Minerals & Ionic Minerals
By Mr. Steven Horne

Note from Four Winds

1. All enzymes are made of proteins (from the food we eat).
2. Your cells use amino acids (from proteins) as building blocks to create "systemic or metabolic" enzymes.
In addition to digestion, enzymes are known to catalyze about 4,000 other chemical reactions in your body. Most enzymes work best at normal body temperature and in an alkaline environment. As such, high fevers and over-acidity reduce the effectiveness of most enzymes.
3. Minerals are required to activate thousands of metabolic enzyme reactions within the body. Minerals must be obtained from the soil. If the mineral is not in the soil, it cannot possibly be in the plant (and as a consequence in the food we eat!).
Our very existence is dependent upon the body's ability to utilize minerals because minerals activate enzymes!

When it comes to nutrition, adequate mineral intake is one of the cornerstones of good health. Minerals not only play a vital role in the formation of bones, teeth, muscles and connective tissues, they are also critical to body functions. This is because minerals play an essential role in activating the thousands of enzymes that run every process of the body. Unfortunately, the use of chemical fertilizers has greatly depleted the mineral content of modern soils. Adding the traditional NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) fertilizers does not replace macro minerals like calcium and magnesium or trace minerals like copper, zinc, iron, manganese and chromium that plants absorb from the soil.

Furthermore, it is friendly microbes in the soil that help make minerals available to plants. The use of toxic chemicals like pesticides and herbicides on the land has diminished the healthy microflora in the soil. This means that even when minerals are available in the soil, plants may not be able to utilize them. It is a similar problem to what happens in human beings when antibiotics destroy the friendly flora in the intestinal tract.

Mineral Chi Tonic     Supplies dozens of essential trace minerals in a colloidal form for easier assimilation. However, Mineral Chi Tonic goes far beyond other colloidal mineral products by combining these minerals with extracts of Chinese tonic herbs that enhance the assimilation and utilization of the minerals. These tonic herbs provide many benefits.

or Super Supplemental     Super Supplemental packs 12 vitamins, 10 minerals, 10 amino acids, 10 herbs, 12 fruit powders, three veggie powders, plus lutein, lycopene, inositol, PABA and choline for practically unbeatable supplement and antioxidant support. Lutein supports healthy eyes, heart and skin. It also promotes breast health in women. Lycopene helps maintain the health of the liver, lungs, prostate gland, colon and skin.

or Ionic Minerals       A quick, tasty way to get easily assimilated trace minerals in a hurry. Ionic Minerals contains 70 charged (ionic) trace minerals. Ionic minerals do not need to be broken down further for absorption and are easily and quickly taken into the cells that line the intestinal tract and readily employed in the body. Ionic minerals play an important role in supporting a healthy pH balance.

Food is No Longer Enough
At one time, people could obtain all the nutrients their body needed, including minerals, from food. That is no longer the case, which is why all commercial animals feeds contain vitamin and mineral supplements. This depletion of the soil didn't happen overnight. It has been going on for over 100 years and has been confirmed by numerous studies.

In 1936, Senate document 264 warned that the depletion of trace minerals in our soil would eventually lead to a national crisis and a dramatic increase in mineral deficiency diseases. The study concluded that countless human ills stem from the fact that impoverished soil of America no longer provides plant foods with the mineral elements essential to human nourishment and health.

In 1997, the U. S. Department of Agriculture confirmed this prediction. Donald Davis, a senior researcher at the University of Texas, compared Dept. of Agriculture figures on nutrient content for 43 common fruits and vegetables. Davis says historical data spanning 50 to 70 years show apparent declines of 5 percent to 40 percent or more in minerals, vitamins and protein in vegetables.
Washington State University researchers Stephen Jones and Kevin Murphy found that today's wheat has less nutritional value, stating that modern grains have been developed for baking qualities related to protein rather than essential minerals. "You would have to eat twice as many slices of modern bread as you would of the older variety to get the same nutritional value, they added."

In 2001, the Journal of Complimentary Medicine pointed out that U.S. and U.K. government statistics show a decline in trace minerals of up to 76% in fruit and vegetables over the period 1940 to 1991. In 2003, New Canada reported that today's fruit and vegetables contain far fewer nutrients than they did 50 years ago. Over the entire 20th century, the average mineral content in cabbage, lettuce, spinach and tomatoes declined from 400 mg. to less than 50 mg.

In 2004, the Journal of the American College of Nutrition examined food composition changes from 1950 to 1999 recorded in the USDA food composition tables. Forty-three crops were examined showing the statistically reliable decline of six nutrients. The declines were observed in protein, calcium, phosphorous, iron, riboflavin and ascorbic acid.

These studies make it clear that the problem of mineral deficiency is a serious one. That's why just about everyone needs to consider some form of mineral supplementation if they want to be healthy.

 

Role of Minerals in the Body

Minerals act as co-factors for enzyme reactions. Enzymes don't work without minerals. All cells require enzymes to work & function. They give us our vitality. They maintain the pH balance within the body. Minerals actually facilitate the transfer of nutrients across cell membranes. They maintain proper nerve conduction Minerals help to contract and relax muscles. They help to regulate our bodies tissue growth. Minerals provide structural and functional support for the body.