More Fluoride Exposure Creates More Thyroidism

A new large population study just released this week in the UK Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health showed that fluoride exposure contributes to hypothyroidism in England's population. The study found that locations that had higher in fluoride content in the drinking water were about 30% more likely to develop hypothyroidism as compared with areas with low levels of the halogen. About 10% of England's population has synthetic fluoride added to their drinking water and the study confirms that higher levels of fluoridated drinking water provides a useful predictor of hypothyroidism in the population.

"We found that higher levels of fluoride in drinking water provide a useful contribution for predicting prevalence of hypothyroidism. We found that practices located in the West Midlands (a wholly fluoridated area) are nearly twice as likely to report high hypothyroidism prevalence in comparison to Greater Manchester (non-fluoridated area)."

It has been long recorded in history, circa 1895 Dr. Bauman, that iodine is an essential mineral that is required for healthy thyroid functionality. During the 1800's and early 1900's iodine was used to treat both hyperthyroidism, goiter as well as hypothyroidism very successfully. In fact iodine was used to treat every conceivable condition known to resist conventional treatment of the time.

“In the first flush of enthusiasm for the newcomer, physicians and surgeons tested it and tried it for every conceivable pathological condition. The variety of diseases for which iodine was prescribed in the early years is astonishing — paralysis, chorea, scrofula, lacrimal fistula, deafness, distortions of the spine, hip-joint disease, syphilis, acute inflammation, gout, gangrene, dropsy, carbuncles, whitlow, chilblains, burns, scalds, lupus, croup, catarrh, asthma, ulcers, and bronchitis — to mention only a few. Indeed, tincture of iodine, iodoform, or one of the iodides, was applied to almost every case that resisted the ordinary routine of practice; and between 1820 and 1840 there appeared a remarkable series of essays and monographs testifying to the extraordinary benefits to be achieved by this new and potent remedy.” ~ FC Kelley 1961

What is very important about this study is the large population sample it utilized, which shows a greater likelihood of it's cause & effects on the population.

“largest population ever studied in regard to adverse effects of elevated fluoride exposure,”... "Data was collected from 99 percent of England’s 8,020 general medical practices, and the study found that a total of 3.2 percent of the population had hypothyroidism, a 14 percent increase from 2008."

Knowing that fluoride effectively strips iodine from the brain, thyroid, breasts, prostate and skin, it would be great to see more studies showing the effects of drinking water fluoridation on cancer and other auto-immmune conditions in the future.
Read the study here: http://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2015/02/09/jech-2014-204971.abstract?sid=387994a1-4d28-493a-bef6-8fdf845ecbb0

Thalassotherapy is Good for Post-Cancer Treatment

Conventional cancer therapy, as utilized by our doctors in Canada & the US can take many forms. Two of modern medicine's current 'go to' therapies for treating cancer are high energy 'radiation therapy' known as Radiotherapy & a cocktail of chemicals in pill & liquid form, referred to as Chemotherapy. What's widely known by most cancer patients is that these forms of 'conventional cancer therapy' kill healthy cells along with the cancerous cells too. It's agreed by most doctors that these conventional therapies severely tax an already compromised immune system, so keeping your immune system strong at all times is recommended. So after cancer the therapy is completed, thalassotherapy can help to alleviate pain, inflammation & begin healthy cellular re-generation by:

1. Re-building the immune system.
2. Detoxifying the body from both the chemicals of chemotherapy & the radiation that accumulates and stores within the tissues of the body.
3. Inducing Homeostasis - Balance within the body & mind is most important in healing.
4. Nutritional Support - We all know, 'we are what we eat' and seaweeds provide everything the cells need to regenerate healthily.

Thalassotherapy is a common sense approach for the recovery of your health as it works by strengthening and maintaining the body's immune system. This makes sense, since a strong immune system keeps the body healthy & protects it from disease & getting cancer ever again. Asian cultures, like the Japanese & Koreans eat alot of seaweed daily and coincidentally they also have some of the lowest rates of cancer in the world, as compared with other cultures. Seaweeds in general have everything our bodies require in terms of nutrition and brown kelp in particular is highest in the immune boosting mineral iodine and has a very mild taste. With a wide assortment of other bio-available vitamins, minerals, polysaccharides, essential amino acids, omegas & glyconutrients, seaweeds work to alkalize the the blood, while supporting every major system in the body. Trans-dermal absorption of these complete ocean nutrients is accomplished during a Thalassotherapy treatment in a bodywrap, massage, poultice or bath.

Supplementation with iodine is also highly recommended to BOOST & STRENGTHEN the immune system. Since iodine was the 1st mineral classified as ESSENTIAL TO LIFE, most people in Canada & the US are deficient at one level or another. If you're not eating kelp or supplementing with iodine, the chances are VERY HIGH, that you may be iodine deficient. I recommend reading Dr Brownstein's book, 'Iodine, why you need it, why you can't live without it', as it details in case studies the positive effects of iodine supplementation. Since much of our bodily iodine is stored for immune health in our BRAIN, THYROID, BREASTS, OVARIES, PROSTATE, SKIN & MUSCLES, it is ESSENTIAL that we have some. Of the over 4000 patients Dr.Brownstein has tested for iodine deficiency, 95% were deficient at some level. What's also very interesting is that 100% of patients that came to him with cancer were also iodine deficient.

Symptoms & Causes of Iodine Deficiency

Symptoms of iodine deficiency are often similar to those with Hashi's, Grave's, Fibromyalgia, CFS & other auto-immune disorders. This is because iodine deficiency plays a large part in those conditions & symptoms too. As Dr. Brownstein mentions in his book, 'Iodine, why you need it, why you can't live without it', 95% of the 4000 patients he tested, were deficient in this essential mineral, iodine. Chances are high if you're not eating brown kelp or supplementing with Lugol's or potassium-iodide, you're deficient. Since most of the soils & hence foods don't contain iodine, you'll be hard pressed to find some in your diet. I've heard it said, there is no iodine deficiency in the US & Canada because we iodize our salt. When the iodization of salt was started in 1924 in the US & 1929 Canada to prevent the continued trend of thyroidism from occurring in the population, our air & world was not so populated with toxins like; Fluoride, Chlorine & Bromine, which leaches it from the body & competes for storage with iodine. Physicians of that day were regularly prescribing Lugol's Solution for depression, infection, arthritis, cysts, menopause & more. The overall depletion of iodine experienced in the population was endemic in nature, occurring mostly in the Great Lakes region, where the area was named, 'The Goitre Belt'. Currently, we still see lots of endemic goitre & hypothyroidism in the Goitre Belt today and with added occurrence, since physicians today don't prescribe Lugol's or potassium-iodide anymore. This iodine deficiency is compounded even further with the additions of Fluoride, Chlorine & Bromine into our foods, air, drinking water, swimming pools, fast-food, soda pop, fire-retardant & more....

A short list of common symptoms of iodine deficiency include:

Cold hands and feet

Low basal temp.(taken first thing in the morning)

Low immunity (catching colds & flu's)

Dry skin & hair

Brittle hair & nails

Inability to sweat (hypohydrosis)

Proneness to weight gain

Hypothyroidism

Hyperthyroidism

Hashimoto's Disease

Graves Disease

CFS

Fibromyalgia

Alzheimer's

ADD/ADHD

Any Auto-Immune condition

Any Cancer, especially breast, ovarian, brain, thyroid, skin, prostate & leukemia

Heart Disease (arteriosclerosis)

Poor memory

Trouble concentrating

Headaches

Cystic conditions of the skin, breasts, ovaries

Prostate enlargement & cancer

Edema

Muscle cramps

Constipation

Our Biological Ocean Connections

I think that if women knew that using whole, raw brown kelp, that is grown indigenously in Canada & the US as a food, in a bath or in a bodywrap spa therapy, would provide them with enough bio-available vitamins, minerals, enzymes, essential amino acids, polysaccharide sugars, protein, fibre that would; strengthen their immune system, prevent & help to treat breast cancer, uterine cancer, ovarian cancer & all cancers, irregular menstrual cycles, fibroids, ovarian cysts, infertility, fibro-cystic breast disease, menopausal problems, hormonal imbalance, water retention, emotional freak-outs, chills and hot flashes, fatigue, lack of lubrication, loss of calcium & general irritability, they use it. Not only use it, they would tell every woman they know about it. Some think, this is too good to be true, how can seaweeds do this for me? When you understand the biological connection of the design of our bodies & the ocean as explained by Dr. Rene Quinton at the turn of the 20th century and what cultures from around the world know & practice including; Japan, Korea, China, Iceland, Denmark, Wales, Scotland, Hawaii, France & the South Pacific Islands. Everyone who traded goods with these peoples & cultures knew about the healing aspects of the ocean, that's why there was trade. Since most of our modern doctors in North America don't recognize the healing effects of the ocean, you'd have to travel to France today, where the medical system regularly prescribes & covers costs for patients to partake in ocean-therapy (aka, thalassotherapy) for helping to deal with many modern ailments like, fatigue, stress, depression, obesity, arthritis & overall lack of zeal for life. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine told his patients to, go to the ocean to heal, to soak up the ocean minerals. Plato said, “The sea cures all ailments of man” & Euripides said, “The sea washes away all mens's illnesses” And from Herodotus, “Sun & sea are sovereign remedies for most diseases and particularly for women's ailments”. We will do well to listen to those ancient remedy's, for what is old has become new again. For many in Canada & the US who have ears to listen, this can be just the news you're wanting to hear.

Iodine protects you from skin cancer

Our bodies store about 20% of our total iodine supply in our skin. This became most apparent to me last summer while I was enjoying some warming summer rays of sun by the pool for a couple of hours without sunscreen. I wondered why for so many years I had burned & now I wasn't, even after more than 2 hours of exposure. The sun hadn't changed, it was still as hot as ever, so it must have been me. Realizing that I have been supplementing with Lugol's solution for almost 2 years at that point, my whole-body sufficiency was reached & hence my dermis & epidermis contained enough iodine in my cells to produce enough melonin to protect me from UV exposure without sunscreen applied.
Utilized in every cell, every organ & concentrated in our blood-serum levels, iodine helps to keep a strong cellular immunity & proper functioning of skin cells within the body.

'Iodine is detected in every organ and tissue in the body'
~ Dr Guy Abraham

Iodine also helps to keep our cells healthy & clear of disease by working with our lymphatic system to clean out the damaged cells, mutated viruses & providing a mechanism for melanin development, thereby protecting the body from conditions like skin cancer. Melatonin is produced by the body to provide the skin pigmentation & protection from harmful UV rays of the sun. Without iodine being available to be utilized by the cells in the skin, harmful UV rays cannot be completely dissipated by the melanin and inflammation in the form of sun burn or worse skin cancer shows itself. Since most of the population of North America is iodine deficient, this poses a problem for the immune system in the prevention of skin cancer. You can reduce every form of skin cancer by achieving whole-body iodine sufficient and protecting yourself from the inside out from harmful UV rays this summer.

Macrobiotic Diet Saves Lives from Radiation Exposure

Seaweeds have been used for generations in the preparation of Japanese cuisine, a regular part of their daily diet. The health benefits that obtained by eating ocean vegetables are reflected in the overall health & wellness of the Japanese & Korean populations. Most notably the lowest rates of cancer, especially reproductive cancers like breast, ovarian & prostate cancer, due in large part to the role that sea-vegetables nourish & detoxify the body. The power of these ocean vegetables, have long been recognized for centuries, especially in ancient medicines & remedies. After the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki & Hiroshima in 1945, the response from the medical community to those left alive was to eat seaweed to avoid radiation poisoning. Dr. Tatsuichiro Akizuki was director of the Department of Internal Medicine at St. Francis Hospital in Nagasaki during the bombing. Dr. Akisuki demanded a strict macrobiotic diet of brown rice, miso soup, wakame & other seaweeds, Hokkaido pumpkin and sea salt. He prohibited the consumption of sugar & sweets and as a result saved everyone in the hospital, while many other survivors in the city died from radiation sickness.
Dr. Akisuki remembers,“I gave the cooks and staff strict orders that they should make unpolished whole-grain rice balls, adding some salt to them, prepare strong miso soup for each meal, and never use sugar. When they didn’t follow my orders, I scolded them without mercy, ‘Never take sugar. Sugar will destroy your blood!’. . .
“This dietary method made it possible for me to remain alive and go on working vigorously as a doctor. The radioactivity may not have been a fatal dose, but thanks to this method, Brother Iwanaga, Reverend Noguchi, Chief Nurse Miss Murai, other staff members and in-patients, as well as myself, all kept on living on the lethal ashes of the bombed ruins. It was thanks to this food that all of us could work for people day after day, overcoming fatigue or symptoms of atomic disease and survive the disaster free from severe symptoms of radioactivity.”
As Dr. Brownstein notes, 'the CDC recommends using iodine to prevent injury from radioactive iodine fallout'. Dosages for adults and women who are breastfeeding should take 130mg of potassium iodide. For children who are between 3 and 18 years of age, they should take 65mg of potassium iodide. Children who are adult size should take the adult dose. Infants and children between 1 month and 3 years of age should take 32mg of potassium iodide. Newborns from birth to one month of age should be given 16mg of potassium iodide.'
Now please understand that these larger dosages are for in case of emergency of radioactive fallout or contamination, not everyday dosages. Dr. Abraham & Brownstein agree that between 13mg to 50mg are needed daily to prevent approximately 96% of radioactive iodine from binding to the thyroid gland. That is the approximate dosage of iodine ingested daily by the Japanese. This is over 100x the average daily dose ingested by North Americans due to the modern processed 'fast-food' diet, modern farming depleting minerals from the soils & competing halogens that are so affluent in our modern lives, like fluorine, chlorine & bromine.
As Dr. Brownstein points out, it's not just the thyroid gland at risk for exposure to radioactive iodine, it's every cell & every organ in the body. He states, 'For overall immune health & optimal functionality, iodine is stored in the brain, breasts, ovaries, uterus, prostate, our skin, muscles & fat'. Since exposure to radiation is cumulative, our bodies continue to accept & detoxify from exposure to all types of radiation, especially when given the tools like seaweeds to do this naturally. For if the body is sufficient in iodine, the health risks of radioactive iodine & radiation exposure are largely avoidable.

Insulin dependance is reduced with Iodine Therapy for Type 1 & 2 Diabetes

I always find it very interesting to share 'new' health information with people who can really benefit from the therapy, if they choose to take it. It's very rewarding, from my perspective, to see the lights go on as the dots get connected, much the same way it happens for myself. And still does as I 'realize' the positive effects of thalassotherapy & iodine have on the body & connect that in so many different ways to my life experiences. In Dr. Brownstein's book, Iodine, why you need it, why you can't live without it, he discusses the many successes their group of doctors have experienced clinically with iodine therapy.

Doctors, Abraham, Flechas and Brownstein belong to the Iodine Group of MD's in the US who are actively educating their fellow physicians & patients on the correct use & long history of use of iodine in medical practice. Together, they have tested more than 4,000 patients taking
iodine in daily doses ranging from 12.5 to 50 mg, and in those with diabetes, up to 100mg a day. These investigators found that “iodine does indeed reverse fibrocystic disease;their diabetic patients require less insulin; hypothyroid patients, less thyroid medication;symptoms of fibromyalgia resolve, and patients with migraine headaches stop having them.” We can expect even better results when iodine is combined with magnesium chloride. "In the Type 1 diabetics that we have been following we have noted that if C-peptide is measurable, this would suggest that the individual is making their own insulin. I have been able to help this group of patients to get off insulin or to greatly reduce the amount they need for good glucose control with Iodoral at 4 tablets/day (50 mg). If C-peptide is absent, then we feel there is no insulin being produced and we have not been able to help this particular group of patients to get off their insulin. We have been able to help these patients lower the total amount of insulin needed to control their glucose."

The C- peptide test is done by doctors to measure the amount of insulin that is being produced by the pancreas. This gives a good indication to observe if the pancreas is functioning normally or to what extent it's working. Since the endocrine system in the body includes the pancreas, the pituitary gland, thyroid gland, parathyroid gland, adrenal glands, ovaries and testes. This system is responsible for hormone production in the body & hormones are the chemical messengers that are released directly into the bloodstream to help the body communicate it's needs. With insulin being a hormone released by the pancreas to regulate the glucose levels in the bloodstream & help muscle tissue with the absorption of glucose & amino-acids. When a deficiency of the essential mineral iodine exists within the body all hormone production is slowed, including insulin production. So when iodine is introduced into a diabetic body that is experiencing iodine deficiencies, it seems like common sense that the insulin levels will also show an increase in production. This is what the Iodine Doctors have shown clinically with their diabetic patients, an overall improvement in the pancreas formation of insulin. And with Type 1 or 2 diabetes, when your pancreas responds to the call for more insulin in the bloodstream, that is a good thing, as the dependency on insulin is lessened. It sometimes takes up to 2 years for the body to completely re-absorb iodine & reach whole body sufficiency. So starting with slow with iodine supplementation & moving up to larger dosages of 100mg/day for diabetics has worked extremely well for the Iodine Group of Doctors.

Radiation Poisoning is avoided with Seaweeds & Iodine

Seaweeds have been used for generations in the preparation of Japanese cuisine, a regular part of their traditional daily diet. The health benefits that obtained by eating ocean vegetables are reflected in the overall health & wellness of the Japanese & Korean populations. Most notably, they have the lowest rates of cancer, especially reproductive cancers like breast, ovarian & prostate cancer in the world. This is due in large part to the role that sea vegetables play to nourish & detoxify the body. The power of these ocean vegetables, have been recognized for centuries, especially in ancient medicines & remedies. After the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki & Hiroshima in 1945, the response from the Japanese medical community for those left alive was to eat seaweed to avoid radiation poisoning. Dr. Tatsuichiro Akizuki was director of the Department of Internal Medicine at St. Francis Hospital in Nagasaki during the bombing. Dr. Akisuki demanded a strict macrobiotic diet of brown rice, miso soup, wakame & other seaweeds, Hokkaido pumpkin and sea salt. He prohibited the consumption of sugar & sweets and as a result saved everyone in the hospital, while many other survivors in the city died from radiation sickness.
Dr. Akisuki recalls,“I gave the cooks and staff strict orders that they should make unpolished whole-grain rice balls, adding some salt to them, prepare strong miso soup for each meal, and never use sugar. When they didn’t follow my orders, I scolded them without mercy, ‘Never take sugar. Sugar will destroy your blood!’... “This dietary method made it possible for me to remain alive and go on working vigorously as a doctor. The radioactivity may not have been a fatal dose, but thanks to this method, Brother Iwanaga, Reverend Noguchi, Chief Nurse Miss Murai, other staff members and in-patients, as well as myself, all kept on living on the lethal ashes of the bombed ruins. It was thanks to this food that all of us could work for people day after day, overcoming fatigue or symptoms of atomic disease and survive the disaster free from severe symptoms of radioactivity.”
As Dr. Brownstein notes, 'The CDC recommends using iodine to prevent injury from radioactive iodine fallout. Dosages for adults and women who are breastfeeding should take 130mg of potassium iodide. For children who are between 3 and 18 years of age, they should take 65mg of potassium iodide. Children who are adult size should take the adult dose. Infants and children between 1 month and 3 years of age should take 32mg of potassium iodide. Newborns from birth to one month of age should be given 16mg of potassium iodide.'
Now please understand that these dosages are used in case of emergency of radioactive fallout or contamination, not everyday dosages. Dr. Abraham & Brownstein agree that between 13mg to 50mg are needed daily to prevent approximately 96% of radioactive iodine from binding to the thyroid gland. That is the approximate dosage of iodine ingested daily by the Japanese. This is over 100x the average daily dose ingested by North Americans due to the modern processed 'fast-food' diet, modern farming depleting minerals from the soils & competing halogens that are so affluent in our modern lives, like fluorine, chlorine & bromine.
As Dr. Brownstein points out, it's not just the thyroid gland at risk for exposure to radioactive iodine, it's every cell & every organ in the body. He states, 'For overall immune health & optimal cell functionality, iodine is stored in the brain, breasts, ovaries, uterus, prostate, our skin, muscles & fat'. Since exposure to radiation is cumulative, our bodies continue to accept & detoxify from exposure to all types of radiation, especially when given the tools like seaweeds to do this naturally. For if the body is sufficient in iodine, the health risks of radioactive iodine & radiation exposure are largely avoidable.

Seaweed for a Strong Immune System

If you consider your healthy immune system to be a large cushion that protects you from discomfort & disease around your body. With a big cushion, ie strong immune system, conditions that we experience in life such as, stress or bacterial or viral infections will bounce off us if our cushion is big enough. A weakened immune system, with a small cushion, which catches everything that goes by, is constantly battling the next cold or flu bug, this small cushion will not be enough to absorb the impact of the cold, flu or stress that we've all experienced in daily life. Since the therapeutic response from the body is built into it's programming, in that we are self healing, we don't need to learn how to join cells to fix a cut, form a scab or grow skin, this comes pre-programmed into our genetic makeup. Our bodies know exactly what to do, when given the tools they need to do it with. In other words, if the body is getting the vitamins & minerals that it needs to rebuild & strengthen cells & the immune system, it will do just that, strengthen cells and rebuild the immune system. The best way to intake these essential nutrients is through trans-dermal absorption, through the skin and directly into the bloodstream thereby bypassing the GI tract. What's really amazing with thalassotherapy is that since the body's chemistry is so similar to the ocean, the balancing of nutrients occurs very easily with the body and in correct proportions to what our bodies can assimilate & require. Afterall, our vitamins & minerals work best in the body in conjunction with the availability of each other for support and a strengthened synergy experienced. During a thalassotherapy body wrap or bath, the mind/body balancing that is experienced is a result of the correct balance of nature's vitamins & minerals brought into the bloodstream through trans-dermal absorption and moving the body into balance, otherwise known as homeostasis. This physiologically response by the body is physically felt for a few days to a week afterwards with less aches & pains, reduced inflammation, a strengthened immune system & increasing the natural detoxification of the body.
So what is missing from those with a weakened immune system or small cushion as compared to those with a larger cushion of immunity? This seems to be the question from many people when it comes to auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, heart disease, eczema, psoriasis, cancer & more. So how do you build your cushion of immunity? It all starts with mineral sufficiency in the body & specifically Iodine sufficiency. If we look to the East we see Japanese & Korean people eating indigenous diets that are high in ocean-vegetables & living long healthy lives with some of the lowest rates of cancer in the world. Since brown kelps are the mildest tasting, having 10X-100Xthe iodine, calcium, magnesium, potassium and over 50 other minerals as compared to land vegetables, our best source for immune health comes from the ocean. As Hippocrates said, 'Go to the ocean to heal', these words of wisdom still hold truth today thousands of years later.

Replenishing vital nutrients prevents dis-ease including Osteoporosis

Eighty-three (83) elements in the periodic table that are biologically absorbable & contained in the body, are found in sea water.  Over sixty (60) of these, including many important trace minerals are concentrated in seaweed, specifically in the brown kelps.  These trace elements are minerals which our body cannot produce for itself, but are to be absorbed through our food daily, to help with the many chemical & physiological reactions that take place in the body. Fifteen (15) are classified as “essential” because they act as catalysts and a deficiency of any one can lead to problems & dis-ease, since they work synergistically to balance our metabolism, immune system & cellular functionality.   Iodine was the 1st trace mineral classified as ‘essential for life’.  These minerals can be transdermally absorbed through the skin directly into the bloodstream in a seaweed bath or wrap.  Minerals are the driving force behind all cellular mechanisms, and as such, are vital for our body.  Since most of the vegetables & fruits these days we consume are grown in soils that are minerally deficient, the majority of the population is not getting optimal amounts & hence the chronic conditions many in North America are experiencing.   The action of all these vitamin & mineral ions naturally restores optimum performance to each cell.  In Korea, women learn the connection between the amniotic fluid that surrounds the growing baby and ocean water.  After child-birth it is tradition for the mother-in-law to prepare seaweed soup, known as 'Mi-yuk Gook' for the new mother who eats this 3X day for 100 days to replenish the nutrients lost during gestation.  Normally prepared with a mild tasting brown kelp known as Alaria or Wakame, it's delicious. 

OSTEOPOROSIS - De-calcification & de-mineralization of the bones is not a problem in primitive cultures who eat a largely indigenous unprocessed diet.  Osteoporosis is a disease of western civilization due to the imbalance of bone minerals not included in our foods.  As minerals are leached out for other body usages, the stability of bony tissue is eroded resulting in easy fracture.  Crumbling limestone is a good example of osteoporosis in the environment and all too common in North America. Doctors around the world who practice in countries near the ocean, like France, Portugal, Spain or Italy, regularly prescribe ocean therapy or walking on the ocean to combat this condition. As it is recognized for what it is, a mineral deficiency of one or more vital minerals.