Anna Skrine has provided us with another of her Case Studies, this one very relevant to our topic of Joint Pain this month.
The Importance of Minerals
The structure of your body is made up of a number of fundamental minerals, such as Calcium, Magnesium and Phosphorus (some of the Macro-minerals, which are in large amounts). All the processes that take place in your body also depend on a variety of other minerals, some of which are needed in much smaller amounts (Micro-minerals). On the whole the minerals in your body could be regarded as the generals (Macro-minerals) or captains (Micro-minerals), whereas the vitamins are their aides, the regular soldiers.
Balance amongst minerals – particularly Calcium & Magnesium
Balance, amongst certain minerals in particular, is one of the basic keys to good health. For instance Calcium needs to be balanced with Magnesium: for without an equal amount of Magnesium the Calcium cannot be used properly in the body. It then tends to get either dumped (for instance in the joints as osteo-arthritis, veins as varicose veins, gallbladder or kidneys as stones) or discarded (as in Osteoporosis).
Another vital mineral balance – Sodium and Potassium
There are two other Macro-minerals that are most important to keep in balance – Sodium (salt) and Potassium. Potassium is in abundance in food, but Sodium is much more scarce. However, our bodies are built for this, and part of the function of your kidneys is to retain as much salt in the diet as possible for storage in the body, no matter how much you eat! So in fact the right amount of salt for your body is what is naturally in fresh food. Too much salt tends to cause acidity in the body (for instance in the joints causing rheumatoid arthritis, or in the muscles causing rheumatism). It also has the knock-on effect of causing water retention, as the body stores extra fluid with the salt in order not to upset the acid/alkaline balance in those places.
KITTY age 63
Kitty had painful joints, particularly her wrists, elbows, shoulders, knees and hips. Some of them felt as if bits of bone were going to break off, and her wrists were very sore, even just to touch. She also sometimes had very bad pain in her upper arms, and had a weight problem.
Kitty had a mineral imbalance, which was being caused by excess calcium from too many dairy products, excess salt, and low Magnesium (which was being flushed out daily by coffee). She also had acidity in her joints from too much acid fruit, such as tomatoes and citrus fruits, and too many salted foods, such as salted meats and crisps.
Kitty came off coffee, added salt and acid fruit, and reduced the dairy foods to a minimum. She rang me just 3 weeks after her allergy test to say that her joints were much better already, and that she had started losing weight. I spoke to her 6 months later, and though she had relaxed her diet a bit there was still a huge improvement in her joints. She was delighted!
