Minerals the Spark of Life

By Barbara Bourke (Adv.Dip of Nutrition)

Nutrients are chemical substances and are required for life. The major nutrients are carbohydrates, fats and proteins, and provide energy (calories). Vitamins are required for growth and metabolism. Minerals are required for regulating cell function and to provide structure to cells. The above nutrients are organic compounds and except for inorganic minerals, contain carbon.

The body, when reduced to its simplest form, is a small pile of ashes and weighs approximately five pounds. Hence, when we die, the minerals which where so important to life are once again returned to the earth; this is the cycle of life.

Why do we need minerals and trace minerals? What are their functions?

Minerals are initiators and they regulate and control every organ and function in our body. This means they set in motion essential reactions and they have vital roles in bone formation, participate in muscle contractions, blood formation, and energy production. Proteins can not be assembled and vitamins can not be metabolized if there is a shortage of the necessary minerals. Therefore, they can truly be called the spark of life. In our stressful times we need them even more than ever, as a stressed body depletes nutrients and especially minerals, at a faster rate.

In chemistry we learnt about the "The Periodic Table of Elements".

The standard table contains 117 chemical elements, of which 94 occur naturally on earth. (1). We are part of this earth and therefore, I can safely assume our body requires many of them for health and wellbeing. Consequently, we eat the food grown in the soil, the flesh of our farm animals or the fish from our oceans and water ways and so we will obtain all the necessary minerals, right? Wrong!!

Firstly, we don’t always eat a nutrient rich diet. Fast and processed foods are often part of our eating habits. Secondly, good digestive function is important for proper breakdown and absorption. Poor digestion is the first step to ill health. Thirdly, and very importantly, we do not get the required minerals from our soil anymore. This is a fact. Modern farming over the years has not only depleted our soils of minerals, but also unbalanced our mother earth. Chemical fertilizers do not contain a balanced and complete mineral picture, with an abundance of some of the major minerals in favour of the all so important trace minerals. No fertilizer contains all the 117 or even the 94 naturally occurring elements. This means if it is not in our soil our animals and we humans will not obtain them from our food.

It's as simple as that.  

Start eating a healthy diet and make sure your digestion is working optimally is of course crucial and might be easier than finding nourishing foods full of all the necessary minerals.

Thank goodness for vitamin and mineral supplements.

Well, yes and no. Taking a vitamin/mineral supplement is a great first step. However, you will only get a fraction of minerals and trace minerals - maybe 10 to 16 or so, but what about the rest? That’s why I believe taking a colloidal plant derived mineral supplement is the best to restore tissue mineral levels. A good product should contain at least over 70 plant derived minerals and those are the ones our body can easily absorb. Hard inorganic minerals are for the soil, which, once integrated into the plant life will render them organic, those are best for our body.

What is the difference between plant derived and inorganic minerals? Water is a good example, it contains hard inorganic minerals. Vitamin and mineral supplements contain mostly inorganic minerals. Sea minerals also fall into this category. Unless you eat plants as well as flesh food, or take a plant derived mineral product you most probably consume inorganic minerals. These hard minerals might not be so easily absorbed by body tissue and can store between the cells causing arterial, joint and many other health problem over time. At different times and for special health concerns inorganic minerals as well as tissues salts like "Dr Scheussler's Tissue Salts" can be of great help.

However, for everyday health and wellbeing you can not go past plant derived organic minerals. They are perfectly balanced by nature and they are easily absorbed and incorporated into body tissue.

Plant derived minerals harvested from ancient compost, are the purest form and the most natural food supplement. Over time, starting millions of years ago, glaciers and other earth movements buried large quantities of earth matter and those are today's source of important minerals and trace minerals. We have to be thankful that a great nutritional supplement like this is available, it take the guess work out of balancing your mineral intake. This is not a manmade product, but made by Mother Nature and Mother Nature always knows best.

Enhance your life and rediscover your spark for life by complimenting your healthy diet with this kind of natural supplement.

(1) A chemical element is a substance made up of only one type of atom, and distinguished by its atomic number (the number of protons in its nucleus). Common examples of elements are hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen.

In total, 117 Elements have been observed as of 2007, of which 94 occur naturally on Earth. Some elements may also be called minerals if they are commonly found in soil and rocks. All chemical matter consists of these elements. New elements of higher atomic number are discovered from time to time, as products of artificial nuclear reactions.

http://www.extension.org/faq/28397