You know the essential role of vitamins and you complement without blinking in case of diet. Bravo! But do you know that trace elements are just as essential to the proper functioning of your body?
Available in infinitesimal quantities in our body, lithium, cobalt, manganese, gold, silver, iodine and other potassium occur naturally in many chemical reactions, not least. Without these "biocatalysts", our body would be hard-pressed to use the good vitamins we strive to provide!
Trace elements: general undernutrition!
These minerals, present in us as traces, are vital. Problem: we do not make them naturally, the body must go to draw them in the food. But this one is missing more and more, the fault of the pesticides and other chemical treatments diffused by the intensive agricultural cultures.
"This model of agrarian exploitation exhausts soils," explains Valérie Espinasse. The Parisian micro nutritionist also denounces "the processes of food industrialization that lead in parallel to a devitalization of the foods that make up the prepared dishes. The majority of us today swallow so-called "empty calories," which means high-calorie but low-nutrient meals. "
In short, we suffer from systematic undernutrition in micronutrients. This type of deficiency can lead to chronic fatigue, loss of smell, loss of immunity, pruritus or thyroid disorders . Hence the importance of oligotherapy, or the art of rebalancing the presence of these micro substances in the body, for therapeutic purposes.
How it works ?
Good news: children, pregnant women, elderly people ... Oligotherapy is open to all, except for a few rare cases (tuberculosis, for example).
The approach is simple: administer one or more trace elements, in the background, to prevent or mitigate a deficiency, sometimes even in support of traditional medical treatment (remember the famous cocktail copper-gold-silver prescribed to revive the immunity in case of colds!)
They are taken in liquid form and of natural origin -mineral rather than chemical, preferably fasting, 15 minutes before a meal, for optimal assimilation. Some formulas recommend the sublingual route, just as for homeopathy .
The question of the field
Among the benefits of this gentle therapy, there is no risk of overdose because the trace elements are mostly water soluble: "the body takes what it needs and eliminates the rest," notes Valérie Espinasse.
Lithium, however, necessarily requires a medical prescription. But if the self medication is a good reflex side magnesium , it is better to consult a professional for the rest. The latter will look at your family history, your immune resistance or your psychology to adapt the treatment to your land.
"It is interesting to perform a precise dosage of the state of the reserves before and after treatment, just to see where we go and where we arrive," says the therapist. If the food rectification associated with supplementation is not enough, we must focus on the intestinal flora , whose assimilative power may be faulty. Combining probiotics with the cure can be a solution, "suggests the expert.
The 6 key trace elements for good health
If women are aware of the importance of iron in the creation of hemoglobin, the other star of the family of biocatalysts is magnesium, necessary for no less than 300 enzymes. It is found in bananas, cocoa, oilseeds, whole grains, pulses, fish and shellfish.
The magnesium cure can fight against fatigue , stress , spasmophilia, cold or sleep disorders . Some doctors advise continuous supplementation to cope with the chronic stress of our modern lifestyle. "Overwork, as well as metabolic diseases, diabetes and many other medical conditions cause significant leakage of magnesium, which aggravates the shortcomings," says Valérie Espinasse.
A major player in immunity, copper helps the body to use iron , limits the damage created by free radicals, supports the thyroid gland, protects nervous tissue, and strengthens the bone system . The foods that have the most are liver, cocoa, whole grains, shellfish or grapes .
Regularly crossed in the rays of food supplements , selenium is involved in the production of thyroid hormones, the reproduction of our cellular DNA and the immune system. Brazil nuts, shellfish, mushrooms, eggs, offal, fish, whole grains, garlic and vegetables are good sources.
Other trace elements to watch for: iodine . Available in abundance in seafood, seaweed and fish, and in smaller quantities, in dairy products and eggs, the thyroid ally must however be followed more rigorously than the others, its fluctuations may disturb sustainably the functioning of the thyroid gland.
