John Arts Abundant Living johnarts.co.nz

Our bodies work best when we have optimal levels of antioxidants, minerals and vitamins.

This week we look at deficiencies in common trace minerals and the disastrous effects these can have on our health.

If levels of trace minerals fall significantly below the optimum levels, it puts pressure on important disease-protecting body systems. The trace minerals with the most significant roles in our body processes are selenium, zinc, iron, manganese, copper, boron, chromium, iodine and molybdenum. There are another 50+ rare minerals that have some positive role in the body.

Minerals are different from all other nutrients as they must be obtained directly from our foods. Each mineral or group of minerals has specific roles. Some, such as zinc, are responsible as a co-factor in over 100 enzymes.

The focus here is on the minerals used for our antioxidant enzymes glutathione (GSH), especially selenium, and for super oxide dismutase (SOD) especially zinc, copper, manganese and iron. These antioxidants are our first line of defence against free radicals. Low levels of antioxidant enzymes play a role in almost every disease process. For example low levels of SOD make it easier for cancer cells to grow. Another key role of these antioxidants, especially GSH and SOD, is to break down the free radicals produced by our energy conversion. A failure of these defences can create a chain reaction leading to major energy issues and often inflammation.

There is significant evidence (Davis, Hort Science 2009) of decreasing levels of trace minerals in our food, compounded by modern crop varieties that grow larger with shorter growing time, restricting mineral uptake into plants. To make this worse in the case of some trace minerals such as selenium, our soils are already deficient. While I concede it is technically possible to get at least sufficient levels of vitamins from a carefully planned diet, this is not the situation with minerals.

If there was ever a case for nutrient supplementation it is with these essential trace minerals. My preference is supplementation with all the minerals, not just some of them. I see little point in taking just selenium or zinc or small combinations of minerals. Any good mineral supplement will have at least 20+ minerals, ideally chelated for maximum absorption, and the best will have all 70+ minerals needed to keep our body processes working properly.