Chelated Minerals
Are You Benefiting From
Your Mineral Supplements?

Is that off-the-shelf brand name mineral supplement as effective as pricier "chelated minerals"? After all, aren't all mineral supplements the same? It may not be so...

As it turns out, simple dietary or supplemental intake of minerals does not guarantee you will absorb the minerals into your bloodstream and experience benefit. Actual absorption or "bio-availability" of a mineral depends on several factors. And chelated minerals play a major role.

Mineral Chelation...
Fast Track to Nutrient Delivery and
Benefit to Your Body

Mineral supplements provided as chelated minerals have dramatically improved absorptions over minerals supplements provided as simple "mineral salts" like zinc chloride. Heres why...

Chelation is literally the protective enclosure of a mineral like zinc or iron within amino or other natural organic acids. This provides tremendous advantage.

"Prepackaging or chelating minerals within natural organic acids protects the enclosed mineral from interfering molecules within the intestinal lumen that can bind the mineral and prevent absorption."

Lets take a closer look at your digestive process to appreciate the importance of chelated minerals...

The food you ingest must first be broken down or dissolved into liquid by stomach hydrochloric acid and numerous enzymes before intestinal absorption can occur. Any nutrients in food remaining in the solid or un-dissolved state simply cannot be absorbed by the intestine and utilized by your body.

For example, when a typical mineral supplement containing a solid mineral salt like "zinc chloride" is ingested, the extreme acidity of the stomach dissolves or "solubilizes" the mineral salt. Zinc chloride breaks down into positively charged zinc "cations" and negatively charged chloride "anions" Zinc chloride is no longer a solid and has dissociated into the liquid state, ready to be absorbed by your body. But this introduces a new problem...

Fact #1
"Mineral Binding With Intestinal
Contents Reduces Your Absorption"

Charged molecules are highly reactive and the negatively charged chloride anions and positively charged zinc cations easily react with and bind to many dietary constituents within your digestive tract. Here is how...

As these dissolved minerals travel from the stomach into the small intestine, intestinal secretions reduce the acidity, causing intestinal pH to become more basic or "alkaline". In this alkaline intestinal environment, the positively charged zinc cation is not as soluble - it may return to the solid state by binding to any negatively charged molecule present.

Often that negatively charged molecule happens to be "phytic" or "oxalic acid" found in dietary fiber you ingest. Zinc bound to dietary fiber is not soluble and cannot be absorbed by your intestine. As an insoluble precipitate, you lose - big time... much of the ingested zinc, now attached to dietary fiber, is lost through the feces and never absorbed and metabolized by your body.

Typical mineral supplements provided in the form of mineral salts have great potential to react with and bind to dietary fiber, reducing the absolute quantity of ingested minerals you absorb. This lowers the "bio-availability" for that specific mineral. Mineral-binding reactions are very common and depend primarily upon the form of mineral supplements you ingest.

Enjoy the Advantage of
Chelated Minerals

In sharp contrast to typical mineral salts, prepackaging or chelating minerals within natural organic acids protects the enclosed mineral from interfering molecules within the intestinal lumen that can bind the mineral and prevent absorption. Chelation or chelated minerals help ensure minerals you ingest are actually absorbed and metabolized by your body... not just uselessly passed through the intestinal tract and eliminated in the feces as is often the case with mineral salts.

Fact #2
Mineral-Mineral Interactions
Can Cause Unbalanced Absorption

Zinc cations from mineral salts that escape binding to dietary fiber must now attach to tiny "carrier proteins" on the surface of the intestine to be absorbed. But your intestine must absorb a large array of important minerals every day... calcium, zinc, copper, iron, magnesium, selenium , manganese, etc. are all present and a "physio-chemical" competition for a limited number of attachment sites on carrier proteins occurs.

This competiton for carrier proteins by various minerals are called mineral-mineral interactions and they reduce the absorption potential of any given mineral.

For example, iron and copper are mutually antagonistic since they share the same carrier molecule, transferrin. And transferrin selectively binds copper over iron. Therefore, if supplementary or dietary intake of copper is excessive or not properly balanced with iron, it is possible to display overt symptoms of iron deficiency anemia.

Avoid Mineral Interactions
With Chelated Minerals

Actual absorption of mineral chelates at the intestinal cell wall is also enhanced over mineral salts... Mineral salts must compete for carrier proteins before absorption can occur. As we have seen, this is a very inefficient process and can lead to unbalanced absorption and potential deficiencies.

On the other hand, a mineral as part of a stable amino acid chelate is protected within its natural organic acid.

"Mineral chelates are generally absorbed intact and bypass the carrier proteins - eliminating competitive mineral-mineral interactions that can reduce absorption typical mineral supplements provided in the form of mineral salts"

Chelation is an ultra-efficient mineral delivery process streamlining nutrient delivery to your tissues for enhanced performance of your body. The safety and performance chelated minerals is well-established fact. Minerals chelated within amino acids or fulvic acids (colloidal minerals) provide superior absorption and help protect you from unbalanced absorption that can occur with simple mineral salts.