What is Magnesium Stearate?

Magnesium Stearate is absolutely useless to your body; a metal derivative that your body has absolutely no conceivable use for. Supplement companies have been intentionally misleading their customers for some time now, making it sound like the inclusion of this additive is helpful to your general welfare. The truth is much more frightening and a substantial bit more dangerous.

Magnesium Stearate or Stearic Acid is basically a toxin; a combination of hydrogenated oils that gets into your body and starts killing cells almost immediately. The worst part is that there is Stearic Acid in over 90% of the pills currently on the market. Sometimes it is because of the age of the equipment being used to produce pills; other times it is because supplement companies are trying to milk every last bit of profit out of their machines.     

So, how does Magnesium Stearate make its way into your supplements so often? It is a manufacturing tool, used to lubricate the machinery and produce more pills, faster. To be more accurate, Stearic Acid is the byproduct of the hydrogenated oils that are used to lubricate the machinery, having accumulated the metals that saturate these highly dangerous oils. Because they are used to lubricate every aspect of pill production, these hydrogenated oils have saturated every ounce of your supplements, making up as much as 5% of a 1000 mg capsule. Not only does this waste valuable supplement space just so a company can make more pills and more money, it reduces the effectiveness of the pills you are taking.

 In addition to weakening your pills, Magnesium Stearate may be loaded with pesticides that are used on the Cottonseed Oil that has been hydrogenated. In addition, with the chemical structure of the fatty acids in Stearic Acid having been altered through close contact with various metal catalysts at extremely high temperatures, the risk of toxicity increases dramatically, introducing countless toxic compounds into your body as a result.


While the companies that produce Vitamins and Supplements may want you to believe that the use of Magnesium Stearate and Stearic Acid in your pills is safe, they are not fooling anyone. You owe it to yourself and your future well being to go to the cupboard right now and remove any pills in there that might contain anything with either of these highly dangerous supplements in them. The market has supported this shoddy, irresponsible production for too long and the health of the industry's consumers should not need to suffer for it.

Empty Minerals

At the end of World War II, drug conglomerates making nitrates and phosphates for weapons, were left with few buyers for their stockpiles of chemicals. They had to find new markets for their products. Experiments done in the past have shown that many plants will grow on a mixture of just three minerals, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). Armed with this knowledge, war chemicals manufacturers began selling NPK fertilizers to farmers. By the 60's in order to compete in the food market, almost all American farms had become totally dependent on NPK products in order to make a living.

Mixtures of NPK, provide three of the main minerals essential for plant health. They grow fast and crops can have abundat yields. The problem here folks is your not a vegetable! Humans need more than nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. They also need selenium, chromium, calcium, magnesium, iron, coppen, iodine, molybdenum, zinc, cobalt, boron and vanadium. These NPK fertilizers do not contain the minerals essential for human health.

As each succeeding crop grown on NPK products has depleted the soil of other essential minerals, and these minerals are no longer replaced. Most produce and food animals now grown in America, have become mineral deficient. That makes you deficient and your body cannot make minerals and has to find them somehow from your food.


Dr Linus Pauling, twice noble prize winner, said "you can trace every sickness, every disease and every ailment to a mineral deficiency". Yet, all over the world, minerals are disappearing from agricultural soils at an alarming rate. In 1992, the official report of the Rio Earth Summit concluded "there is deep concern over continuing major declines in the mineral values in farm and range soils throughout the world". This statement was based on data showing that over the last 100 years, average mineral levels in agricultural soils had fallen worldwide - by 72% in Europe, 76% in Asia and 85% in North America.

The combined effect of soil mineral depletion and the reduced availability of those minerals that remain is that most of the food that we eat is mineral deficient. The table below summarizes the reductions in the average mineral content of 27 vegetables and 17 fruits, between 1940 and 1991. The results of the latest research are expected to show mineral values in continual decline.

Reduction in average mineral content of fruit and vegetables between 1940 and 1991 shown in graph below:

MINERALS	VEGETABLE	FRUIT
Sodium	-49%	-29%
Potassium	-16%	-19%
Magnesium	-24%	-16%
Calcium	-46%	-16%
Iron	-27%	-24%
Copper	-76%	-20%
Zinc	-59%	-27%

A new study published earlier this year shows that, as might be expected, mineral levels in animal products reflect the picture in plant foods. Comparing levels measured in 2002 with those present in 1940, the iron content of milk was found to be 62% less, calcium and magnesium in parmesan cheese had each fallen by 70% and copper in dairy produce had plummeted by a remarkable 90%.


Food seems to be considered as something quite separate from its source and means of production. But this is not rocket science - the foundation of human health is the quality of the food we eat, which relies ultimately on the vitality of the soil on which it is raised.

What happens to us if we are mineral deficient?
Minerals are an essential part of our natural diet and a lack of them may in part account for our increasing susceptibility to diseases - such as heart disease (magnesium), cancer (selenium), diabetes (chromium) and mental illnesses (zinc). Zinc is perhaps the most commonly deficient mineral and the most critical mineral for metal health. The average intake is around 7.5mg, which is half the RDA of 15mg. Every one of us should take care to get the minerals we need, for the good of our health.

A few Signs and a few mild to extreme Symptoms of Mineral deficiency:

Potassium deficiency: Dry skin, poor reflexes, apathy, weakness, confusion, and extreme thirst.

Magnesium deficiency: Apathy, weakness, cramps and muscle tremors (tetany) which leads to convulsions, insomnia, headaches, high blood pressure, depression, constipation, hyperactivity, Irregular heart rhythms.

Calcium deficiency: Muscle weakness or cramps, Brittle bones, rickets, osteoporosis.

Iron deficiency: Shortness of breathe, Fatigue, Iron deficiency anaemia, reduced resistance to infections, poor appetite.

Zinc deficiency: Hair loss, skin changes, diarrhoea, wasting of body tissue, loss of taste and smell, thin fingernails with white spots, acne, fatigue, memory loss, depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, poor immunity, dandruff, psoriasis, hyperactivity

What functions do mineral have in our bodies?
Minerals are needed for the proper formation of blood and bone, the maintenance of healthy nerve function, heartbeat regulation, reproduction and foetal development. They are essential to the process of growth, healing and energy release. And it is not just the presence of the mineral in the body that is important - they must be in the correct ratio to each other. The level of each mineral has an effect, directly or indirectly, on every other, so if one is out of kilter the whole system is affected. Calcium, magnesium and phosphorous help make up the bones and teeth. Nerve signals, vital for the brain and muscles, depend on calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium. Oxygen is carried in the blood by an iron compound also essential for oxygenation of and carbon dioxide extraction from the body.

Chromium helps control blood sugar levels. Zinc is vital for body repairs, renewal and development. Selenium and zinc help boost the immune system. Brain function depends on adequate magnesium, manganese, zinc and other essential minerals. These are a few out of a thousand key roles minerals play our health.

What can you do to ensure that you are getting the minerals that you need in your diet?

Eat Organic: The first thing you can do is to eat organic. Organic foods have a higher mineral content than those grown with chemicals, plus by eating organic you are supporting the environment.

Take supplements: It is very important nowadays to supplement your diet with good quality supplements that are easily absorbed by your body. There are a lot of supplements out there that are a waste of money because they are manufactured with synthetic ingredients. These should be avoided as your body will not absorb them.