We cannot underestimate the importance of this breakthrough. Traditionally, many mineral supplements have been made from inorganic minerals those that have been mined from the earth or developed in a laboratory. Only a small portion of inorganic minerals is assimilated by the human body. Chelated minerals, where the mineral is bound to an organic substance, increases assimilation, but how well depends on the chelation process. Most mineral chelates are compounds not normally found in nature and may even be viewed as foreign substances by the body.
Plants are the ideal mineral factory.
They take up both inorganic and chelated minerals and convert them to small, water-soluble molecules. Plant-bound minerals have been found to be more soluble in simulated gastric and intestinal fluid and therefore are potentially more bioavailable than other supplements. We should, of course, eat as many plants as possible. The problem is that today s growing conditions are not ideal. Soil is often depleted of important minerals and contains contaminants.