Based on the information from the previous chapter, it's plain to see that there definitely is a depletion of minerals in our foods as years passed. This test was done in 1991 and I'm certain we'd get results revealing another 10% to 15% reduction if similar tests were conducted today.

Where can we get the minerals we need if they are not available in our food supply? Well, about the only method available is to initiate a program of mineral supplementation. That is, take food supplements containing a large number of minerals. Various mineral supplement formulations can be purchased from hundreds of suppliers under literally thousands of labels. However, what the industry considers a large and adequate supply of minerals usually is no more than 16 or 18 minerals at best. The most highly advertised mineral on the market today contains only 18 minerals, as listed on the label, and they are metallic minerals that supposedly assimilate very poorly.

Most of the more popular mineral formulations available today contain no more than 10 to 15 minerals because they are derived from ground up rock and soil and ancient sea beds like the Great Salt Lake in Utah. This type of mineral is known as a metallic, hydrophobic mineral! Basically, it will not interact with water because it is not water-soluble. The type of mineral that comes from a plant has been assimilated or digested by the plant and is known as a water-soluble, plant derived, hydrophilic mineral. This is the type of mineral that is most beneficial for all living creatures.

The few metallic minerals that come directly from the earth are hard to digest or assimilate. Many nutritional experts, doctors and food chemists believe no more than 5% or maybe up to 8% of metallic minerals are actually assimilated by the human body. This lack of assimilation occurs because the hydrochloric acid in our stomach isn't strong enough to totally dissolve metals during the normal 15-hour human digestive cycle. The balance, or up to 92%, merely passes through the waste system without benefit.

Minerals, even if they are metallic, are of significant value to balance and metabolize our bodily functions. However, you could not live on soil or rock because it is not alive or enzymatically active like plant derived minerals from raw plants. Plant derived minerals that have not been altered by man made chemicals are, from a medical standpoint, enzymatically active or living minerals.

What about vitamins? Most of us have been hearing about vitamins since we were children. And even today we hear authoritative sources say, be sure to take your vitamins, but seldom do you hear anyone say, be sure to take your minerals. Your mother probably reminded you to take your vitamins, but I doubt she ever mentioned minerals. She didn't mention minerals because she wasn't aware of the necessity or importance of minerals. Few people were aware of the importance until about thirty years ago. Even today many doctors and nutritionists thumb their nose at the thought of mineral deficiencies in foods. They only think about and recommend vitamins because that's what they were taught. Vitamins are sometimes expected to do more than they are capable of doing. Our bodies can go far longer suffering with a deficiency of vitamins than they can with a deficiency of minerals. Did you know all the vitamins in the world would do us little good without minerals? The minerals in our bodies are so important that the body goes to complicated, even desperate lengths to maintain their balance. If a cell is deficient in a single mineral, it will suffer from a loss of several minerals.

A vitamin can be broken down into its basic elements that are carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. Basically, vitamins are a group of chemically unrelated organic nutrients that are essential in small quantities for normal metabolism, growth and physical well-being. Vitamins must be obtained through diet since they are either not synthesized in our bodies or are synthesized in inadequate amounts.

Fortunately today's plants do supply a reasonable amount of vitamins. However, if you lack vitamin A you may have dry skin, kidney and gall stones, sinus problems, digestive problems and many more symptoms. A lack of vitamin B can cause chronic tiredness, loss of vitality, poor appetite and nervousness. A lack of vitamin C can cause shortness of breath, headaches, tender joints, low resistance to infection, restlessness and digestion problems. A lack of vitamin D can cause a pot belly, constipation, rickets, convulsions, poor teeth and curvature of the spine.

Many people have a misconception about vitamins. Thousands have told us they will only use food supplements with "natural vitamins." The so-called natural vitamins do not exist in supplements. Natural vitamins only come from plants. All commercially sold supplement vitamins are synthesized in a laboratory. Therefore, they cannot be called "natural vitamins."

There is a harmony between vitamins and minerals and even though vitamins are nearly ineffective without minerals, they both are necessary. Minerals are quite different from vitamins in their structure and the work they do, but the two enjoy an excellent working relationship. According to Rodale's Complete Book of Minerals for Health, "minerals create a healthy environment in which the body, using vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates and fats can grow, function and heal itself." I like the portion "heal itself". I know this is possible if a body gets more than the 18 minerals found in most supplements or the 16 to 20 minerals found in today's foods. It's a known fact that a complete spectrum of minerals promotes better health as it adjusts the pH level of bodily tissues. What is a complete spectrum of minerals? I believe a mineral composition or a mineral solution cannot be considered a "complete spectrum of minerals" unless it contains at least seventy minerals. This large number of minerals has to include many of the "rare earth" minerals or there would not be a total of seventy. These rare earth minerals are necessary, in addition to the more commonly known minerals, to stabilize the acid level in tissues. Most all bacteria and viruses and even tapeworm thrive in and prefer an environment of high pH or alkaline nature. A complete spectrum of minerals lowers the pH in our digestive system, which raises the hydrochloric acid level, thereby inhibiting bacterial and viral replication. Both extra and intracellular fluids function properly only because of a carefully maintained ratio of minerals, in conjunction with vitamins, in an acidic solution. The interaction of the two enables the body cells to take in nutrients and dispose of toxins that are the by products of that metabolism.

A lack of minerals inhibits detoxification. Detoxifying occurs whenever the body begins to expel and eliminate anything that causes the body to be toxic. This can and does occur naturally, but if you lack minerals, the detox will never be thorough and complete. The poisons will only be completely expelled if you have many more minerals than what you can obtain from today's foods and from most commonly known and nationally advertised mineral supplement brands. A strong immune system depends on a clean detoxed body and this can only be obtained from thorough excretion of wastes and anything that is not fully compatible with your bodily functions. Normal detoxing at a physical level can range anywhere from extremely mild bowel or kidney movement, skin rash, aches and pains to very intense discomfort. This normally subsides within a few days. In the area of detoxification, a complete spectrum of at least 70 minerals makes an incredible difference.

Recently, we've begun to hear a lot about enzymes and antioxidants and their importance. Enzymes are extremely important for our metabolic functions, but again they do us little good without minerals. Conversely, some enzymes and vitamins are helpmates to minerals. Some minerals are eager workers, but to perform best they need an enzyme or a vitamin or two to stir them into action. As an example, vitamin C can triple iron absorption. Calcium absorption is impossible without vitamin D and some magnesium. Many minerals act as coenzymes, the so-called catalysts in chemical reactions with vitamins. This means they function as spark plugs, starting chemical actions where billions of chemical reactions take place every day.

At this point you may ask yourself a question. Is all this publicity about mineral deficiencies and the lack of minerals really true and if so, which minerals and what kind of minerals should I be using or should I even consider taking additional minerals? In my opinion, at least part of your question can be answered with this little story.

Many movies have been made about the migration of the American settlers in the early 1800s. We all know they had to cross the great plains of the United States. What we don't know or realize is that few of these people settled in one place for a long period. Every few years, they would have to pick up and move. They'd start a small farm in the Midwest such as Iowa, Missouri, Kansas or Nebraska with a milk cow, a couple of pigs, maybe some sheep and a few children. After a few years, Dad would always be constipated and the cow would quit giving milk. The cucumber plants, tomato plants and farm crops would not grow, so they would almost starve. If they were lucky enough to make it through the winter, they'd load all their belongings into a covered wagon and move west with the milk cow in tow. When they found a suitable place they started another farm. In a few years both Mom and Pop would be constipated all the time. The crops, cucumbers and tomatoes would quit growing and the cow would again quit giving milk. And, if they survived the winter, they'd load everything in a wagon and move farther west again.

What was the problem? The soil was being depleted! If they didn't have enough land to allow some to be idle from time to time, the land would become barren due to a lack of minerals. Crops and plant growth took too many minerals out of the soil. The only way to eliminate this problem was to own a piece of bottomland near a river. Only the lucky farmers lived on the bottomland. When it flooded, they'd get new topsoil and silt and additional minerals from miles upstream. So, if they were fortunate enough to have bottomland they didn't have to move. Why? The fertilizer would come to them during the flood. But if they were out on the prairie with no river or bottomland, they would be required to move, otherwise the entire family would become malnourished and nearly starve. This settling and moving process occurred many thousands of times during the last 200 years. This was necessary because the early settlers were actually strip-mining the nutrients from the soils. And if there were little or no nutrients in the soil, their crops and gardens could not produce due to a lack of nutrients and minerals in the soil. Depleted soils cannot possibly supply adequate nutrients to our food chain and as the preceding tests revealed; our soils are becoming more depleted every year.

Commercial fertilizers were introduced in 1908. Was the soil depletion problem solved? Not by a long shot! Study any commercial fertilizer by reviewing the ingredients listed on the package. You will see nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) and most times, nothing more. It's a known fact that you can raise most crops and plants with what little nutrients are still in the soil, and NPK. Most farmers never put back more than 4 minerals. In the first place, more than 4 to 6 minerals would be nearly impossible to obtain. Secondly, if they were obtainable and if farmers attempted to put that many back into the soil, they would soon be bankrupt. We now understand no more than 12 or 13 minerals are required to raise large, red, juicy tomatoes, but many times if you were blindfolded while eating, you would have trouble identifying the tomatoes due to a lack of taste. The lack of taste is due to a lack of minerals that causes a lack of Brix. This lack of minerals is the reason you would have to eat four carrots today to get the same amount of minerals as one carrot supplied 60 years ago. Soil depletion is the only reason today's plants contain no more than 16 to 20 minerals, on average, compared to more than 70 minerals thousands of years ago.

According to research in the animal husbandry field and The National Science Foundation, animals require at least 45 minerals, 12 essential amino acids, 16 vitamins and 3 essential fatty acids. However, the average land grown animal feed only contains on average about 18 minerals and when mineral levels are down, so are amino acids and essential fatty acids. According to Gary Price Todd, M.D., the human body requires at least 60 minerals for optimal health and basically the same other essentials as animals. But, as stated earlier, only about 18 minerals are available in any kind of quantity in most of the food we eat today. We know plants can make vitamins, amino acids and varying amounts of fatty acids if they are healthy from being grown in soils containing abundant minerals. If the soil lacks minerals, the plant is stunted because a plant cannot make minerals. Dr. Gary Price Todd says, "Sick soil causes sick plants, which causes sick animals, and ultimately sick human beings." One reason our plants are sick is due to pesticides and insecticides. Forty years ago it was necessary to develop these poisons in order to kill off insects and pests in an effort to prevent them from destroying crops that had weak plants. Had the plants been healthy, like they were in prehistoric times, the insects would not have bothered them. Most scientists and agronomists conclude that a healthy, vigorously surviving plant can adequately defend itself against any of nature's attacks, including insects and worms. This can occur only if the plant has numerous minerals available to draw from the soil.