4.Minerals that are absorbed in their ionic form are in true liquid solution
and have either positive or negative charges. They also have unique
properties that distinguish them from each other and allow them to freely
take part in biochemical communication throughout the body. These
communications help nutrients move to those areas of the body that are in
most need of their help. "Imbalances of any of these ions or certain trace
ions in the body . . . can lead to dysfunction in the conduction of
electrical messages. This dysfunction quickly leads to a general body
disturbance and loss of ability to maintain somewhat stable internal
conditions."

 Every second of every day your body relies on ionic minerals and trace
minerals to conduct and generate billions of tiny electrical impulses.
Without these impulses, not a single muscle, including your heart, would be
able to function. Your brain would not function and the cells would not be
able to use osmosis to balance water pressure and absorb nutrients. In fact,
"many vital body processes depend on the movement of ions across cell
membranes."

2 "recent research indicates that minerals may play a significant role
against a variety of degenerative diseases and processes. They may also
prevent and reduce injury from environmental pollutants and enhance the
ability to work and learn. They can also protect the body from the effects
of toxic minerals." "The form of different minerals also plays a key role in
how well they are transported through the circulatory system and the aqueous
microenvironment of the cells."

1"Whatever the nutritional potential of a food, its contribution is
nonexistent if it does not pass the test of absorption."

Those minerals that your body is unable to break down to their ionic form
are likely to pass completely from the body unassimilated, and for all
nutritional intents and purposes, were never eaten. Authors Rosenberg and
Solomons write:

1"Insofar as minerals in the diet are often bound to proteins, complexed
with organic molecules in food, or otherwise imbedded in the matrix of
food-stuffs, the mechanical processes of mastication, dissolution,
dispersion, and often digestion are important preparative steps to
absorption Moreover, at the conclusion of the aforementioned reductive
processes, minerals generally emerge in the intestinal lumen as charged ions
, e.g. Fe**, Zn**, PO4, SeO3."3 "Minerals should be ionic to be readily
absorbed through transfer in the small intestine."

References

1. Schauss, Alex. Minerals and Human Health: The Rationale for Optimal and
Balanced Trace Element Levels. Life Science Press: 1995, pp. 1,3.

2. American Medical Association. The American Medical Association's
Encyclopedia of Medicine. Ed. Charles B. Clayman. Random House: 1989, p.
605.

3. Rosenberg, I.H., Solomans, N.W. Absorption and Malabsorption of Mineral
Nutrients. Alan R. Liss: 1984, p. 2.

4.Nielson, Mark T. Ions: The Body's Electrical Enegry Source. 1993, p. 3.