Vitamins act as the spark plugs that fit in a combustion engine in our body. It is the electricity produced by our bodies that allows synapses, signals and even heartbeats to occur. Our bodies need specific amounts of voltage to work optimally. Vitamins are crucial to the functioning of almost all bodily processes. Vitamins don’t have energy but they link and regulate metabolic reactions that release energy from the foods we eat. With every heartbeat or breath we take, even our thoughts are carried out with electricity. The conductors of this electrical energy are ionic minerals or electrolytes. Natural vitamins are organic food substances found in living plants and animals and are found in different degrees in food stuff. Minerals are inorganic. Vitamins work on the cellular level. For this reason, cells that are poorly nourished may have many enzymes without the proper co-enzyme part. This will make it function slower until it receives the proper nourishment. Vitamins and minerals are interdependent; vitamins cannot function without minerals being present. Minerals act as a catalyst.
There are two types of vitamins: Fat-soluble and water-soluble. The water soluble vitamins are vitamin C, the B vitamins and folic acid. There are (13) water soluble vitamins. Vitamins B & C are stored in the body for a short period of time and then excreted. They must be replaced on a regular basis.
*Note: A thing to remember is sulfa drugs, sleeping pills, insecticides and estrogen create a condition in the digestive tract that destroy vitamin B.
The fat-soluble vitamins are: Vitamins A, D, E and K. Vitamins A, D and K are stored in the liver and vitamin E is distributed throughout the body’s fatty tissues.*Note: one should be careful ingesting Vitamin K if you are on blood thinning medications.
Fat-soluble vitamins are measured in units called international units or (IU).
Plants and animals do not synthesize minerals. Colloidal minerals come from plants which have absorbed the metallic minerals from the soil. These minerals are small enough to be absorbed by the cells of the body. Most minerals have functional roles as important co-enzymes in the body, similar to the role played by vitamins.
There are 28 minerals found in the human body, 15 are called micro nutrients or trace minerals.
Zinc, a trace mineral, is found in all living cells. It is necessary for our bodies because a zinc deficiency can compromise the immune system and cause wounds to heal slower. A sign that you are deficient in zinc is the impaired ability to taste and skin problems. Some processed foods reduce zinc absorption.
Selenium, another trace mineral, protects the immune system and helps with tissue elasticity. It works with vitamin A and C in antioxidant activities.