nutritional science, we may be looking frantically in
Why Minerals?
Heal Thyself -- Must-Have Minerals
Date effective: December 13, 2006
Content provided by Alternative Medicine
Magazine
From energy production to proper blood and nerve
formation, minerals work synergistically with
vitamins to regulate hundreds of essential functions
in the body. Like most vitamins -- the exception is
vitamin D -- minerals come from the world around
us. Our bodies can't produce these essential
nutrients, and we can only acquire them through a
combination of supplements and food.
Obtaining the minerals we need from food alone
isn't quite as easy as it used to be, however. Soil
erosion, chemical fertilization, and poor crop
management have all contributed to a depletion of
minerals in the soil, which directly translates to
fewer nutrients in fruits, vegetables, and grains and
indirectly to less nutritious meat and dairy products
as a result of mineral-depleted agricultural feed. For
example, one British study compared data from
1940 to 2002 and found iron content in 15 types of
meat had decreased by an average 47 percent.
All of this means that a healthy diet alone, even one
that's primarily organic, may not meet all of your
body's nutritional needs. So you have to rely on
supplements to take up the slack…
Minding the Minerals
Healthy & Natural Journal, Oct, 2000
by George L. Redmon
Minerals are components of body tissue and fluids
that work in combination with enzymes, hormones,
vitamins and other vital transport substances.
Unless you have been keeping company with Rip
Van Winkle over the past months, I am sure you
have read many reports concerning the health
benefits of antioxidants, phytonutrients,
glucosamine sulfate, fish oils, CoQ-lO, lutein, soy,
and a host of other products, supplements and
dietary regimens. While all of these nutrients have
their place in the ever-changing framework of
the wrong place to find the biological keys to health
and longevity. Scientists have always known that
we can live for an extended period without food, but
not without water. This is because water contains
minerals, a source of life-giving nourishment for the
body.
In the 1930s, vitamins were discovered and
everyone forgot about minerals. Today, in many
respects, minerals are still ignored. Vitamins as well
as many other important nutrients play their part,
but minerals liberate the vitamins to do their work.
Lacking vitamins, the system can make use of the
minerals, but lacking minerals, vitamins are useless.
It is the minerals in their dissolved state (known as
electrolytes or ionized minerals) that are responsible
for creating and maintaining a healthy internal
environment which allows the other nutrients to
flourish and do their jobs. Because of this, minerals
should be given first consideration in the
maintenance and restoration of health. In fact,
minerals play a significant role in the continuation
of life processes. without proper levels of minerals,
our bodies could not function….
Minerals and health
Minerals are components of body tissue and fluids
that work in combination with enzymes, hormones,
vitamins and other vital transport substances. Some
minerals are co-factors (helpers) for enzymes,
which are catalysts for every reaction that occurs in
the body. Many of these minerals participate in
nerve transmission; muscle contraction; the
maintenance of cell permeability, tissue rigidity and
structure, and acid-base balance; blood formation;
fluid regulation and movement across cell
membranes; protein metabolism; and energy
production.
Ionized sodium and potassium (atoms having a
positive or negative electrical charge) maintain a
balance of body fluids inside and outside the cells.
Calcium and phosphorus provide structure for the
framework of the body. Oxygen-hungry iron
composes hemoglobin (protein that gives red blood
cells their color). The mineral iodine is a constituent
of thyroid hormone, which, in turn, controls the
overall rate of metabolism.
Based on past and present data, researchers are just
beginning to have a broader appreciation and
understanding of the critical roles of these inorganic
elements. By no means are these minerals static.
They are major players in the maintenance of the
body's internal equilibrium known as homeostasis.
Investigations into the interactions of minerals
within the human body have substantiated the
effects of mineral imbalances. If there is too little or
too much of one reaction of mineral, all other
minerals are affected, starting a chain reaction of
imbalances and illnesses. In other words, when
minerals are in balance and are in their proper
ratios, they neutralize the potentially harmful effects
of their counterparts--sort of a check-and-balance
system.
According to the United States Senate, our mineral
intake is more important than our intake of
vitamins, calories, proteins, or carbohydrates.
Duped into believing that our diets would suffice as
a source of nutrients, many medical experts may
have failed to mention to you that as a result of past
and present farming methods, there are virtually no
nutritional minerals in our farm and range soils.
Consequently, the crops that are grown there are
mineral deficient, and the animals and people who
eat these mineral-deficient crops get mineral-
deficiency diseases. Many of today's long-term
degenerative diseases, such as arthritis, heart
disease, hypertension, and arteriosclerosis are
caused by nutritional deficiencies.
What is most frightening is that the findings of
mineral-deficient soils were made public some 61
years ago. These findings were not reported in some
obscure medical journal or hidden deep within some
historical archives. These findings were reported
and made public by the United States Senate and
can be found in U.S. Senate Document 264,
published in 1936.
Recent studies conducted at the Earth Summit in
Rio (June 1992), which compared the mineral
content of soils today with soils 100 years ago,
revealed some startling facts. Researchers found
that in African soils, there were 74 percent less
minerals present in the soil today than there were
100 years ago. Asian soils have 76 percent less,
European soils have 72 percent less, South
American soils have 76 percent less, and the soils in
the United States and Canada contain 85 percent
less minerals today than they did 100 years ago.
These statistics show that our soils are not the
"nutrition field of dreams" on which our ancestors
flourished.
The evidence clearly shows that we as a nation, as
well as Document Number 264 reads, "Laboratory
test prove that the fruits, the vegetables, the grain,
the eggs and even the milk and meat of today are
not what they were a few generations ago--which
doubtlessly explains why our forefathers thrived on
a selection of foods that would starve us!”
Past and present research has confirmed that
minerals are absolutely necessary to maintain
health. They are involved with countless metabolic
and enzymatic reactions, which either start, control,
or help maintain important bodily functions. They
are also involved with providing the necessary
materials that help to maintain and build strong
bones, teeth, and tissue structures. Data have also
established the need to constantly supply the body
with these mineral elements through diet, because
the human body is incapable of making any
minerals. Additionally, current soil cultivation
methods are destroying farmlands of these valuable
elements.
There is conclusive evidence that our farm and
range soils are almost void of the necessary
minerals we need. Past studies have shown that our
soils have 85 percent less of the same minerals they
had 100 years ago. Recently, the World Health
Organization reported that this figure is now 95
percent less. Based on current data, the unstable
variability of minerals within our soils causes severe
mineral deficiencies in our food supply.
A global need
At no other time in history have the people of the
world been so exposed to such a wide variety of
pollutants in such high concentrations. If the body is
healthy and functioning at its peak, it can generally
detoxify and eliminate most of the pollutants
without a great deal of damage. Three billion cells
of the body die every minute. In good health or in
youth, when the minerals supply is high, these cells
are replaced as fast as they die. However, during
aging or illness, when the mineral supply is
depleted, the cell growth slows down and
reproduction finally stops, resulting in death.
Because prolonged mineral deficiencies cause many
internal mechanisms to shut down, and minerals are
so vital in initiating the actions of other substances
to do their work, they must be given first
consideration in acquiring or maintaining health.
Current research shows us that even when
consuming the so-called balanced diet, our food and
water supply will not provide us with all the raw
material we need to maintain optimum health.
Additionally, many of our prominent nutritional
experts suggest, based on current data, that many of
today's debilitating and chronic diseases, such as
heart disease, strokes, hypertension, diabetes, and
arteriosclerosis, are caused by long-term nutritional
deficiencies. Because of the body's inability to
manufacture the mineral elements, maintaining
proper mineral balances through supplementation is
believed to be the most important part of the
nutritional puzzle. In the grand scheme and in our
connection to the soil and our health, it is easy to
understand why minerals are truly nature's
biological keys to health.
George Redmon, Ph.D., N.D., is the author of
Energy for Life: How to Overcome Chronic Fatigue
and Minerals: What Your Body Realty Needs &
Why. Dr. Redmon is a graduate of the Clayton
College of Natural Health and received a Ph.D.
from the American Holistic College of Nutrition.
Depleted Soil and Compromised Food
Sources: What You Can Do About It
Dynamic Chiropractic, Jul 4, 2006
by Drucker, Richard
Think of health. Think of wellness. Think of
nutrition. What kind of images come to mind?
Exercise? Fruits? Vegetables? Lean meat?
Supplements? How about dirt? That's right, dirt.
Soil is the primary factor in nutrition because all of
our food comes from the earth. Our bodies are
composed literally of Mother Earth. Minerals in our
bodies are directly connected to the state of our soil.
If an element is missing from our soil, it will be
missing from the foods we eat; hence, we will not
be properly nourished. Unfortunately, that is the
reality of today's soil.
It's a fact. Our soils are depleted and depleted soils
do not produce healthy, nutrient-rich plants. It's also
a fact that crops produced in depleted soils are more
prone to the invasion of insects, viruses, fungi, etc.
Insects and infectious organisms were designed to
get rid of unhealthy vegetation and they do not
typically attack truly healthy plants. Much of the
modern world is now aware that our industrialized
methods of farming have depleted the soils and
created a cycle that requires pesticides to protect the
unhealthy crops grown on depleted soils.
The commercial applications of agriculture have not
only depleted the soil of precious trace minerals but
also have broken down the ability of plants to utilize
those elements. That means our food is nutritionally
deficient right from the source. Then our food is
refined and processed, which further degrades the
nutritional value.
And who suffers? We all do! There are more than 70
trace minerals necessary to produce healthy,
nutrient-rich crops, yet most current farming
methods routinely put back only three to five of
them. And that's only part of the problem. Inorganic
(synthetic/dead), ammonium-based fertilizers, along
with herbicides and pesticides, kill the precious
microorganisms in the soil that are essential to the
creation of organic (carbon-based/living) mineral
complexes. We have done more than simply use up
the available trace minerals in our soils (those in the
form of organic complexes); we also have destroyed
the means of replenishing these soilbased
microorganisms.
Is there a consensus among health care
professionals that depleted soil is a nutritional
concern? While there are still some diehards who
believe you can avoid the need for supplements if
you eat a "balanced diet," it is a verified fact that
our livestock feeds contain nutritional supplements.
Without supplemental nutrients being added to the
feed, far too many animals were getting ill. What
does that tell you? The grain does not possess
enough nutrients to keep the livestock healthy. If
our livestock can't stay healthy by eating our
modern crops, how can we?
Modern, Inorganic Farming
Prior to the 1800s, farmers fertilized their crops
with organic substances. But modern,
economicbased agriculture has virtually replaced all
of the critical organic complexes with inorganic
fertilizers, which cause toxicity in water runoff and
further imbalance the delicate nature of our soils. In
the 1930s, when farmers began to add inorganic
fertilizers to the soil, it was presumed that biological
organisms could assimilate minerals in any form.
Unfortunately, this is not the case. We are now
discovering that inorganic (synthetic/dead) minerals
and trace minerals cannot be easily assimilated by
plants. They must first be combined with
carbonaceous matter (organically complexed),
before they can be used. No wonder our food is less
and less nutritious. No wonder it lacks taste, and no
wonder the modern farmer has to apply more and
more toxic pesticides, herbicides and chemicals
every year in order to get the crops to market.
Most scientists would agree we need three basic
ingredients to sustain life: water, oxygen and
organically complexed (carbonbased/living) trace
minerals. Not even vitamins or enzymes can
perform without trace minerals, and when trace
minerals are lacking, numerous processes either
slow down or come to a halt until the mineral banks
can be replenished. Knowing this, it is easy to see
why both plants and humans are becoming
increasingly susceptible to disease. It is also easy to
understand what Linus Pauling (twice awarded the
Nobel Prize in medicine) meant when he explained
to the 74th Congress of the United Sates, "Every
ailment, every sickness and every disease can be
traced back to an organic trace mineral deficiency."
It has become alarmingly evident that we are
severely deficient in one of the most basic
components necessary to sustain health -
organically complexed trace minerals.
The use of toxic chemicals eventually sterilizes the
soil, reducing the microorganisms that keep the soil
balanced. In a way, the problem with depleted soil is
similar to the problems of using antibiotics.
Antibiotics kill the harmful bacteria making us sick,
but they also kill the friendly flora in the intestinal
tract at the same time. Antibiotics appear to cure the
infection, but in reality, the long term use will
weaken the immune system making us more likely
to suffer from future illnesses. Similarly, as the
"good" microorganisms in the soil are wiped out,
the vegetation loses its ability to gain the proper
balance of minerals from the soil. The end result:
Our bodies take on these deficient foods and
become impaired and imbalanced….
Liebig, Marx, and the depletion of soil
fertility: relevance for today's agriculture
- German chemist Justus von Liebig; Karl
Marx
Monthly Review, July-August, 1998
by John Bellamy Foster, Fred Magdoff
During the period 1830-1870 the depletion of the
natural fertility of the soil through the loss of soil
nutrients was the central ecological concern of
capitalist society in both Europe and North
America,,,,
he central figure in this crisis of soil fertility was the
German chemist Justus von Liebig. But the wider
social implications were most penetratingly
examined by Karl Marx. The views of Liebig and
Marx on soil fertility were to be taken up by later
thinkers, including Karl Kautsky and V.I. Lenin
within the Marxist tradition. Still, by the mid-
twentieth century the problem seemed to have
abated due to the development of a massive
fertilizer industry and the intensive application of
synthetic fertilizers.
Today, a growing understanding of the ecological
damage inflicted by the reliance on synthetic
chemical inputs, the scale of which vastly increased
following the Second Word War, has generated new
interest in a sustainable agriculture in which soil
nutrient cycling plays a central role. The need to
devise an ecologically sound relationship of people
to the soil is being rediscovered. What follows is a
brief outline of the evolution of this issue over the
last hundred and fifty years.
Liebig and the Nineteenth Century Crisis of the Soil
In the 1820s and 1830s in Britain, and shortly
afterwards in the other developing capitalist
economies of Europe and North America, concern
over the "worn-out soil" led to a phenomenal
increase in the demand for fertilizer….
The rise of modern soil science was closely
correlated with this demand for increased soil
fertility to support capitalist agriculture. In 1837 the
British Association for the Advancement of Science
solicited a work on the relationship between
agriculture and chemistry from Liebig. The result
was his Organic Chemistry in its Applications to
Agriculture and Physiology (1840), which provided
the first convincing explanation of the role of soil
nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorous, and
potassium, in the growth of plants. In England
Liebig's ideas influenced the wealthy landowner and
agronomist J. B. Lawes, who had begun
experiments on fertilizers on his property in
Rothamsted, outside London in 1837. In 1842
Lawes introduced the first artificial fertilizer, after
inventing a means of making phosphate soluble, and
in 1843 he built a factory for the production of his
new "superphosphates."
Nevertheless, this technology was slow to diffuse
outside of Britain. The first factories for the
production of superphosphates were introduced in
Germany only in 1855; in the United States only
after the Civil War; and in France only after the
Franco-Prussian War. Moreover, the results obtained
from the application of a single nutrient (such as
phosphate) to the soft, although initially producing
dramatic results, tended to diminish rapidly after
that, since overall soil fertility is always limited by
the nutrient in least abundance (Liebig's Law of the
Minimum).
Hence, Liebig's discoveries at first only intensified
the sense of crisis within capitalist agriculture,
making farmers more aware of the depletion of soil
minerals and the paucity of fertilizers….
The decline in natural soil fertility due to the
disruption of the soil nutrient cycle accompanying
capitalist agriculture, the growing knowledge of the
need for specific soil nutrients, and limitations in
the supply of both natural and synthetic fertilizers
that would compensate for the loss of natural
fertility, all contributed, therefore, to a widespread
sense of a crisis in soil fertility.
In the United States this was further complicated by
geographical factors. In upstate New York, which
by 1800 had displaced New England as a center for
wheat cultivation, the relative exhaustion of the soil
was brought into sharp relief by steadily increasing
competition from new farmlands to the West in the
decades following the opening of the Erie Canal in
1825. Meanwhile the slave plantations of the
Southeast experienced dramatic declines in fertility,
particularly on lands devoted to the production of
tobacco.
In New York farmers responded to the crisis by
promoting a more rational agriculture through the
creation of agricultural societies….
Many of these issues were reflected in the work of
U.S. economist Henry Carey, who throughout the
1850s laid stress on the fact that long distance trade
arising from the separation of town and country was
a major factor in the net loss of soil nutrients and
the growing crisis in agriculture - a point later
developed further by Liebig and Marx….
These concerns of North American agriculturists
were transmitted in turn to Liebig, mainly through
the work of Carey. In his Letters on Modern
Agriculture (1859), Liebig argued that the
"empirical agriculture" of the trader gave rise to a
"spoliation system" in which the "conditions of the
reproduction" of the soil were violated. Soil
nutrients were "carried away in produce year after
year, rotation after rotation." Both the open system
of exploitation of American farming and the so-
called "high farming" of European agriculture were
thus forms of "robbery." "Rational agriculture," in
contrast, would give "back to the fields the
conditions of their fertility."
But by the 1860s, based on his reading of such
thinkers as Liebig, Johnston, and Carey, and in
response to the soil fertility crisis, Marx began to
focus directly on the soil nutrient cycle and its
relation to the exploitative character of capitalist
agriculture. Thus, in the first volume of Capital he
wrote:
Capitalist production ... disturbs the metabolic
interaction between man and the earth, i.e. it
prevents the return to the soil of its constituent
elements consumed by man in the form of food and
clothing; hence it hinders the operation of the
eternal natural condition for the fertility of the
soil.... All progress in capitalist agriculture is a
progress in the art, not only of robbing the worker,
but of robbing the soil; all progress in increasing the
fertility of the soil for a given time is a progress
towards ruining the more long-lasting sources of
that fertility.... Capitalist production, therefore, only
develops the techniques and degree of combination
of the social process of production by
simultaneously undermining the original sources of
all wealth - the soil and the worker….
As soils became depleted of nutrients and organic
matter they became less fertile and there was much
concern about what to do with "worn out" soils. At
the same time that nutrients were depleted from
farmland, sewage containing those nutrients fouled
many lakes and rivers, while coastal cities dumped
sewage into the ocean. Although sewage treatment
systems installed since the 1970s have decreased the
problem of water pollution in the United States, a
new problem was created - how to get rid of the
sludge that is produced. Currently sewage sludge is
either buried in landfills, incinerated, or applied to
farmland, each of which has significant
environmental consequences.
Two developments set the stage for a second break
in the cycling of nutrients. First, the availability of
inexpensive nitrogen fertilizers following the
Second World War helped put in motion a number
of changes. The production of nitrogen fertilizers
uses the same process as the production of
explosives, and the end of war production freed up a
large capacity to make nitrogen fertilizers. (It is also
important to note a further agrichemical connection
to the military-industrial complex: many of
pesticides used in agriculture were originally
developed for military purposes as defoliants and
nerve agents.) With the widespread availability of
nitrogen fertilizers, there was no longer a need to
rely on legume crops, which convert atmospheric
nitrogen into a form that plants can use, to supply
non-legumes with sufficient fertility. The legume
clover and alfalfa hay crops had previously been fed
to ruminant animals such as beef and dairy cows
and sheep. Once there was no need to grow those
crops to supply nitrogen for non-legume crops
(wheat, corn, barley, tomatoes), farms could more
easily specialize as either crop or livestock
operations.
Second, as concentration accelerated in agricultural
production, processing, and marketing, corporations
began to encourage production of animals near the
few large processing facilities that they operated.
They selected locations that offered certain
advantages such as lax environmental laws,
negligible threat of union activity, and low wages.
The large processors were also increasingly
marketing their products under brand names and, to
have a uniform and predictable product, needed to
control as much of the entire process as possible -
either by producing the animals on their own
corporate farms or under production contracts
where the farmer might not even own the animals
and had to follow strict instructions from their
corporate employer. Thus animal production
became concentrated in certain regions: beef
feedlots in the southern Great Plains, poultry in
Arkansas and on the Delmarva Peninsula
(composed of parts of Delaware, Maryland, and
Virginia) and hog production in certain parts of the
Midwest and in North Carolina.
These two developments in the second half of the
twentieth century have led to a new phenomenon
that mirrors the separation of people from the
farmland which so concerned Marx and others - the
separation of agricultural animals from the cropland
that produces their feeds [ILLUSTRATION FOR
FIGURE 1C OMITTED]. The large-scale U.S.
poultry and hog megafarms (aptly called factory
farms) are owned almost exclusively by corporate
integrators or by individual farmers under
production contracts for corporations such as Tyson
and Perdue. And beef feedlots with tens of
thousands of animals are not uncommon. More than
a third of cattle marketed in the United States come
from just seventy feedlots, while 97 percent of U.S.
poultry sales are controlled by operations that
generate in excess of 100,000 broilers per year.
Even on dairy farms that produce a lot of their own
feed, it is common to import about half of the
animals' needs. This breakdown of the physical
connection between the animals and the land
producing their feeds has worsened the depletion of
nutrients and organic matter from soils producing
crops. Crop farms must use large amounts of
synthetic fertilizers to compensate for the loss of
vast quantifies of nutrients as their products are
sold.
Environmental Consequences
… There are a number of severe environmental
consequences of the developments described above:
(1) Large amounts of non-renewable energy sources
are needed to produce, ship, and apply the
fertilizers. Production of nitrogen fertilizer is very
energy intensive. Of all the energy used to produce
an acre of corn in the United States cornbelt -
including fuel, wear and tear on machinery, seeds,
and pesticides - nitrogen fertilizer accounts for the
largest amount (double the next largest category),
approximately 40 percent.
2) Another adverse consequence arises because the
fertilizers used are soluble and are thus prone to
cause groundwater and surface water
contamination. In addition, the high concentrations
of livestock produce more nutrients than the
surrounding soils can safely absorb. A direct health
hazard results as the groundwater many use for
drinking is contaminated with high levels of
nitrates. Excess nutrients from agricultural
production are also implicated in the deterioration
of estuaries such as the Chesapeake Bay, and marine
environments such as the Gulf of Mexico's dead
zone to the west of the Mississippi River's mouth, as
well as many fresh water lakes.
3) Even when cities are located near farms, the
industrial contaminants, as well as chemicals in
many of the products that people dispose around
their homes, render most urban sewage sludges
unsuitable for use on farmland. Although the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency considers most
sludges safe for use on farmland, there are
significant scientific concerns about the adequacy of
these guidelines. U.S. standards are by far the most
lax of all advanced industrial countries, with
permitted levels of heavy metal eight times that of
Canada and most European nations. And there are
potential contaminants in manures too - for
example, routine feeding of copper to hogs raised in
confinement to enhance their growth results in
manures that have excessive copper levels. Disposal
of contaminated sludges and manures causes
environmental problems that may affect the future
productivity of soils or the quality of air and water.
4) The lack of good rotations on most crop farms,
partially caused by the availability of inexpensive
synthetic fertilizers, has resulted in a loss of soil
organic matter and a decrease in the diversity of
organisms in the soil. This degradation of soil
quality allows the growth of large populations of
disease organisms and plant parasites that would
have been held in check by a diverse community of
competing organisms. Also, plants that are
unhealthy tend to attract more insect pests than
healthier plants. The upshot of this is that greater
amounts of pesticides are used in an attempt to
combat the increased pest pressures resulting from
soil degradation. Thus much of the pesticide
poisoning of farmers and farmworkers as well as the
contamination of many foods and groundwater is a
result of soil degradation.
(5) The cruel conditions under which animals are
raised in large-scale production facilities create
conditions in which disease can easily spread,
necessitating frequent use of antibiotics. In addition,
the routine use of low levels of antibiotics in feeds,
which function somehow as a growth stimulant,
accounts for most of the 40 percent of total
antibiotics that are used on animals. The constant
use of medicines causes both antibiotic
contamination of food and the development of
antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria which can
then become a human health hazard.
(6) Mining operations undertaken to supply
nutrients have resulted in substantial environmental
damage. The fate of one of the victims of guano
imperialism gives some indication of what can
happen. The small South Pacific island nation of
Nauru was under German control from 1888 to the
First World War, after which it was under the
control of Australia (except for Japanese occupation
during the Second World War) until independence
was gained in 1968. Strip mining of the phosphate-
rich deposits began around 1908 and the deposit is
expected to be exhausted by about 2000. According
to a New York Times article "four-fifths of the
island has been mined out, leaving behind a pitted,
ghostly moonscape.... The only habitable land is a
narrow coastal fringe shaded by coconut palms.
Because of the mining, even the weather has
deteriorated. The waves of heat that rise from the
mined-out plateau drive away rain clouds, leaving
the sun-baked island plagued by constant drought."
Experiences of the Noncapitalist World
The history of the noncapitalist world offers a few
glimpses of other possibilities. The Soviet model,
followed by most other countries in eastern Europe,
offers no help on this issue because it closely copied
many of the methods used in the United States, lack
of attention to cycling of nutrients and care of the
soil was partially offset by applications of fertilizers
and pesticides. However, in China during Mao
things were different. China has an extremely low
amount of arable land per capita, but has had a long
tradition of carefully cycling nutrients to maintain
soil fertility (as noted by Liebig in the nineteenth
century). Mao's emphasis on local food self-
sufficiency in each region helped to reinforce these
practices and, together with the encouragement of
local industry, slowed down urbanization at the
same time as impressive advances were made in
agricultural production. But in the transition to
capitalist relations that is now far advanced, nutrient
cycling and careful soil management has decreased
substantially (see Bill Hinton's article, this issue for
a discussion of the burning of crop residues in
China) and there is a new emphasis on building
fertilizer factories to supply the nutrient needs of
agricultural production. In Cuba, the economic
crisis of the Special Period has been caused by the
cancellation of favorable trade agreements with the
collapse of the Soviet Union. Lack of funds to
purchase fertilizers and pesticides from abroad
created an interest in reducing the use of such
materials, and organic production techniques have
become a mainstay of Cuban agriculture with
attention paid to nutrient cycling issues (see Peter
Rosset's article, this issue).
What Can Be Done?
What can be done to remedy the break in the
cycling of nutrients in the advanced capitalist
countries and the resulting environmental
consequences? Without a major challenge to the
structure of agriculture and corporate decision
making, a profound change in the nature and sizes
of cities and the curbing of suburban development,
and a moratorium on the continued introduction of
new synthetic chemical compounds until their
environmental safety is proven beyond a doubt (all
unlikely in the near future), there remain few
options. These include encouraging the
consumption of locally grown food and the
recycling of clean food wastes from homes,
restaurants, and markets back onto farmland. And
seeking out of farmers that follow environmentally
and socially sound practices at farmers markets and
through the new Community Supported Agriculture
farms (CSAs, where individuals and families buy
shares in the production of the farm before the
season starts) can help as well. A massive effort can
also be undertaken to clean up sewage sludges by
eliminating the contamination of sewage with
potentially toxic wastes from industries as well as
individual homes. This will be resisted by industry
because of the large expenditures required for most
to have zero discharge of toxic materials. Although
such activities will not solve the problems, they will
make a difference. And during the struggles, the
mutual education of those interested in broader
societal issues, on the one hand, and those
concerned with sustainable agriculture and
environmental issues, on the other, could lead to
more permanent future alliances. [NOTE: The
answer to the problems of soil depletion lays in our
two products ASAP Organics Plant Mineral
Supplement and My Minerals.]
Do today's foods = ZERO nutrition?
Dynamic Chiropractic, Mar 26, 2006
by Drucker, Richard A
fact: Because of modern worldwide economic-based
agriculture, our soils are depleted of essential
organic nutrients and complexes.
It is a fact "99% of Americans are deficient in
organic minerals because inorganic (i.e., toxic,
synthetic, dead, & inert) chemicals, pesticides, and
herbicides have destroyed nearly all the critical
organic complexes, elements, and minerals in our
soils."** Our soils are depleted, and depleted soils
do NOT produce healthy, nutrient-rich plants. It's
also a fact that crops produced in depleted soils are
more prone to the invasion of insects, viruses, fungi,
etc. It is important to recognize that insects and
infectious organisms were designed to get rid of
unhealthy vegetation, and they do not typically
attack truly healthy plants. Much of the modern
world is now aware that our industrialized (high-
tech) methods of farming have not only depleted
our soils, but also they have created a cycle which
requires pesticides to protect the unhealthy crops
grown in depleted soils. And who suffers? We all
do!
There are approximately 70 organic trace minerals
necessary to produce healthy, nutrient-rich crops,
yet the most current farming methods routinely put
back only 3 to 5 of them. And that's only a part of
the problem. Inorganic (toxic, synthetic, dead, &
inert), ammonium based fertilizers along with
herbicides and pesticides kill the precious
microorganisms which are absolutely essential to
the creation of organic (meaning carbon-based,
containing life & living) complexes in the soil.
Having consumed (eliminated) these precious
organic complexes decades ago, our soils cannot
produce critical organic minerals and complexes
which in turn directly affects our food supply that is
vital to our health.
Not only have we used up the available organic
trace minerals and complexes in our soils, but also
we have destroyed the means of replenishing them
(soil-based microorganisms). And if that were not
enough, modern "economic-based" agriculture has
virtually replaced all the critical organic complexes
with inorganic (synthetic) chemicals, fertilizers,
pesticides, etc. which cause toxicity in water run-off
and further imbalance the delicate nature of 1) our
soils (ecosystem), 2) our food supply, and 3) our
immediate and long-term health.
How and when did this happen? In the 1930's, when
farmers began to add inorganic fertilizers to the soil,
it was presumed that biological organisms could
assimilate minerals in any form. Unfortunately
research has proven this is not the case! We are now
discovering that morganic minerals (i.e., synthetic,
"colloidal" trace minerals) cannot be easily
assimilated by plants or humans. Minerals must first
be combined with organic (carbonaceous)
complexes and elements before they can be
assimilated and utilized at the cellular
(mitochondria) level. No wonder our food has
become less and less nutritious. And, no wonder it
lacks taste and it should be no surprise the modern
farmer has to apply more and more toxic pesticides,
herbicides and chemicals every year in order to get
his crops to market.
Let's look at a similar dilemma. The human body is
also meant to derive minerals from organic
complexes. However, in our case, these complexes
were meant to be supplied in the foods we eat.
Unfortunately, these critical, disease preventing.
organic nutrients are not present when our food is
grown in organically depleted and toxic soils! And,
just like the farmer who has attempted to alter the
soil with inorganic toxic chemicals and fertilizers,
we have tried to add inorganic trace minerals to our
diet in the form of "colloidal mineral" supplements
with devastating health consequences!...
Why are organic minerals so important? Organic
minerals are systematic intracellular catalysts and
activators (i.e., intra-cellular "spark plugs"). They
either "kick-off" or "speed-up" most of the biologic
and physiologic chemistry that goes on in our
bodies. Thus, without organic trace minerals there is
NO LIFE! Organic minerals are responsible for
carrying most of the nutrition into our cells. Hence
we need three basic ingredients to sustain life: 1)
water, 2) oxygen, and 3) organic minerals. If there is
an acute and/or chronic deficiency of organic
minerals, numerous processes either slow down or
come to a halt until the mineral banks are
replenished. Moreover, vitamins, enzymes,
glycogens, etc. cannot function without an adequate
supply of organic minerals. Knowing this, it is easy
to see why both plants and humans are becoming
increasingly susceptible to disease. It is also easy to
understand what Linus Pauling, (twice awarded the
Nobel Prize) meant when he stated "Every ailment,
every sickness and every disease can be traced back
to an organic trace mineral deficiency." * It has
become alarmingly evident that we are severely
deficient in one of the most basic components
necessary to sustain health - organic minerals and
complexes.
Nutritional deficiencies
Journal of the American Chiropractic
Association, Jun 2001 by Schetchikova,
Nataliya
The Problem
The U.S. Senate issued a warning to the American
people in 1936, stating, "Most of us today are
suffering from certain dangerous diet deficiencies
which cannot be remedied until depleted soils from
which our food comes are brought into proper
mineral balance."'
The bad news is, 65 years later, soil depletion
continues. Reports during the 1970s indicated that
large-scale agricultural techniques in the United
States depleted the soil about eight times faster than
nature was able to create it.2 The good news is,
"Very few people in this country have a complete
nutritional deficiency," says Juanee Surprise, DC,
DACBN, and president of the ACA Council on
Nutrition. "For example, scurvy, a disease caused by
vitamin C deficiency, is not common at all.
However, we can see a lot of signs of vitamin C
insufficiency."
There are a number of nutritional deficiencies in
people, depending on the age group," says Alan
Adams, DC, DACBN, professor of nutrition and
vice president of professional affairs at the Southern
California University of Health Sciences. "For
example, elderly people are most commonly
deficient in calcium, vitamins D, B12, and folic
acid. Women of childbearing age are often deficient
in iron. In general, many studies show that people in
the U.S. don't eat a good diet, and are not getting
Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for
many vitamins and minerals."
The Symptoms
"Vitamin and mineral deficiencies can result in
anything from fatigue and not feeling well to
serious diseases," says Dr. Surprise. "Vitamin B6
deficiency can lead to anemia, carpal tunnel
syndrome, PMS, neurological and cardiovascular
diseases." Folic acid deficiency can lead to
cardiovascular diseases and neural tube defects. It is
also beneficial for patients with increased risk of
cervical cancer."" Dr. Adams continues, "Iron
deficiency may have an influence on cognitive
abilities. Studies have shown that it affects learning
ability and the ability to perform cognitive tasks in
schoolchildren and in the elderly."6-9
Richard S. Lord, PhD, director of education at
Met&Metrix, a nutritional and biochemical clinical
diagnostic laboratory, considers magnesium and
essential fatty acids deficiencies common enough to
be classified as epidemic in the United States: "Both
magnesium and essential fatty acids are chemical
factors that are the basis of every cell in the body.
We've had patients with different symptoms -from
depression and chronic fatigue to heart muscle
problems. In patients whose magnesium has been
corrected, the risk of heart disease is improving." In
children, we have seen improvements in attention
and in Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)."
Sometimes it's possible to see improvement in more
severe cases-with autism and Down syndrome."2
Dr. Lord explains that for generations, people have
been deficient in fatty acids and didn't notice that
there was something wrong. The national diet of
hamburgers and fries contains primarily pro-
inflammatory polyunsaturated fatty acids and
hydrogenated oils. The trans fatty acid content of
the American diet has risen steadily since their
introduction about fifty years ago. As a result of
such dietary changes and other lifestyle factors,
younger people are starting to suffer from heart
disease….13
The body needs vitamins that are essential for
normal health, metabolism, growth, and the proper
functioning of cells. It also needs minerals
-chemical elements required for numerous
biological and physiological processes related to
health maintenance (see Table 1, 2, page 32, 36).14
Everyone knows about the importance of eating a
wide variety of foods to absorb necessary nutritional
elements, but, as Brad Rachman, DC, DACPM,
director of medical science at Great Smokies
Diagnostic Laboratory, points out, "It is difficult to
sustain a healthy life from the diet alone as foods
are robbed or devoid of essential elements.
Additionally, due to modern farming techniques,
foods are contaminated with heavy metals,
pesticides, poisons, antibiotics, etc. Foods are no
longer our best `medicine.' In modern Western
society, it is necessary to use supplements to
provide essential elements to help people cope with
stress levels. Just eating a `healthy diet' may not be
enough."…
Soil crisis is holding back African
recovery
Independent, The (London), Mar 31, 2006 by
Steve Connor Science Editor
The fertility of Africa's soil is being depleted at a
rate that threatens to undermine the continent's
attempts at eradicating hunger with sustainable
agricultural development.
A study has found three-quarters of Africa's
farmland is plagued by severe soil degradation
caused by wind and soil erosion and the loss of vital
mineral nutrients.
This degradation can partly explain why agricultural
productivity in Africa has remained largely stagnant
for 40 years while Asia's productivity has increased
threefold, the authors claim. Julio Henao and Carlos
Baanante of the nonprofit International Centre for
Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development in
Muscle Shoals, Alabama, found bad farming
practices have damaged soil health on the continent
between 1980 and 2004.
Farmers in Africa have traditionally relied on
clearing land to grow crops then leaving it fallow to
regain some of its fertility. "But population pressure
now forces farmers to grow crop after crop, 'mining'
or depleting the soil of nutrients while giving
nothing back," the report says.
…. Mr Henao and Mr Baanante found that during
2002 to 2004 about 85 per cent of African farmland
was haemorrhaging mineral nutrients at an annual
rate greater than 30kg per hectare, and 40 per cent
of farmland was losing nutrients at the higher rate of
60kg per hectare a year.
"The very resources on which African farmers and
their families depend for welfare and survival are
being undermined by soil degradation caused by
nutrient mining and associated factors, such as
deforestation, use of marginal lands and poor
agricultural practices," the report says.
The worst-affected countries in terms of soil
depletion are Guinea Bissau, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Angola, Rwanda, Burundi and
Uganda. With a population growth of 3 per cent per
year, the number of malnourished people in sub-
Saharan Africa has grown from about 88 million in
1970 to more than 200 million by the end of the last
century, the report says….
Mr Henao and Mr Baanante say African farmers
must have access to affordable mineral and organic
fertilisers if they are to stand any chance of
reversing the decline of soil fertility.
Coca-Cola or Clean Water?
Sojourners Magazine, Apr 2004 by Berger, Rose
Marie, Bolton, Brian
Local residents of Kerala, India, are winning a
battle against CocaCola India for clean ground
water and soil, after months of collaboration with a
BBC investigative reporter. "The Kerala high court
has now ruled that the company must find
alternative water sources, " reports the BBC's John
Waite, "and only extract amounts of water from its
Kerala plant equivalent to those used by any other
landowner with 34 acres."
Since the plant opened, spring water in the area is
chalky and unhealthy for drinking, even after
boiling. Area farmers found that their soil is
contaminated with high levels of cadmium and lead,
after Coca-Cola donated manufacturing waste as a
"fertilizer" to local farms. Coca-Cola's rapid
extraction of water is quickly depleting Kerala's
deep aquifer. The company uses the water for Coke,
other carbonated beverages, and branded bottled
water. Coca-Cola India president Sanjeev Gupta
said the issue is "about being a positive contributor
to the environment." The company is appealing the
Kerala court ruling.
U.S. wins additional pesticide use
Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Nov 4, 2006 by
Rita Beamish Associated Press
The Bush administration on Friday won
international approval for U.S. farmers to use
thousands of tons of a potent ozone-destroying
pesticide without having to dip substantially into
large stockpiles that were recently revealed.
The pesticide, methyl bromide, was banned under
an international treaty nearly two years ago except
for uses deemed critical. U.S. officials have secured
exemptions to the ban so that growers can use it to
kill soil pests for tomatoes, strawberries and other
crops in agricultural states like California and
Florida.
The decision came over the objections of European
nations and despite the recommendation of the
treaty's own technical committee. That panel had
urged a more substantial cut in the U.S. request on
grounds that other countries have proved that
alternative chemicals and methods can successfully
replace methyl bromide.
European delegates voiced concern about the U.S.
stockpiles, measured by the administration at nearly
11,000 tons at the end of last year.
Food and Supplementation Benefits and
Risks in Carcinogenesis
Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, Nov,
2001 by Paul Yanick
In part I of this article, carcinogenesis was defined
as the prolonged accumulation of injuries at
multiple biological levels that can be counteracted
with the antioxidant power of whole foods and
nutraceuticals. The stunningly complex
biomolecular puzzle that underlies carcinogenesis
remains incomplete, but parts that seemed unrelated
a decade ago are now fitting into place. As
discussed in Part I of this article, human metabolism
and immune mechanisms function best with
antioxidant- and enzyme-rich foods consumed in
their natural, raw state. In comparison, a low intake
of fresh fruits and vegetables prevents the body
from counteracting the daily oxidative assault of the
environment, promotes toxicity and acidification of
the extracellular matrix and lymphatic system, thus
facilitating carcinogenesis.
The book Empty Harvest documented the
widespread demineralization of our soil, the
declining nutritional (enzymes) values of our food
supply, and the resulting weakening of our bodies'
immune systems. In the 1980s, the US Department
of Agriculture estimated that 185 million acres of
American farmland were eroding at more then twice
the level at which soil can be replaced naturally. [1]
Indeed, the overwhelming majority of American
food is depleted of vital antioxidants, enzymes,
trace minerals, and phytochemicals and contains
carcinogenic chemicals that contribute to
carcinogenesis. [2-3]
The Search for a Solution: Eliminating Food
Additives, Contaminants and Toxic Supplements
Food additives are almost ubiquitous in
manufactured foods and drinks. Mass manufacture
and distribution of processed foods at prices people
can afford cause the food industry to use additives
and processing techniques that degrade the plants
critical, health-promoting nutrients. While organic
food may be richer in minerals and antioxidants
than commercially-grown food, many organic farms
are located in highly polluted areas and/or use
contaminated water to irrigate their crops. As a
result, significant levels of carcinogenic agents may
be found in organic foods. Not surprisingly, these
carcinogenic agents infiltrate the soil along with
acid rain and alter the natural nutrient content and
bioactive microconstituents of organic foods. Foods
are extremely complex mixtures of bioactive
constituents that work together to promote health in
the human body. When they are grown on depleted
soil and in polluted environments or subjected to
handling and storage practices and methods of food
preparation, the teamwork of these bioactive
microconstituents are lost. Thus, daily
supplementation with pure, raw whole foods in
addition to identifying and eliminating specific
carcinogens in foods and drinks, supplements, and
body care products is an important and timely goal
in preventing carcinogenesis. [4]
A wide variety of bioactive phytonutrients have
been shown to inhibit carcinogenesis in a number of
experimental systems involving initiation,
promotion and progression. [5,6] Plant foods that
contain abundant quantities of these substances
have consistently been shown to be associated with
a lower risk of cancers at almost every site, and
studies show they activate critical detoxification
enzymes to decrease the bioavailability of potential
DNA-damaging carcinogens. Plant flavonoids such
as lycopene from whole tomatoes, carotenoids from
whole carrots and glucosinolates and isothiocynates
from raw broccoli offer superior ways of treating
carcinogenesis by reducing the bioavailability of
carcinogens and upregulating cellular levels of
glutathione, glutathione transferase and glucuronyl
transferases which facilitate the destruction of
reactive electrophiles and oxidants into innocuous,
excretable metabolites. [7]
Despite the fact that many of these food additives
have been found to be carcinogenic or mutagenic in
laboratory animals, they are continually used in a
wide array of processed foods because experts insist
that they have never been tested for human safety.
For example, added colors or dyes are found in
cereal products, baked goods, snack foods, meat,
fish, poultry, cheese, butter, and other dairy
products, and alcoholic and soft drinks with the
average consumption estimated at 100mg/day. [8]
Mycotoxins (metabolites of molds), increase the
risk of liver cancer and may promote carcinogenesis
by stressing the immune system as over 300
mycotoxins have been reported in foods and animal
feeds. In fact the Food and Agriculture Association
in 1985 estimated that 25% of the world's food
crops are contaminated with mycotoxins (high
levels of mycotoxins were reported in peanuts, tree
nuts, cereals (grains), beans, and apples). [9] Over a
dozen studies citing the high carcinogenicity of
mycotoxins on animals were reported by the
Institute for Cancer Research. [4] Supplements,
especially aspergillus-derived digestive enzymes,
also contain high levels of immunosuppressive
mycotoxins that increase one's risk of developing
fungal infections. In fact, in our clinical research on
digestive enzyme products, we found only two out
of fifty products that were pure and completely free
of remnant aspergillus residues.
Heterocyclic amines (HCAs) found in cooked meats
and fish yield high mutagenic activity and result in
more frequent colorectal cancer than in control
subjects. [10] Humans are exposed to HCAs
continuously especially in diets that are high in
dietary fat. Studies now show that short-term
feeding (6-12 weeks) of HCAs is enough to induce
tumors in experimental animals. [11,12]
Faced with a vast number of additives now used in
commercially-manufactured foods, regulatory
agencies must wait for established evidence of
toxicity on humans before they are removed from
manufactured foods. Yet, animal studies suggest
these additives can pose a serious threat to human
health. One major limitation of research on
additives and human cancer risk is that there are no
studies that have assessed the combination of
thousands of food additives consumed together in
food and drink and how their combined effect may
be more toxic than the sum of individual additives
tested in animal studies.
Guidelines for Preventing Carcinogenesis
Evidence of dietary protection against cancers of
many sites is strongest and most consistent for the
plant-based diets. [4] According to the World
Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute
for Cancer Research panel, prevention of cancer
involves choosing "...predominantly plant-based
diets rich in a variety of vegetables and fruits,
legumes and minimally processed starchy staple
foods." The panel reported 20 studies where cancer
had been experimentally induced via a chemical
carcinogen or irradiation in animals. In these
studies, animals that were fed vegetables and fruits
experienced fewer tumors, smaller tumors, fewer
metastases, less DNA damage, higher levels of
enzymes involved in the detoxification of
carcinogens, or other outcomes indicative of a lower
risk of cancer. [4]
Although vegetables and fruits contain a great
variety of microconstituents that protect against
cancer, the quality and quantity of these
microconstituents vary greatly depending upon
agricultural practices, water and air pollution levels,
and soil ecology. As far as carcinogenesis is
concerned, there is a strong theoretical possibility
that consumption of commercially-grown
vegetables and fruits might increase risk because of
the lack of certain key synergistic microconstituents
and/or the high levels of contaminants. Moreover,
many carcinogens are synergists whose combined
toxicity causes a greater additive effect. Potentiation
can occur when a chemical that does not produce a
specific toxicity may increase the toxicity or
carcinogenicity caused by other chemicals. Since
the major routes by which toxins gains access to the
body are through the gastrointestinal tract
(ingestion), the skin (topical) from cosmetics, and
the lungs (inhalation), studies are needed to fully
discern all the combined modes of chemical
interaction on the genetic makeup of individuals,
especially in people who lack glutathione-S-
transferase or are poor sulfoxidizers.
… Avoidance of suspected and known carcinogens
while enhancing one's intake of plant antioxidants
and phytochemicals is a reasonable and achievable
goal in preventing, slowing down, or halting
carcinogenesis. In an effort to meet this goal, … use
dietary supplementation … defined by the following
criteria:
… Toxin-free and biologically active: Since there is
a 97.5% chance of using a nutraceutical or food
supplement that is either toxic or ineffective, [14-
16] … provide highly bioactive ingredients that are
fresh and grown in ideal locations, and that are not
irradiated, fumigated or contaminated with
pesticide/insecticide residues. Routine herbal
contamination occurs because many product
manufacturers accept the Certificate of Analysis
from their suppliers which only requires the testing
of harmful bacteria and mold and that rarely tests
for toxic contaminants. [17] The toxicity of
supplements is related to the fact that a high
percentage of supplements contain synthetic,
isolated vitamins and inorganic minerals that
stimulate rather than balance and support weak
physiology, deplete enzymes, and contain toxic
binders, fillers and flowing agents such as the
suspected carcinogen talcum powder…
… Grade 10, Beyond Organic: Growing locations
and harvesting methods can vary a plant's mineral
content by over 900%. [17] When mineral levels
decline, enzyme levels in plants also diminish. This
is because an enzyme is a large protein molecule
containing trace minerals such as zinc, selenium,
manganese, and copper. Mineral deficiencies and
imbalances in plants grown in polluted areas with
contaminated water contribute to enzyme
deficiencies in the general population.
Multi-Minerals MULTI-BENEFITS
Better Nutrition, Nov, 1998 by James F. Scheer
Many of us grew up with our mothers prompting us
to "take our vitamins" and handing us a chewable
vitamin supplement in the shape of a cartoon
character or jungle animal. Admittedly, this still
happens today. You may rarely, if ever, hear the
advice: "Take your minerals."
Deficiency dilemma. Those most likely to be
deficient (in vitamins and minerals) are those on
low-calorie, weight-loss diets, the elderly, pregnant
women, people on a variety of medications --
especially diuretics that draw key minerals out of
the body -- and those living where soil is deficient
in minerals, writes Sheldon Saul Hendler, M.D.,
Ph.D., in the Doctors' Vitamin and Mineral
Encyclopedia
There's even more to the story. Three commonly
used synthetic fertilizers in the giant agro-business
-- nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium -- return to
the soil only a fraction of the minerals and trace
minerals taken out by growing vegetables, fruits,
grains, and legumes.
In addition, just as inflation invisibly steals value
from dollars, so does food processing -- milling,
boiling, canning, drying, freezing, thawing,
pasteurizing and preserving, slicing, dicing --
remove many of the already low levels of minerals
and vitamins in whole foods. And, while there are
few enough minerals and vitamins existing in foods,
some people unwittingly short-change themselves
even more by following restrictive "weight-loss"
diets or -- as with many of us, especially the elderly
-- failing to eat nutrition-dense, well-balanced
meals.
James Privitera, M.D., a long-time nutrition-
oriented physician in Covina, Calif., expands on this
problem, saying, "Many prescription and over-the-
counter drugs bind with minerals and make them
unavailable -- penicillin, among them. Diuretics
steal potassium and magnesium from the body.
Antacids disturb metabolism of calcium and
phosphorus."…
Why are minerals so important for health? This is
answered well by James F. Balch, M.D., and Phyllis
A. Balch, C.N.C., in their perennial bestseller,
Prescription for Nutritional Healing: A-to-Z Guide
to Supplements. "Every living cell on this planet
depends on minerals for proper function and
structure," they say. Specifically, "minerals are
needed for the proper composition of body fluids,
the formation of blood and bone, the maintenance of
healthy nerve function, and the regulation of muscle
tone, including that of the muscles of the
cardiovascular system," the Balches explain….
The Macrominerals.
Calcium. Most of us learned early on that calcium is
needed for strong bones and teeth. In addition, this
mineral is also essential for contraction of muscles
and regulation of heartbeat. Many studies show that
it can help lower elevated blood pressure, as well.
Let's look at the results of two such studies.
James H. Dwyer, Ph.D., and associates, at the
University of Southern California School of
Medicine, analyzed diets of 6,600 men and women
and found that the risk of developing high blood
pressure was lowered by an average 12 percent for
each 1,000 mg of calcium ingested daily, as
reported in the Medical Tribune.
Population studies by biochemist H.J. Henry,
reported in the Journal of the American Diabetic
Society, indicate that patients with high blood
pressure in less calcium than those with normal
blood pressure.
Another benefit of calcium is its role in brain
function. It would be impossible to transmit nerve
impulses without calcium, as it helps trigger the
release of certain neurotransmitters. It also sparks
enzymes that stimulate the generation of
neurotransmitters.
Although calcium is the main component in bones
and teeth, it needs teammates, such as vitamin D,
necessary for better absorption of calcium,
magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, and vitamins A and
C.
Calcium is also finding prominence as a key
nutrient in helping sufferers of premenstrual
syndrome (PMS). One recent study targeting PMS
merited front page coverage in major newspapers
nationwide. One such newspaper article, in the Los
Angeles Times, donned the headline: "Calcium Cuts
PMS Effects."
This was received as great news by women who
suffer each month from the physical and
psychological symptoms of PMS: cramps, breast
tenderness, back pain, depression, irritability, and
mood swings.
In the study, 1,200 mg of supplementary calcium
daily had reduced, by nearly 50 percent, moderate
to severe PMS symptoms of 720 women (ages 18 to
45) in 12 of the nation's foremost hospitals.
The lead author of the study, published in a recent
issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and
Gynecology, Susan Thys-Jacobs, of St. Luke's-
Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York, reported
that, after three months, women who took the
calcium supplements noted a decline by 48 percent
of PMS symptoms, compared with 30 percent for
the control group.
"This tells us something," Thys-Jacobs said. "The
symptoms are a signal that [these women are] not
getting enough calcium."
James G. Penland, Ph.D., in the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Agricultural Service in Grand Forks,
N.D., told Maugh that "this lends a lot more
credence to the idea that calcium deficiencies are
linked to PMS." Penland conducted an earlier, but
smaller, study of PMS with similar results.
Maugh offered the latest U.S. government findings
on calcium needs for various groups: women
require at least 1,000 mg daily; teenagers need
1,300 mg; and women over the age of 50 require
1,200 mg.
"USDA studies have shown that three-quarters of
women don't reach those levels, and more than 50
percent don't even consume half the recommended
amount," Maugh reported.
This is an important study for building a new and
effective solution for coping with PMS -- over and
above taking B-complex vitamins, vitamin E,
evening primrose oil, and milk thistle, and avoiding
alcohol, coffee, and sugar.
Most people consume dairy products for their
primary source of calcium. However, for vegans,
and those who are allergic to milk and/or dairy
products, calcium is best derived from leafy greens,
kelp, sesame seeds, brewer's yeast, and sardines, as
well as supplements….
Magnesium. One of this mineral's most supportive
functions is helping the body to utilize calcium. A
well-known aid for those coping with PMS,
magnesium is also important to the health of the
heart and arterial system. A deficiency of
magnesium often causes irregular heartbeat. In
addition, some studies show that magnesium can
help to lift depression in elderly people. Alcohol is
another enemy of magnesium, depleting the body of
this mineral….
Manganese. Compared with calcium and
magnesium, this mineral's contribution to bone
health is small; however, it is no less important Bill
Walton, a former all-pro-basketball center and now
a TV announcer for pro-basketball games, had a
series of disabling ankle bone injuries while
playing, Eventually, the reason was traced to his
vegetarianism that furnished all the essential bone
components, except manganese. A manganese
supplement healed him fast, enabling him to finish a
brilliant playing career.
n addition, manganese is a key component of
enzymes, helping to release energy, and it is an
antioxidant that is particularly protective of brain
cells.
We couldn't coordinate muscles for walking,
running -- even standing -- if it were not for
manganese, nor could we process carbohydrates
well enough to derive energy from them….
Phosphorus. This mineral is a rich ingredient in
many popular and frequently eaten, foods: eggs,
liver, beef, walnuts, oats, peanuts, peas, whole
grains, salmon, sardines, tuna, and sunflower seeds.
Calcium needs phosphorus for building strong
bones and teeth. This macromineral is also a must
for repairing body tissues and for helping change
fats and carbohydrates into nutrients the body can
use for creating energy. Phosphorus also strengthens
the immune system, and helps us to retain the
proper level of fluid in our trillions of cells….
Potassium. This major mineral performs many key
functions, including helping to lower blood
pressure, as demonstrated by many studies,
consequently, lessening the risk of strokes. Many
individuals who exercise strenuously on occasion
can usually prevent muscle cramps with a potassium
supplement or with potassium-rich foods: a banana,
an orange, potatoes, tomatoes, broccoli, leafy green
vegetables, avocados, wheat germ, or brewer's
yeast, or with supplements. Poultry and fish are also
rich sources of potassium….
The Trace Minerals.
Chromium. Needed only in amounts of 100-200
mcg (micrograms) daily, chromium is one of those
trace minerals that accomplishes a lot with very
little. One of chromium's powerful effects is
increasing the body's sensitivity to insulin.
Chromium appears to control adult-onset diabetes,
help to lower elevated harmful cholesterol, and raise
protective cholesterol. Some studies show that it
may help in some weight-management plans….
Copper. Over the summer, Better Nutrition had the
opportunity to interview copper expert Susan S.
Percival, Ph.D., of the Food Science and Human
Nutrition Department at the University of Florida,
Gainesville.
Percival says the elderly are among those most at
risk of being copper deficient. She says that copper
may play a role in heart disease, raised LDL
cholesterol levels, and osteoporosis. She also notes
that some cases of iron-poor anemia may actually
be severe copper deficiency. She stressed, "I don't
want to say that copper's responsible for any of
these diseases, but coupled with other problems --
either nutritional deficiencies or nutritional excesses
-- these three diseases, anemia, heart disease, and
osteoporosis, could, we don't know for sure, have a
copper-related component." …
Other groups at risk of copper deficiency are
premature infants and those who chronically take
megadoses of zinc (this does not refer to people
taking zinc lozenges for a few days to fight a
cold)….
Iodine. It is difficult for some people to think of
iodine as a mineral, because they have seen it in
solution used to dab on wounds to prevent infection.
Shari Lieberman, Ph.D., and Nancy Bruning, in
their Second Edition of The Real Vitamin &
Mineral Book, caution that, "The topical antiseptic
known as tincture of iodine is not to be used orally
because it is poisonous if ingested." They
recommend supplementing the diet with iodine in
iodized table salt or with supplemental sea kelp,
available in tablets, drops, or concentrated liquid.
Infinitesimal amounts of iodine are used by the
thyroid gland, an organ that contains 20-30 mg of
the mineral, to regulate body metabolism and enable
us to generate energy and heat.
Approximately 64 health-related symptoms can
originate from insufficient iodine -- among them,
low energy, cold hands and feet, sluggish thinking,
faulty memory, and myriad female and sexual
problems. The best known iodine-deficiency
disease, Lieberman and Bruning note, is goiter, "a
condition in which the thyroid gland becomes
enormously enlarged in an effort to compensate for
insufficient hormone production."
Iron. Women of childbearing age are most at risk of
iron deficiency. While relatively few women
actually develop anemia -- the end-stage of iron
anemia, many may be iron deficient. The symptoms
of both conditions are essentially the same --
fatigue, poor concentration and reduced cognition,
and susceptibility to colds and infections….
Selenium. Research by biochemist Gerhard
Schrauzer, Ph.D., of the University of California at
San Diego, established selenium as a prime
contributor in defending us against various cancers:
breast, colon, ovary, pancreas, and prostate. This
trace mineral works closely with vitamin E as a
superantioxidant to protect cell membranes. It also
guards us from toxic heavy metals, stimulates the
immune system, helps lower the risk of heart attack,
and seems to benefit some arthritis sufferers.

The most recent issue of the Nutrition Research

Newsletter discusses a study conducted by the
University of Arizona's Arizona Cancer Center
involving 1,312 patients and their daily intake of
200 mcg of selenium.

Larry Clark, Ph.D., M.P.H., led the study. Clark, and

associates, found that selenium B in -- comparison
with a placebo -- reduced the number of new cases
of lung cancer by 48 percent, colorectal cancer by
58 percent, and prostate cancer by 63 percent.

Zinc. It is often called "the sexy mineral," because it

contributes to the development and function of male
sex organs (especially the prostate), to fertility
(including hormone metabolism, sperm formation,
and sperm motility), and growth and body
development. Zinc is also known for revving up the
immune system, speeding wound healing, and, as an
antioxidant, protecting cells against damage from
free radicals. Recent research has indicated that zinc
gluconate lozenges can help ease colds and flu, too.
It also keeps our senses of smell and taste normal.

A little-known function of zinc is revealed in the

new book, The Natural Pharmacy, edited by Skye
Lininger, D.C., and written by five prominent
nutrition-oriented doctors, who say, "People with
insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) tend to
be zinc-deficient, which may impair immune
function. Zinc supplements have lowered blood
sugar levels in people with IDDM.... Many doctors
of natural medicine recommend that people with
NIDDM [non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus]
supplement with moderate amounts of zinc: 15-25
mg per day as a way to correct for the deficit."

So, as you can see, "Take your minerals" is very

good advice, indeed.