Supplements

Dear Dr. Mirkin: Are chelated minerals better than regular
mineral supplements?

    You can get all the minerals that you need from the foods
that you eat, but if you want to take mineral pills, chelated
minerals offers no advantage over non-chelated ones.  Expensive
chelated calcium and iron pills are advertised to be absorbed better
than much less expensive non-chelated minerals.  But once a
non-chelated mineral is in your intestines, it chelates or binds
to parts of food such as organic acids, such as citric acid in
fruits; sugars such as the lactose found in milk; or amino acids
found in any source of protein. 
    Mineral absorption depends on what is eaten with the
mineral or the food that contains it.  For example, fat increases
mineral absorption and fiber decreases it. Vitamin C increases
absorption of iron from plant foods.  Taking calcium together with
iron reduces absorption of both minerals.  Zinc inhibits absorption
of copper. The recommended daily allowance (RDA) for minerals
includes a wide margin of safety to allow for this tendency of
minerals to bind to other substances. 

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