Minerals are very essential to the proper functioning of a body. They facilitate enzymatic action, and vitamins can't even perform many of their necessary functions without using minerals as catalysts. However, metallic minerals can be toxic and dangerous to the body. Metallic minerals are hydrophobic, which means they resist interaction with water. A colloid is a particle or substance that retains its identity and remains in suspension.
Colloids are very small in size and therefore are easily absorbed by the cells of the body.
Plants absorb metallic minerals through their roots and convert them into colloidal minerals. These plant or colloidal minerals are hydrophilic or water soluble, which is what causes them to work with, and not against, the natural body absorption processes. Dr. Carey Reams, a well known biophysicist and biochemist, discovered that colloids can get so small they can go through glass. The Colorado School of Mines is one of the few laboratories in the country that can even measure the incredibly small size of colloidal minerals, and then is only able to size the larger minerals. These are smaller than 0.001 micron.