Nightmare

Again, we only need a little. So the mineral supplements we take should
be as absorbable and as bioavailable as possible - that way we won't
have to take much. Less chance of toxicity.
So the question then becomes: which mineral supplements are the most
absorbable and the most usable, and therefore effective in the smallest
amounts possible? Four candidates present themselves, all contending for
the title:
Elemental
Ionic
Colloidal
Chelated
Unraveling this puzzle is one area where the internet actually impedes
progress. Try it and you'll see why. There's only one answer, but it's
buried deep. To find it, we have to review a little basic plumbing.
The digestive tract goes like this: mouth, esophagus, stomach, small
intestine, large intestine, and out. Mineral absorption means
transferring the mineral from the digestive tract through the wall of
the intestine, into the bloodstream. You really have to picture this:
the digestive tract is just a long tube, from one end to the other. As
long as food and nutrients are inside this tube, they are actually
considered to be still outside the body, because they haven't been
absorbed into the bloodstream yet. This is an essential concept to
understanding mineral absorption. Minerals can't do any good unless they
make it into the bloodstream. This is exactly why most minerals bought
at the grocery store are almost worthless: they pass right through the
body - in one end and out the other. It's also why many nutritionists'
and dieticians' advice is valueless; they commonly pretend everything
that is eaten is absorbed. When they start talking about calories, look
for another speaker.
Two main reasons for lack of mineral supplement absorption:
The pill never dissolved
The mineral was in its elemental form (non-nutrient, e.g., iron filings)
Let's say these problems are overcome; neither is true. Or let's say the
mineral is contained within some food, such as iron in molasses, or
potassium in bananas. Food-bound minerals are attached or complexed to
organic molecules. Absorption into the blood is vastly increased, made
easy. The mineral is not just a foreign metal that has been ingested; it
is part of food.
Fruits and vegetables with high mineral content are the best way to
provide the body with adequate nutrition. Food-bound minerals are the
original mode. As already cited above, however, sufficient mineral
content is an increasingly rare occurrence. Foods simply don't have it.
How little, what portion of normal depends on what studies one finds.
Soon the necessity for supplementation becomes obvious: if the food no
longer has it, and we need it, pass the supplements, please. At that
point, the marketplace assaults one's awareness and we're almost back to
the days of the tonics, brews, toddies, and snake potions of yesteryear.
Let's look at the four types one by one. Least beneficial are the
supplements containing minerals in the elemental form. That means the
mineral is just mentioned on the label. It's not ionized, it's not
chelated, it's not complexed with an oxide or a carbonate or a sulfate,
or with a food, and it's not colloidal. Under "ingredients" it just says
"iron" or "copper," or "calcium," etc.
1. Elemental
Elemental minerals are obviously the cheapest to make. A liquid would
only have to be poured over some nails to be said to contain iron.
Elemental minerals are the most common in grocery store supplements.
They may not be toxic, as long as only the minerals mentioned on the
label are included in the supplement. The problem is absorption: it's
between 1 and 8 percent. The rest passes right through. Not only a waste
of money; also a waste of energy: it has to be processed out of the
body. This can actually use up available mineral stores.
2. Ionic
Next comes ionic minerals. Usually a step up. Ionic means in the form of
ions. Ions are unstable molecules that want to bind with other
molecules. An ion is an incomplete molecule. There is a definite pathway
for the absorption of ionic minerals through the gut (intestine) into
the blood. In fact, any percent of the elemental minerals that actually
got absorbed became ions first, by being dissolved in stomach acids.
Ionic minerals are not absorbed through the intestine intact.
The model for mineral ion absorption through the intestine is as
follows. Ions are absorbed through the gut by a complicated process
involving becoming attached or chelated to some special carrier proteins
in the intestinal wall. Active transport is involved; meaning, energy is
required to bring the ionic mineral from inside the intestine through
the lining, to be deposited in the bloodstream on the other side.
Ionic minerals may be a good source of nutrients for the body, depending
upon the type of ions, and on how difficult it is for the ion to get
free at the appropriate moment and location. Minerals require an acidic
environment for absorption. Remember low pH (less than 7) is acidic;
high pH (above 7) is alkaline. As the stomach contents at pH 2 empty
into the small intestine, the first few centimeters of the small
intestine is the optimum location for mineral absorption. The acidic
state is necessary for ionization of the dissolved minerals. If the pH
is too alkaline, the ions won't disassociate from whatever they're
complexed with, and will simply pass on through to the colon without
being absorbed.
As the mineral ions are presented to the lining of the intestine, if all
conditions are right, and there are not too much of competing minerals
present, the ions will begin to be taken across the intestinal barrier,
making their way into the bloodstream. This is a complicated, multi-step
process, beyond the scope of this chapter. Simply, it involves the
attachment of the free mineral ion to some carrier proteins within the
intestinal membrane, which drag the ion across and free it into the
bloodstream. A lot happens during the transfer, and much energy is
required for all the steps. Just the right conditions and timing are
necessary - proper pH, presence of vitamins for some, and the right
section of the small intestine.
Iron, manganese, zinc, copper - these ions are bound to the carrier
proteins which are embedded in the intestinal lining. The binding is
accomplished by a sort of chelation process, which simply describes the
type of binding which holds the ion. The carrier protein or ligand hands
off the mineral to another larger carrier protein located deeper within
the intestinal wall. After several other steps, if all conditions are
favorable, the ion is finally deposited on the other side of the
intestinal wall: the bloodstream, now usable by the cells.
Ionic mineral supplements do not guarantee absorption by their very
nature, although they are certainly more likely to be absorbed than are
minerals in the raw, elemental state. However, ionic minerals are in the
form required for uptake by the carrier proteins that reside in the
intestinal wall.
The uncertainties with ionic minerals include how many, how much, and
what else are the unstable ions likely to become bound to before the
carrier proteins pick them up. All ionic supplements are not created
equal. Just because it's an ion doesn't mean a supplemental mineral will
be absorbed. Too many minerals in a supplement will compete for
absorption, crowding out the others. The idea is to offer the body an
opportunity for balance; rather than to overload it with the hope that
some will make it through somehow.