Minerals, Elements, Atoms and Inanimate Matter

by Patricia Ann Braun, M.D. ©1999

"A short introduction into minerals, when a textbook is needed, does God a disservice for the wonders He wrought." P. Braun, 1999

What is the Matter ?

In school we learned many disjunctive facts, oftentimes missing the links that would help us understand the relationship between these seemingly unrelated pieces of information. We were trying to make sense of, and find out what we are made of.. Do you still want to know? We were taught that there exists in our universe only two general classifications of objects; animate and inanimate. The animate objects are alive and work for a living. Examples of this class of objects are bacteria, plants, animals, and people. Of the inanimate class we find rocks and - surprise, viruses. But what do the inanimate have to do with the animate? Everything, because all animate life is made of inanimate things! Everything, all inanimate and animate matter, is made of what we call minerals, elements, atoms, which are combined into complex molecules and compounds; these are all names for the same thing; divisions of, or pieces of, matter.

Each of the words -- atoms, elements, compounds, matter, etc., have precise scientific connotations. Those of us who think in scientific terms frequently picture and study the Periodic Table of the Elements which tabulates and numerically represents all matter. I have reproduced one for you. Just hit the Element Button, above. Discussion of this Table will eventually be completed to show you the nutritional importance of each element.

Some people may call minerals, "rocks", but the rocks found on the ground are usually not pure mineral, but a combination of minerals: they are often mixtures of combinations of minerals, called compounds. Occasionally, one might find a pure mineral, like a diamond, which is made of a single element. Although most diamonds have other minerals in their crystalline lattice, the perfect diamond would be a pure mineral named Carbon. The color or hue is a trace of something other than carbon. You never want to let diamonds get near a fire, they will burn! Just like charcoal, which is also mostly carbon. Keep your diamonds in a fireproof box! Carbon is the 6th element in the Periodic Table, and your body is largely made of carbon which acts as a framework for the other inanimate minerals; diamonds in the rough are we!

I like to call the basic simple elements, or pure molecules," minerals" because it humbles me into remembering that we are a product of the soil, and we generally refer to soil minerals, which are generally collected, or mined from soil. Sometimes I regress to my scientific mind and call them elements: but in our discussion, minerals and elements are virtually interchangeable. There are 103 minerals listed in the Periodic Table. Some of them do not exist in a natural state, but were reasoned to exist, or predicted to be possible, and later either found to exist, or have been man made. However, these, as you might expect are not really stable and fall apart very soon, and that is why they are not found in nature. Another example of an element not existing in pure or singular form in nature is the very common Oxygen. One rarely sees Oxygen by itself, but in combination with another Oxygen, O-O, which is written O2.

Have you touched a mineral today?

Everything you have ever seen, touched or smelled is made of minerals. All inanimate things are minerals. All life is minerals. We understand but a handful of these from a medical or health viewpoint, and of these, I have arbitrarily divided into Major minerals, Minor minerals and Trace minerals.

Major minerals are those required in large amounts, like Hydrogen, Carbon, Nitrogen and Oxygen. A deficiency in these can prove fatal. Minor minerals are those required in lesser amounts, like Sodium, Magnesium, Potassium and Calcium and to a lesser extent, Phosphorus and Sulfur. A deficiency or imbalance in these can present as a serious acute situation requiring medical intervention. The Trace minerals are Lithium, Boron, Chlorine, Vanadium, Chromium, Manganese, Iron, Cobalt, Nickel, Copper, Zinc, Germanium, Selenium, Molybdenum and Iodine. Deficiencies in these are manifested by the chronic diseases.

Although the body normally requires only small amounts of these trace minerals, in nutritional therapy very large doses may be given to achieve a physiologic effect. For instance, large quantities of Chromium may be used for blood sugar control or large amounts of Zinc may be used for ulceration of the skin, mucous membranes or bowel lining and Iodine for many things from fibrocystic breast disease to hypothyroidism. Go to the site on Iodine and read that if you have not.

Get the Vibes

Each mineral in pure form, is itself an unbelievable number of very tiny, exactly-alike particles, called atoms. We have atoms of tin, atoms of zinc, copper, etc. Each atom of copper is exactly like the next atom of copper. That is, when it is in the pure form. A copper atom, however, is different than an atom of zinc. But all atoms are themselves made of smaller, very organized groups of tiny pieces called atomic particles; neutrons, protons and electrons. It is irrelevant for this essay to discuss subatomic particles, such as quarks with flavors and so forth as these are poorly understood in relation to the applied science of medicine.

The organization of any atom is similar to the organization of any other atom of a different element: that is, there is a pattern. The pattern is, amazingly, exactly the same pattern as our solar system! In your mind, you now see our earth and the other planets, with their moons, revolving around the sun, do you not? The sun will be called the nucleus, or center, of our solar system. In this analogy, neutrons and protons are found in the nucleus, or center of the element, while the electrons are outside the nucleus, in orbit going around the nucleus, and would compare to the planets. The difference in the elements is the numbers of particles in orbit and the numbers of particles in the nucleus!

A graphic picture of a Hydrogen element would be akin to the Earth. Hydrogen has one neutron and one proton in the nucleus, and one electron whizzing around in orbit. The earth would represent the nucleus consisting of one proton and one neutron; the Moon would represent the electron whizzing around the nucleus, Earth. Mars with 2 moons would represent Helium, which has two protons and two neutrons in the nucleus and 2 electrons in orbit around the nucleus. Jupiter with 16 moons would represent Sulfur; Saturn with 18 moons, would compare to Argon. As you look at the Periodic Table, you will notice that the difference between Sodium (atomic number 11) and Magnesium (atomic number 12) is one proton and one neutron in the nucleus. All elements are probably based on the Hydrogen nuclei which contain one proton and one neutron. Then multiples are made and become something different. Simply said, three hydrogen nuclei combine to make a Lithium element; six will form Carbon, and so on.

Now, note that each moon, or electron, will generally be in a different orbit, or a different distance from the nucleus. You might suppose that the light weight moons are generally closer in and the big ones are further out, but it depends on the speed, or velocity of the moon, as well. In the atom, each orbit, at a different level is called a shell. The shells are named with letters: s, p and d. They go from inside, at s, to the middle, at p, and to the outside, called d. Some elements have no d shell electrons and they are colorless to our eyes!

There is a "preferable " numbers of electrons each orbit will hold. The orbits may be full or may lack some electrons. If the orbits have a balanced number, they rotate with a certain rate of speed, and with a balance and are stable. For each element, the number of electrons in the orbits will be distinct and unique. The number, and the action or speed in the orbit gives off a distinct vibratory period, or size of vibration, called frequency. The frequency for each element is unique.

If you add one electron to an element you get what we call a reactive species which has a vibratory wobble, which wants to donate, or get rid of, that free wobbling electron to some other mineral. You probably would recognize this in terms of Oxygen. When atmospheric Oxygen is split, One Oxygen gets an extra electron (O:O -> O: + O), the other oxygen commonly bonds to two elements of Hydrogen, giving H-O-H, or H2O or water. The Oxygen with the extra electron becomes a "free radical" and needs an antioxidant to grab the extra electron. There are many antioxidants, like Vitamin C, and EDTA, which will be discussed in detail later.

While each element vibrates with its own peculiar frequency, combined elements, called compounds, as in our rock example, express different frequencies.

Why are we discussing frequency?

All this is important because our human senses are set up to respond to frequency. Our visual sensors, our eyes, only perceive a small portion of frequencies, measured in nanometers, about 400 for violet to 700 for red. With our eyes we detect the frequency of reflected light. The green color of grass and trees is only the reflected, unused light, as plants need red light (about 550nm) to convert carbon dioxide into sugar. So they absorb red frequencies and reflect what they do not use.

All frequency begins at zero and goes to the speed of light. You may think of frequency as audible sound. Our ears hear only in response to frequency of 20 to 20,000 cps (cycles per second). You know that animals can hear things we can not hear. Dogs howl at a fire truck before we hear it, because they pick up frequencies that we can not and it hurts their ears!

Taste and smell is detection of molecules at a certain frequency. Thinking and storage of thoughts is frequency. Moth antennae are frequency receptors. In Ireland the ancient inhabitants built stone obelisks patterned after moth antennae for energizing their fields with negative ions. More about this in a later paper. In the laboratory, we "view" the various elements based on their frequency. A hydrogen element will vibrate at a different frequency than the Nitrogen element These vibrations allow scientists to "see" or detect, different elements or minerals.

Nitrogen is an interesting mineral. There is adequate scientific knowledge that shows the bulk of the nitrogen taken as food is discarded in the urine, and some of the Nitrogen breathed in (the air we breathe is 78% Nitrogen) is converted into amino acids, the building blocks of protein! This will be discussed later under the "electron press" of digestion.

Function Follows Frequency

Look around you and see glorious color! Each hue and tone represent a different frequency. I'm looking at my garden and I see some cucumber plants that are deep dark green, and others that are yellow green. I also notice more bugs associated with the yellowing plants. My first reaction is that the plants, although the same variety, are in different stages of health. I'll rush to the barnyard and pick up some nitrogen rich manure to cure this problem. The yellow plants grow to a deep dark green, the bugs go elsewhere. You can tell when a plant is sick just by the way it looks; the frequency of light it reflects or the presents of parasites, whether it be bacteria, virus, fungus, helminths or amoebas.

Trained as a Pathologist, I did many autopsies. I saw yellow livers that were supposed to be maroon, black intestines that should have been pinkish tan, brown and black lungs that should have been pink and so forth. Disease changes the function of organs and color is a visual representation of frequency. Unless you have hunted and cleaned your prey, you may have never noticed , but each internal organ is of a different color; each organ has its different function. The heart differs in function and color from skeletal muscle; intestines differ in color and function from the liver. Every organ has its own normal color. Abnormal color is abnormal function. In daily life, you recognize this in description of skin tone: who is sallow, who is rosy, who is in the "glow" of health?

Organ Function is Altered by Minerals

My curiosity, as scientist, was to discover whether frequency or color could be altered by the application of specific minerals that would result in improved function. First a means of measuring frequency needed to be found, and using this as a guide, I needed to "see" health improvement in my patients. Of course the process needed to be simple, without elaborate equipment, and understandable by the patients for self use. This turned out to the pH system which we teach to patients in order for them to control and monitor their own health.

Intracellular pH is key to making enzymes work and work optimally. Of what import are enzymes? You know that converting oil into a fuel for our automobiles requires an extensive refinery. To convert food into fuel for our bodies requires enzymes. Enzymes are proteins that manage, allow, and are mandatory for the function of chemical reactions. And, of great significance, each enzyme requires a mineral as a cofactor (except one, to the best of my knowledge.) That is, the enzyme will not function without the mineral. A deficiency will slow or stop the action of the enzymes, and some specific chemical reaction will not happen, or will be sluggish and dysfunctional. For example, the mineral Magnesium is required in over 300 enzymatic reactions, many dealing with the production of energy. Enzymes work best at a very proper pH and very precise temperature. At this point we will not discuss temperature but will pick it up when we discuss metabolic management.

........................ to be continued.