Fluorine (fluoride)  The major tissues known to incorporate fluoride are
bones and tooth enamel. Fluorine appears to increase deposition of calcium,
thereby strengthening teeth and bones. Levels in drinking water artifically
fluoridated with sodium fluoride can often reach toxic levels which then has
adverse effect on many enzyme systems in the body.

Dr. Carey A. Reams, biophysicist and biochemist, found that the human body
requires 84 of the basic elements (out of the known 106 elements) to
maintain good health.

Minerals are necessary for normal metabolism, add mechanical strength to
bones, are a component of enzymes and hormones, function as buffers, and
regulate the balance and movement of fluids in and out of cells. Trace
minerals are essential elements that occur in minute amounts, each one
making up less than 0.005% of adult body weight.

Many enzymes are only produced in the presence of trace minerals. Minerals
are the catalyst that make enzymes function. Trace minerals are an essential
part of hormone structures and help regulate the hormonal activity of the
entire endocrine system. Our bodies are dependent on these minerals for
thousands of biochemical functions.

Food, drugs, herbs and vitamins cannot function unless minerals are present
in the body, making minerals more important in nutrition than vitamins.

There is a harmony between vitamins and minerals - both are necessary. e.g.
vitamin C can triple iron absorption. Calcium absorption is impossible
without vitamin D.

Minerals help generate and maintain electrical production in our bodies
(e.g. for transmission of nerve impulses).

A small percentage of these elements are received directly from the air and
sunlight. The remainder come from plants and animals which process minerals
into a colloidal form that the human body can assimilate and use.

Siobhan