Much-Needed Minerals
Minerals are an essential part of health, with roles in all cellular and biochemical aspects of the body. Minerals are as important as vitamins, and like vitamins, most people with North American diets have borderline deficiencies of these nutrients. Depletion of minerals is a main cause of poor health. Many minerals are recognized as essential, including zinc, calcium, and magnesium. Other minerals appear to be essential based on current research, including chromium, boron and silicon.

Required for Health
Minerals have important roles in every area of health. For instance, calcium is essential for bones and also for many cellular pathways. Boron and silicon support skeletal health, and vanadium has a role in thyroid function.

Effective Forms and Balanced Doses
Many mineral formulations use excessive amounts of cheap mineral forms. However, ineffective forms are poorly absorbed and the wrong doses can be harmful. Ortho Minerals contains the best, most effective and most easily absorbed forms of minerals in balanced doses that are determined by the latest research. It also contains vitamin D3 to help with mineral metabolism.

Optimal Mineral Supplementation
Minerals, in some ways, play a larger role in the human body than do vitamins: less than 1% of body mass is vitamins, while minerals account for 4-5%. Most North Americans face borderline mineral deficiency due to poor food choices, food processing, soil depletion, and mineral antagonists such as caffeine, alcohol, and refined sugars.

The Best Forms
Many supplement companies pack their multiminerals with ineffective forms of key minerals. Their low cost make the price look right, and the high elemental yields make the pills look "high-potency" on the label - but if your body can't use the minerals in the capsules, it doesn't matter how much you cram into them. For instance, calcium carbonate is very poorly absorbed. Calcium citrate’s absorption is no better when taken with food, and it also blocks the body's absorption of many nutrients because it neutralizes the body's stomach acid. The best vegetarian form of calcium is calcium citrate-malate, which is far more easily dissolved in the stomach than plain calcium citrate. It has no antacid effect, so your absorption of other nutrients is unaffected. The most common sources of magnesium all have absorption in the 20-30% range. By contrast, magnesium aspartate has a remarkable 41.7% bioavailability.

Another example of the importance of getting the right form of your supplement is selenium. This trace mineral has strong evidence backing its role in supporting ongoing health. In one large-scale, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, selenium supplementation was found to cut the incidence of new cancers by 37%, slash cancer deaths by 50%, and reduce death from all causes by a remarkable 17% as compared to a placebo. Recent research has clearly documented that Se-methylselenocysteine (SeMC) has the most potent cancer-fighting effects.

The “Missing Minerals”
Evidence has been accumulating for decades that many more minerals are essential than just the ones that are officially recognized. The evidence is compelling that boron, silicon, lithium, and vanadium are as necessary to your health as the "official" essential minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, or zinc. Boron appears to be an essential factor in preserving the health of the skeleton and joints, and has been linked to reduced risk of prostate cancer; silicon has been shown to build stronger bones, apparently through a cofactor role in collagen synthesis; and vanadium appears to have a key role in thyroid function, as well as having a "pharmacological" effect on glucose metabolism at extremely high doses. Animal studies have shown that lithium is an essential mineral in mammals. Studies have found that people living in areas with low lithium have higher rates of mental disorders and behavioral problems.

The Right Balance
While it is critical not to fall into a marginal deficiency of key nutrients like zinc, manganese, and even calcium, there is such a phenomenon as "too much of a good thing." For instance, zinc can compete with copper if the ratio of the two is not properly balanced. Other minerals can lead to health problems if they are taken in excessive doses.

The roles of these minerals in health are literally indispensable. However, they must be taken at appropriate doses, at appropriate ratios, reflecting the balance of nutrients in healthy diets, and within the range at which our bodies can use them.