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The Heart Must Maintain a Certain Amount of Elasticity
to Expand and Contract. If it Can't Stretch, It Quits Working. Result? Death.
"Why is it so important to augment our diets with mineral supplements?" a physician friend asked me one day. As I was thinking of a comprehensive answer he said, 'We have such a minute amount of most of these minerals in our bodies that it seems ridiculous to think of supplementing each day."
That comment was all I needed. "How much of the minerals that are in your foods do you actually absorb and utilize?"
"What do you mean?' he wanted to know.
"Take vegetables for example. Research at Albion Laboratories has adequately demonstrated that the amounts of minerals in them appear to be declining each year due to leeching, improper fertilization and changes in our environment. In chemical analysis of both fresh and preserved vegetables it was shown that their mineral contents were not meeting the National Research Council (NRC) findings which were published just a few years ago. Even the NRC is revising its findings downward.
"That's not all. More recent research suggests that we are unable to digest and absorb some of the minerals in the vegetables we eat. Generally, when a laboratory does a chemical analysis on a vegetable it obtains the total amount of a specific mineral in that vegetable. Unfortunately, this type of analysis does not distinguish between how much of the mineral is available or locked up. For example, research has demonstrated that certain portions of those minerals in vegetables are completely unavailable, even though they are present chemically. The fact that they are there chemically doesn't guarantee our bodies can use them."
"That probably helps explain why so many of the strict vegetarians are anemic," commented my doctor friend.
"Many aren't getting enough available iron from the plants they are eating. Theoretically, if we are eating a normal balanced diet we should not need supplements. After all, our bodies only need very small amounts of them."
"I am glad you used the word theoretically," I said, "because theory is often a long way from reality. For example, the phosphates which are found in meat, fish and poultry will also tie up minerals, making them unavailable."
Then, changing the subject, I continued. "You keep emphasizing how only a very small quantity of most minerals are needed for us to function. I am in complete agreement, but you are overlooking one very important aspect.
"What's that?' he asked.
"You have alluded to minerals functioning as catalysts in our body's enzyme reactions. In 1936, the Swedish chemist, Berzelius, discovered that very small quantities of certain substances promoted chemical reactions and increased the rates at which they occurred. He called these substances 'catalysts'. Most catalysts are needed in only minute quantities and do not become parts of the products of the reactions which they promote. They remain virtually unchanged after the reaction so they can produce a large number of changes before they wear out. In biology, where most of the chemical reactions are catalytic, they wear out very rapidly because the reactions can amount to several million per minute. Consequently, they must be replaced continuously."
"That's true," the doctor continued, "but a catalyst cannot initiate a chemical reaction that will not occur in its absence. So even if the enzymes weren't there the reactions will still take place."
"You're right," I agreed, "but an enzyme catalyst will speed up a reaction that normally would take place very slowly. A vast number of chemical reactions are taking place in our bodies continuously and virtually all of them are catalytic. In 1978, Kuhne recognized that these catalysts were different from those previously studied. He called these biological catalysts enzymes.
"Enzymes govern and regulate the behavior and functioning of every living cell in our bodies. In the body, an ordinary cell can contain hundreds, sometimes thousands, of different enzymes which regulate chemical activities, a process that must take place if the cell is to continue living. If all of the enzymes were not there to accelerate the chemical reactions within the cell it would probably die while waiting for the vital reactions to take place on their own.
"For example, consider the cells in the heart. To pump blood throughout the body, the heart must expand and contract. As the blood fills the chamber, the heart expands. Then to force the blood our of the heart into the body it contracts and squeezes out the blood."
"There is nothing new in what you say," my friend commented.
"I agree, but often things become so common that we fail to recognize their importance. The heart must maintain a certain amount of elasticity to expand and contract. How elastic depends upon a cell-manufactured compound called elastin. When there is an insufficient amount of elastin produced by the enzyme lysyl oxidase within the heart cells, heart failure results. The heart is unable to pump blood if it can't stretch - so it quits working, which results in death."
"That's interesting," my friend commented, "but it seems to me we've gone a long way from the original question relating to the need for minerals."
"Not really," I said. "The greater part of the enzymes in our cells have a specific mineral attached. The mineral can be readily removed from most enzymes. When this happens the enzyme loses its activity. If the mineral is replaced, the enzyme regains its catalytic properties. For example, copper is the mineral that activates the elastin producing lysyl oxidase. When copper is deficient the enzyme can't function and the elastin cannot mature. This results in lesions or enlarged hearts and ruptured arteries within the aorta and cardiovascular system."
"But it doesn't take very much copper to activate that enzyme," my physician friend argued.
'Yes, but keep in mind that all living matter is in a dynamic state and being replaced continuously. There is always a turnover of proteins, fats, as well as a slower replacement of structures, such as bones. Enzymes are no exception. They are constantly being broken down and replaced by new ones, even before they are worn out. This creates a continual need for raw materials such as amino acids. Obviously, some of this need is met by the broken down enzymes. But remember, not all of this material is available, so the body requires additional amounts of these raw materials. There is as much a need for additional amounts of minerals as for other raw materials to make new enzymes. As we have already noted, not all of the minerals in the foods are available, so ultimately the body may experience a mineral deficiency."
While the physician thought this over, I added. "When someone undergoes open heart surgery or has a heart attack, what is one of the first minerals you put into his body?"
"Potassium," he answered.
"That's right and this suggests that the body may not have obtained enough potassium from the foods consumed, so you have to supplement. Most of the potassium in the heart is intracellular; that is, it is inside the individual cells that make up the heart. We don't completely understand why this potassium is necessary for the heart to contract normally and force the blood to flow to the various parts of the body, but according to Doctors Guthrie and Aikawa, enzymatic potassium is involved in activation of the nerves.
"When a specific nerve fires, the heart contracts and the blood is pumped out. With severe potassium deficiency, the heart will stop beating altogether. Potassium also acts as a muscle relaxant. In a deficient state the heart, as a muscle, cannot relax and receive the returning blood back into the unrelaxed or contracted heart muscle. The layman recognizes this as he feels his heart beating harder. If severe enough the result can be a heart attack."
"'What you are telling me is probably true," my doctor friend agreed, "because I am certainly seeing more patients with heart problems than ever before, so maybe there really is a need for mineral supplementation."
"Not only are you seeing some potassium deficiencies in your heart patients, but you're also probably looking at magnesium and phosphorus deficiencies too."
"Why is that?'
"The heart must have adequate energy to pump blood throughout the body. It can't contract without energy to drive it. In each one of the cells that make up the heart muscle there is a small amount of phosphorus containing chemical a called adenosine triphosphate, or ATP for short. When ATP is broken down by the heart cells, energy is released to run the heart as a whole. The enzyme required to break down ATP is called adenosinetriphosphatase. But it won't function unless magnesium is there to activate the enzyme."
"Most of the books I've read say magnesium deficiencies are not a common occurrence," my friend argued. "Do you honestly think magnesium deficiencies play a role in heart disease?"
"The British Medical Association reported that survival from heart attacks and other heart ailments requiring hospitalization was only 33 percent before they started giving their patients magnesium supplements. After using the magnesium supplements, survival escalated to 99 percent."
My physician friend whistled. "That's s 200 percent increase in the number of patients saved!"
I smiled. "Personally I believe that most people would have much healthier hearts if they adopted a regular mineral supplementation program to go along with proper rest, exercise and other necessary dietary considerations. Minerals aren't the whole answer for a healthy heart, but they are certainly an integral part."
"I suppose if someone wanted to supplement his diet with minerals you would also recommend chelated minerals," the doctor said, knowing my total involvement in that area of nutrition.
"No," I said.
"No?" he asked with a look of surprise.
"No," I repeated. "I could not recommend chelated minerals simply because they are chelated.
"But I thought minerals that activated these enzymes within our body cells were chelated."
"That's right, they are" I told him. "Dr. Eichhom's research has shown that if they weren't chelated they couldn't activate the enzymes. But chelation doesn't guarantee the mineral will be used. For example, gluconates made from starch are a from of chelates that the body can't use. Their absorption and metabolism is no better than non-chelated sulfates.
"Even many so-called amino acid chelates do not produce superior results. One of the reasons may be that some of them aren't actually chelated as has been shown by some researchers. On the other hand, an improperly made chelate, even if it is a chelate, does not result in superior absorption. In radioactive isotope research it was shown that the method used to make a chelate will vastly affect how much of the mineral is used by the body."
"Then you mean chelated minerals result in greater absorption and metabolism only if the mineral is correctly chelated with hydrolyzed protein?"
I smiled. "You're absolutely right."
Reproduced from Bestways Feb, 1979.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products and statements are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, but rather as a dietary supplement intended solely for nutritional support.
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