SHIFT™ Magnesium, SHIFT™ Magnesium Powder, SHIFT™ Sink, SHIFT™ Calcium Extra and SHIFT™ Mann contain special amino acid chelated minerals from Albion Minerals.
In nature, minerals are packaged in proteins to protect the minerals from interacting with other substances and to avoid causing irritation and discomfort in the gastrointestinal tract after ingestion. And also to enable the body to absorb them in the best possible way for further utilization. To mimic the organic minerals as they are found in nature, amino acid chelates, often called bisglysinates, can be made using special technologies. Albion Minerals is one of the pioneers of such "nature-identical" amino acid chelates/bisglycinates, and uses a patented process to create its amino acid chelated minerals. It is these minerals that are used in the SHIFT™ range.
Many traditional mineral supplements use inorganic minerals (oxides, carbonates, sulphates etc.). These mineral forms often have low absorption and utilization in the body, and can also cause stomach upset and nausea.
Amino acid chelated minerals
Since the human body easily absorbs the amino acid glycine, this amino acid is most often used when making amino acid chelates. When forming a magnesium bisglysinate chelate, two glycine amino acids bind with one magnesium molecule to form a magnesium bisglysinate chelate. Since two glycine amino acids bind to the mineral, the result is a dipeptide. (If two glycine bind with a zinc molecule, the result is zinc bisglysinate chelate. If two glycine bind with a calcium molecule, you have calcium bisglysinate chelate, etc.)
Gentle and bioavailable minerals
When minerals are properly chelated, they are not broken down in the digestive process, but remain intact so that they are effectively absorbed through the intestinal wall via the efficient dipeptide absorption system, and then into the body's cells for utilization. This means that when taking a chelated bisglysinate in the SHIFT™ range, the mineral will be protected from being broken down in the digestive system (breakdown can cause various forms of stomach irritation and nausea) and thus arrive intact in the small intestine, where it is efficiently absorbed for further utilization in the body's cells. This results in mineral products that are gentle on the stomach and have high bioavailability in the body.
Bioavailability is a measure of the amount of ingested nutrient that is absorbed and made available for metabolic use in the body. Nutrients must be absorbed in order to be available for the body's various functions, such as growth, maintenance, reproduction and other performance factors. Bioavailability is everything when it comes to supplements.
In addition to being gentle on the stomach and bioavailable, Albion's chelated minerals have been shown not to negatively affect other substances in food or supplements, so there is no negative interaction.
The minerals in the SHIFT™ range are "fully chelated" and very well documented.
For a mineral to be a good and fully functional amino acid chelate/bisglycinate, there are a number of factors that must be in place during production. These include the technology used, that the right amount of ligand (binding molecules) is used and the reaction time of the process. The fact that a bisglysinate is fully chelated means that there are correct and strong enough bonds between the amino acids and the mineral. What distinguishes Albion Minerals' amino acid chelates/bisglysinates from other bisglysinates on the market is their patented production process and the extensive analysis of the finished product. Among other things, Albion uses Fast-Fourier Transforming Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy to identify the correct and strong enough bonds between the amino acids and the mineral to ensure that the mineral is gentle on the stomach and effectively absorbed by the body. This quality check of the raw materials has been named TRAACS™, which indicates that Albion Minerals are fully chelated and documented.
