Nightmare

How much less is known about the amounts and toxicities of those unknown
minerals which have never been studied, but are claimed to be present in
these "miraculous" toddies?
Many essential minerals are toxic in excess, but essential in small
amounts. Iron, chlorine, sodium, zinc, and copper are in this category.
Toxic levels have been established, and resulting pathologies have been
identified: we know what diseases are caused by their excesses. How
risky is it to take in 40 or 50 minerals for which no toxicity levels
have ever been set?
Doug Grant, a nutritionist, cites several minerals which frequently
appear on the ingredient labels of certain mega-mineral products they
actually admit their supplements contain or "may contain" some of the
following: (the phrase "may contain" has always been scary for me. If
they're not sure, then what else is there that this product "may
contain" that they don t know about?)
Aluminum: Documented since the article in Lancet 14 Jan 1989 to be
associated with Alzheimer's Disease, as well as blocking absorption of
essential minerals like calcium, iron, and fluoride.
Silver: questionable as a single-dose antibiotic, consistent intake of
silver accumulates in the blood-forming organs - spleen, liver, and bone
marrow-, as well as the skin, lungs, and muscles. Serious pathologies
have resulted: blood disorders, cirrhosis, pulmonary edema, chronic
bronchitis, and a permanent skin condition known as argyria, to name
just a few. Silver is better left in the ancient lakes, and in
tableware.
Gold: Manufacturers of mega-minerals hawk that "there's more gold in a
ton of seawater than there is in a ton of ore." So what? Our blood is
not seawater; it evolved from seawater. Gold used to be used to treat
rheumatoid arthritis, but has largely been abandoned when they proved
that it caused kidney cell destruction, bone marrow suppression, and
immune abnormalities.
Lithium: Rarely used as an antipsychotic medication, lithium definitely
can cause blackouts, coma, psychosis, kidney damage, and seizures.
Outside of that, it should be fine.
The list goes on. The above are just a few examples of mineral
toxicities about which we have some idea. But for at least half the
minerals in the mega toddies, we know nothing at all.
4. Chelated
The fourth form of supplemental minerals is the chelated variety. Some
clarification of this term is immediately necessary. Chelated is a
general term that describes a certain chemical configuration, or shape
of a compound in which some molecule gets hooked up with some other
chemical structures. When a mineral is bound or stuck to certain carrier
molecules, which are known as chelating agents, or ligands, and a
ring-like molecule is the result, we say that a chelate is formed.
Chelate is from the Greek word for claw, suggested by the open v-shape
of the two ligands on each side, with the mineral ion in the center.
Chelation occurs in many situations. Many things can be chelated,
including minerals, vitamins, and enzymes. Minerals in food may be bound
with organic molecules in a chelated state. Many molecules in the body
are chelated in normal metabolic processes. The carrier proteins in the
intestinal wall discussed above, whose job it is to transport ionic
minerals - these chelate the ions. Another sense of the word chelation
as exemplified in a mainstream therapy for removing heavy metals from
the blood is called chelation therapy. The toxic metals are bound to a
therapeutic amino acid ligand called EDTA. With a Pac-Man action, the
metals are thus removed from the blood.
Molecular weight is measured in units called daltons. The ligands or
binding agents may very small (800 daltons) or very large (500,000
daltons) resulting in a many sizes of chelates. Mineral + ligand =
chelate. Generally the largest chelates are the most stable, and also
the most difficult to absorb. Ionic minerals absorbed through the
intestine are chelated to the carrier proteins, at least two separate
times.
Using the word chelated with respect to mineral supplements refers a
very specific type of chelation. The idea is to bind the mineral ion to
ligands that will facilitate absorption of the mineral through the
intestine into the bloodstream, bypassing the pathway used for ionic
mineral absorption. Sometimes minerals prepared in this way are
described as "pre-chelated" since any ionic mineral will be chelated
anyway once it is taken up by the intestinal membrane.
After decades of research at Albion Laboratories in Utah, it was learned
that small amino acids, especially glycine, are the best ligands for
chelating minerals, for three reasons:
bypasses the entire process of chelation by the intestine's own carrier
proteins
facilitates absorption by an entirely different pathway of intestinal
absorption, skipping the intermediate steps which ionic minerals go
through
the chelate will be the at the most absorbable molecular weight for
intestinal transfer: less than 1500 daltons
It has also been established beyond controversy that certain pairs of
amino acids (dipeptides) are the easiest of all chelates to be absorbed,
often easier than individual amino acids. Proteins are made of amino
acids. Normal digestion presumably breaks down the proteins to its amino
acid building blocks so they can be absorbed. But total breakdown is not
always necessary. It has long been known that many nutrient chains of
two or three or even more amino acids may be absorbed just as easily as
single amino acids. Food-bound copper, vitamin C with hemoglobin
molecule, animal protein zinc, are some examples of amino acids chelates
that are easily absorbed intact. (Intestinal Absorption of Metal Ions,
Chapter 7).
To take another example, in abnormal digestion it is well known that
chains of amino acids - dipeptides, tripeptides, even polypeptide
proteins - sometimes become absorbed intact in a pathology known to
gastroenterologists as Leaky Gut Syndrome. Obviously it is not healthy
and has many adverse consequences, but the point is that amino acids
chains are frequently absorbed, for many different reasons. It's not
always like it says in the boldface section headings in Guyton's
Physiology.
The reason these dipeptide chelates are absorbed faster than ionic
minerals is that the chelated mineral was bonded tightly enough so that
it did not dissociate in the acidic small intestine and offer itself for
capture by the intestinal membrane_s carrier proteins. That whole
process was thus avoided. The chelate is absorbed intact. An easier
form. This is a vast oversimplification, and the most concise summary,
of why chelated minerals may be superior to ionic, provided it's the
right chelate. Only a specific chelate can resist digestion and maintain
its integrity as it is absorbed through the gut. Again, all chelates are
not created equal. Inferior chelates, used because they are cheaper to
produce, include the following:
carbonates
citrates
oxides
sulfates
chlorides
phosphates