Step 3:
Restoring mineral capacity with dietary supplements
This page addresses a nutritional supplementation that may be required to restore your nutritional composition. However, the best way to achieve the right balance is through the natural nutrition as each mineral and vitamin has it’s dependencies. If for example you are deficient in zinc and start taking only zinc supplements, it will negatively impact your health as it requires other minerals to avoid imbalance of copper and magnesium as a fact.
Depending on the involvement of your condition, you may or may not require nutritional supplementation. If your symptoms are mild, it is suggested that you avoid supplements and work to improve your health via dietary adjustments. The nature has provided you with everything needed to maintain good health. A gradual recovery is foundation to successful healing.
If you currently take any dietary supplements, consider elimination of those that are not essential or those that may be acidic to your body. When taken regularly and in excess, many of the herbs, vitamins and amino acids contribute to a metabolic stress.
When supplements are taken strictly to relieve the symptoms, they lose their effectiveness with regular use and their function becomes toxic. When supplements are taken to correct an existing deficiency, they are helpful until the deficiency is corrected.
Have you ever wondered what happens when you take excessive dosages of vitamins as provided by many supplement manufacturers? Excess of nutrients is excreted via urine, creating a significant toxic load on the kidneys, decreasing their lifespan. The nutrition must come from foods to be properly balanced and utilized without producing an adverse effect on the body.
If you take prescription antacids, you may need to ask your health care provider to test your stomach acids to determine if you need them. Most likely, if you suffer from indigestion, you are not producing enough stomach acid and therefore antacids are counterproductive. A commonly misunderstood symptoms is a heartburn. If you experience a burning feeling in your esophagus, most likely it is a result of under production of gastric acid, causing the esophageal sphincter to relax and the gastric acids back up into the esophagus during the digestive process.
The purpose of the suggested supplementation is to achieve the following
- Restore the body’s alkalizing capacity
- Restore the digestion
Both steps will need to be executed in the order listed (unless your urine pH is already at >6.8 without supplementation).
The reason for the specific order is simple. If your body is not capable of secreting bicarbonates to neutralize the gastric acids, increasing the stomach acid production will result in accumulation of unneutralized acids that will increase metabolic stress further raising the systemic acidity and causing unpleasant side effects.
This step can require anywhere from 1-4 weeks to stabilize the levels of bicarbonate secretions.
There are 3 categories of supplements that can help in stabilizing the alkalizing capacity
- Direct alkalizers – when ingested, these minerals immediately neutralize gastric acids without a significant involvement of metabolic processes. These are similar to antacids and should only be used on per-needed basis.
- Intermediate alkalizers – these nutrients converted metabolically to bicarbonates that are functionally applied to neutralize the acids in the blood, urine and stomach.
- Nutritional boosters – these nutrients consist of minerals, vitamins and amino acids that are required to replenish the depleted nutritional stores that are required for the proper function of the digestive function and systemic pH balancing. Most of the nutrients should come from the diet because the natural biochemical composition of foods allows the nutrients to be properly assimilated. However, since the digestion may be impaired, increasing the consumption of the selective nutrients may be warranted to achieve a desired nutritional balance.
1. Direct alkalizers are useful in beginning stages of therapy to help to quickly increase the body pH when the acidity needs to be immediately addressed. These can be used 2-3 hours after a meal and 1 hour before a meal. These bicarbonates can be used on as needed basis if the symptoms of acid reflux are bothersome.
- Potassium bicarbonate – is a better option for avoiding increase of sodium levels and those with normal/high blood pressure
- Sodium bicarbonate – is an option for those with low blood pressure and low sodium diets.
2. Intermediate alkalizers help reduce the body’s usage of its mineral stores to neutralize the acids in the stomach and body fluids thus stopping excessive mineral depletion.
- Potassium citrate is a mineral that is rapidly absorbed when taken by mouth while excess is excreted in urine. Potassium citrate is great in the way that it gives the body an intermediate element to be converted on-demand by liver to bicarbonate to neutralize the stomach acids immediately post digestion. It also indirectly decreases blood pressure* and the acidity of urine while reducing any urinary tract irritation that may cause frequent urination.
Usage: Should be taken with meals containing acidic foods or following exercise.
Dosage: Potassium citrate should be taken 5 minutes before each meal. Start with 99mg per meal for 2-3 days and measure urine pH levels 1-s hours after a each meal. Raise the dosage if necessary up to 500mg per meal until the urine pH reaches pH 7.0 1-2 hours after a meal. Dosages should be raised every few days as changes will be gradual. As the body recovers its minerals, you will need to gradually reduce the dosages 1-2 months later and eventually stop supplementation when urine levels are at pH >7.0 without supplementation.* If your blood pressure becomes too low from supplementation of potassium, you can combine potassium citrate with sodium bicarbonate in 1:1 ratio so that the total amount of both equals the original amount of potassium citrate. - Tri-Salts such as those containing Calcium (carbonate), Magnesium (carbonate) and Potassium (bicarbonate). The Tri-Salts are immediate buffers that quickly neutralize excessive acids without the need to be converted by the liver.
Usage: Should be taken at least 1.5 hours after a meal and before bed on an empty stomach. Do not take with meals or immediately after as it will reduce the stomach acid during a digestion process.
Dosage: Start with 1000mg 1.5 hours after each large meal for a couple of days and measure the urine first thing in the morning. Increase the dosage slowly over a week period up to 2500mg until the morning and evening urine is between pH 7.0 and 7.5. You will need to gradually reduce the Tri-Salts supplementation over the next 1-2 months as your body recovers its mineral status.
Below, are three of the most common mineral supplements that ultimately should be rotated every 24 hours. If budget is limited, mineral drops would be the first to start with. If you are moderately depleted in minerals, you may initially experience mild symptoms when starting mineral replenishment. If the symptoms make you very uncomfortable, discontinue mineral drops and try coral calcium. Otherwise, you will eventually rebuild your mineral stores via a mineral rich diet.
- Regular swimming in ocean
- Transdermal mineral oils
- Mineral drops such as water-soluble colloidal minerals derived from deposits of prehistoric plants in Utah.
Usage: The recommended dosage should be divided and taken before each meal with the last dose taken at least 6 hours before bed to prevent a possible insomnia from mineral rebalancing. - Calcium is a major component of acid reduction mechanism. Coral calcium is an excellent way of calcium supplementation which also contains over 70 essential minerals. Coral calcium powder can be diluted in half glass of water and taken before bed and at least 1 hour after the last meal. It also helps relax and have a deeper sleep
Usage: Taken at bed time, at least 1 hour away from the last meal.
Dosage: As provided by manufacturer. Consideration should be given if other mineral supplements are used. - Fulvic acid enhances remineralization and cellular oxygenation. It dissolves the minerals helping to transport them into the cells while catalyzing enzyme activity. Consider fulvic acid complexes that contain a full spectrum of minerals in place of mineral drops. Nevertheless, it is recommended that you start with mineral drops first to test your tolerance to a full spectrum mineral supplementation, since fulvic acid dramatically enhances utilization of minerals on the cellular level.
Usage: The recommended dosage should be divided and taken before each meal. The last dose should be taken 6+ hours away from the bed time.
Other essential alkalizing supplements
These are optional supplements that can be used to compensate for any existing deficiencies.
- Full spectrum probiotics
- Vitamins A, Buffered C, D [srs], E, B1 [srs]
- 2,000 to 5,000 iu to achieve an optimal Vitamin D3. The researcher, Sonia Talwar, reported that the a dose of 800 iu raised 25(OH)D levels from a baseline average of 47 nmol/L to 71.4 nmol/L after three months.
- Magnesium
- Boron
- Chlorella, chlorophyll
Once you achieve the proper pH values of the urine, it doesn’t mean you have sucessfuly replenished the mineral buffers. It simply indicates you have sufficient buffers on a day to day basis. To remineralize, it may take anywhere between 3 and 12 months if proper diet is followed.
Taking baking soda as a health supplement is a disastrous plan. It will neutralize the stomach acid- which is absolutely fundamental to our digestion. It’s true that sodium bicarbonate is released during digestion- but it’s after the food has moved from the acidic stomach through the pyloric sphincter (Which operates on an acid trigger, by the way) into the duodenum. Then the PANCREAS releases enzymes and sodium bicarbonate to neutralize the pH of the food being digested, but it’s only at this point that you want that to happen. This is another reason the whole acid-alkaline food thing is bunk- our natural digestion involves both acid and alkalizing substances- and it must be that way, regardless of what you eat and what it’s mineral ash is (acid or alkaline).