The Importance
of Minerals
by Parris M. Kidd, Ph.D
The cell is the most basic
unit of life and it must have minerals to stay alive and carry out its
functions. Our cells our the units that actually drive as the final being
that we are. Cells use a limited number of minerals to build their
biological matter, to help their enzymes work and to tie together its
structures. The cell must have minerals to stay alive to carry out its
functions--from the simplest functions to the most sophisticated functions.
As defined by Steadman's Medical Dictionary, "a mineral is any
homogenous, inorganic that is non-carbon material found in the Earth's
crust. The word comes from the medieval Latin 'meno' to mine. the elements
are the ultimate, simplest, indivisible constituents of minerals."
Foods are no longer
reliable mineral sources. Most, if not all, of the agricultural soils have
been depleted due to practices that have failed to replenish the minerals
after repeated planting. A series of precise analyses conducted a few years
ago by Doctor's Data of Chicago determined that conventionally grown plant
foods were depleted of minerals in comparison with crops that had been grown
organically. Population surveys also consistently find large segments of the
population deficient in one or more minerals most often magnesium, zinc,
iron, calcium, or chromium. Dietary supplementation with minerals has now
become a necessity of life but it need not be costly.
