Our soil and therefore our food are deficient in minerals
because of the industrialization of agriculture. How can we
eat well and meet our nutritional needs? Growing our own
organic food might be the answer but not practical for
most people. Even if we could grow or buy enough organic
fruit and vegetables, preparing and eating enough is a
challenge. Can mineral supplementation make up for this
shortfall in nutrition?
The answer is 'maybe' but there are problems with mineral
supplements on the market: they vary in what minerals they
include and in what quantities. Even if a mineral is
present in the supplement, it may not be enough to be
biologically effective. Even if it is present in sufficient
quantity, the body may need other minerals and nutrients in
order to absorb it - minerals work as a team.
Take calcium as an example: calcium is the most abundant
mineral in our bodies and is almost all found in our bones.
Roger Mason in 'The Minerals You Need' notes the irony
that Europeans and North Americans eat far more calcium
than other peoples. They are the only populations that
take in the 1,000 mg per day of calcium recommended by the
government (the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA)) yet they
have far more bone and joint disease, especially arthritis
and osteoporosis, than Asians, Africans and people from
Latin cultures. He explains that this is because calcium
can only be absorbed if other minerals and vitamin D are
present. He notes that the key to maintaining healthy
bones is not the amount of calcium, but the intake of
calcium together with other minerals and vitamins such as
magnesium, boron, strontium and vitamin D. Other possible
contributing minerals are manganese, zinc and silicon. The
message throughout his book is that minerals work together
as a biological team.
The reverse may happen: the presence of another mineral may
inhibit absorption. Even a person's general state of
health, the anti-perspirant they use or the water they
drink can affect absorption.
A web article 'Testosterone Production — The
Elemental Facts, An Interview With Victor Conte' by Nelson
Montana at http://www.t-nation.com describes how calcium
inhibits absorption of other minerals by up to 60-70% and
needs to be taken separately, at least two hours before or
after taking other mineral supplements.
Moreover, manufacturers use extra calcium in capsules in
the form of either dicalcium phosphate or calcium sulfate
as a filler. I took two mineral supplement bottles from my
kitchen cupboard and they both list dicalcium phosphate as
an 'Other Ingredient'. This has been an industry standard
for over 25 years so taking any mineral supplement that
uses this calcium filler may not help as much as it could.
Drug Digest at http://www.drugdigest.org states that
calcium salts remove potassium and magnesium from the body.
An article in the American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition
(Vol. 82, No. 3, 589-597, September 2005) finds that
calcium also inhibits absorption of iron.
Other examples of minerals that you should not take at the
same time are iron and zinc. Taking iron with zinc
inhibits its absorption; see the Drug Digest web site.
Extra iron should only be taken under the advice of a
health care professional. Taking zinc with copper, iron or
phosphorous supplements inhibits absorption; again, see the
Drug Digest web site.
Environmental factors may inhibit absorption. For example,
per Conte and Montana, anti-perspirants contain aluminum
chlorohydrate and hard water is often treated with sodium
aluminate to prevent the build-up of calcium and magnesium
deposits in the pipes. So there is aluminum in our
environment and aluminum inhibits absorption and
utilization of magnesium.
Another issue is how well the body absorbs minerals. They
are mostly absorbed in the small intestine. Conte and
Montana mention another factor which may inhibit absorption
of minerals: antacids inhibit digestion by reducing
hydrochloric acid in the stomach so that it cannot break
down and absorb nutrients
I might also add that old fecal matter in the large
intestine inhibits absorption of minerals - only colon
cleansing such as colon hydrotherapy can help this.
For all these reasons, a regular multi-mineral supplement
from the store may not compensate for the deficiency of
minerals in our soil and food. Conte and Montana discuss
how to achieve the best absorption of minerals:
* Take them on an empty stomach
* Do not take them all at once in order to reduce
competition for absorption between minerals:
* Take calcium by itself
* Take chromium and copper together
* Take iron and selenium together
* Take zinc and magnesium together (just before bedtime)
Zinc and magnesium are often put together in well-absorbed
forms in a product referred to as 'ZMA'. ZMA-using athletes
increased free and total testosterone levels by about 30%,
and experienced IGF-1 increases, when they might otherwise
have expected reduced levels because of the strain on their
bodies. The ZMA-using athletes experienced strength gains
that were 2.5 times greater than a non-ZMA control group.
We may have to accept for now that mineral supplements are
far from perfect but better than not taking anything. To
the extent that you can, split up what you take as
described in this article and try to find ones that do not
use dicalcium phosphate or calcium sulfate as fillers.
We have seen the difficulties in trying to formulate a
mineral supplement. As the supplement manufacturers
Biotest point out, biological systems are extremely complex
and nobody really knows what nutrients we need in what
quantities and combinations, so trying to copy nature may
not be the answer.
The alternative may be to take organic fruit and vegetables
extracts that have been freeze-dried such as the new
product from Biotest called Superfood. I have no financial
interest in Biotest other than as a very satisfied
customer. If we cannot reconstruct nature artificially,
let's take natural produce and condense it into a form that
we can easily consume. Let's use technology and nature to
offset the effects of industrial agriculture.
----------------------------------------------------
I work in information technology supporting the health care
program of a pension system, so am familiar with the issues
of our health care system.
I also believe that your health and fitness is a statement
- how you perceive yourself and how you want others to
perceive you. My site summarizes what I have learned. For
more information on how you can achieve health and fitness
at 50 or any age, go to =>
http://www.healthatfifty.com
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