The Principle Of Biounavailability

A very high, or a very low, hair level may indicate biounavailability of the mineral, Bioavailability refers to the ability of the body to utilize a mineral or incorporate it into an enzyme or other binding site. Bioavailability is perhaps the most critical principle to learn in hair analysis interpretation and nutritional balancing science. Bioavailability is also one of the most important, most complex and least understood phenomena in medical science. Reasons a mineral may become biounavailable include:

• Ionization state - This means whether a mineral is in an ionic (free) state or a bound state. This applies to calcium, for example.
• Valence some minerals can only be utilized when in an electrical state of matter with a particular number of electrons in its outer shell. This applies in the case of iron, manganese, chromium and perhaps other minerals. They may be toxic when in the wrong valence.
• Synergistic co-factors Copper, vitamin C and other nutrients, for example, may be required to help fix calcium in the protein matrix of the bones.
• The need for a mineral Transporter - Transporters are mechanisms or chemicals that move minerals throughout the body. Copper and iron, for example, require transporters such as metallothionein. Without enough transporter activity, a mineral will not be utilized correctly.
• Binding Proteins These are similar to transporters in some cases. Minerals must often be chelated or bound to a protein to be utilized.
• Hormone levels For example, aldosterone is required to raise the tissue sodium level and reduce loss of sodium through the urine.
• pH of the stomach or other compartment of the body. Properly acidic gastric juices are helpful to chelate most minerals in the diet. Otherwise they may not be utilized well- The pH balance may also affect the ionization level and other properties of minerals.
• Nutrient levels. Other nutrients are frequently needed to synthesize mineral transporters or to facilitate chemical reactions that make minerals more bioavailable

This principle explains many facts about hair analysis interpretation. For example, a person with a high level of a mineral often demonstrates symptoms of deficiency of the same mineral. The reason is that a very high reading of calcium, for example, often indicates biounavailability. Nutritional balancing science can help greatly to make minerals more bioavailable by balancing body chemistry.

Implications:

• It is not so much what one eats, but what is used by the body that is important.
• Biounavailability can help explain the phenomenon that a mineral level may jump from low to high on a hair test within just a few months, even though none of that mineral was given. The mineral level jumped because it was always present, but was sequestered and unavailable. Giving other nutrients and balancing the oxidation rate enabled the unavailable mineral to be utilized properly, or perhaps be released from a storage site.

Dr. Lawrence Wilson