Three pounds carries a lot of weight.

While writing content for our current course A Calm Mind, I’ve been completely impressed with the subject of our grey matter. Our brains are glorious!

Intrinsically we are very electrical, elemental beings and a lot of our vibrance is wrapped up in how well our brain is sending and receiving chemicals and electrical transmissions. But so many of our dear, honest brains need some help.

Today I want to talk about a few ways in which minerals affect our brain function, and therefore our moods.

Here is an excerpt from the writings of Gloria Gilbère, N.D., D.A.Hom., PhD

The Importance of Concentrated Trace Minerals for Mood Swings, Anxiety, Panic & Depression. Never has the admonition to take your minerals been as important as when feeling the effects of mood swings. Cells depend on minerals to create certain chemical reactions necessary to produce vital hormones and other chemicals, such as serotonin. Magnesium, zinc, and iron are crucial in the treatment of mood swings because they help the muscles relax, reducing cramping and pain that lower serotonin levels. Due to the fact that minerals are water-soluble, they are easily forced out of the body by internal and external stresses including exercise, emotions, menstruation, diarrhea and, of course, many prescription medications.

Magnesium is the first mineral to be depleted when the body is under internal or external stress; it is also the first mineral to help recovery from mineral imbalances, stress, anxiety and panic disorders.

Additionally, our body loses its ability to completely replenish nutrient levels as we age.

Minerals are extremely important to both avoid damage and the repair of cellular integrity caused by nutritional deficiencies, especially when withdrawing from prescription medications, street drugs or alcohol, and during and after detoxification techniques or protocols.

Because minerals are part of every cell and body fluid, they are the neurotransmitters that signal every action within the body, literally the body’s electrical system.

Minerals are vital to the overall digestive process and play a major role in maintaining alkalinity within the body – enabling the blood to carry the correct amount of oxygen to all the cells while stimulating and regulating the heart muscle and enabling nerve tissue and glands to properly function.

Many cases of anxiety are a matter of mineral deficiencies that create an imbalanced internal environment, causing a chain reaction that manifests as anxiety, panic or even depression as the body attempts to maintain balance but doesn’t have the tools (minerals/electrolytes) necessary.

Mineral/Electrolyte Deficiency: The Anxiety/Panic Connection

Deficiencies in certain minerals can cause depression. Deficiencies in minerals such as potassium, sodium, iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc, and manganese have been known to produce depression.

• Magnesium: Deficiency can result in depressive symptoms, along with confusion, agitation, anxiety, and hallucinations, as well as a variety of physical problems. Most diets do not include enough magnesium, and stress also contributes to magnesium depletion
• Calcium: Depletion affects the central nervous system. Low levels of calcium cause nervousness, apprehension, irritability, and numbness.
• Zinc: Inadequacies result in apathy, lack of appetite, and lethargy. When zinc is low, copper in the body can increase to toxic levels, resulting in paranoia and fearfulness.
• Iron: Depression is often a symptom of chronic iron deficiency. Other symptoms include general weakness, listlessness, exhaustion, lack of appetite, and headaches.
• Manganese: This metal is needed for proper use of the B-complex vitamins and vitamin C. Since it also plays a role in amino-acid formation, a deficiency may contribute to depression stemming from low levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine. Manganese also helps stabilize blood sugar and prevent hypoglycemic mood swings.
• Potassium: Depletion is frequently associated with depression, tearfulness, weakness, and fatigue.

by Gloria Gilbère, N.D., D.A.Hom., PhD author of “I Was Poisoned By My Own Body: The Odyssey of a Doctor Who Reversed Fibromyalgia, Leaky Gut Syndrome, and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity – Naturally!”

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Minerals are our spark plugs, our cofactors for enzyme reactions, vital for proper nerve conduction and they facilitate the transfer of nutrients across cell membranes.

Steps to take to replenish your nutrient stores:

1. Drink purified water that has been remineralized
2. Cook with bone broths which are a RICH source of the very minerals our own bodies are made of (Can be sipped hot like tea too, flavored with sea salt and garlic)
3. Add a pinch of real sea salt to your glass of water. Unrefined sea salts can contain 75 – 85 different minerals in them, depending on where they came from. These minerals also help our tissues absorb the fluid better.
4. Eat more seafood, rich in minerals.
5. Make sure you are producing enough stomach acid, which contributes to the chelating of our minerals into their absorbable form in the digestive process. This is what I give to my clients to increase their stomach acid for a time.

A favorite electrolyte drink I make in the summer is a combination of pure water, raw apple cider vinegar, raw honey and a pinch of sea salt, to taste. It is both replenishing and refreshing.

So what do you do to replenish your minerals? I would love to hear from you!

Application is powerful, so let me know what insights you have gained, what comments you have for me, and the ways in which you applied this information. Thanks!

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One more thing! There are only 4 more days until registration closes for our course, A Calm Mind: Heal Your Moods by Healing Your Body

It is going to be bursting with practical steps to help children, women, and men, who struggle with mood issues. Click below for the details.