The Benefits of Mineral Baths
BALNEOTHERAPY: One of the oldest medical procedures, balneotherapy utilizes natural elements such as hot springs and mineral waters. It's used for such things as effective detoxification, mineral repletion, pain relief, increasing circulation, and stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system which enlivens the body’s natural healing mechanisms.
Every biochemical process, including the functions of vitamins, fats and enzymes, requires specific minerals
Dr. Alexis Carrel received a Nobel Prize for proving that a living cell would be immortal if it had sufficient amounts of nutrients in proper balance of all elements needed. He was able to keep a chicken heart alive in a regularly cleaned, nutrient-rich solution for 34 years. He proved that cells simply need proper nutrition and to have wastes and pollutants removed to live indefinitely in their life-supporting fluid.
*please note: Dr. Alexis did not bath the chicken heart in Prozac, Wellbrutin, or Xanax. – I make this note because people are led to believe that these extremely toxic, death causing drugs are medicine and they are not- they cause death and disease. This chicken heart would have assuredly been dead in a very short period of time had the doctor introduced any of these in the heart’s environment.
Dr. Linus Pauling, two-time Nobel Prize winner (Chemistry & Peace) and father of Orthomolecular Medicine, stated, "You can trace every sickness, every disease and every ailment to a mineral deficiency." - denatured food and water, and toxic drugs caused medicine cause severe mineral deficiencies.
What is Causing Epidemic Mineral Deficiencies in EVERYONE!
If you are not showering with well water or under a waterfall, drinking filtered/mineralized water, and eating organic whole food produce – and even taking a natural food-based mineral supplement, it is likely you are mineral deficient.
The astronomical amount of food chemicals and environmental toxins introduced into our system daily exhausts the body’s mineral supply due to what it costs the body in minerals and other nutrients to detoxify and remove the over 3,000 chemicals we are exposed to daily. Add to that bathing in toxic, chlorinated, denatured water void of the nutritional qualities natural water once provided (such as rivers, lakes and the sea all rich in minerals); drinking from denatured, drug contaminated, fluoridated and chlorinated water with many other toxins used to filter it and then run through pipes that serve up their own health issues , has created a huge void in our access to the elixir of health our body’s rely on for well-being causing all of us to suffer various degrees of mineral deficiencies.
Many of today’s epidemic physical and mental health issues are a direct result of mineral deficiencies. Anxiety, tension, and the inability to relax can be caused by lack of calcium, some forms of schizophrenia including the hallucinations and “voices” experienced by those afflicted have been completely cleared with zinc and B6 supplementation. Even a mild deficiency of magnesium can cause sensitiveness to noise, nervousness, irritability, mental depression, confusion, twitching, trembling, apprehension, insomnia, muscle weakness and cramps in the toes, feet, legs, or fingers. The list for magnesium deficiency related health conditions grows nearly every day and many of them are mental health issues. And all of them are avoidable with good mineral / nutritional status… no need for the big purple pill, doctor!
Minerals are the “First Rung on the Ladder” to Avoiding Nutritional Deficiencies that cause Addictive Biochemistry
The first source for nutrition repletion should always be your food and water. Clean, organic whole food and non-toxic, unadulterated, pH correct (alkaline side), natural mineral rich water to drink, but many do not realize the importance of soaking in mineral rich water which our ancestors had done for thousands of years. Mineral entry through the skin is many times preferred during a healing event such as detoxing and repairing the neuroendocrine system from legal/illegal drugs and alcohol. The skin absorbs minerals directly into the blood stream where they are carried expressly to the organs to infuse them with the foundation of health- minerals. We are estimated to be 77% water so you can imagine how important minerals are to our health- in fact “vitamin” is translated as “vital mineral”. Essentially we are made of minerals (and vitamins), protein, and fats. Minerals provide the structure for proteins to operate within and communicate through (animate life), and fats provide protection from the conductivity of minerals, form and elasticity of protein tissues. Minerals are the foundation of the protein machines that make up our bodies and if they are deficient or imbalanced our electrical circuits in the body will become depolarized and offset every single biochemical and bioenergetic function of the body including weakening the chi (life force) and disrupting its energy flow. This is why soaking in mineral baths revitalizes people so quickly; it opens up the meridians and gets the chi moving through the body effortlessly again.
Unless one is tested for a specific deficiency of any mineral and that particular mineral needs to be supplemented in the diet until the imbalance is corrected, it is always best to get your minerals from balanced sources such as well water where available; filtered, ionized and mineralized water, organic whole foods, organic food based natural mineral supplements, and mineral baths or hot springs- all produced and balanced by nature. Aligning yourself with the natural sources that the body has adapted to, and created a relationship with, over 3 million years is always the superior way to heal and maintain excellent health. Allow nature to awaken your Physician Within- The University of Nature is the medical school your internal physician graduated from!
Every cell in your body must have minerals to live and function. Every beat of your heart requires minerals to happen. Your brain cells and nervous system utilize minerals to deliver electrical signals to every part of your body. Vitamins, enzymes, hormones, the immune system and almost all biological activities need a wide variety and amount of minerals to work right. And the skeletal structure, the skull, bones and teeth, depend on an adequate mineral supply to stay strong.
As an example, magnesium is the activator for over 300 enzymes. Also it is integral in the production of ATP, the energy compound of the body. Magnesium is seriously deficient in the average diet, yet mainstream medicine gives little attention to the body’s critical need for it. If you do a google search for “PubMed magnesium deficiency” you will get back over 4,000 hits from that medical reporting website alone! If you google “mineral deficiency” you will get 45,000 studies and reports!
Similarly, zinc is a component of all cells. It is a cofactor in nearly 70 different enzymes, and provides significant benefits for the immune system, growth and development of muscular and skeletal structures, and tissue repair. Zinc is fundamental in the production of every neurotransmitter in the brain and it is consistently found deficient in those with a history of drug and alcohol abuse.
Many scientists and nutritional biochemist recognize that mineral deficiency is a major cause of much of the sickness, disease, aging and premature death that so dramatically effects the health of our population. Symptoms created by mineral deficiencies that encourage people to find various methods of self-or-professionally medicating themselves are at the top of the list of the health crisis that we face today.
Most ailments like osteoporosis, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, kidney and liver ailments, cancer, M.S., lupus, birth defects, mental impairments and distresses, and nearly all the others, are directly linked to deficiencies of minerals, and of enzymes, pigments and vitamins, which all three require minerals to be made. Such poor health conditions have nutritional deficiency at the root of them, and are avoidable.
Key Minerals Depleted by Drug / Alcohol Abuse
All minerals are made deficient due to alcohol and drug abuse, however, the following section is excerpted from Shangri La BioSpa’s Founder and Medical Director, Genita Petralli’s book, Alcoholism: The Cause & The Cure to give you a high level peek and some of the conditions caused by mineral depletion and corrected by mineral repletion.
Magnesium
Magnesium is a key nutrient for blocking sugar and alcohol cravings, minimizing withdrawal symptoms, and stabilizing blood sugar levels. It has a calming effect and can help tremendously toward reducing delirium and tremors associated with severe and moderate withdrawal. Magnesium also works well with calcium and B vitamins to address many alcohol withdrawal symptoms and related nervous system health issues. It is depleted during heavy alcohol consumption, a deficient state that is a key cause of the hypertension endured by problem drinkers, especially during withdrawal.
Symptoms of Magnesium Deficiency
- Insomnia
- Tremors
- Hyperactivity
- Depression
- Memory impairment
- Delirium tremens
- Confusion
- Cardiovascular health issues
- Cognitive disorders
Manganese
Manganese is an enzyme activator and is required for healthy skin, bone, and cartilage formation, as well as glucose tolerance. It also helps activate the important antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase.
Benefits of Manganese
- Helps body utilize biotin, thiamin, ascorbic acid, and choline
- Key in healthy bone development and health
- Helps maintains normal blood sugar levels
- Promotes optimal function of the thyroid gland; aids in healthy metabolism
- Maintains nerve health
- Antioxidant that protects cells from free-radical damage
- Helps body synthesize fatty acids and cholesterol
Symptoms of Manganese Deficiency
- Impaired insulin metabolism
- Abnormal glucose tolerance
- Impaired lipoprotein (fat) metabolism<
- Impaired immune system
- Impaired metabolic function
Zinc
Zinc is a predominate factor in good mental health; low levels of it can cause anxiety and nervousness. When zinc is low, copper can rise to toxic levels in the body, creating fearfulness, apprehension, and paranoia. Zinc is also a key co-factor in many neurotransmitter functions. It is excreted out of the kidneys in abnormal amounts as a result of heavy drinking.
Low serum zinc can allow copper to rise and high copper levels are often associated with over-methylation which also indicates low histamine; a very strong contributor to addictive biochemistry. Former problem drinkers who dive into the sugar bowel during recovery tend to continue to demonstrate symptoms of high copper levels due to the fact that sugar and alcohol both cause excessive release of zinc from the body.
A very useful test to ascertain whether under or over methylation and Pyroluria (chronic deficiency of both B6 and zinc) is an issue for you is a whole blood histamine, zinc, copper and Kryptopyrrole metabolic panel. It is reported that 40% to 60% of those addicted to alcohol suffer this condition.
Calcium
Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body, and is essential to nerve transmission bioenergetics. It affects the contraction and relaxation of muscles.
A balanced supply of calcium and magnesium is extremely helpful toward easing withdrawal. Sufficient calcium will also encourage high-quality sleep.
Symptoms of Calcium Deficiency
- Irritability
- Insomnia
- Nervousness
- Numbness
- Osteoporosis
Selenium
Selenium functions much like vitamin E, protecting the cell membrane from free radicals. Selenium delays the oxidation of polyunsaturated fats, which is one of the processes that cause the skin to lose elasticity and show signs of aging. This mineral also regulates the supply of oxygen to the heart.
Selenium is essential for the production of prostaglandins, making it extremely important in the treatment of depression due to alcohol abuse, in assisting re-establishment of balanced brain chemistry, and in aiding the recovery of a damaged gastrointestinal tract.
Benefits of Selenium
- Involved in the production of thyroid hormones
- Part of the glutathione peroxidase enzyme that protects the body from free radical damage; this enzyme may also help regenerate the antioxidant vitamin E.
- Component of sulfur amino acid metabolism
- Most highly concentrated in the pancreas, pituitary gland, and liver
- Antagonist to heavy metals including lead, mercury, aluminum, and cadmium
Symptoms of Selenium Deficiency
- Deficiency produces fatty liver infiltration.
- Linked with a variety of degenerative conditions including cardiovascular disease, inflammatory diseases, cancer, premature aging, cataracts, etc.
- Partly responsible for progressive cardiomyopathy, which is common among problem and chronic drinkers
- Contributes to the suppression of the endocrine system, translating to damage and inflammation of the pancreas, liver, and adrenals
Chromium Picolinate
Chromium Picolinate is essential to normal glucose, protein, and fat metabolism. The biologically active chromium molecule involved in the “glucose tolerance factor” (GTF) appears to be a dinicotinato-chromium, glutathione-like complex. This complex facilitates interaction of insulin with its receptor site, thus influencing glucose, protein, and lipid metabolism. This is important for the insulin resistant problem drinker.
Benefits of Chromium Picolinate
- Produces long-term weight loss, increases metabolic rate, controls appetite, reduces serum cholesterol, regulates blood sugar levels, increases energy and/or stamina, and is useful in the treatment of hypoglycemia and diabetes; problems developed by many chronic drinkers
- Acts to regulate sugar and glucose, and to prevent low blood sugar symptoms, thus freeing the former problem drinker from the symptoms associated with low blood sugar; helpful especially during withdrawal and in the first couple weeks of detoxing
- Helps reduce sugar and alcohol cravings
- Assists in carbohydrate metabolism, also transporting carbohydrates out of the system before the excess simple sugars can produce alcohol and lead to the acetaldehyde to THIQ process
Links
A History of Mineral Baths
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