Trace Minerals: Some Of The Best Supplements For Weight Loss

Minerals are essential for overall good health and make an important contribution to weight loss. While ingesting the minerals is important, it is also essential to receive them in proper balance as they occur naturally, since an imbalance can be detrimental to your health. Many of the available supplements are harvested from sources where they occur in a healthy balance with each other such as the Great Salt Lake. It is also best to select supplements that can be efficiently digested and utilized by our bodies. Several factors affect the absorbability of minerals including age, the adequacy of our stomach acid and bowel flora, our fiber intake and our intestinal health. A good choice is the ionic form of mineral drops which, according to Alexander Schauss, Ph.D., FACN are the most easily absorbed.

There are several ways in which minerals can assist with weight loss. For example, studies connect several trace minerals to the ability of your body to manage blood sugar in a healthy way and of course the connection between blood sugar and weight loss is well established. In a 2011 article in the journal "Nutrition" researchers considered the impact of silicone, strontium and coral sand, a natural source of trace minerals, on diabetic mice. Their results showed that trace minerals helped lower blood glucose levels and improve insulin sensitivity. In addition, the trace minerals were effective in lowering resistance to leptin, a hormone which reduces appetite. Trace minerals also helped lower resistance to the hormone, adiponectin, which studies have found to be inversely associated with risk of type 2 diabetes according to a 2009 article in the "Journal of the American Medical Association."

Another important mineral for weight loss is chromium picolinate. In a 2006 review of the literature on this topic which appeared in the journal "Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics," the scientists state that this mineral has been shown repeatedly to have a beneficial effect on people with type 2 diabetes. Chromium has been associated with reduced blood glucose and insulin as well as blood fats such as cholesterol and triglycerides. They conclude that another benefit of chromium is that it will help reduce complications of diabetes.

Still another important mineral for weight loss is selenium which is one of several elements which assist the thyroid to operate more efficiently. It does so by using a process called deiodination which makes thyroid hormones more bioavailable. As you successfully increase your metabolism as part of your weight loss process you also increase the number of free radicals which are a by product. Selenium is an essential part of the process of removing free radicals from your system. Other minerals involved with healthy metabolism include zinc and iodine.

While studies show these minerals are some of the best supplements for weight loss, there are many more trace minerals some of have not been as well researched. Choosing a supplement where the minerals are harvested from a naturally occurring source not only assures proper balance but may also provide benefits of which we are not yet aware. For example, for years boron was considered unimportant for human health whereas now we realize it is indeed essential.

1. Prev:Can You Lose Weight Eating Fruit?
2. Next:Is Caffeine Keeping You From Losing Weight?