Mineral Supplements: In regards to Absorption

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Mineral Supplements: In regards to Absorption

 

The digestive tract goes like this: mouth, esophagus, stomach, small

intestine, large intestine, and out.

 

Mineral absorption means transferring the mineral from the digestive

tract through the wall of the intestine, into the bloodstream.

 

You really have to picture this: the digestive tract is just a long

tube, from one end to the other.

 

As long as food and nutrients are inside this tube,they are

actually considered to be still outside the body,because they

haven't been absorbed into the bloodstream yet.

 

This is an essential concept to understanding mineral absorption.

 

Minerals can't do any good unless they make it into the bloodstream.

 

This is exactly why most minerals bought at the grocery store are

almost worthless: they pass right through the body -in one end and

out the other.

 

It's also why many nutritionists' and dieticians' advice is

valueless; they commonly pretend everything that is eaten

is " absorbed " .

 

Two main reasons for lack of absorption:

- the pill never dissolved

- the mineral was in its elemental form

(non-nutrient, e.g., iron filings)

 

Let's say these problems are overcome; neither is true.

 

Or let's say the mineral is contained within some food, such as iron

in molasses, or potassium in bananas.

 

Food-bound minerals are attached or complexed to organic molecules.

 

Absorption into the blood is vastly increased, made easy.

The mineral is not just a foreign metal that has been ingested;it is

part of food.

 

Fruits and vegetables with high mineral content are the best way to

provide the body with adequate nutrition.

 

Food-bound minerals are the original mode.

 

As already cited above, however, sufficient mineral content is an

increasingly rare occurrence.

 

Foods simply don't have it. How little,what portion of normal

depends on what studies one finds.

 

Soon the necessity for supplementationbecomes obvious: if the food

no longer has it,

and we need it, pass the supplements, please.

 

At that point, the marketplace assaults one's awareness and we're

almost back to the days of the tonics, brews, toddies, and snake

potions of yesteryear.

 

1. ELEMENTAL

 

Let's look at the four types one by one.

Least beneficial are the

supplements containing minerals in the elemental form.

 

That means the mineral is just mentioned on the label.

 

It's not ionized, it's not chelated,it's not complexed with an oxide

or a carbonate or a sulfate, or with a food.

 

Like under " ingredients " it just says " iron " or " copper, "

or " calcium, " etc.

 

Elemental minerals are obviously the cheapest to make.

 

A liquid would only have to be poured over some nails to be said to

contain iron.

Elemental minerals are the most common in grocery store supplements.

They may not be toxic, as long as only the minerals mentioned on

the label are included in the supplement.

 

The problem is absorption: it's between 1 and 8 percent.

The rest passes right through.

Not only a waste of money; also a waste of energy:

it has to be processed out of the body.

 

This can actually use up available mineral stores.

 

2. IONIC

 

Next comes ionic minerals. Usually a step up.

Ionic means in the form of ions. Ions are unstable molecules

that want to bind with other molecules.

An ion is an incomplete molecule.There is a definite pathway for the

absorption of ionic minerals through the gut (intestine) into the

blood.

 

In fact, any percent of the elemental minerals

that actually got absorbed became ions first,

 

by being dissolved in stomach acids.

 

Ionic minerals are not absorbed through the intestine intact.

The model for mineral ion absorption through the intestine is as

follows.

 

Ions are absorbed through the gut by a complicated process involving

becoming attached or chelated to some special carrier proteins in

the intestinal wall.

 

Active transport is involved; meaning, energy is required to bring

the ionic mineral from inside the intestine through the lining, to

be deposited in the bloodstream on the other side.

 

Ionic minerals may be a good source of nutrients for the body,

depending upon the type of ions,

and on how difficult it is for the

ion to get free at the appropriate moment and location.

 

Minerals require an acidic environment for absorption.

 

Remember low pH (less than 7) is acidic; high pH(above 7) is

alkaline.

 

As the stomach contents at pH 2 empty into the small

intestine, the first few centimeters of the small intestine is the

optimum location for mineral absorption.

 

The acidic state is necessary for ionization of the dissolved

minerals.

 

If the pH is too alkaline, the ions won't disassociate from whatever

they're complexed with, and

will simply pass on through to the colon without being absorbed.

 

As the mineral ions are presented to the lining of the intestine, if

all conditions are right, and there are not too much competing

minerals present,

the ions will begin to be taken across the

intestinal barrier,making their way into the bloodstream.

 

This is a complicated, multi-step process, beyond the scope of this

article.

 

Simply, it involves the attachment of the free mineral ion to some

carrier proteins within

the intestinal membrane, which drag the ion across and free it into

the bloodstream.

 

A lot happens during the transfer, and much energy is

required for all the steps.

 

Just the right conditions and timing are necessary -proper pH,

presence of vitamins for some,and the right section of the small

intestine.

 

Iron, manganese, zinc, copper - these ions are bound to the carrier

proteins which are embedded in the intestinal lining.

 

The binding is accomplished by a sort of chelation process,

which simply describes the type of binding which holds the ion.

 

The carrier protein or ligand hands off the mineral to another

larger carrier protein located deeper within the

intestinal wall.

 

After several other steps, if all conditions are favorable,the ion

is finally deposited on the other side of the intestinal wall:

the bloodstream,

now usable by the cells.

 

Ionic mineral supplements do not guarantee absorption by their very

nature, although they are certainly more likely

to be absorbed than are minerals in the raw, elemental state.

However, ionic minerals are in the form required for uptake by the

carrier proteins that reside in the intestinal wall.

 

The uncertainties with ionic minerals include how many, how much,

and what else are the unstable ions likely to become bound to,

before the carrier proteins pick them up.

 

All ionic supplements are not created equal.

Just because it's an ion doesn't mean a supplemental mineral will be

absorbed.

 

Too many minerals in a supplement will compete for absorption.

Too much of one mineral will crowd out the others.

 

The idea is to offer the body an opportunity for balance; rather

than to overload it with the hope that some will make it through

somehow.

 

Minerals are biologically active in tiny amounts.

 

 

 

3. COLLOIDAL

 

Speaking of overloading, the third type of supplemental minerals is

the one we hear the most about: colloidal.

 

What does colloidal really mean?

 

Colloidal refers to a solution, a dispersion medium in which mineral

particles are so well suspended that they never settle out:

you never have to shake the bottle.

 

The other part of the dictionary definition has to do with diffusion

through a membrane:

 

" will not diffuse easily through vegetable or animal membrane. "

 

Yet this is supposed to be the whole rationale for taking colloidal

minerals - their absorbability.

 

 

Colloidal guru Joel Wallach himself continuously claims that it is

precisely the colloidal form of the minerals that allows for easy

diffusion and absorption across the intestinal membrane, because the

particles are so small.

 

 

Wallach claims 98% absorption,but cites no studies, experiments,

journal

articles or research of any kind to back up this figure.

 

Why not? Because there aren't any.

The research on colloidal minerals has never been done.

It's not out there.

 

Senate Document 264 doesn't really cover it.

 

In reality, colloidal minerals are actually larger than ionic

minerals, as discussed by researcher Max Motyka, MS.

 

Because of the molecular size and suspension in the colloid medium,

which Dorland's Medical dictionary describes as " like glue, "

 

absorption is inhibited, not enhanced.

 

No less an authority than Dr. Royal Lee the man responsible for

pointing out the distinction between whole food vitamins and

synthetic vitamins, stated:

 

" A colloidal mineral is one that has been so altered that it will no

longer pass through cell walls or other organic membranes. "

 

Does that sound like easy absorption?

 

Stedman's Medical Dictionary talks about colloids

" resisting sedimentation, diffusion, and filtration "

 

Again, resisting diffusion seems to indicate inhibition of

absorption, not increased absorption, wouldn't you think?

 

As Alexander Schauss and Parris Kidd both explain,

colloids are suspensions of minerals in clay and water.

 

Clay often has levels of aluminum as high as 3000 parts per million,

with safety levels set at 10 ppm or lower(Kidd).

 

 

Aluminum has been proven to kill nerve cells, which we now see in

the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's.

 

 

Dr. Schauss characterizes the aluminum content as the big problem

with colloidal minerals.

 

He cites a standard geology reference text -Dana's Manual of

Mineralogy -

describing clay as primarily aluminum:

 

" Clay minerals are essentially hydrous aluminum silicates. "

- Dana's Manual, p436

 

And another geology text:

 

" [clays] are essentially hydrous aluminum silicates and are usually

formed from the alteration of aluminum silicates. "

- Mineral Recognition p 273

 

 

Schauss finds references as high as 4400 PPM of aluminum in

colloidal clay.

 

Schauss states that he has done an exhaustive search for any

human studies

using colloidal minerals and after searching 2000 journals,

like everyone else, has come up with zero.

 

For a mineral to be absorbed, it must be either in the ionic state,

or else chelated, as explained above.

 

 

The percentage of colloidal minerals wich actually does get absorbed

has to have been ionized somehow,

due to the acidic conditions in the small intestine.

Only then is the mineral capable of being taken up by the carrier

proteins in the intestinal membrane, as mentioned above.

 

So why create the extra step?

 

Ionic minerals would be superior to colloidal, because they don't

have

to be dissociated from a suspension medium, which is by definition

non-diffusable.

All this extra work costs the body in energy and reserves.

 

In an editorial in Am J of Nat Med, Jan 97, Alexander Schauss

further points out the error of Wallach's claims.

 

Wallach states that colloidals are negatively charged, and this

enhances intestinal absorption.

The problem is his science is 180* backward:

 

Wallach claims the charge of the intestinal mucosa is positive, but

all other sources have known for decades that the mucosal charge is

negative. (Guyton, p13)

 

This is why ionic minerals are prsented to the intestinal surface as

cations

(positively charged ions).

 

Opposites attract, like repels - remember?

Another big minus for colloidals.

 

QUALITY CONTROL

 

Consistency of percentages of each mineral from batch to batch. Very

simply, there isn't any with the mega mineral supplements, as the

manufacturers will themselves admit.

 

 

The ancient lakes and glaciers apparently have not been very

accommodating when it comes to percent cmposition.

 

Such a range of variation might be acceptable in, say,

grenade tossing or blood dilution in seawater necessary to attract a

shark, or IQ threshold of terrorists, or other areas where high

standards of precision are not crucial.

 

But a nutritional supplement that is supposed to enhance health by

drinking it -

this is an area in which the details of composition should be fairly

visible, verifiable, the same every time.

 

In these 80-trace-mineral toddies, there is no way of testing

the presence

or absence of many of the individual minerals.

 

Many established essential trace minerals do not even have an agreed-

upon recommended daily allowance, for two reasons:

 

-the research has never been done, the amounts are too small to be

measured.

 

 

How much less is known about the amounts and toxicities of those

unknown minerals which have never been studied, but are claimed to

be

present in these " miraculous " toddies?

 

 

TOXICITY AND COMPETITION

 

Some essential minerals are toxic in excess, but essential in small

amounts.

Iron, chlorine, sodium, zinc, and copper are in this category.

 

Toxic levels have been established, and resulting pathologies have

been identified:we know what diseases are caused by their excesses.

 

How risky is it to take in 40 or 50 minerals for which no toxicity

levels have ever been set?

 

The problem is selective utilization, as explained by Dr. Parris

Kidd. toxic trace minerals may closely resemble the essential

minerals in

atomic configuration.

 

The result is competition for enzyme sites by two similar minerals

only one of which is beneficial:

 

" aluminum competes with silicon

 

cadmium competes with zinc

 

tellurium competes with selenium

 

lanthanum competes with calcium "

 

- Kidd, p42

 

We also know that zinc competes with iron. (Erasmus)

 

A separate hoax is being played out with

 

 

COLLOIDAL SILVER,

used by many as a " natural antibiotic. "

 

Extremely uninformed physicians recommend daily doses of colloidal

silver, in order to " prevent " colds,in the absence of any studies or

trials whatsoever.

 

As Dr. Kidd points out:

" the body is not well-equipped to handle silver.

 

This element can poison the kidneys, become deposited in the brain,

and even give to the skin gunmetal type of gloss. "

 

 

Doug Grant, a nutritionist, cites several minerals which frequently

appear on the ingredient labels of certain mega-mineral products -

 

they actually admit their supplements contain or " may contain " some

of the

following:

(the phrase " may contain " has always been scary for me.

 

If hey're not sure, then what else is there that this product " may

contain " that they don't know about?)

 

 

Aluminum:

 

Documented since the article in Lancet 14 Jan 1989 to be

associated with Alzheimer's Disease,

 

as well as blocking absorption of esential minerals

like calcium, iron, and fluoride.

 

Silver:

questionable as a single-dose antibiotic,

consistent intake of silver accumulates in the blood-forming organs -

 

spleen, liver, and bonemarrow-, as well as the skin, lungs, and

muscles.

 

 

Serious pathologies have resulted-

blood disorders, cirrhosis, pulmonary edema, chronic bronchitis,

and a permanent skin condition known as argyria, to name just a few.

 

 

Silver is better left in the ancient lakes, and in tableware.

 

Gold: Manufacturers of mega-minerals hawk that " there's more gold in

a ton of seawater than there is in a ton of ore. "

 

So what?

 

Our blood is not seawater-it evolved from seawater.

 

Gold used to be used to treat rheumatoid rthritis, but has largely

been abandoned when they proved that it

caused kidney cell destruction,

bone marrow suppression, and immune abnormalities.

 

Lithium:

Rarely used as an antipsychotic medication, lithium

definitely can cause blackouts, coma, psychosis, kidney damage, and

seizures.

 

Outside of that, it should be fine.

 

The list goes on and on.

 

These are just a few examples of mineral oxicities about which we

have some idea.

But for at least half the minerals inthe mega toddies, we know

nothing at all.

 

4. CHELATED

 

The fourth form of supplemental minerals is the chelated variety.

Some clarification of this term is immediately necessary.

 

Chelated is a general term that describes a certain chemical

configuration, or

shape of a compound n which some molecule gets hooked up with some

other chemical structures.

 

When a mineral is bound or stuck to certain carrier molecules, which

are known as chelating agents, or ligands, and a ring-like molecule

is theresult, we say that a chelate is formed.

 

Chelate is from the Greek word forclaw, suggested by the open v-

shape of the two ligands on

each side, with the mineral ion in the center.

 

Chelation occurs in many situations. Many things can be chelated,

including minerals, vitamins, and enzymes.

Minerals in food may be

bound with organic molecules in a chelated state. Many molecules in

the

body are chelated in normal metabolic processes.

 

The carrier proteins in the

intestinal wall discussed above, whose job it is to transport ionic

minerals - these chelate the ions. Another sense of the word

chelation as exemplified in a mainstream therapy for removing heavy

metals from the blood is called chelation therapy.

 

The toxic metals are bound to a therapeutic amino acid ligand called

EDTA. With a Pac-Man action,

the metals are thus removed from the blood.

 

Molecular weight is measured in units called daltons. The ligands or

binding agents may very small (800 daltons) or very large (500,000

daltons)

resulting in a many sizes of chelates. Mineral + ligand == chelate.

 

Generally the largest chelates are the most stable, and also the

most difficult to absorb.

Ionic minerals absorbed through the intestine

are chelated to the carrier proteins, at least two separate times.

 

Using the word chelated with respect to mineral supplements refers a

very specific type of chelation.

The idea is to bind the mineral ion to ligands that will facilitate

absorption of the mineral through the

intestine into the bloodstream, bypassing the pathway used for ionic

mineral absorption.

 

Sometimes minerals prepared in this way are

described as " pre-chelated " since any ionic mineral will be chelated

anyway once

it is taken up by the intestinal membrane.

 

 

After decades of research at Albion Laboratories in Utah, it was

learned that small amino acids, especially glycine, are the best

ligands for chelating minerals, for three reasons:

 

-it bypasses the entire process of chelation by the intestine's own

carrier proteins

 

- facilitates absorption by an entirely different pathway of

intestinal absorption, skipping the intermediate steps which ionic

mineralsgo through

 

- the chelate will be the at the most absorbable molecular weight

for intestinal transfer: less than 1500 daltons

 

 

It has also been established beyond controversy that certain pairs

of

amino acids (dipeptides) are the easiest of all chelates to be

absorbed,often easier than individual amino acids.

 

Proteins are made of amino acids.

 

Normal digestion presumably breaks down the proteins to its amino

acid building blocks so they can be absorbed.

But total breakdown is not always necessary. It has long been known

that many nutrient chains of two or three

or even more amino acids may be absorbed just as easily as single

amino acids.

 

Food-bound copper, vitamin C with hemoglobin molecule, animal

protein, zinc, are some examples of amino acids chelates that are

easily absorbed intact.

 

To take another example, in abnormal digestion it is well known that

chains of amino acids - dipeptides, tripeptides, even polypeptide

proteins -

sometimes become absorbed intact in a pathology known to

gastroenterologists as Leaky Gut Syndrome.

 

Obviously it is not healthy and has many adverse consequences, but

the point is that

amino acids chains are frequently absorbed, for many different

reasons.

It's not always like it says in the

bold face section headings in Guyton's Physiology.

 

The reason these dipeptide chelates are absorbed faster than ionic

minerals is that the chelated mineral was bonded tightly enough so

that it did not dissociate in the acidic small intestine and offer

itself for

capture by the intestinal membrane's carrier proteins. That whole

process was thus avoided.

 

The chelate is absorbed intact. An easier form.

 

This is a vast oversimplification, and the most concise summary, of

why chelated minerals may be superior to ionic, provided it's the

right chelate.

 

Only a specific chelate can resist digestion and maintain its

integrity as

it is absorbed through the gut.

Again, all chelates are not created

equal.

 

Inferior chelates, used because they are cheaper to produce, include

the following:

 

- carbonates

- sulfates

- chlorides

- phosphates

 

If the label gives one of these chelates, it means the mineral is

bound either too strongly or not tightly enough, and will be

released at the wrong time and the wrong place.

Chelation of minerals in nutrient supplements is a very precise

science, yielding chelates superior to those occurring naturally in

foods.

 

Intact absorption is faster, easier, and requires less metabolic

energy, provided the chelate is about 1500 daltons.

 

To compare chelated and ionic minerals, once the research is

presented, there is really not much of a dispute about which is

absorbed

faster, ionic minerals or dipeptide-like amino acid chelates.

 

Meticulous isotope testing has shown the following increases in

percent

absorption of chelates, as compared with ionic:

 

Iron 490% greater

Copper 580% greater

Magnesium 410% greater

Calcium 421% greater

Manganese 340% greater

 

- Source: Journal of Applied Nutrition 22:42 1970

 

 

Again, this is just the briefest glance at the prodigious amount of

research comparing ionic with chelated minerals, but the results are

uniform.

 

The winner of the bioavailability contest is: chelated

minerals,

provided the chelate was maintained as small as possible, generally

using glycine as the amino acid ligands, at a total weight of about

1500 daltons.

 

FOOD-BOUND CHELATED MINERALS

 

Often you will hear this or that company claiming that " organic "

minerals contained in food are the best, cannot be improved upon,

and are superior to all possible types of mineral supplements.

This is almost true.

 

The only exception is glycine-chelated minerals, for two reasons:

 

- the exact amount of minerals in any food is extremely variable and

difficult to measure, even if there is high mineral content of the

soil.

 

Pesticides destroy root organisms in the soil. These bugs play a

major role in selective mineral absorption.

 

(Jensen p 55)

- the ligands that bind the mineral in the food chelate may be too

strong or too weak to dissociate at exactly the right time for

maximum absorption in the human digestive tract.

 

Glycine chelates are uniform and easily measurable.

No question about dosage.

 

Marketing is a wonderful thing - two different companies are now

attributing the longevity of the Hunza tribe in Pakistan to two

entirely different properties of their water:

one, the minerals; the other, molecular configuration.

 

A classic error in logic is described as " post hoc, ergopropter

hoc " - after this, therefore because of this.

 

Maybe it was the weather that made the Hunzas live longer, or their

grains, or the absence oftoothpaste or webservers or Marketing is

the art of persuasion by suspending logic.

 

The average lifespan of an American is about 75 years. No one has

ever proven that taking mineral supplements will extend life.

Many old people never took a mineral or a vitamin in their life.

 

It really comes down to quality of life. Incidence of disease during

the lifespan. For how many days or months of the total lifespan was

the person ill?

We are the walking petri dishes of Alexis Carrel - remember?

 

Carrel was the French biochemist, a Nobel prize winner, who did the

famous experiment in which he kept chicken

heart cells alive in a petri dish for 28 years just by changing the

solutes every day.

 

Could've gone longer, but figured he'd proven his point.

 

Mineral content factors largely in the quality of our solutes: the

blood - the milieu interior, the biological terrain.

 

The U.S. has the highest incidence of degenerative diseases of any

developed country on earth.

In addition, the infectious diseases are coming back; antibiotics

are getting less effective every year.

 

Americans'confidence in prescription drugs is weakening. Allow me to

disabuse you of unfounded hopes:

cancer and AIDS will never be cured by the discovery of some new

drug.

 

It's not going to happen. There probably will never be another

Alexander Fleming - turns out penicillin was just a brief detour

anyway. Bacteria have had 50 billion years to figure out ways to

adapt.

 

The

only way that anyone recovers from any illness is when the immune

system vercomes the problem.

 

Allergy shots never cured an allergy -

people whot ake allergy shots always have allergies.

 

Our only hope of better health is to do everything possible to build

up our natural immune system.

 

One of these preventative measures is nutritional supplementation.

It may not be dramatic, but daily deposits to the immune system bank

account will pay off down the road. Healthy people don't get sick.

 

With respect to minerals, then, what are our goals?

 

My opinion is that having once realized the necessity for mineral

supplementation, our objectives should be simple:

 

- Take only the minerals we absolutely need

- Take the smallest amounts possible

- Nothing left over ( no metabolic residue)

 

Some of the above ideas may seem strange and difficult to

understand,

on first reading. But it is truly a very simplified version of what

actuallytakes place.

 

Most of the technical details were omitted for the sake of clarity

and brevity. However, the correctness of the above basic

framework is verifiable.

 

We are living in the age of the Junk Science Hustle.

 

Everybody's an expert, often quoting shaky sources, shaky facts, and

shaky claims which may have no foundation in physical reality.

 

--- End forwarded message ---

_________________

JoAnn Guest

mrsjoguest

DietaryTipsForHBP

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/AIM.html