the loss of nickel through sweating may require extra dietary supplementation to maintain its still somewhat mysterious functions. Obtaining the full spectrum of essential minerals is very important. In fact, in clinical, nutritional medicine, minerals may be even more important than vitamins. Here is a partial list of mineral deficiencies.