What forms of minerals are there?
There are basically four types of minerals that we encounter: (1) mineral forms that do not dissolve in water, (2) organic minerals, (3) coordination complex minerals, and (4) ionic mineral salts. ROCK MINERALS – Calcium and magnesium carbonates and magnesium oxide are very sparingly soluble in water-basically rock. These are poorly absorbed but common sources of minerals for the body. Calcium carbonate is not the best form of calcium to have in your water. ORGANIC MINERALS – A few minerals will form a covalent bound to a carbon atom, as found in thyroid hormones and selenomethionine. These are truly “organified” minerals. The mineral is not available from these compounds except by cleavage via a specific enzyme. Although iodine and selenium exist as organic forms in the body, they can be taken up by the body in their ionic forms, sodium selenite and potassium iodide. If this weren’t true, there would be no way for sodium selenite to be harmful in large doses, which it is. If potassium
