Have you consumed enough minerals today? Chances are, even if you think the answer is yes, you probably haven’t consumed the recommended daily amounts to help keep your body healthy and functioning properly. Many people may not realize how necessary minerals are for everyday body functioning. As a matter of fact, over 80% of North Americans suffer a mineral deficiency or imbalance. Therefore, mineral supplementation becomes essential for keeping the body healthy and functioning at optimum levels.
Minerals are vital components of all living cells. They are needed for the formation of blood and bone, maintaining healthy nerve functioning, supporting the endocrine system, and supporting the muscles and cardiovascular system. Although they contain no energy themselves, minerals assist the body in energy production. Without minerals, vitamins and enzymes cannot carry out their necessary functions in the body. So obviously, obtaining the full spectrum of essential minerals becomes very important.
The problem is that we are getting less of the minerals we need and more of the minerals we don’t need. Scientists have long recognized that many illnesses are due to severe deficiencies of one single mineral. A lack of iodine leads to goiters, and anemia is caused by a lack of iron. Certain mineral deficiencies can contribute to conditions, such as attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and other abnormal behaviors. The results of numerous studies indicate that low magnesium levels were a common factor in hyperactive children between the ages of four and 13.
Many of the foods that form the basis of our diet are grown in soils largely depleted of essential minerals. Although the body can function, however poorly, without vitamins, it will die without minerals. We naturally produce vitamins from our inherent mineral supply so when that supply is depleted, the body suffers. Soil depletion, poor crop rotation, and loss of valuable topsoil due to flooding and over-irrigation has eliminated much of the natural trace mineral content from our modern food supply.
Adding to the problem of depleted soil is a bigger problem that many of us fail to recognize. Combinations of synthetic drugs, which are taken by so many of us today, have far reaching side-effects that many people do not know exist. Many drugs chelate or bind with one or more minerals making those minerals useless to your body. Henry A. Schroeder, MD, said in his speech on trace mineral research, “A great many ordinary drugs are chelating agents.†He also pointed out that penicillin is one of those “mineral binding†drugs, as well as many other antibiotics. Diuretics flush potassium out of the body and deplete magnesium. Sedatives and sleeping pills lower blood levels of calcium and magnesium. Over-the-counter antacids interrupt calcium and phosphorus metabolism. Drug induced nutritional deficiencies are preventable if all of us are continually supplying our bodies with trace minerals that we can assimilate and use.
The key to total health may lie in something as basic as trace minerals. Begin a new habit today – a good habit – and supply your body with the minerals it needs to survive and thrive.
