Minerals are the building blocks of our bodies.  They are required for body structure, fluid balance, protein structures and to produce hormones.  They are a key for the health of every body system and function.  They act as co-factors, catalysts or inhibitors of all enzymes in the body.  Copper and iron, for example, along with other minerals are required for the electron transport system, and thus needed for all cellular energy production. 

Minerals are classified into four groups:  The macrominerals, or those needed in large quantity, include calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, sulfur, iron, copper and zinc.   Required trace minerals include manganese, chromium, selenium, boron, bromine, silicon, iodine, vanadium, lithium, molybdenum, cobalt,  germanium and others.   Possibly required trace minerals include fluorine, arsenic, rubidium, tin, niobium, strontium, gold, silver and nickel.   Toxic metals include beryllium, mercury, lead, cadmium, aluminum, antimony, bismuth, barium, uranium and others. 

These categories overlap slightly because assessing minerals that are  required by humans is problematic. Some may be needed in minuscule amounts.  Clinical studies to prove this by depriving people of vital minerals would be cruel and possibly disastrous. 

Also, note that minerals needed in  lesser quantities are usually toxic in greater amounts.  Examples are copper, iron, manganese, selenium and vanadium.  Even calcium and sodium are quite toxic in excess.


TOXIC METAL DANGERS 

Today mankind is exposed to the highest levels in recorded history of lead, mercury, arsenic, aluminum, copper, tin, antimony, bromine, bismuth and vanadium.  Levels are up to several thousand times higher than in primitive man.  In my clinical experience, everyone has excessive amounts of some or all of the toxic metals.  

Toxic metals are also persistent and cumulative.  The late Dr. Henry Schroeder, MD, who was a world authority on trace elements, wrote: 

≥Most organic substances are degradable by natural processes.  (However), no metal is degradableäthey are here to stay for a long time≤ .  

          Toxic metals replace nutrient minerals in enzyme binding sites.  When this occurs, the metals inhibit, overstimulate or otherwise alter thousands of enzymes.  An affected enzyme may operate at 5% of normal activity. This may contribute to many health conditions. Toxic metals may also replace other substances in other tissue structures. These tissues, such as the arteries, joints, bones and muscles, are weakened by the replacement process.  Toxic metals may also simply deposit in many sites, causing local irritation and other toxic effects.  They may also support development of fungal, bacterial and viral infections that are difficult or impossible to eradicate until this cause is removed.

          The mineral replacement process  often involves the idea of preferred minerals. For example, the body prefers zinc for over 50 critical enzymes  .  However,  if zinc becomes deficient  - and our soil and food are very low in zinc today - or exposure to cadmium, lead or mercury is sufficiently high, the body will use these in place of zinc.  Cadmium, in particular, is located just below zinc in the periodic table of the elements, so its atomic structure is very similar to that of zinc.  It almost fits perfectly in the zinc binding sites of critical enzymes such as RNA transferase, carboxypeptidase, alcohol dehydrogenase and many others or great importance in the body. 

          The ability to replace a vital mineral means, however, that toxic metals are not completely harmful.  Indeed, they can extend life.  They keep bodies functioning when vital minerals are deficient. 

          An analogy is to imagine taking an automobile journey. If one is far away from a repair shop when a key part like the fan belt breaks, if one had a spare piece of rope, one could tie it around the pulleys and continue the trip slowly.  The rope would not function nearly as well as the original part, but would allow one to keep going. This is how toxic metals can function positively in the body.  Many people limp along on grossly deficient diets, and are even born deficient and toxic.  They do not realize their fatigue and other symptoms are due to the presence of incorrect ≥replacement parts≤ in their biological engine compartments.  Depending on where toxic metals accumulate, the resulting effects may be given names such as hypothyroidism, diabetes or cancer. 

How Does Artery Disease Affect Health?

Blockage of blood vessels by plaque (atheroma) reduces the flow of blood, starving vital organs of oxygen and other nutrients. Cell walls then become leaky, allowing excessive calcium, sodium and other elements to entehen calcium accumulates to a critical point, deposits form, like concrete. These calcifications can often be seen on X-ray. Disordered calcium metabolism can also cause coronaries and other arteries to go into spasm, further reducing blood to vital organs.

Can They Be Avoided?

If diagnostic evaluation reveals the formation of calcified deposits, if they are in uneven clumps, the risk of heart attack or stroke is considerable. If they are laid smoothly along the arterial walls, the risk is much less.

What Is The Effect Of These Deposits?

When the flow of blood is interrupted by a calcified deposit it becomes turbulent and under pressure. If part of the deposit breaks away, it is carried at speed in this fast moving blood and may block one of the smaller blood vessels supplied to the artery completely or partially. This causes a stroke if the artery is feeding the brain, or a heart attack if a coronary artery of the heart muscle is involved, or gangrene and amputation if the leg arteries become blocked.