What is Fulvic Acid?

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What are fulvic and humic minerals- the uses and benefits of these ancient organisms
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I’m always fascinated when modern research and science explain things that traditional cultures have intuitively known for years. For instance, modern science is uncovering the many important roles that Vitamin K2 plays in the body and how it supports oral health, and many traditional cultures have eaten K2 rich foods like raw dairy and natto for years.

Another area where science seems to be starting to understand traditional wisdom is the role of probiotics (especially soil based probiotics) for health. Researching is showing how overuse of antibiotics and antibacterial soap is creating an overly-sterile environment and depriving the body of beneficial organisms.

We live in a world where everything is sanitized, food is irradiated and we are so removed from our food supply that we never interact with the soil. Doesn’t seem like a big deal, right? Turns out, it is a really big deal!

Importance of Soil-Based Organisms

I wrote before about how gardeners live longer, and one of the reasons is their interaction with the wide variety of beneficial organisms in the soil (which is very much alive).

This is also the reason that children need to interact with dirt. Why? From that post:

What a child is doing when he puts things in his mouth is allowing his immune response to explore his environment,” Mary Ruebush, a microbiology and immunology instructor, wrote in her book, Why Dirt Is Good: “Not only does this allow for ‘practice’ of immune responses, which will be necessary for protection, but it also plays a critical role in teaching the immature immune response what is best ignored.”

After a study found that kids who grew up on farms or with a dog in the house had fewer allergies, research started to explore the importance of the organisms found in these less-than-sanitized environments and how they impacted health.

“Children raised in an ultra clean environment,” he added, “are not being exposed to organisms that help them develop appropriate immune regulatory circuits.

We may never fully understand the complex micro-system that occurs in the soil, just like we may never understand the human body fully, but one area of fascinating research is the presence of fulvic acid and humic substances in the soil.

Fulvic Acid and Humic Substances?

Ever heard of fulvic acids or humic substances? I hadn’t either until a few months ago:

Fulvic acid is defined as a “humic substance,” meaning that it is a major component of organic matter. A component of soil, fulvic acid is released as organic matter decomposes. During the process, millions of beneficial microbes are released, enhancing the healthful components of this substance.

Fulvic acid is considered one of the most chemically active compounds in soil as it contains a variety of beneficial nutrients. The compound contains an assortment of hormones, fatty acids, ketones, flavonoids, and vitamins and minerals. (source)

Fulvic minerals and humic minerals are similar but different:

Humic and fulvic acids (fulvic acids are humic acids of lower molecular weight and higher oxygen content than other humic acids) are commonly used as a soil supplement in agriculture, and less commonly as a human nutritional supplement. As a nutrition supplement, fulvic acid can be found in a liquid form as a component of mineral colloids. Fulvic acids are poly-electrolytes and are unique colloids that diffuse easily through membranes whereas all other colloids do not. (source)

Benefits of Fulvic Acids

Research is only starting to uncover the important role that fulvic minerals play and the information is amazing! Fulvic acids support the body in a variety of ways including digestion, cell health, brain health and more! Shilajit is a great source of fulvic acid.

Fulvic Acid and Digestion

Fulvic acid benefits digestion and helps the body absorb nutrients from food. In a perfect world, our food would naturally contain high levels of fulvic minerals from the soil, but this is not usually the case with our modern food supply.

Consequently, a majority of Americans (and many others in the developed world) are deficient in a variety of minerals, and the epidemic of gut problems makes it difficult for many people to properly assimilate nutrients, even if those readily available in food.

Fulvic acid is naturally high in electrolytes and antioxidants, which also explains how it helps nutrient assimilation. There is also some evidence that these substances can be helpful in helping the body fight SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth) since they are a source of native probiotics and prebiotics that remain in the digestive system and help the body maintain a beneficial bacterial balance. (Many strains of probiotics are temporary and are eliminated in the stool.

Native probiotics, since they stay in the gut, can be taken in smaller doses and often lead to rapid change in gut bacteria.

Fulvic Acid and Cellular Health

Fulvic acid helps water enter cells at a faster rate, leading to balanced hydration and mineral levels. Its unique balance of chelated minerals (over 70!) helps fulvic acid enter cells quickly and increases enzyme activity.

Consuming fulvic acid helps support proper biochemical reactions in plants and animals and optimizes cell response. Research is still developing on this and I’m fascinated to see what we will uncover in coming years.

Fulvic and Humic Acids for Brain Health and Energy

Though research is still emerging, there seem to be brain and energy supporting properties in fulvic and humic acids:

Moreover, fulvic acid “actively takes part in the transportation of nutrients into deep tissues and helps to overcome tiredness, lethargy, and chronic fatigue. It also works effectively as a tonic for cardiac, gastric, and nervous systems, adaptogen and anti-stress agent.” Fulvic acid has been shown to discourage age-related cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, jaundice, bronchitis and anemia as well. Dr. Susan Lark, MD, a foremost authority in clinical nutrition and preventative medicine, recounts numerous testimonials from individuals using fulvic acid who believe it encouraged the healing of cancer, fibromyalgia, arthritis, wounds, autism and chronic pain.

And a study in the Indian Journal of Pharmacology found that fulvic acid is effective in curbing diabetes mellitus by reducing blood glucose levels and improving lipid profiles in laboratory animals. (source)

How to Get Humic and Fulvic Minerals

In a perfect world, we could (and would) get all of our vitamins and minerals from food alone. Unfortunately, in today’s world, this is not usually possible- at least not in the developed world.

I’ve been experimenting with fulvic acid supplementation lately, since even though we eat (almost) completely organic, buy food from local farmers (whenever possible) and make sure to consume a wide variety of foods, I still had several deficiencies. I wrote about my experimentation with supplementing with these minerals and my results here. I’ve taken two different forms and would recommend both of them: Probiotics (capsules- more expensive) and Black Mineral Powder (powder- less expensive). (Note: I wanted these to be affordable to anyone who needs them, so if you decide to try black mineral powder, use the code “wellnessmama” for 50% off!)

Again, this is a new area of research and I believe science is just starting to scratch the surface of how these substances affect the body.

A Word of Caution

Since fulvic and humic minerals are so potent, they should be taken carefully and with high quality water that is free of chlorine and other contaminants:

Some of nature’s most valuable and essential anti-cancer and anti-disease phytochemical nutrients which are commonly found in food have been discovered to form deadly cancer causing substances when consumed or combined with chlorinated tap water. This discovery includes familiar foods including soy, fruits, vegetables, tea, many health products, and even some vitamins. Research has proven that these essential nutrients are the exact same families of compounds, that even in infinitesimal amounts have been tormenting the water treatment and chlorine industries for years.

Recently, a joint study was undertaken in Japan by research scientists at the National Institute of Health Sciences and Shizuoka Prefectural University. They determined that natural organic substances originating from foods, including fruits, soy, and green or black tea, react when tap water is chlorinated, forming dangerous cancer causing compounds. These deadly compounds have been named MX, which stands for “unknown mutagen”, and are similar to the already well-known and more easily detected cancer causing THMs (trihalomethanes). (source)

This is also the reason why we filter our drinking water and shower water.

Have you ever heard of fulvic or humic minerals? What do you think of them?

Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

70 responses to “What is Fulvic Acid?”

  1. Mary Avatar

    Katie, I’ve recently learned about Fulvic Acid, and ordered the Vital Earth Fulvic Mineral Complex, but just read that one of its ingredients is cadium, which is unsafe. What are your thoughts on this? Thanks. Mary

  2. Melba Simmons Avatar
    Melba Simmons

    What I’ve read has peaked my interest to learn more about fulvic acid.

  3. Sarah Balfour Avatar
    Sarah Balfour

    1. Acids aren’t minerals, they are acids. The scientific definition of an acid is a substance that can react with a base (e.g. HCl + Na = NaCl)

    2. NaCl (aka sodium chloride, or table salt) is an example of a mineral. Minerals are, by definition, inorganic. Acids, however, can be either organic or inorganic depending on the source. Examples of organic acids: formic, citric, acetic, oxalis, lactic, malic, carbonic, uric. Organic acids tend to be weak (pH over 4). Examples of inorganic – aka mineral – acids, include: hydrochloric, nitric, phosphoric, sulphuric, boric, hydrofluoric, perchloric.

    3. Neither acids, nor minerals, are organisms. An organism is something living (plants, animals, bacteria, viruses are all organisms). Acids and minerals do not meet any of the criteria that define life. A tree is an organism, as is an amoeba, a cat, a wasp, a dog, salmonella, listeria, the influenza, HIV, and cold viruses. Rocks, and everything derived from them, are not organisms because they’re not alive.

    If you’re going to write about something, at least TRY to make some effort to understand what it is you’re writing about – a five-year-old would understand that a rock isn’t alive.

  4. kathy Avatar

    Biochemical fulvic acid is now widely used for agriculture use, the high content purity already used as hospital and for facial mask use too. We can not live without humic and fulvic acid.

  5. Eugene Avatar

    Hi dear Katie ! I’m from Ukraine and I would like to use fulvic acids in my business, like food supplement. But  in  my country nobody knows about fulvic acids, so could you advice me the documents or certificates about safety of this product for people?
    I would be very grateful to you. Look forward to your reply.

    Yours sincerely,
    Eugene Zobnev

  6. Crystal Avatar

    Hi Katie, I have came across your site a few times and appreciate your wellness insight. I happened to use Fulvic Acid for a while now, and it has done wonder for me and my husband (good high energy). One night I saw the melanoma skin cancer regrown on the back of my hand (where it had surgically removed 3 years earlier) , after I rubbed the spot a few times ( still don’t know why I did that, lol) with this Fulvic acid on it and the next day the ugly big pimple was gone. After that incident it really makes me a royal user of fulvic acid.

    I can’t agree with you more that we need to really research the purest form of any supplement we put into our bodies. Here is a youtub of Dr. Robert Faust’s video to explain the power of Fulvic acid.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbLM-C3DGbg

  7. Annemique Avatar
    Annemique

    I am using it after it was recommended in the great series ‘the truth about van er’. It is adviseur as a presentatrice measure. Even I deze the label of the bottleI am concern de though. There are a lot of things in de fulvic acid that are usually considered unhealthy, such as cadmium. Have you looked into this?

  8. Bjorn Avatar

    I got diagnosed with LPR (laryngopharyngeal reflux) earlier this month from an ENT specialist which from what I understand is when the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) is loose and not closing properly which is now allowing acid from my stomach to reach my throat. I have the black MP water powder version on the way in the mail and should be coming in tomorrow. I am also going to a gastrointestinal specialist this coming Friday. Will the fulvic/humic acids strengthen the LES to function properly? Will the soil based organisms help in keeping the stomach acids to stay down rather than go up to the esophagus? Any kind of information you can provide will help. Thank you, Wellness Mama.

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar

      I’m really not sure if it will help with your specific condition, but since it is nutrient based, it should be beneficial in general… sorry I can’t be of any help and I hope you find answers and relief soon!

  9. Tanya Avatar

    Hi Katie. I am sorry, my fault. Since it was my first time commenting in your blog, did not read your comment policy, before posting. Now i see what I did wrong and how it looked like. I really value your opinion, can you please tell me, what do you think about the product I found. Because Black Mineral Powder Is way to expensive for me. Thank you so much.

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar

      Honestly, having never tried it, I can’t really comment on it. I would simply advise you do what I do: research as much a possible to find the purest source that is available to you.

  10. Amy Avatar

    Is this for kids? Mine are 6 & 11. What’s the dosing of powder? I just got mine in mail today. Thank you

  11. Sharon Avatar

    If you took shiliajit wouldn’t it cover getting the same minerals? Please help. Thank you.

  12. Paul Avatar

    Hey Katie!

    Plenty of information on your site! Big thanks especially for links to TTAC in your newsletter! 🙂

    Anyway, do you happen to know the difference between Black Water (or Black Powder) and natural “rock sweat” Shilajit?? Shilajit contains fulvic and hummic acids for sure, one can check it on wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shilajit

    Black Powder seems to be a nice alternative to shilajit, but I am a little bit rattled by the lack of any information about its manufacturing process. I wasn’t able to find it in web and I searched thoroughly.

    Of course, eco-certificate is a trustworthy thing but I have got very good habit of not taking any supplements unless I fully understand its manufacturing process and origin. I really want to consider Black Powder (mainly due to its convenience) as an option but in comparison with shilajit – I haven’t got the slightest idea from what is it extracted. Literally NO INFORMATION at all!!!

    In these times, when information is so accessible – it’s simply to little for me to know, that product is eco and healthy. I thing that everyone should scrutinize – why is it and what makes it healthy…

      1. DeNise Davis Avatar
        DeNise Davis

        Thanks for this post Wellness Mama. Which of these two supplements do you consume, and which do you recommend over the other? Thanks for your reply.

  13. Trudy Avatar

    Like Naomi, previous commenter, I’m wondering if you know anything about taking fulvic while breastfeeding.

  14. Naomi Avatar

    Thanks, I was also wondering is fulvic / humic acid safe whilst breastfeeding and during pregnancy?

  15. dusica Avatar

    I have 1/2 liter plastic bottle of fulvic/humic solution. I drink every day one shot. Is it safe for people prone to kidney stone and kidney and bladder infections ?

    Dusica

  16. Yvonne Avatar

    Hi Katie,

    I’m a little confused! I understand not to drink fulvic acid with tap water. But can you drink tap water afterwards or do we have to exclude the consumption of tap water totally?

  17. Sarah Picard Avatar
    Sarah Picard

    Katie, you should try BLK Water?? Its Black water with fulvic minerals! I found it this past week at my local health food store and I love it!

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