Greetings! Have you ever eaten something, worn something, or done something wrong (ignorantly), and then someone approached you in an unchristlike manner, and told you that your practices were not in harmony with the Bible? Unfortunately, this has been the experience of many. What went wrong in his or her method of delivery? There was no mingling, no preparation for proper absorption of truth. Before fully digesting the Word of God, our heart needs to be moistened by the Holy Spirit, and prepared to receive the seeds of truth. In like manner, our physical frames are much in the same. Find out how below, as we start our study on the ministry of minerals!
The Ministry of Minerals
A grain of wheat contains protein, fat, and starch, which are to be used in the body; but these elements cannot digest themselves. They must first be prepared for absorption into the blood and use in the cells. They
must pass through four digestive juices-the salvia, gastric juice, pancreatic juice, and the bile. It is at least as important that they be prepared for use as that they be eaten. If they are eaten and not prepared for use, the eater is worse off with them than without them. These digestive juices contain substances which break down the starch, protein, and fat, and prepare them for use. These substances are groups and combinations of mineral salts.
The Saliva
Following is the chemists’ analysis of the saliva of the mouth.
The analysis below is calculated for 1,000 parts by weight of Mineral Salts:
The Gastric Juice
Below is the same sort of an analysis of the gastric juice of the stomach by C. Schmidt:
The Pancreatic Juice
And this is the analysis of the pancreatic juice calculated on 1,000 parts, as made by Schmidt and Kruger:
The Bile
The analysis of the bile by Jocobson and Hoppe Sayler, based on 100 parts by weight of salts:
These mineral salts, then, are as important to life as are the protein, fat, starch, and sugar. These mineral salts are largely deficient in refined foods, and this deficiency must sooner or later hamper the digestive and other processes. Can you think of some foods that are not deficient in mineral salts? Share with us in the comment section below!
How Disease is Produced
When there are not enough minerals to supply all of the life processes, the blood gives preference to the digestive juices because digestion must go on to maintain life. Therefore the nerves, tissues, teeth and bones will suffer from mineral deficiency first, and the lowering of their mineral supply and content lessens the processes of life in their cells and results in abnormal conditions which are interpreted as such and such diseases.
When mineral deficiency conditions increasing all through the body, and finally, with digestion hindered so that the foods eaten cannot be properly converted into nourishment for the body but lie around until they ferment and decay and so become poisonous instead of nutritious, the well-being of the body slowly diminishes and disease slowly develops. As these conditions continue year after year, disease becomes deep-seated and stubborn. See any spiritual applications?
Anyhow, the blood serum and the blood cells, both red and white, each require their particular combinations of minerals to make it possible for them to perform their parts in maintaining life and health. Minerals regulate the intricate chemical reactions of the blood, upon which life depends. We shall look at the chemist’s analyses of the blood serum and red corpuscles, showing the lists of minerals they must contain in order to carry on their work in our next class! Nonetheless, If these minerals are not provided in the food, they will not be in the blood, and then the blood will be “poor” and cannot properly function as the life-giving current. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood” Leviticus 17:11 By God’s grace, let us all seek to reason from cause to effect. Blessings!