Electrolytic balance, or homeostasis, helps keep the body and the entire cardiovascular system healthy. It also assists in the normalization of either high or low blood pressure, in conjunction with other treatments, because osmosis, or the fluid pressure and presence of electrolytes on the inside and outside of cell walls, is controlled by mineral availability.
In order to absorb and use calcium the body needs vitamin D, magnesium and trace minerals including copper. Too much vitamin A or E, potassium, phytic or oxalic acids (from grains and certain vegetables) will upset calcium metabolism and decrease its availability.
Magnesium
Magnesium maintains calcium in its ionized form in the body, keeping it in solution and assisting in its absorption. It discourages the release of hormones that extract calcium from the bones and influences the release and production of calcium depositing hormones. When minerals are out of solution in the body, and their co-factors are deficient, this may contribute to osteoarthritis and kidney stones. One in ten Americans suffer from kidney stones and the physicians freely admit they don't know why this problem is increasing. Patients are told to avoid calcium, when what they really need is education about diet and mineral balance, trace minerals and magnesium. The latest research shows that the right kind of calcium with its synergistic factors actually helps to prevent kidney stones.
Some of the latest popular diets don't provide the body with enough trace minerals or bio-available chromium and for this reason Dr. Jeffrey Bland encourages trace element supplementation whenever food is limited or 'meal replacement' powders are used. He notes that minerals work together and the body has to take in (and be able to use) minerals such as manganese, zinc, copper, and selenium in order for chromium to be active.
Chromium
Chromium aids the body's blood sugar metabolism and fat burning. Acting as a co-factor to insulin, chromium is involved in energy production, muscle development, fat and cholesterol metabolism and the regulation of blood sugar. It also allows the body to hold on to more muscle during calorie reduced diets by promoting the entrance of glucose and amino acids into the cells to make muscle. Biologically active chromium helps in the reduction of sugar cravings through its action with insulin and blood sugar. It also helps insulin transport the amino acid tryptophan into the brain for serotonin synthesis.
Boron
Boron decreases the urinary excretion of calcium and magnesium, increases blood levels of estrogen and testosterone, and is now thought to be necessary for the synthesis and secretion of estrogen, vitamin D and other hormones. Silica (silicon) influences the uptake of calcium in the bones and can be transmuted to calcium in the body. And zinc aids calcium absorption.
Iron
Iron deficiency is the greatest single mineral deficiency worldwide, and most women are walking a thin line between sufficiency and deficiency. A deficiency of iron produces fatigue, lethargy and lack of stamina accompanied by a general seizing up of the mental equipment and a feeling that the legs have turned to lead. Many changes take place in the body from the diminished nutritional state after a prolonged and drastic diet. There may be increased sodium and water retention (edema), increased insulin production (lowering of the blood sugar), and altered intracellular enzyme activity and breakdown rates of muscle and adipose tissue. Cardiac arrhythmia, (abnormal heartbeat) experienced by some people during a drastic bout of dieting may also have its roots in deficiencies of essential minerals.
Minerals dissolved in water exert a protection against heart disease, cancer and other diseases. In 1973, The Lancet Medical Journal published a paper showing the correlation between low intake of minerals, especially magnesium, and heart disease. A 1992 study in the European Heart Journal looked at 76 communities in Sweden to see if there was a relationship between water hardness and mortality from ischemic heart disease and stroke.
The data collected showed that diversity in the water minerals from community to community accounted for 14 percent of the variation in stroke mortality and 41 percent of the variation in ischemic heart disease. At first glance these figures seem improbable, as they only relate to water mineral levels and not to foods which are a much more significant source. The key to this lies in the fact that minerals dissolved in water are far more bio-available than those present in food. Natural practitioners stress that mineral bio-availability is more important than the amount of minerals consumed, and the results of this study help to confirm it.
Scientists agree that minerals dissolved in water become easier for the body to absorb and use. When in solution the minerals are in an 'evolved', more bio-available state, and if the essential minerals are present, little or none of any toxic element will be absorbed.
Mineral balance is critical especially for the athlete. For example, if copper is in short supply, iron utilization will decline and produce symptoms like fatigue and lack of stamina. In addition, the high volume oxygen intake during athletic exertion oxidizes blood cells faster than normal and increases the chance of anemia.
A high intake of meat and other proteins leads to an increase in the metabolic rate, part of which is achieved due to calcium and magnesium excretion. Loss of both these minerals can result in cramping, spasms and irregular heart beat. Iron deficiency interferes with the formation of special enzymes in the body that affect muscle function.
Not only are soils lacking trace minerals including zinc, but also macro-minerals like calcium and magnesium. Sufficient intake of all these minerals stops aluminum from accumulating in the brain. It is known that the brains of Alzheimer's patients contain abnormally high levels of aluminum. Aluminum has an enzyme inhibitory potential and, recent research shows that aluminum deposits prevent the brain from using vitamin B-12, which, in turn, prevents it from making acetylcholine-even when there is choline in the diet. A lack of acetylcholine allows the brain to accumulate a nerve hardening and strangling protein called beta-amyloid (Scienc, October9, 1992). Alzheimer's disease is characterized by a degeneration and tangling of the brain's nerve terminals.
We know that minerals, especially in the electrolyte form, act in the transmission of brain and nerve impulses and are vital for maintaining a placid disposition and sharp intellect. We also know that certain trace and macro minerals prevent the uptake of toxic trace elements like lead which decreases mental ability. Missing trace elements, including zinc with its synergistic factors, and B complex, excessive toxic elements like aluminum and lead, as well as low blood sugar may well be the key in the 'mystery' of ADD and hyperactivity.
David Watts, D.C. Ph.D., writes in the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine that, "...a deficient intake of an element can allow toxic accumulation of another element. Small amounts of cadmium intake can accumulate to a point of toxicity in the presence of marginal or deficient zinc intake." Our bodies react a little like the plants and need a balance of minerals-otherwise excessive levels of toxic minerals can be taken up by the cells and tissues. We can relate this to our current health crisis when we understand that essential minerals protect us by preventing plants and the body from taking up toxic minerals.
According to Dr. Jerry Olarsch, "As we become deficient in trace minerals, the cell walls weaken and become irregular in shape, and their pH is upset. As the cell wall pressure breaks down, a virus can attack the weak spot and break in. If the cell's pH is unbalanced it becomes host to the virus, bacteria and so on, and this is the beginning of disease, whether it is a cold or cancer".Electrolyte balance is the critical factor. There is nothing else in nature which keeps cells round and strong. The body's pH and cell health, in addition to immune system strength, is the ultimate weapon against disease. This can only come about through mineralization and the proper hydration of the body.
The energies in water can be extremely powerful and can be involved in the conversion or transmutation of minerals to another form. Minerals dissolved in water are considerably more bio-available than those present in food because they are in solution. Water is the ultimate mineral solvent and when structured and clustered (ionized), breaks them down into their free ionic state where they become electrically charged. In this form they are more easily absorbed through the walls of the gastrointestinal tract and by the cells.
The mind and body's reaction to stress propels a flood of adrenal hormones, including noradrenaline, into the bloodstream, with a resulting increase in the production of chemicals transmitting nerve impulses in the body. These transmitters are primarily electrolytes or trace minerals. This drains electrolyte reserves and compromises the body's ability to detoxify both the stress hormones, and the free radicals.
The body, mind and spirit are so intricately connected and complex that only a small fraction of who we are is explainable in strict scientific terms. Medicine often misses the intangible bit. Our desire for a fast cure, preferably one pill and the job's done, has created the kind of doctoring which now dominates medicine. People take very little responsibility for their own well-being and consequently, take no interest in their health until it deteriorates. We can't blame the medical profession for our healthcare situation as the real responsibility rests with us.
We are 'medicating' our sick soils and plants in much the same way that we are medicating ourselves. The result is also degeneration and a deeper reliance on more and more chemicals or more and more drugs. It is an interesting parallel, a kind of chemical and drug addiction. Dr. Bernard Jensen writes, "We cannot heal a person through symptomatic relief. We must go to the root of the problem�to the cell itself-where electrolytes are at work giving life. It is here that the real healing can begin."
Referenced: Gillian Martlew N.D., Electrolytes-The Spark of Life
http://www.waternutrition.com/spark.html
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