The Lie About Minerals—and Why You’re Still Sick

You’re doing everything right—but your body still isn’t healing. Why?

Dr. Andrew Kaufman explains how missing minerals—not disease—may be at the root of your fatigue, inflammation, and early aging. Learn what your cells actually need to recover—and how to restore it.

Download Dr. Kaufman’s Ultimate Detox Protocol – free guide to flush toxins and restore nutrient absorption: https://www.andrewkaufmanmd.com/ultimate-detox-protocol

Read the full transcript + blog: www.andrewkaufmanmd.com/mineral-truth

Transcript

Trace mineral deficiency appears metabolically as pre-diabetes, cognitively related to learning disabilities, attention disorders, emotionally by panic attacks, anxiety, depression and structurally noisy joints, arthritis, bone spurs, aneurysms. This is the True Health Report where critical appraisal fuels true freedom.

Today I'm going to introduce really the topic of minerals and health, and this is an area that I have talked about intermittently before. Many of you know that I do sell a mineral supplement, and I want to give you some perspective about this issue and how important it is. And of course, this goes with this month's book, Dead Doctors Don't Lie, which I'm going to discuss a little bit and read some excerpts from now.

Dr. Wallach is not the first person that I heard about mineral deficiency from, but he certainly has a lot of extensive information. And while I don't agree with all of his conclusions about health and disease, I think we can learn quite a lot from his perspective. So I thought I would start off talking a little bit about that and it relates to the causes of disease, because I think Dr. Wallach and I agree on some basic principles: that exposure to toxic substances like pharmaceuticals and processed food, as well as environmental pollutants, contribute to a lot of disease. Obviously, trauma can end your life early, and malnutrition being the other cause.

We're going to focus on malnutrition, of course, in today's topic. Dr. Wallach's main thesis is that if we die young, it's probably because of poisoning or trauma. But if we die at the normal expected age, we may actually be dying of malnutrition. This relates to the human potential of longevity, which is often quoted to be potentially between 120 and 150 years. There are examples of people living into their 150s and 160s.

In a 1973 article, a scientist visits some of the world's oldest people—living into their 130s, 140s, and beyond. Dr. Wallach contends that this is our actual lifespan potential. The reason we don't live that long is because of nutrient deficiencies. He talks about various vitamins, which are more commonly known, but also focuses heavily on minerals.

He breaks minerals into macro and micro categories. Macro minerals include sodium, magnesium, phosphorus, etc., and are well-studied. Micro minerals, or trace minerals, are needed in much smaller amounts and are often overlooked by medical science.

So why are we deficient? Because of the agricultural revolution and modern food industry practices. Crops are grown with NPK fertilizers that provide nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, but leave out other essential minerals. The result is mineral-depleted soil and thus nutrient-deficient food.

Historically, minerals were recycled back into the soil via decomposing plants and animal waste. But modern food production and sewage systems break that cycle. Food is grown in one place and consumed far away, and waste is processed in a way that doesn't return nutrients to the soil.

Dr. Wallach, who went to veterinary school, observed that animals are given specific minerals in their feed to prevent disease because it's economically necessary. Yet this practice isn't applied to humans.

The carnivore diet may provide more minerals because livestock are supplemented with minerals, making meat more nutrient-rich than plants grown in mineral-depleted soil. Dr. Wallach claims there are 60 essential minerals and 900 diseases known to be related to nutrient deficiencies.

He emphasizes fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) and cholesterol as commonly deficient nutrients. Collagen is another crucial nutrient, and we'll discuss how its synthesis is tied to mineral availability, particularly copper.

From Dead Doctors Don’t Lie: Selenium was once thought to be toxic but is now known to be essential. Selenium deficiency can cause a range of issues from cystic fibrosis to heart disease. Supplementing with selenium often prevents or even reverses these conditions.

Deficiency progresses through three phases: compensation (body adapts), decompensation (symptoms appear), and clinical (full-blown disease). Mainstream medicine often misses the connection to mineral deficiency.

Wallach discovered cystic fibrosis could be induced in lab animals by depleting selenium. When he presented this, he was fired because it would invalidate much of the existing research and funding.

Metalloproteomics is the study of proteins that require metals to function. One-third of all proteins may need metal cofactors. Example: superoxide dismutase, which requires copper and zinc. Without the right balance, it can be harmful rather than beneficial.

Trace minerals discussed include vanadium, molybdenum, arsenic, tin, tungsten, and more. Many minerals considered toxic in some forms or quantities might actually be essential in others. Even heavy metals like lead or mercury might play beneficial roles under the right conditions.

Nutritional labels don’t list trace minerals. Many essential elements are simply ignored by official guidelines.

Collagen synthesis requires specific minerals, such as copper. Bone broth from healthy animals raised with proper mineral supplementation contains both collagen and the necessary minerals.

Hormone levels, including testosterone, correlate with minerals like magnesium, iron, molybdenum, tungsten, zinc, and calcium. It's not enough to supplement one or two minerals; a broad spectrum is required.

Labels on food only show macro minerals. Trace minerals are missing, and bioavailability isn’t considered. For example, aluminum in food is poorly absorbed, but injected aluminum (as in vaccines) is fully absorbed.

Modern diets don't provide all needed minerals. Shilajit is highlighted as a natural, comprehensive mineral source, containing 50 to 80 different trace minerals in bioavailable forms like fulvic acid. It's more complete than most other supplements.

Colloidal minerals and fulvic minerals are other alternatives but may not offer the full spectrum that Shilajit does. Shilajit comes from ancient decomposed plants and contains minerals in their natural, absorbable forms.