Mineral deficiencies and their fallout

David Thomas is a chiropractor who believes fervently in the importance of minerals and trace elements in food allergy, food intolerance and the bio-chemical health of the body. His researches have taken him from the depths of the British Library to the expanses of Lake Utah where he discovered a remarkable mineral supplement.
For Emma-jane's story see here.
(Also see David's article in 2006)

My background is as a geologist and I worked for several years in the Mineral exploration field looking for gold, uranium, copper, cobalt, lead and zinc. 20 years ago I retrained as a chiropractor and became totally sold on its philosophy and practice.

However, I soon recognised that a person’s bio-mechanical health is very often compromised by faulty bio-chemistry. I found myself exploring the world of dietary exclusion and guidance, together with supplementation, in particular mineral supplementation. (1)

Prior to 2000 the vast majority of nutritional practitioners and the more aware public repeated, like a mantra, that the ‘foods that we eat today are not as nutritious as they were in the past’. However, no hard science really backed that statement up. I therefore undertook some research comparing the official MAFF statistics for the mineral contents of foods in 1940 with those in 1991. The figures, which supported similar work undertaken by Paul Bergner in the USA (2), clearly showed a deterioration in the mineral content of our food - in particular the trace elements.
Reduction in Average Mineral Content of Food - 1940-1991
Fruit reduced by:
Sodium 29%
Potassium 19%
Phosphorous 2%
Magnesium 16%
Calcium 16%
Copper 24%
Iron 20%
Vegetables. reduced by:
Sodium 49%
Potassium 16%
Phosphorous 9%
Magnesium 24%
Calcium 46%
Copper 27%
Iron 76%
Meat Reduced by:
Sodium 30%
Potassium 16%
Phosphorous 16%
Magnesium 10%
Calcium 41%
Copper 54%
Iron 24%
(The full details of the research are to be found on my website - www.mineralresourcesint.co.uk)

Chiropractic philosophy states that ‘there is an innate awareness of every innate need’. In other words the intelligence that runs the human body - those life processes over which we have no conscious control - is constantly adapting, compensating and adjusting to our ever changing environment in order to keep us alive and if possible, symptom free. That’s its job. If this is not possible to achieve then its only recourse is to ‘speak to us’ by expressing itself as a symptom.

However, due to our own unique genetic make up the same environmental challenge (a food intolerance, mineral deficiency, exposure to a toxic substance etc) may affect one person very differently from another. Today we certainly have a number of environmental challenges that were not there just a few generations ago. The quality of every essential component that enables us to function at an optimum level has been compromised: the sunlight, the air, our water and our food.

Below are two case histories, one of an elderly lady, Joan, one of a young child, Emma-jane, both of whose systems seem to have been seriously deficient in one or several of the minerals and trace elements that are present in ConcenTrace®, the supplement which both of them have been taking. [For details of ConcenTrace see (1)]. Once their bodies were provided with these vital nutrients, previously compromised chemical pathways were able to function correctly and their symptoms were either eased or completely resolved. This seems to be the only explanation for the dramatic changes that have taken place in both their conditions since the addition of ConcenTrace® to their diets, as this is the only change that has been made in their treatment.

In Joan’s circumstances it is reasonable to hypothesise that her mineral deficiencies had become more marked - and their results more evident - over a number of years. In Emma-jane’s case, I would suggest that for a variety of reasons, she was born deficient in certain minerals, a situation only made worse by her extremely restricted infant diet.

And does that sound so preposterous ? Historically we know that sailors were ‘cured’ of scurvy by eating limes and that, once this cause and effect situation was understood, they were prevented from developing scurvy by being given rations of limes during their voyage. For Emma-jane and Joan their improvement is no more ‘miraculous’ than that of the lime eating sailors. I am very happy to have assisted, by the introduction of a simple mineral supplement, in such a change in both their lives. I am only sad that the minerals and trace elements that they found in ConcenTrace® are not, as they should be, an integral part of our food chain.

Joan

Joan is a 77 year-old woman who, at the age of 76, had resigned herself to a life in a wheelchair. For six months she had had regular pain injections to help alleviate her osteo-arthritic type pain and discomfort until her doctor told her that it would be dangerous to have any more.

Her daughter suggested that she try Concentrace. Within eight weeks she was pain free and able to walk her dogs and dig her garden.

Emma-jane
Emma-jane had a long and protracted birth. Her mother’s membranes ruptured ten days before she was finally induced. Even then she needed an epidural and a forceps delivery. Emma-jane was blue when born and did not breathe for ‘what seemed like ages’. Three days later she was back in hospital with dehydration and a high bilirubin count; ten days after that with blood in her nappy.

She was kept in hospital for two weeks when she was diagnosed with Hirschprungs disease (lack of nerve endings in the bowel) and allergic colitis to dairy and soya. She was also diagnosed as allergic to her mother’s milk although in reality she was probably reacting to the soya her mother was drinking.

At four months she was living on baby rice with water and juice as she wouldn’t take any of the formulas provided by the hospital. She was in continual pain and rarely slept.

By 10 months she had been referred to Great Ormond Street. This was after three months of bladder and bowel investigations at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Manchester which finally showed that her large intestine was blocked solid. She also had a massive umbilical hernia. Great Ormond Street confirmed the allergies to eggs, dairy, soya and gluten. Her bowel problems got no better while her general health continued to deteriorate.

In July 2001, when she was 4 1/2, Emma-jane had a colonoscopy which was almost impossible to conduct because of the amount of debris around the bowel. The doctor who was conducting it noticed that she had two dimples at the base of the spine suggesting Spina bifida occulta. An MRI scan did not confirm this diagnosis but did show neuro-muscular disease.

At this stage Emma-jane had daily abdominal pains and continual bone pain both at the top of her spine and in her shins. These would wake her at nights and would sometimes be so bad as to make her cry. Her legs were short and not in proportion with her body. She could not stand for more than a minute and her balance was so bad that she often fell down the stairs. (Her condition was bad enough for the Social Services to provide a Major buggy for her to get about and a stair rail to help her get up and down stairs without falling.)

She had no feeling of fullness in her bladder so needed to ‘leak’ before she realised she needed to urinate. She needed continual stool softening and laxative medication to move her bowels at all. Her nails were paper thin, flakey and spoon shaped (a classic sign of nutrient deficiency); she had very rough and itchy skin (diagnosed as irritated eczema) and a lot of spontaneous bruising. She tired very easily and when tired would go completely grey. By the time she was 5, Great Ormond Street had diagnosed ME.

Late in 2001 Emma-jane’s grandmother, Pat Cullup, a long time subscriber to Foods Matter, who suffers from ME and various food sensitivities, heard about ConcenTrace®. She thought it might help her as she was concerned that her own restricted diet might leave her short of certain vital nutrients. After a few weeks she did feel some benefit so suggested to her daughter than she should give some to Emma-jane. (Emma-jane had not previously taken any nutritional supplementation.)

Emma-jane started to take the ConcenTrace® drops (1 drop per 6 lbs body weight) early this year. Its effect was both immediate and dramatic - on the morning after taking her first dose she told her mother that she was ‘better’.

During the course of this year she has continued to take her ConcenTrace® and continued to improve. Although she does still get bone and abdominal pains, these are occasional and relatively mild instead of everyday and quite bad. Her legs have grown and strengthened and her balance has improved to the point that she is now attending dancing class everyday (see picture) and is hoping to compete in a national dancing competition next year. She has more awareness in her bladder and although she still suffers from constipation it is manageable with stool softeners and the occasional suppository. Her nails are now strong, the irritated eczema has disappeared and she has no more bruising.

Her new energy is not limitless and she does still sometimes overdo it. When she does she goes completely grey, is totally wiped out for a day and will have the return of her bone pains for a couple of days afterwards.

David Thomas practices in Sussex. You can find him on 01342 822802. For ConcenTrace/Trace minerals call 01342 824684 or check www.mineralresourcesint.co.uk

First published in 2002

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