Mineral deficiencies and chronic illness in dogs

Mineral deficiencies are some of the most easily preventable underlying causes of chronic illness in dogs. Here’s how ancient minerals can bridge the gap.

After years of study, Dr. Linus Pauling (who won the Nobel Prize twice) concluded that you can trace every sickness, every disease, and every ailment to a mineral deficiency. The same conclusion can be extended to include our dogs as well as humans. For example, skin disease that is often mistaken for allergies can arise from a lack of minerals. Low immunity (chronic infections) or hyper-immunity (autoimmune disease), as well as endocrine disorders like hypothyroid or hyperthyroid, are also a result of mineral deficiency Additionally, gastrointestinal problems (e.g. soft stool, constipation, chronic vomiting, poor appetite, pica, poor food absorption), and even organ malfunction and brain disorders can be tied back to a mineral deficiency. In my experience, I would have to add emotional suppression and stress to the list. The fact is, in today’s society, mineral depletion is a serious national health concern that affects all beings, including humans and dogs.

Minerals are vital for supporting the physiological processes of maintaining life. Organic minerals come from plants, which would typically extract 70% to 80% of their mineral content from the soil. Those minerals would transfer to the animals that eat the plants, like deer, cattle, rabbits, etc., and then to your dog who eats the animals in his food. Unfortunately, our soil has become so depleted that the minerals which could once be obtained solely from food have become almost exhausted. Feeding our dogs as much fresh local food as possible helps, but it’s no longer possible to get all the required minerals that way.

Is supplementation the answer?

Doctors and veterinarians having been recommending mineral supplementation for a very long time. The problem is, the majority of supplements on the market today are not even close to replenishing your dog’s needs. In fact, some of the highest quality mineral supplements available today contain fewer than 40 minerals, and very few trace elements!

As well, it’s important to know that synthetic or non-organically-occurring minerals will stay in the body way too long and can be destructive and toxic. Minerals should act more like water-soluble vitamins — that’s one of the reasons we need to replenish them daily through the natural process of eating.

On the other hand, the correct synthesis of organically-derived minerals from their natural ionic state (charged by the Earth’s ionic process) feeds the cells and can actually work as chelation therapy by removing toxic mineral or heavy metals. Nature is just so cool!

Ancient minerals to the rescue!

For more than 20 years, I’ve seen case after case of chronic disease in my veterinary clinic, and it became my life’s purpose to not just alleviate immediate pain and suffering in my patients, but to also constantly dig to find and eradicate the root cause of disease. As I learned more and more about the impact of mineral deficiency on overall health, I began searching for a soil-based mineral. What I found were fulvic and humic acids.

1. Fulvic acid is the king of soil-based minerals. This fossil-like organic acid is found in unique areas of the world, approximately 200 feet deep into the Earth. It is part of the original set of molecules that were created from sea vegetation millions of years ago when the Ice Age covered mineral-rich seabeds. Fulvic acid was created by humification (the process involved in the formation of humic substances — organic matter that has reached maturity) from decomposed plant remains (in this case, seaweed).

2. Over time, additional ancient vegetation and fruits were assimilated into this material, and with the correct compression and age, humic acid was formed. When we think of humic acid, think about finding a powerhouse of material that has been preserved deep within the Earth, made up of organic minerals and trace elements from primal fruits, vegetables, and ancient seaweed. To reproduce this material chemically is completely impossible!

These two ancient minerals have the capacity to bridge the gap in our dogs’ diets, and may help minimize the risk of chronic disease that comes from a deficiency.

If we look to what nature intended to keep us thriving, and try as hard as we can to help the Earth regain its balance, there is no doubt in my mind that we can then find the health and balance we all want for ourselves and our dogs.