What is a Chelated Magnesium or other Mineral Supplement?
There’s a lot of buzz about chelated minerals and the fact that they make better supplements. But hardly ever do the authors or sales materials actually explain about chelation and what that process is, exactly.
The definition of chelation (pronounced key-LAY-shun) comes from chemistry. The word comes from the Greek word ‘chele’, meaning to claw. It refers to the binding of a metal metal ion with an organic molecule (ligand) to form a ring structure. The resulting ring is more stable, and keeps the protects the mineral from undergoing unwanted chemical reactions. A bit more simply: one substance is grabbing onto another, and creating a more stable, combined substance as a result. The part doing the grabbing is called the “chelating substance.” The one being grabbed onto is known as the “chelated substance.”
Chelation is a natural process – not something created in a lab. The process was first described in 1983 by a German scientist name Werneer. But it was almost 40 years later, in 1920 that this chemical binding was named chelation (by a couple of other researchers named Morgan and Drew).
In the area of nutrition, we are interested in chelated minerals because a mineral in an appropriate type of chelation can be more easily absorbed and used by the body. This is important because simple inorganic minerals (as are commonly added to “fortified” foods) are notoriously difficult for the body to absorb.
The chelated form that is of interest to us for dietary mineral supplementation is one that has been bonded to two or more amino acids from hydrolyzed protein. A mineral in this chelated state can pass more easily through the intestinal wall then into the blood stream. Than in turn allows better usage ( metabolism) of that mineral by the body.
Simple minerals (basically in a “rock” form) are generally not recognized by the body as food, but rather as… rocks. But once the mineral is latched onto by a couple of amino acids (which are the components of protien) the combined particle (rock plus amino acid) is recognized as usable food by the body. Your intestines are designed to allow FOOD to pass through, but not rocks.
