MINERALS FOR LIFE
By Lawrence Wilson, MD
Everything in the physical world is made of mineral elements.What are they, how do they work, and why are they important for our health?
There are 92 known stable elements.Scientists believe they were formed billions of years ago by heat and pressure as the earth changed from clouds of gases into a solid planet.
There is debate over what the elements really are.Some scientists such as Dr. Brian Andersen believe the elements are frequencies of light, crystallized into form.His book, The Rhythms of Nature, contains an interesting circular table of the elements.According to the quantum theory, elements are composed of sub-atomic particles - electrons, protons and neutrons.
BIOLOGICAL TRANSMUTATION
Most scientists believe that once an element forms, it cannot change into another element except using extreme heat or pressure, as in a nuclear reactor.
Dr. Louis Kervan, a French scientist, performed simple experiments showing that living organisms can change one element into another at room temperature.For example, hens do not eat much calcium in their diet.However, their eggs are rich in calcium.In another experiment, seeds sprouted in sealed containers with only distilled water contain different amounts of elements than unsprouted seeds.
These experiments can be duplicated by any high school student.Dr. Kervan's book, Biological Transmutations, is fascinating reading.Unfortunately, the ideas are so revolutionary they are ignored in mainstream physics and biology.
MINERALS FOR LIFE
Life on our planet is built around a number of chemical elements.Important elements include calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, sulfur and phosphorus.These are sometimes called macro-minerals.Blood levels of these elements remain fairly constant.Hair tissue levels vary tremendously, offering more information about them.
Calcium, the structural element, is found mainly in our bones.Calcium also regulates cell membrane permeability to control nerve impulse transmission and muscle contraction.It is important for blood clotting, and it regulates hormonal secretion and cell division.
Good food sources are dairy products such as cheese and yogurt.Smaller amounts are in milk, sardines, egg yolks, almonds, sesame seeds, seaweed and dark green vegetables.Goat cheese is better than cowšs milk cheese for most people because cows are often fed or injected with antibiotics, female hormones and growth hormones.
Magnesium is named after the Greek city of Magnesia, where large deposits of magnesium carbonate were found centuries ago.Magnesium is needed for over 500 enzymes that regulate sugar metabolism, energy production, cell membrane permeability, and muscle and nerve conduction.
Foods high in magnesium include milk, almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, whole soybeans (but not tofu, tempeh or soy protein), parsnips, wheat bran, whole grains, green vegetables, seafood, kelp and molasses.
Most people need more magnesium than they are eating because food refining strips away magnesium.Deficiency causes muscle cramps, weakness, depression and fatigue.Magnesium works closely with potassium and is a calcium antagonist.
Sodium helps regulate blood pressure, fluid balance, transport of carbon dioxide, and affects cell membrane permeability and other cell membrane functions.Deficiency causes fatigue and fluid imbalances such as low blood pressure.
Food sources include sea salt, seafood, eggs, beet greens, swiss chard, olives, peas, and butter.Table salt is a refined junk food.Most of the minerals have been stripped away, and aluminum is often added as a flowing agent.Use natural sea salt instead.
Potassium is needed for regulation of the heart beat, fluid balance and to maintain blood pressure.It is also needed for buffering the blood, and cell membrane effects including nerve transmission and muscular contraction.Deficiency can cause cramps, fatigue and heart irregularities.
Good sources are herring, sardines, halibut, goose, most nuts and seeds, watercress, garlic, lentils, spinach, artichokes, lima beans, swiss chard, avocados, buckwheat, wheat bran, molasses, and kelp.Be sure to drink the water in which you cook vegetables to obtain the potassium from the vegetables.
Phosphorus is required for energy production, DNA synthesis and protein synthesis.It is also needed for calcium metabolism, muscle contraction and cell membrane structure.
Excellent sources include salmon, sardines, mackerel, snapper, whitefish, scallops, carp, herring, liver, turkey, chicken, eggs, kidney, many nuts and seeds, chickpeas, garlic, lentils, popcorn,soybeans, cheese, wheat, and chocolate.Animal-based sources of phosphorus are often absorbed better than grains and beans that contain phytates.
Sulfur is an important element for digestion, joints, detoxification, hair, skin and nails.Most dietary sulfur comes from sulfur-containing amino acids found mainly in animal protein foods.Good sources are eggs, meats, and often smelly foods like garlic and onions.Other sources are kale, watercress, russels sprouts, horseradish, cabbage cauliflower and cranberries.
Vegetarians can easily become deficient in sulfur if they do not eat eggs.Deficiency can affect hair, nails, skin, joints, energy and the ability to detoxify poisons.
TRACE ELEMENTS
Though needed in small amounts, trace minerals are essential for life.They include iron, copper, manganese, zinc, chromium, selenium, lithium, cobalt, silicon, boron and others.Hair and blood are used to measure these elements.
Iron is required for transporting oxygen in the blood, for detoxification and for energy production in the cells.Iron is found in lean meats, organ meats, shellfish, molasses, beans, whole-grain cereals, and dark green vegetables.Menstruating women and children on poor diets are most commonly low in iron.
Copper, a feminine element,is associated with estrogen.It helps regulate female fertility and prevent miscarriages.Copper is also required for healthy arteries, pigments in hair and skin, blood formation, energy production and for neurotransmitter substances such as dopamine.
Copper sources include organ meats, nuts, seeds, beans, grains and chocolate.People with high tissue copper are often bright, young-looking, creative and emotional.Excess copper is more common than deficiency today, due to the use of copper water pipes, birth control pills, vegetarian diets and stress.
Manganese is called the maternal element, because animals deprived of this element do not nurture their young.Manganese is involved in cholesterol synthesis and bone growth.It is also needed for healthy tendons and ligaments, and for fat and sugar metabolism.Manganese sources are nuts, especially walnuts,bran, corn, parsley, tea and wheat germ.
Zinc, a masculine mineral, is essential for over 50 body functions.These include the sense of taste and smell, vision, growth, sexual development, digestive enzyme production, male potency, prostate gland health, blood sugar regulation and processing of alcohol.
Zinc is very important for the joints, the skin, wound healing, and to prevent birth defects.Zinc helps prevent diabetes, acne, epilepsy and childhood hyperactivity, and helps detoxify heavy metals.Adequate zinc has a calming effect and is needed to regenerate all body tissues.
Refined food is very low in zinc.According to Dr. Carl Pfeiffer, MD, PhD, the entire human population is borderline zinc deficient.Good sources of zinc are herring, oysters, clams, wheat bran, oatmeal, wheat germ, colostrum, liver, beef, lamb, and chicken thighs.Vegetarians run a high risk of zinc deficiency.
Chromium.A desert rodent called the sand rat develops diabetes when fed a laboratory diet.When returned to the desert, the diabetes goes away.Extensive research indicates the problem with the laboratory food is a lack of chromium.
Chromium is essential to for insulin metabolism.It can also help lower cholesterol.Chromium deficiency is very common, especially in middle-aged and older people. Food sources of chromium are brewers yeast, liver, kidney, beef, whole wheat bread, wheat germ, beets, mushrooms and beer.
Selenium is an important trace element.It is needed for protein synthesis, helps the body get rid of toxic cadmium and mercury, and is needed for antioxidant production (glutathione peroxidase).As an anti-oxidant, it may help prevent cancer and birth defects. Good sources of selenium are garlic, yeast, liver, eggs, wheat germ and brazil nuts.Human milk contains six times as much selenium as cowšs milk.
Refined food loses a lot of selenium (and other trace elements).For example, brown rice has 15 times as much selenium as white rice.Whole wheat bread has twice as much selenium as white bread.It is an excellent mineral to supplement.
Lithium has a calming effect on the nervous system.It is found in many natural foods.
Cobalt is essential for life as part of the vitamin B12 molecule.Vitamin B12 is required for the nervous system and blood formation.It is found in animal products.Deficiencies usually only occur in strict vegetarians, those with impaired digestion,and the elderly who have difficulty absorbing vitamin B12.
Iodine is required for the thyroid gland and the regulation of metabolism. Good sources are seafood, sea vegetables and sea salt.Boron helps maintain female hormone production and bone integrity.Boron is found in many foods.Silicon is important for the bones and skin.Food sources include lettuce, parsnips, asparagus, dandelion greens, rice bran, horseradish, onion, spinach and cucumbers, and in herbs such as horsetail.
Trace minerals often work in pairs or triplets.The interaction of minerals in the body is a complex and interesting subject.There are many other trace minerals such as molybdenum, vanadium, bromine, germanium, nickel, tin, cesium, rubidium, strontium, gold, silver, titanium, tritium and others.
The only way to obtain all these elements is to eat natural foods grown on mineralized soil.Dr. Weston Price, DDS, studied healthy native tribes around the world.He found they were eating about 4-10 times the vitamins and minerals of the average American living on refined and processed foods.
TOXIC MINERALS
Toxic metals act like replacement parts that do not measure up to the originals.Imagine you live in a wooden house and over the years the wood rots or becomes damaged.Instead of replacing them with the correct boards, you use whatever is around such as tar paper, cardboard, twigs or tree branches.Your house might still stand for a while, but it will lose its structural integrity.When the body is missing vital minerals in the diet such as calcium, magnesium, potassium and zinc, it absorbs toxic minerals from the environment to keep functioning.
Some minerals have different valences, some of which are toxic.An example is chromium.Hexavalent chromium is beneficial but trivalent chromium is toxic.Still other vital minerals may become toxic if they are in the wrong place or are unusable by the body.This is sometimes called biounvailable.Calcium, for instance, is needed in the bones.When it accumulates in the arteries, joints, kidneys and elsewhere it becomes toxic.
Still other vital minerals may accumulate in the liver and in other organs to balance the sodium/potassium ratio or some other vital mineral ratio.This occurs with iron and manganese.Thus the subject of toxic metals is a bit more complex than just dividing minerals into good and bad ones.
These include lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, aluminum, fluoride and others.These often function in enzymes to some extent, but not nearly as well as the physiological mineral.All toxic metals are neurotoxic.They contribute to hundreds of health conditions.
Lead contributes to over 100 human conditions, including neuromuscular and bone diseases, fractures, mental retardation, hyperactivity, anemia, and many others.Some historians believe the Roman Empire fell because lead water pipes slowly poisoned the people and decreased their strength and intelligence.Sources of lead include old paint, inks, pesticides, a few hair dyes, solder and other metal products.
Cadmium contributes to high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, fatigue, arthritis, violence, infections, back pain and other conditions.Sources are cigarette or marijuana smoke, refined foods and tap water.
Mercury toxicity is present in almost everyone today.Mercury is found in silver amalgam dental fillings, tuna and swordfish, contact lens solution, vaccines and various other products.Mercury toxicity can contribute to hypothyroidism, impaired immune system, digestive problems such as yeast infections, emotional difficulties, learning disabilities, ADHD and many other conditions.
Aluminum is associated with memory impairment and Alzheimeršs disease. Aluminum is widely used in beverage cans, aluminum foils, antiperspirants, antacids, and aluminum cookware.Peppermint, spearmint and wintergreen are naturally high in aluminum.
Fluoride contributes to brown staining of the teeth, weakened bones, hip fractures, mental impairment, birth defects and cancer.Fluoride compounds are found in pesticides, air pollution, toothpastes, and are added to many water supplies.Foods processed with water including baby foods and juices often contain too much fluoride.
Large, worldwide studies show little or no benefit of fluoride for tooth decay, contrary to many news reports.Only the United States and Britain continue to add toxic fluoride compounds to drinking water.
Arsenic contributes to liver and kidney damage, weakness, diarrhea, muscle spasms, headaches and other symptoms.Sources include pesticides, beer, tap water, table salt, paints and other chemical products.
LAWS OF MINERALS
1) To obtain vital minerals, eat fresh, natural foods.Refined and junk foods usually have their minerals stripped away.If you donšt eat plenty of vital minerals, your body will take up toxic metals as substitutes.
2) Eat a variety of foods.It is impossible to get all the minerals one needs on a limited diet.Donšt eat the same food every day.Vary your proteins, carbohydrates and vegetables.
3) Use supplements.Herbs and natural supplements include kelp, dulse, wheat germ, condiments and brewers yeast.Be careful with so-called colloidal mineral supplements from clay deposits.These often contain aluminum, lead and other toxic metals.
4) Avoid sources of toxic metals as much as possible.
5) Women, for healthy pregnancies and happy children, improve your mineral nutrition before getting pregnant.Toxic metals and mineral deficiencies are passed on to children.
6) To get rid of toxic metals, five methods can be used together.Avoid exposure, improve your rate of metabolism, and take chelating agents such as vitamin C.Also take antagonists such as selenium for cadmium, and improve the functioning of your organs of elimination such as the liver, kidneys, skin and colon.Ways to improve these organs include skin brushing, saunas, steam baths, massage, enemas, colonic irrigation, herbs, vitamins and homeopathics.
Resources
1. Andersen, B.D., The Rhythms of Nature, Harmonic Spiral, CA, 1999.
2. Ford Heritage, Composition and Facts About Food, Health Research, CA 1971.
3. Jensen, B., The Chemistry of Man, Bernard Jensen, Escondido, CA 1983.
4. Kervan, C. L., Biological Transmutations, Beekman Publishers, Inc., NY, 1998.
5. Kutsky, R., Handbook of Vitamins, Minerals and Hormones, Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., NY, 1981.
6. Pfeiffer, C., Mental and Elemental Nutrients, Keats Publishing, CT, 1975.
7. Price, W., Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, CA, 1945, 1979.
