Raena Morgan: This represents chelation?
Max R. Motyka: Correct.
Raena Morgan: I want to know what chelation means.
Max R. Motyka: Sure. This center here is the mineral—the silver is the mineral—and these
structures around this mineral are the amino acids. And, if you take, for
instance, your hand and you have the tip of your finger to the tip of your
thumb and pretend you’re taking a marble and holding it there, that’s one
end of the amino acid bending and the other end of the amino acid
bending—that’s a bond to that. Then you take your other hand in this
fashion [and] you have a chelate. The idea is that these amino acids take
and bond to the mineral and keep it intact as if it were a natural dipeptide,
so that things that would happen to salt forms in the G.I. system do not
happen to this. This does not come apart, whereas calcium carbonate or
ferrous sulfate comes apart, the iron and the ferrous sulfate comes apart
from the sulfate and is just a charged iron in the sulfate as a charged
sulfate, and then the iron is absorbed in a different fashion than a chelate
would be. The chelate would stay intact and be absorbed farther down in
the G.I. tract and over a much longer span of the intestine, giving it a
higher potential for absorption.
Raena Morgan: So, it’s not as affected by stomach acid?
Max R. Motyka: Right. The thing is, it’s got a stability constant that keeps it from coming
apart in the pH’s encounter in the G.I. system. And…that is important for
a number of reasons. One of the big ones is, of course, absorption; it
increases absorption. Number 2, a lot of your inorganic minerals, for
instance, ferrous sulfate—iron—will cause constipation. Zinc will make
people, in sulfate form, nauseated if taken in higher doses in particular.
And, the chelate, because the mineral is not exposed in charged form in
the gut the way it would be in a salt form—you don’t have those side
effects. You don’t have the tolerance problems because of the chelate
structure. Typical clinical studies will show you the chelates can be
absorbed anywhere from 2 to 4 times more effectively than the salt form.
What’s interesting too is that typically the more your body needs the
mineral the higher your absorption’s going to be from the chelate. It’s very
nicely regulated that way. So, because it’s absorbed in a wider range of the
gut, you know, #1 that causes it to be absorbed better, but also, your salt
form of mineral can be impacted by other things in your diet to decrease
the absorption of such. For instance, if you take your multi-mineral in a
salt form with your breakfast, and many people do, they’ll take their
supplement first thing in the morning and they’re eating their cereal. Well,
if the cereal has a lot of fiber in it, which hopefully in would, the thing is,
the salt form when it ionizes there’s things called phytates in your cereal
that are fibrous. They bind to that ionized form of calcium or ionized form
of manganese or whatever the mineral might be, and form an insoluble,
unabsorbable compound and pass the minerals off through the colon and
out.
Raena Morgan: So, the fiber takes it out?
Max R. Motyka: Right and that won’t happen with a chelate because this does not ionize so
it doesn’t’ become, exposed if you will, to phytates. Also, a lot of your
minerals will block the absorption of one another if [they’re] in salt form.
For instance, calcium carbonate will block the absorption of zinc from
sulfate. Iron sulfate will block the absorption of copper and copper will be
blocked by zinc. If you take inorganic minerals together the one that’s in
the highest concentration is going to get the most attention by your body
to drag it through. So, you could be taking a nice multi-mineral but not
doing yourself as much good as you think.
Raena Morgan: All right. Well, thank you Max.
Max R. Motyka: Sure.
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