Chapter 11 - The Middle Mile of the Mineral Journey: Known Quantities, Unknown Catalysts

Where evidence is firm, where it’s thin, and how ionic, sulfated complexes could bridge the gap.

We’ve now reached the midpoint of our journey into the science of major, trace, ultratrace, and rare-earth minerals. Up to this point, we have explored the troubling negative impacts of widespread deficiencies on water, plant, and human health.

But, before we do the “deep dive” into the unique, fascinating (to me at least) and granular aspects of the biochemical mechanisms of Shimanishi’s mineral complex in water, plant, and animal physiology — it’s worth pausing to summarize what we do and don’t know about mineral science.

Well-Defined Areas Of Mineral Science

1. Physiology Of Major Minerals

The functions of major minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, sulfur, sodium, and chloride) are broadly established in both medical literature and clinical practice. These elements are central to muscle/nerve function, bone health, electrolyte balance, energy production, and enzymatic activity. are broadly established in medical literature and clinical practice.

2. Physiology of The Essential Trace Minerals (“The Big 7”)

The physiological necessity of trace minerals — including iron, zinc, copper, selenium, iodine, manganese, and fluoride? — is equally well characterized. Encouraging is the subtly expanded list which includes chromium, Molybdenum, Boron, Nickel, Cobalt (via vitamin B12),silicon, Vanadiu.

3. General Health Consequences of Deficiency In the Big 14

Inadequate intake of essential trace minerals is strongly linked to increased disease risk, immune dysfunction, developmental disorders, and chronic illnesses. Numerous epidemiological and interventional studies confirm this association.

4. Heavy Metal Excess and Mineral Deficiency

Increasing industrial pollution has led to the accumulation of heavy metals deposition in our soils from industrial activity, leading to increased toxicity due to a lack of protective trace minerals. Numerous studies find that a large number of disease states are “associated with” (not caused by) a combination of trace mineral deficiency and heavy metal excess.

5. Plant and Animal Mineral Nutrition

The dependence of livestock and crop health on mineral-rich soils is well established. As soil minerals decline, the nutrient density of food decreases correspondingly—a trend clearly documented for the limited minerals routinely measured in plants and soils.

6. Impacts of Mineral Depletion on Agricultural and Livestock Practices

Trace mineral depletion weakens plant resilience, increasing pest pressure and prompting heavier pesticide use. This, in turn, accelerates soil mineral loss and contamination—a self-reinforcing cycle of agricultural and environmental decline.

7. Clinical Enzymology of the ‘Big 12’

The biochemical role of trace minerals as enzymatic cofactors is well documented. Minerals such as zinc, copper, and selenium are integral to hundreds of enzyme systems that drive metabolism, detoxification, and antioxidant defense.

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Poorly Defined Areas

1. Measurement Limitations –The ICP-MS Era

Before the 1980s, accurate detection of rare and ultra-trace minerals was virtually impossible. Once ICP-MS technology became available, scientists could, for the first time, accurately detect trace and rare minerals—revealing how little we’d truly known about them before. However, a renewed research effort into rare minerals has not been undertaken.

2. Functional Roles of Minor Soil Minerals

Dozens of soil-borne minerals outside “major” and “essential trace” categories influence plant vitality, pest resistance, and perhaps even human health. Yet most of these remain unstudied in humans beyond anecdotal or observational reports.

3. Bioavailability and Form

The body’s absorption and utilization of minerals depends heavily on their chemical form. However, the comparative bioavailability of sulfated, plant-derived, colloidal, or metallic forms remains poorly characterized for most elements (see Chapter 4 for more accurate characterization of the various forms of minerals).

4. Enzymatic and Cellular Unknowns

The vast majority of enzymes in the human proteome —estimated at nearly 90%—have not been fully characterized in terms of their mineral cofactor needs. Only a small fraction of these relationships is understood, leaving open the possibility of major future discoveries and therapeutic breakthroughs.

5. Supplementation and Health Outcomes

Only a few studies have examined the potential health effects of broad-spectrum mineral supplementation beyond the conventional fourteen (see Chapter 25). Whether replenishing a wider range of trace and rare-earth elements could improve disease resistance or recovery remains a largely unexplored frontier.

Summary: The Frontier of Mineral Science

The Earth is in trouble. Trace mineral depletion is rampaging on. I know of little systematic efforts to stymie the tide. The downstream effects on plants (less resilient - leading to increased use of pesticides), and livestock - need mass mineral supplementation, growth promoting antibiotics, are becoming increasingly unmanageable.

And we haven’t even got to the water problem yet. The fresh water supply on Earth is similarly and increasingly under assault from accumulating chemicals, plastics, pharmaceuticals, and fertilizers and pesticides. That’s for a later chapter where I introduce the mineral solution to that problem (yay solutions!) but it is another cause for worry.

Anyway, the field of mineral science is well established for the major minerals and a select group of essential trace elements, with their physiological roles and related deficiency diseases clearly delineated. In contrast, the health effects and biological functions of many additional trace and rare minerals reveal significant gaps in both clinical and scientific understanding, especially concerning the rare earth elements and the broader “ultra-trace” spectrum of soil-derived minerals.

Nevertheless, the fundamental biochemical mechanisms underlying life are now better understood—especially those governed by the unique mineral structures obtained through Shimanishi’s extraction process. In the following chapters, we will delve deeply into the uniquely remarkable properties of these ionic, sulfated trace and rare-earth minerals —exploring how they interact with water, catalyze “redox” (accepting or donating electrons between compounds) reactions, enhance proton transfer, and restore biological and ecological balance.

These upcoming sections form the core of this book. Together, they aim to build a powerful understanding: if minerals are to truly solve the crises of soil depletion, water contamination, and human metabolic dysfunction, they must be the right kind—structured, active, and bioavailable in the precise way nature intended.

Next: Chapter 12 - From Story to Circuitry: The Deep Science Behind Shimanishi’s Mineral Matrix

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P.S. If you’re curious about the volcanic-mineral water purification product that this book led me to help develop, you can find it at Aurmina.com. Think of it as a quiet act of restoration — starting with your water. And yes, I know — I’ve become the guy who includes links at the end. But this one just might change your water (and your mind).

Upcoming Book Publications

Yup — not one, but two books are dropping from yours truly. At the same time? What?

1. If, instead of (or in addition to) this Substack version, you prefer the feel of a real book—or the smell of paper—or like to give holiday gifts, pre-order From Volcanoes to Vitality, my grand mineral saga, shipping before Christmas.

2. And if you want to read (or gift) another chronicle of suppression, science, and survival, grab The War on Chlorine Dioxide—the sequel you didn’t see coming—shipping mid-January. On this one, I say: “Buy it before they ban it.” Hah!© 2025 Pierre Kory. All rights reserved.

This chapter is original material and protected under international copyright law. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.

© 2025 Pierre Kory. All rights reserved.

This chapter is original material and protected under international copyright law. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.