With more than 30 years’ experience in the residential and commercial water treatment space, Mark Nelson is a Class 1 Drinking-Water Operator and a CBWA (Canadian Bottled Water Association) Certified Plant Operator. As founder and president of Nelson Water in Ottawa, Mark focuses on dealing with challenging water treatment system designs for problem water. He also heads the largest water bottling plant in the city of Ottawa with a delivery network throughout the Valley. 

A lot of the information released regarding water related issues refers to organic and inorganic minerals. There are many differing opinions on the best sources for dietary minerals that compare the various merits of rock (inorganic) minerals sources and plant (organic) based sources. Everyone wants to be healthy, and we hear a great deal about the importance of vitamins and minerals. In fact, our bodies need almost 70 different minerals to stay healthy and perform essential functions. In this article, we will look a closer look at the difference between organic and inorganic minerals.

What are Organic Minerals?

Before we delve too deep, it’s a good idea to understand what we mean when we’re talking about an organic mineral. After all, the term itself seems to be contradictory, how can a mineral be organic? In this context, when we refer to a mineral as being organic, it means that the specific element is bonded to a carbon atom. Carbon is also an organic element, and all living creatures are carbon based lifeforms. So, a bond with a carbon atom could, in theory, make any element bioavailable and thus usable by a living organism. This is only conjectured at this point, and further research is needed to prove this theory.

We do know that our bodies are composed of 70% water, our mineral sources in nature have always been water based and sourced from the water we drink and the food that we eat. Organic minerals were once or are still alive, and their electrons (like those in a human body) spin in a clockwise direction. The cells in an organic mineral can form ionic bonds with the body, and they can break down to assist in bodily functions, including tissue repair.

What are Inorganic Minerals?

An inorganic mineral is a material that has never been alive; it has not been bonded with carbon, and it could never bring life to a cell. In fact, the body will treat these materials or metals as if they are a toxin. An inorganic mineral is tightly wound, and it cannot break down easily to assist the body. The electrons in this material spin in a counterclockwise direction and this makes them fundamentally out of sync with a human body.

Inorganic materials in nature are often removed from water by evaporation, where only the water is removed, leaving the inorganic minerals and chemicals behind. The modern water filtering processes in our homes mimic this natural phenomenon to give us a purer and safer drinking water.

As our water runs through the ground inorganic minerals are picked up and carried along. Water is an extremely effective solvent, and many materials can be easily dissolved in it. Inorganic minerals cannot be used by a human or animal life form, but plants can use these materials. In fact, plants are the organisms that can turn this material into an organic mineral via photosynthesis, but this is in no way beneficial in our drinking water.

The Dangers of Inorganic Minerals 

Inorganic minerals and chemicals can harm us because they cannot be absorbed as a source of nutrition in our cell wall like organic minerals. But, this material has to go somewhere, so it gets deposited elsewhere in our bodies. These inorganic mineral deposits can cause a variety of health related issues depending on where they end up, such as clogged arteries, arthritis, gallstones, kidney related issues, and joint pains. A common inorganic mineral found in drinking water is Lime or calcium carbonate, and this is the same tough material found in cement. People that ingest large quantities of Lime can suffer from disfigured hands and fingers that are extremely painful.

An expert in this field, Dr. Norman W. Walker wrote a book on this subject. He discovered that a person drinking 1L of water each day over a seventy year period would ingest 90-136 kg of rock, which would include materials, such as magnesium and lime, that a human body simply cannot use. A great deal of this inorganic mineral material would be eliminated via excretory means, but some would still remain, and they could be a source of some of the health problems we mentioned earlier.

So, do you have any of these inorganic minerals present in your water supply? There is a simple experiment that you can carry out at home to check if you have a problem. Get a pot and fill it with tap water, leave it out in the sun and let the water evaporate away. As we mentioned above, this will only remove pure water or hydrogen, and oxygen and everything else will be left behind. If you discover that your pot contains mineral deposits, you may want to explore your water treatment options. A reverse osmosis filtration systems can remove inorganic minerals from your water supply.

Which is the Best Mineral Source?

There are some people that say that we can only use mineral elements if they are sourced from the food we eat, which would make them organic minerals. Others are adamant that ground rock based inorganic minerals are the best way to fulfill all of our mineral needs. There are even people that propose that liquid mineral sources, such as ionic supplements, sea water, and natural mineral water, are the best choice for health.

Sadly, thanks to pollution it would be extremely risky to drink seawater or water sourced directly from a mineral stream. Also, many of the foods that are grown today are somewhat deficient in many of the organic minerals that we need to stay healthy. This has occurred because of modern farming methods that use chemical fertilizers, pesticides and a lack of soil replenishment. Much of our food is processed to the point where it has little to no beneficial mineral and nutrient content.

The very best option available to us right now is to have a source of water clean from inorganic minerals. This can be achieved by installing a reverse osmosis filtration systems in your home. Organic whole foods should be eaten wherever possible to gain the maximum amount of organic minerals and nutrients possible. It’s also a good idea to supplement this healthier diet with a good ionic mineral supplement.