Mineral Binders Simply Explained

1. What It Is About

Zeolite is a mineral that occurs in volcanic rock or is produced artificially. It has tiny cavities in which other substances can settle. Bentonite is a clay that consists predominantly of the mineral montmorillonite and arises from weathered volcanic ash. Both belong to the mineral binders: they act in the intestine like a sponge that attracts substances to itself.

Important: zeolite and bentonite are not uniform substances. Depending on the deposit, purification and grinding, the samples differ in structure, purity and particle size. Coarse powders pass largely unchanged through the intestine. Very fine or chemically modified forms, by contrast, can be absorbed into the body. The names of the preparations also reveal little about their properties: behind calcium montmorillonite, beidellite montmorillonite or purified clinoptilolite tuff stand different preparations.

In medicine, agriculture and environmental technology, processed forms have been used for decades. In humans they have been studied mainly for tolerability and intestinal health.

2. What Studies Show

Short-term tolerability is the best studied aspect. In a study of 50 healthy adults, participants took a calcium-montmorillonite clay for two weeks. Mild complaints such as flatulence or abdominal pain occurred rarely and no more frequently than in the comparison group. No serious incidents occurred 1. A similar pattern was seen in a study of 60 children who received such a clay for 14 days: blood values remained unremarkable and the children tolerated the intake well 3.

A benefit was observed in diarrhoea. A summary of several studies in children with acute diarrhoea concluded that diosmectite, a mineral binder, shortened the duration of diarrhoea and that more children were healthy again on the fifth day. Adverse effects did not increase 4. The quality of the included studies was, however, rated as low.

There are indications regarding the uptake of toxins from food. In a study in Kenya, 50 healthy adults took either a calcium-montmorillonite clay or a placebo for seven days, after which they switched groups. With the clay, less of a degradation product of a mould fungus known as aflatoxin M1 was found in the urine 2. In a further study of 42 healthy adults, the uptake of lead into the blood was strongly reduced when the zeolite was taken at the same time 6. This lead study was conducted in healthy people, not in people with lead exposure.

There was an indication in intestinal inflammation. In a study of 120 patients with mild to moderate ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammation of the large intestine, all participants received the anti-inflammatory drug mesalazine; one group additionally received diosmectite. After eight weeks and after one year, more patients in the combination group were free of symptoms 7. Whether diosmectite alone is effective was not examined.

Something was also observed in cancer therapy. In a study of 120 patients treated with the drug oxaliplatin for an intestinal tumour, one group additionally received a zeolite preparation. This group was able to complete more therapy cycles, and slightly fewer patients developed nerve damage in the hands and feet 5.

3. What Remains Unclear

Most human studies last only a few weeks. Whether the substances can be taken for months or years without causing harm has not been clarified. The number of participants is also usually small.

A second point is comparability. The preparations differ in purity, particle size and processing, and the studies measure different things. The fact that a substance binds many toxins in the laboratory does not yet mean that the same occurs in the intestine. There, nutrients, metabolites of the intestinal bacteria and other substances compete for the same sites. Some toxins are bound well, others hardly at all.

Whether the binders alter the intestinal bacteria remains open: none of the controlled studies has examined this. Studies on interactions with medicines or with minerals such as zinc and iron are also still outstanding.

4. What This Means in Everyday Life

Anyone reading about such preparations often encounters large promises: detoxification, elimination of heavy metals, a calmer intestine. Human studies so far support only a small part of this. The best evidence is that the substances are well tolerated over a few weeks. Indications, but not yet confirmed, exist for the duration of diarrhoea, for the binding of individual toxins and for adjunctive therapy in intestinal inflammation and chemotherapy. That chronic heavy-metal exposure can be treated in this way remains only a hypothesis.

It is striking how different the preparations are. When comparing studies, one is often comparing different substances. For interpretation this means: individual results cannot be transferred directly to another product. What needs to be clarified next is how the substances act over long periods and how preparations can be described unambiguously.

All details with study numbers and sources: Detailed Page on Mineral Binders (Zeolite, Bentonite). For children: Mineral Binders (Zeolite, Bentonite) for Children.