You need minerals for the body to stay healthy. You need to take in vitamins
on a regular basis but minerals remain in our bodies. Some minerals do need
though. They are essential to
activate and assimilate the vitamins in our bodies.
How do we get the minerals into our system? People eat plants that have
absorbed minerals from the soil it grew in. We also need trace minerals that
are not well known. In most cases, vitamins and minerals work together within our body. Calcium and Vitamin D are excellent examples, because the body needs enough Vitamin D to be able to absorb and use calcium.
Chelated (key lated) minerals are required for our bodies to be able to use them. Chelation happens when a mineral is wrapped in molecules of protein, and chelation is needed in order for the blood stream to accept the minerals. If a mineral is not chelated, then both it and the vitamins associated with it will pass through the body without providing any benefit.
This is one of the reason it's usually suggested that you take a vitamin or mineral with a meal. Because the proteins from your meal will help your body chelate the minerals and absorb and use them properly, along with the vitamins too.
Before the body can chelate a mineral though, is must dissolve it first. Once it has dissolved the mineral, it then uses protein to chelate it for proper use. Now, if you don't eat enough protein of course, you're going to have a problem utilizing both minerals and vitamins in your body. And if you take vitamin supplements, they may be in a form which is difficult for your body to dissolve properly, which of course would make them
unusable as well.
These are reasons to use natural herbal supplements for adding vitamin and mineral content. Herbal sources contain high amounts of both
vitamins and minerals, including the trace minerals too. Herbal supplements are often purchased in crushed or powdered form too, so these are much easier for the body to readily dissolve and put to use within us.