SEA MINERALS

Amena Health Products is Gerry Amena of Gunalda, Queensland and is the Developer and

Manufacturer of Seamineral Tonics, Creams and Organic Herbsalt.

About Gerry and Seaminerals - -

It was through fate several decades ago that the developer of sea mineral products found himself far

from his native Holland serving in the Dutch armed forces in tropical Indonesia. His interest in nutrition

and a yearning to heal ensured that Gerry spent his term in the military in the medical corps, where he

took every opportunity to study the immune response to disease, and quickly learnt that the most assured

response to disease was to fortify the immune system prior to disease setting in.

It was shortly after his military service that Gerry immigrated to Australia and decided to take his love

of nutrition to new heights by becoming a farmer. After decades, mostly spent as an organic farmer,

where he constantly observed the ravages of the sun and low yields due to the nutrient-poor land which

is a common problem in Australia, Gerry came to the realisation that he must find a more sustainable

and efficient method of getting nutrients into the soil and ultimately the plants that grow in it.

At this point Gerry turned to sea minerals. The improvement in plant quality and yield was amazing, so

much so that it caused Gerry to question that if this is what sea minerals does for plants what would it do

for him. Curiosity got the better of him and the temptation to experiment was great. Gerry prepared and

pressed his first dose of sea minerals against his lips. This was the beginning of the sea mineral story.

The pursuit of excellence compelled Gerry to further develop the product, always keeping in mind that

in order for the sea minerals to retain their unique natural balance in a highly concentrated form, that

they must be concentrated naturally, and within a natural setting. The end result of Gerry’s work is that

through a number of proprietary and yet natural concentration processes, pure ocean water is converted

to highly concentrated anti-microbial solution, where a gallon of sea minerals has 100 gallons of the

goodness of the ocean, and at between 1% and 2% of Sodium Chloride only, a fraction of the salt

content.

You see, from the very moment of our inception, electrolytes or minerals, both macro and trace,

influence every aspect of our lives. Minerals have many roles, and each one is as important and

influential as the next, and they work together with one common goal "Supporting All Your Biological

Functions”

2

Minerals enable your cells through electrical impulses to communicate with one another, thereby

assisting you with every function, whether it be simple movement, or immune response to injury or

disease. You could say that they keep us wired.

Minerals help regulate the fluid within our body, and help regulate blood pH. They assist in directing

the two-way traffic of getting oxygen into the cells while at the same time aiding in the export of carbon

dioxide.

Minerals also help regulate nerve impulses and muscle reflexes. Minerals are essential in the building of

teeth, the skeletal system and soft tissue, and are known as the building blocks of cells.

Minerals are absolutely essential in human development from foetal stage right through to maturity.

Minerals, both Macro and Trace, are essential in maintaining our immune systems, offering vital support

from the very beginning of life right through to senior years, helping us to mature gracefully rather than

aging rapidly.

If one had to seek out a universal catalyst to life they needn't look any further than minerals, as every

known life form requires them. A good example of just how influential minerals are is that Magnesium,

just one of the essential elements, is required for every life form known to man. Without minerals your

brain, heart and other organs would cease to function.

Traditionally we obtained minerals and trace elements from the food and fluids we consumed. This

traditional source of essential minerals is no longer a satisfactory source. The standard for agriculture

has rapidly shifted from sustainable chemical free organic farming to one where chemical fertilisers,

neurotoxic herbicides and pesticides have replaced safe and nourishing organic farming methods that

have sustained mankind for thousands of years.

This has resulted in the standard that has been practised for thousands of years being overtaken by one

that has been practised only for a few decades. Today the food we consume has only on average 25% of

the mineral value of the food that our forefathers consumed whilst establishing our great democratic

economies.

This situation has in a very large way contributed to a sluggish and sickly society that is increasingly

more depressed, less productive, more overstressed and overmedicated, and as we get more obese and

sickly, we are drawn more than ever before, to a seemingly simple solution to this problem, taking more

medications. It is now the norm for many people to take several medications for several different

conditions.

Many medications have side effects which limit and cause the body to lose essential minerals and trace

elements. Mineral and trace elements that the body needs to enable communication on a cellular level,

for fluid regulation, blood pH, and organ function, and it also needs these essential minerals as they are a

catalyst for other nutrients that are just as essential and are an integral part of the immune system.

Other ways of losing minerals is during periods of physical exertion such as exercise and training. This

occurs when we sweat as a result of work or play. We can lose minerals during periods of illness, for

example; large volumes of minerals can be lost as a result of fever. Caffeine is a well known diuretic

and, as such, one can expect to lose minerals when they consume coffee or black tea. Alcohol

consumption is by far the biggest culprit that causes the body to lose minerals at an unsustainable rate.

3

It is quite amazing that any responsible medical researcher can even contemplate making health claims

that a glass of red wine or a glass of beer can be of any benefit. It is quite amusing when on one day

research finds a benefit in moderate alcohol consumption only to be rebuffed the following day by

another researcher. The simple fact is, that any beneficial properties in a glass of wine are counteracted

many times over by the harm that it does.

It is a constant source of amazement that alcohol has not yet reached the same pariah and antisocial

status as that of nicotine use.

If our food alone is no longer a sustainable source of essential elements, then the question has to be

asked; what other natural sources of dietary minerals are there? What is the answer?

The search for a suitable dietary mineral source led us directly to the oceans. The sheer range of

elements found in ocean water is the reason that our oceans are teeming with millions of different life

forms. The uncanny similarity of ocean water and the fluids within our own bodies further supports

ocean water as being a highly suitable and natural source of dietary minerals, both macro and trace. It

will be of interest to you to learn that ocean water and our own blood plasma has an almost identical

concentration and range of elements.

Health from the

Ocean Deep

A New Approach to Holistic Healing

with Sea Minerals & Herbs

There is an industry in Australia that is virtually unknown in the United States. It

relies on nutrients from the ocean. Although some aspects of ocean mineral fertilization

were made a matter of record in Fertility from the Ocean Deep, we believe this

interview enlarges the subject enough to warrant interview status.

The Australians create shallow ponds with a floodgate to the sea. When the tide

rolls in, the gates are opened. As it goes out, water is trapped and held for evaporation.

Through various procedures most of the sodium chloride salt is removed and the

mineral payload harvested.

Enter Gerry Amena, a farmer who disdains the label scientist, even though his work runs circles around the dysfunction

of pharmaceuticals. Our questions and his answers define the subject and its ramifications. Amena lives in

Queensland, grows most of his own herbs and now reaches around the world with a message, “No minerals — no

health.”

Gerry Amena

ACRES U.S.A. So the trace minerals are

what make ocean water so important for

nutrition and health?

AMENA. Yes, and especially the concentration

and balance of elements suspended

in it. This incredible balance of elements

in our oceans is governed by nature and is

perfect, and as such, supports life. Waters

like the Dead Sea and the Great Salt Lake

contain elements so concentrated that you

could count the number of life forms these

bodies of water support on one hand.

ACRES U.S.A. Then the full range of

minerals is essential?

AMENA. All creatures require a balance

of both macro and trace minerals to function.

The levels and balance of minerals in

man is not governed by nature. The minerals

are either present or not in our foods,

including the water we drink. The advent

of modern agriculture and food processing

has led to a severe decline in the levels

of vital minerals in our food, causing a

deficiency of minerals in our bodily fluids.

Even organic food is not exempt from

this, as our topsoil now is almost barren of

minerals. Our drinking water has also

been affected because of water purification

and filtering. Although these methods

are viable ways of removing harmful

pathogens from our water, the processes

also remove the already low levels of

minerals and trace elements.

ACRES U.S.A. For this reason you’ve

turned to the ocean?

AMENA. Yes, for nourishment. In a

closely guarded, pristine location off the

Great Barrier Reef, ocean water is collected

in specifically designed ponds where it

is allowed to slowly concentrate. By utilizing

solar evaporation and precipitation,

a dense solution of rich macro and trace

minerals slowly starts to develop. At this

point, excess levels of sodium in crystalline

form are gently removed from the

solution, and the remaining liquid is transferred

to another pond where it is allowed

to concentrate even further.

ACRES U.S.A. You rely on the sun to do

the evaporation?

AMENA. Absolutely. After many months

of solar concentration, a dense mixture

rich in all manner of minerals is formed,

remarkably low in sodium (about 2 percent).

This mineral-rich, antimicrobial

and antibacterial solution is then tanked

and shipped to our facility, where it undergoes

a special proprietary process to

ensure its efficacy and suitability for

human consumption. Throughout this

time-consuming procedure, the solution is

constantly monitored, and samples are

repeatedly collected for analytical testing

in a NATA-accredited laboratory, to

ensure the consistency and concentration

of minerals are within an acceptable

range. In fact, this 100 percent oceanderived,

ionic- minerals liquid solution is

naturally balanced, and that is not a loose

term that we use. As the minerals are

slowly concentrated, excess levels of minerals

such as sodium are naturally precipitated

out of the solution. This is not the

result of human processes — it is the natural

result of solar evaporation and gravity.

ACRES U.S.A. Are those commercially

available or were they at the time you

needed the help?

AMENA. Yes, they had just started to

come in and someone gave me a sample. I

bought it for my garden, not for myself.

But I could hardly walk anymore and after

I tried the sea minerals, it started getting

better and better. I gave some out to other

people for free — I have a big organic

garden, and they used to come and buy

vegetables from me and they would say,

“Hey, you look a lot better. What happened?”

I told them, and they would try it

and found they got better. From there on it

started to develop. After three or four

years, I started making creams as well that

have the minerals in.

ACRES U.S.A. Are you a chemist?

AMENA. No. I’m a farmer.

ACRES U.S.A. You’re a farmer, but you

learned something about chemistry to

make these preparations, didn’t you?

AMENA. No, they just come to me. I was

in the Dutch army from 1947 until 1950 in

Indonesia — I was in the medical service.

I worked with smallpox, typhoid, cholera

and all those big diseases. I was never

overly impressed by the way medicine

approached the disease — shove chemicals

into your body and you’ll get better .

. . but you don’t. The chemicals might get

rid of the symptoms for a bit, but it’s put

other things in your body that should not

be there either. What we do is totally natural.

All the herbs in the minerals — they

are plain minerals but there are also herbs

in it — are all organically grown on our

farm. The process of adding them to the

minerals takes eight to ten weeks, like a

fermentation process more or less, and

then it’s put through a cold-processing

machine. We do not use any heat at any

time in the preparation of those minerals.

The minerals intercept on the plant and

become one, more or less. It cannot be

contaminated by bacteria.

ACRES U.S.A. What kind of preparations

do you have?

AMENA. One we call Supa Boost, which

has six different herbs in it. I’ve had people

with staff infections, gangrene, bacterial

infections, and it wipes out the problem

in 24 hours.

ACRES U.S.A. Viral?

AMENA. Yes. Hepatitis C, for example

— you’ve got about 6 or 7 million cases

in the United States, all incurable. For A

and B they have a vaccination — reasonably

effective — but for C, they don’t

have anything. After using our stuff —

even with AIDS, HIV — from four weeks

to three months, depending on how old

you are and how bad the condition is,

there is no detection. Quite a few specialists

in the United States are using it now

on their clients.

ACRES U.S.A. What about bird flu,

which is making the headlines nowadays?

AMENA. That would take about six

hours — half a teaspoon every hour of the

Supa Boost and there’s no bird flu left.

You’ll wipe it out totally. Now, there’s no

money in it for pharmaceutical companies,

so they would not like this idea,

would they?

ACRES U.S.A. Let’s back up a little bit.

Do you deal directly with the ocean or do

you have some other source for your minerals?

AMENA. No. Ocean only.

ACRES U.S.A. You go out in the ocean

and collect the water?

AMENA. Yes, there’s a pump house and

it’s pumped up on the land, or in some

areas there are tidal flats 20 or 30 acres in

size around which they construct little

dikes around it, they’re about 4 feet tall

with gated openings. As the tide comes in,

these flats fill up and they close the gates

Reprinted from

March 2006 • Vol. 36, No. 3

on the dikes. The seawater stays inside

and then the separation process starts with

the sunlight. Eventually the salt starts

floating to the surface, and then the minerals

that have settled to the bottom are

pumped out into another pond. The

remaining salt is gathered and used as

cooking salt or for caustic soda, those sort

of things. Quite a big business with them.

ACRES U.S.A. This is your raw material

then, the mineral part?

AMENA. Yes, and the raw material stays

raw material. We don’t alter it.

ACRES U.S.A. You said you use certain

herbs in conjunction with these raw materials.

Can you tell us what you do?

AMENA. You know nasturtium flowers?

They are the best antibiotic in the world.

Traditionally, if you got sick you would

get nasturtium leaves and put them in a

salad or make a tea or other preparation

from it, and within a couple days, you’re

completely better. They didn’t have

antibiotics in those days. After you cut the

plant, though, within half an hour there

are no antibiotic properties left. The substances

oxidize and are completely

destroyed by nature. That’s why we emulsify

it, and in 10 minutes it goes straight to

the minerals, which stabilize it totally. It’s

been tested in the United States the beneficial

properties of the nasturtium do not

alter at all. I’ve had some that’s six, seven

years old, still just as good as the day it

was made.

ACRES U.S.A. Do you encapsulate that

material?

AMENA. No. No. It would melt the capsule

in 30 seconds. It’s potent.

ACRES U.S.A. So you take it as a liquid?

AMENA. One teaspoonful during the

evening meal. That’s the dosage I take and

it has been enough to alleviate my arthritis

totally. And a scar on my arm from a

smallpox vaccination when I was in

Indonesia — even that has disappeared!

I’ve had people with Parkinson’s Disease

who have been in a wheelchair for years,

could hardly walk, shaking like anything,

and depending on how old they are, after

three months to six months, there’s no

sign of Parkinson’s left. The same has

been true for Alzheimer’s, after about six

to eight weeks.

ACRES U.S.A. How about Lou Gehrig’s

disease, or lateral sclerosis?

AMENA. That, too. I haven’t yet struck

anything it does not work on. It’s incredible.

It’s really unbelievable when you see

what’s happening. Diabetes is another

condition where we’ve seen results, with a

hawthorn berry preparation. Hawthorn

berry has long been used for heart health.

It’s very effective, usually prepared as a

tea. When combined with Supa Boost, our

Hawthorn preparation appears to work not

only on the heart, but also on an over- or

underactive thyroid. For diabetes, you

take half a teaspoon of the Hawthorn during

the evening meal and half a teaspoon

of the Supa Boost. People with Type 1

diabetes who have spent 10 years on

insulin, after six months to two years,

depending on their age and how bad the

condition is, their pancreas is again producing

its own insulin. Sometimes people

have to change their lifestyles. Get off red

meat, no soy products, alcohol, etc.

Reprinted from

March 2006 • Vol. 36, No. 3

Functions of Selected Minerals

& Trace Elements

Calcium: Critical for many biological functions, including nerve transmission,

fat and protein digestion, muscle contraction, healthy teeth and bones, blood

clotting, nerve functions and more.

Sodium: Muscle contraction, fluid balance, cell life and potential, and numerous

other functions.

Potassium: Nerve transmission, fluid balance, blood pressure, muscle contraction

and many more functions.

Phosphorus: Bone formation, assistance in the breakdown of fats, protein and

carbohydrates.

Magnesium: Muscle contraction, nerve transmission, calcium metabolism, enzyme

cofactor — absolutely essential to all known life forms.

Boron: Calcium metabolism — an inadequate level of boron is also suspected in

negatively influencing the bodies uptake magnesium and calcium, possibly

resulting in bone density loss and elevated blood pressure.

Chlorine: Digestion, blood pressure.

Cobalt: Essential for formation of vitamin B12, metabolism of fatty acids, and

synthesis of hemoglobin.

Sulphur: Protein synthesis, collagen cross linking, bone and ligament structure.

Copper: Immune system, artery strength, helps form hemoglobin from iron and

assists in metabolizing vitamin C and the oxidation of fatty acids.

Chromium: Insulin action, cardiovascular health, glucose tolerance factor.

Iron: Blood formation, immune function.

Selenium: Immune stimulant, certain brain functions, acts as antioxidant.

Nickel: Immune regulation, brain development, DNA synthesis.

Iodine: Thyroid function, aids in upkeep of immune system.

Molybdenum: Enzyme action.

Silicon: Enzyme action, connective tissue.

Tin: Enzyme action.

Manganese: Bone development and growth, metabolism of fat and energy, reproductive

system.

Zinc: Enzymatic reactions, reproductive health, growth and development, immune

functions.

For more information, visit <seamineral.com>.

ACRES U.S.A. How many different

preparations have you figured out now

with the sea minerals?

AMENA. We’ve got three. The Supa

Boost, the Hawthorn for the heart, thyroid

and the brain — it appears to work very

well with brain tumors as well, and the

Stinging Nettle. That’s for the menopause.

We also have the Pure Aussie — the mineral

as it comes from the ocean.

ACRES U.S.A. Are any of these animal

products?

AMENA. Yes. Animals are not essentially

different from us.

ACRES U.S.A. You know they’re killing

birds by the millions in order to control

this avain flu. That’s the big approach to

disease in veterinary medicine — depopulate

the herd, kill them, in other words.

How would you administer this to chickens

or other fowl?

AMENA. You put it in the food. But the

treatment would probably be too expensive

for poultry producers, unless they had

really rare, expensive breeds. When

money’s involved, life doesn’t matter

much, unfortunately. To me it does, but . .

.

ACRES U.S.A. Is there any hydrogen

peroxide in these preparations?

AMENA. No, only the minerals and the

various herbs. Speaking of which, another

herb we use is sheep sorrel, which is

known as a cancer remedy — they dry it

and make tea from it. That’s also in the

Supa Boost.

ACRES U.S.A. You don’t make a tincture

or tea out of it then?

AMENA. No, with a tincture — alcohol

destroys all the herbs. But in our experience,

sheep sorrel — when rendered fresh

the way we do it — appears to kill any

virus, Hep C, AIDS, and all other viruses.

I’ve had quite a number of ex-soldiers

here from Vietnam, and they get a skin

disease, a psoriasis, as a result of Agent

Orange exposure. Nothing will fix it. But

they use the Supa Boost and the cream —

we’ve got the Supa Boost in a topical

cream as well — and in three months the

problem was gone. This cream will take

some spots of skin cancers off, take

melanomas out. Four years ago we were

at Dr. Alexander Shelfs’ cancer clinic in

Los Angeles. He’s a very knowledgeable

man with minerals and he had a look at

the sea minerals. He’d never heard about

them and he was very impressed. He gave

my partner who was in Los Angeles one

of his books, Minerals in Human Health,

to give to me. When I read it, I phoned

and complimented him on his ability to

write in a way that normal people could

understand it, not scientific rubbish, but I

pointed out that he had made three mistakes.

Two were minor points about trace

elements, but I took issue with his statement

that patients with osteoporosis need

calcium. That’s the worst thing you can

give to people with osteoporosis because

it’s not lack of calcium, it’s the lack of the

ability to absorb the calcium from the

blood. For that you need magnesium, vitamin

B12, lithium and fatty acids such as

butter.

ACRES U.S.A. But everybody prescribes

calcium for these people. What happens to

them?

AMENA. It cannot be absorbed into the

system. Cells cannot take it up, so they

take it from the bones.

ACRES U.S.A. Then what happens to the

calcium?

AMENA. In the blood, it sets in your

joints and spurs begin to grow, along with

kidney and gallstones. I explained that to

him. Oh boy! He was fuming. I said,

“You’ve got something from another book

and you did not check it.” He said he

would get his scientists — he’s got a big

laboratory — to check it out immediately.

He called me four-and-a-half weeks later.

He said, “Gerry you were right — my scientists

told me after researching it that

you were totally right. You don’t give calcium

when you have osteoporosis.” Three

weeks later, he flew over from the United

States with a couple of his friends, they

hired a film crew, came over here and

talked to me for quite a number of hours

about natural health and they filmed it all.

He was impressed. He said, “No one in

the world can make a product like you

have — no scientist can do that.” That’s

right, I agree. I’m not a scientist — I’m a

farmer who lives with the creative forces

of nature and that’s what I use.

ACRES U.S.A. I wrote a little book

called Fertility from the Ocean Deep,

which describes how farmers were using

sea solids and diluted ocean water as fertility

for pastures, among other things.

AMENA. Oh yes! We’ve used it in

Australia for 20 years. For cotton pests

they spray with chemicals, which are not

very good. Instead they’ve learned to use

seawater, diluted 10 to 1, spray it once a

month over the cotton, and it kills all the

grubs. It also drops on the ground, where it

fertilizes the soil and the plant — they get

50 percent more in crop yield. They have

the crops sold for 10 years ahead —

Germany buys a lot because it’s all organic.

The government and the chemical companies

warn cotton growers not to try it,

that they might lose a crop and lose their

whole place. Chemical companies don’t

like natural things. Two years ago, a gent

came here from Sydney, and he wanted to

buy my formula — offered me $2 million.

Turns out he was with a multinational

pharmaceutical company — he said he

wasn’t allowed to tell me which one. I said,

“Well, for a little bit like that, why should

I do that?” He said, “How much do you

want? Start at $2 billion. Will you sell it?”

I said, “No, I’ll kick you off the place. Get

in your car and go and don’t come back.

This is for people.”

ACRES U.S.A. It wouldn’t be for people

if they got hold of it — they’d shelve it.

AMENA. They’d bury it, yes.

ACRES U.S.A. How much trouble are

you having getting this product into the

United States?

AMENA. No problem at all. No problem

whatsoever.

ACRES U.S.A. You say you’re a farmer.

What kind of an operation do you have?

AMENA. I’ve got 174 acres, with about

three acres under cultivation — herbs,

such as the sheep sorrel. I’ve got them all

here. Now sheep sorrel does not usually

grow in warm climates and we have a

warm climate here, but I grow it because I

use the sea minerals in the soil. It’s unbelievable

what they do. Nasturtium, the

flower we use for its antibiotic properties,

I grow all year round. With the minerals

from the ocean it’s unbelievable how

much more product you can grow — you

can double your crop on the same area.

ACRES U.S.A. How do you apply that?

AMENA. You must dilute at least 10:1.

We had a dealer, bought the property

years ago, and we sprayed his citrus fruit

Reprinted from

March 2006 • Vol. 36, No. 3

trees — they had become quite black, they

hadn’t been looked after in a long time.

One application of the sea minerals, and

the soot never came back. Five years later

I had the trees growing, the fruit is excellent,

unbelievably tasty. No minerals —

no health for our bodies. No minerals —

no health for plants. All these minerals are

the basics of nutrition and health.

Seawater and our blood plasma are 98

percent identical. The only difference is,

the blood plasma collects the molecule

iron, and sea minerals have an extra molecule

of magnesium. Otherwise they’re

the same. But the only place you find

every mineral and trace element of this

world is the ocean. You don’t find it anywhere

on land. You’ll fine some here,

you’ll find some there, you never find the

whole lump in one place.

ACRES U.S.A. You know down in

Florida they’re cutting down citrus trees,

literally clear-cutting them because

they’ve gotten certain funguses in the

wake of the hurricanes. And you say that’s

not necessary at all — all they need to do

is treat those trees with diluted seawater

once?

AMENA. Yes. Hit them once, if necessary

hit them again. If there’s an excess of

fertilizer the leaves take it up, and what

they don’t take up will wash off with rain,

runoff to the soil and be absorbed by the

roots.

ACRES U.S.A. Back to your farm. You

grow all the herbs you use in your preparations?

AMENA. All except hawthorn berry.

That’s grown in higher elevations — it

doesn’t grow in a hot climate. Sheep sorrel

doesn’t grow in hot climates, either,

but I grow it successfully.

Acres U.S.A. is the national journal of sustainable

agriculture, standing virtually alone with a real track

record — over 35 years of continuous publication.

Eash issue is packed full of information ecoconsultants

regularly charge top dollar for. You’ll

|be kept up-to-date on all of the news that affects

agriculture — regulations, discoveries, research

updates, organic certification issues, and more.

Typical Analysis of Sea Minerals

Element/Concentration

ppm = parts per million

ppb = parts per billion

Calcium (Ca) 80 ppm Magnesium (Mg) 92,000 ppm

Sulphur (S) 44,000 ppm Nitrogen (N) 500 ppm

Phosphorous (P) 7 ppm Sodium (Na) 3,750 ppm

Bromine (B) 6,120 ppm Carbon (C) 2,640 ppm

Strontium (Sr) 760 ppm Boron (B) 460 ppm

Silicon (Si) 280 ppm Fluorine (F) 4 ppm

Lithium (Li) 16,000 ppb Rubidium (Rb) 11,400 ppb

Iodine (I) 5,600 ppb Barium (Ba) 2,800 ppb

Indium (In) 1,180 ppb Zinc (Zn) 940 ppb

Iron (Fe) 940 ppb Aluminium (Al) 940 ppb

Molybdenum (Mo) 940 ppb Selenium (Se) 380 ppb

Tin (Sn) 280 ppb Copper (Cu) 280 ppb

Arsenic (As) 280 ppb Uranium (U) 280 ppb

Cobalt 40 ppb Cesium (Cs) 40 ppb

Cerium (Ca) 40 ppb Yttrium (Y) 20 ppb

Silver (Ag) 20 ppb Lanthanum (La) 20 ppb

Thorium (Th) 4 ppb Gallium (Ga) 2 ppb

Bismuth (Bi) 2 ppb Niobium (Nb) 1ppb

Thallium (Ti) 180 ppb Gold (Au) 0.4 ppb

Nickel (Ni) 180 ppb Vanadium (V) 180 ppb

Manganese (Mn) 180ppb Titanium (Ti) 100 ppb

Antimony (Sb) 400 ppb

Dr. Maynard Murray was a pioneer in biology, health and agriculture. His lifelong quest taught him the key to health is a secret in soil, whose source is the sea. A medical scientist, he recognized evidence of an all-encompassing unity for life on Earth. His inspiration came from his study of the ocean.

Along his 45 year journey, Murray was actively engaged with farmers to learn agriculture. Later, he operated a successful hydroponic vegetable farm. His research led him to a key to the cause, treatment and prevention of cancer.

Murray got his B.S. in 1934, an M.D. from University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 1936. Two postgraduate years in internal medicine, then three-and-a-half in ear, nose and throat surgery. From 1937 to 1947, he taught physiology and directed experiments at Cincinnati College of Medicine, studied law at night school, and learned medical hypnosis.

In 1947, Murray moved to Chicago to begin a 25-year medical career in ear, nose and throat. Experiences with patients aroused his concern for the quality of life. While Americans lived longer, medical practice revealed they weren't living better. Chronic illness and degenerative disease slowly steadily increased.

"A large portion of our lifetime and resources is spent to combat illness and withstand aging," Murray wrote. "Paradoxical that despite the great variety of foods developed to nourish our bodies, we still suffer degenerative diseases, and fall prey to aging long before optimum lifespan is reached."

Pointedly, he wrote, "Americans hold the dubious distinction of being among the sickest of populations in modern society."

Astutely, he added, "A nation with a drug industry flourishing as well as ours certainly cannot claim good health!"

First Clue

"Life in the sea, animal and vegetable, is far healthier than similar life on land. Why?" Murray asks to begin his book.

Murray's passion to answer such questions led him to devote himself to search for solutions. Even with a family and medical practice, Murray was never too busy for field and lab experiments.

As a university student, Murray tried to induce cancer in a toad. He was astonished; the amphibian had natural immunity. He sought answers in ocean animals rather than freshwater and land animals. Time and money was spent traveling to study and dissect sea life from South America to Pribilof Islands.

"A cubic foot of seawater sustains many times more living organisms," he noted, "than an equivalent of soil. Seawater is literally alive, especially if its temperature is warm.

Murray sliced open whales to see an animal that lives in salt water is largely blubber—that fatal fat—yet no sign of arteriosclerosis from clogged arteries. He autopsied dolphins and marine mammals searching for organic degeneration.

And saw little sickness in the sea. In dissecting sea animals, whales and seals, no malignant disease was found. Ocean animals never develop degenerative diseases that plague man. Cancer, arteriosclerosis, diabetes did not exist in sea animals.

"Looking at ocean life, one is immediately impressed that in this 71% of earth's surface, there is no cancer, hardening of arteries, or arthritis. Disease resistance in sea plants and animals differs remarkably from land animals. Ocean trout don't develop cancer, while freshwater trout over five years have liver cancer. It's difficult to find any land species without cancer. All land animals develop arteriosclerosis, yet sea animals are never diagnosed with this."

Murray noted that aging hardly occurs in the sea. Comparing cells from adult versus newborn whales showed no evidence of chemical changes observed in land mammal cells. Some sea denizens seem to never cease growing. Size of land versus sea turtles reveals the tremendous difference.

Seasoning Reasoning

Murray pondered what imparts this apparent immunity to sea animals. Was this a nutritional factor? Was it minerals? Or some more complex chemical factor?

Simple reasoning sees that minerals in soil leach out with rain and snow to flow by streams and rivers into oceans. The land's mineral fertility winds up washing into the seas. Minerals lost from land accumulated in the sea for millennia. This logic suggests seawater minerals are key nutrients responsible for the heath of sea life.

"Seawater is Earth's most ancient natural solution," Murray said, "and, in my opinion, most ideal, physiologically. In the sea, as liquid crystalloid, all Atomic Table elements are in a solution of consistent balance and proportion, available to all sea life.

Murray noticed the elements in seawater are essentially the same as in blood, and very close to the same quantities. This seemed no chance, but a true clue to the role of minerals in health. Might mineral deficiency be a significant cause of degenerative disease? If humans get a full menu of minerals, will our physiologic disorders decline?

How to supply humans these necessary nutrients? Drinking seawater isn't possible. Humans aren't designed to ingest minerals as salts—or rocks, for that matter. Our guts can't assimilate elements in raw, naked, ionic forms. Rather, human intestines need minerals packaged with sugars, amino acids, fats, oils.

The doctor observed. "Biology knows humans and other animals can't obtain elements unless they're hooked to carbon. Plants convert inorganic elements to organic compounds that can be used by animals."

"Table salt is the only food we eat that's inorganic," Murray noted, "and frankly, it isn't good for us."

"ocean Waters hold a perfect balance of essential elements required as food for the complex cell groups that make up our bodies," Murray postulated. "This is my thesis—now for proofs."

Seawater into Soil

As a first step to learning how to supply minerals to humans, Dr. Murray realized we get our minerals mostly from food, secondly in water. He decided to use seawater as a soil amendment, and observe if this provided any benefit. Perhaps if soil is supplied all essential minerals, plants will absorb them as nutrients, and pass them to animals that eat them.

In Murray's first trials, the U.S. Navy supplied seawater from oceans all over the world. Railroad tank cars delivered seawater to Cincinnati, which was sprayed at various controlled rates onto test plots.

In 1940, four 12-foot peach trees 20 feet apart began his experiments. Two trees were designated experimental and, in March, treated with 600 cc. of seawater per square foot, before the buds break. Two controls got no application.

Murray recalled: "May first, all four trees were sprayed with Curly Leaf virus. The test lasted three years. Virus spraying took place only the first year. Control trees contracted Curly Leaf each year, and finally died. Experimentals retained resistance throughout, and provided normal yields each year."

Turnips were planted the same year, the experimental half fertilized with 600 cc. of seawater per sq. foot of soil. Staphylococcus bacteria associated with "center rot" was mixed in soil of the entire plot. When turnips sprouted and leaves appeared, [they] were sprayed with the bacteria. All experimentals grew normal, healthy, no evidence of center rot. Controls contracted center rot and died.

This sort of result occurred with every crop Murray tested. Tolerance tests indicated the sea can be recycled back to the land.

Seawater is cheap. But water is heavy, so seawater is costly to transport—nearly all the cost is shipping.

Sea Solids

All the solids in one railroad tank car of seawater hardly fill a steel drum. By weight, 3.5% of seawater is solids. Chemical analysis shows all the elements in the Atomic Table, with possible exception of some gases.

So Murray began using sea solids: salts and other chemicals left after water is removed from seawater. Removing the water made transport economical, and solids were easier to apply to soils.

He wrote, "We looked worldwide for natural locations where seawater becomes landlocked, and total evaporation takes place. The largest deposits were in Mexico, with others in South America and Africa. This complete spectrum of elements from the sea we designated sea solids."

In over 20 years, Dr. Murray tested sea solids on various crops in seven states and different climates. Experiments indicated land plants tolerate 400 to 1000 cc. of seawater to 1/3 cubic foot of soil. Sea solids were administered to soil at 500 to as much as 3000 lbs. per acre. Excepting serious rainwater runoff, one application would last five years.

He recorded, "We began using sea solids to grow large quantities of cereal grains to feed animals. Sea solids were applied at 1000 to 2,200 pounds per acre to half the fields. Controls received only customary fertilizer."

Corn, wheat, oats, barley, hay, fruit trees, vegetable crops, and other plants were raised on seawater, or sea solids. Fields were planted so an experimental plot using sea solids was by a control plot using the best commercial method. Sea solids-fertilized crops grew faster, healthier and produced far greater growth. Resulting color, disease resistance, taste, and yield were outstanding.

According to Murray: "At harvest, corn smut, rust, and other cereal diseases were significantly reduced in experimental fields. Disease resistance had been fixed in plants by this complete elemental diet. The next step was to see if the resistance could be transferred from plants to animals."

Animals, wild and domestic, had no trouble determining which was better to eat. A walk through a field showed a glimpse of animal heaven. Rabbits and mice scurried everywhere, yet a control area with standard fertilizers was almost lifeless.

In 50's, Murray began assaying crops for nutrients. Consistently, sea solids grown foods had significantly more minerals (ash content), vitamins (+25% C in tomatoes, +40% A in carrots), and sugars. So sea solid grown food is tastier, and more nourishing.

Principle of Proportion

"From the start," Murray recorded, "my sea solids experiments produced excellent results. It conclusively proves the proportions of trace minerals and elements present in sea water are optimum for growth and health of both land and sea life."

Growers quickly criticize Murray, insisting salt will kill plants as quick as any pesticide or poison. True, if it's table salt. However, the doctor found if sodium is blended with all the other elements in the same ratios as in seawater, plants aren't injured, but thrive.

Wrote Murray, "Sodium chloride, the major component of seawater, is normally toxic to plants. However, my method prevents salinity from affecting plants' root structure.

"The scientific community knows excess table salt—four or five teaspoons—ingested at one time is lethal to human life. Salt was a recognized method of suicide practiced by Chinese in ancient times.

"Present with other elements in seawater, sodium and chlorine aren't toxic to plants. Actually may be necessary for absorption of heavier elements. It's known that saline solution picks up a greater quantity and variety of elements than ordinary water."

DR. Murray LEARNed a key principle: each essential element must be present in certain precise proportions relative to the others.

"Tomatoes serve as example of this need for balance. Tomato growers know potassium has a major function in plant growth. Potassium is added to soil in quantity by growers. Yet the tomato itself has only a minor amount of potassium.

"My experiments proved conclusively a small amount of potassium, as in its proper balance in seawater, grows unusually healthy, outstanding tomatoes. It's unnecessary to fertilize heavily with one element if an adequate balance of elements is available."

To evaluate qualitative effects, the total amount of minerals is less critical than proper ratios among them. Individually, one mineral in excess can be toxic, and make other elements seem in deficit. Blended in balance with all the elements in seawater, they enhance and enliven each other.

Trace Elements: Least as Most

In Murray's time, trace element knowledge was minimal—a new area of knowledge. He cited medical journals on the dramatic ten year change of interest by the scientific community in trace elements and health. One article stated "only a dozen trace element laboratories existed in the U.S. in 1966. Now [1976] over fifty in the U.S. are devoted to trace elements. Research of their role in physiology is also underway in Europe, Soviet Union, Egypt, Iran, and Australia."

Only twenty elements were known to have a specific role in human physiology. Several more were known to benefiT plants and animals. Heavy metals were suspected of positive roles. Even poisonous elements (eg, arsenic) were beneficial if ingested in organic form, and in trace amount.

Specialists agreed more trace elements await discovery as essential for animals and man. Yet, only nine trace elements were listed in "Recommended Dietary Allowances," and few enzymes had their trace elements identified. Yet, thousands of enzymes were identified. Undoubtedly, many more enzyme-trace element functions remain to be described.

So, while Murray could write little on trace elements, he grasped how the least can exert the most influence. An element needed in micrograms or less can have dramatic biologic effects by activating enzymes and hormones. The doctor knew we need all the elements available, not a few in excess amounts.

Seaponics

Rain falling on sea salts drying in open air beds dissolves heavier metals and trace elements first. Minerals that go in solution quickest wash away faster than light minerals. After a few rainwater washings, sea salt has far more sodium, far fewer trace elements.

Murray searched for sources of sea sediments that were subject to minimal rainfall and leaching. Southwest Africa, Arabia, Baja California, and northern Chile are all arid areas where rain is rare. Here, ocean waters swell up at high tides into beachside lagoons. These pools dry out, leaving behind the minerals.

These unwashed sediments worked best in Murray's soil experiments. Murray believed these desert deposits retained all of seawater's original elements in nearly the same ratios.

Murray realized farmland is a limited resource. Some areas of Earth are losing farmland as our food production base shrinks. He came to believe hydroponics is humanity's best bet to expand food production, and began experiments with seas solids in hydroponics. This also gave him better control over plants' diets.

Murray started hydroponics in his cellar to supply his family year round fresh produce. Later, his research collaborated with commercial scale growers. In 1958, he bought a Florida farm and became a commercial grower, with 178 beds, each 100x4 feet.

About 112 pounds of dried, natural sea solids were dissolved in up to 10,000 gallons of water. The only fertilizer experimental crops received was this sea solids solution, and sometimes nitrogen, which bathed their roots a few times each day.

In a typical test, tomatoes were planted a foot apart in 100x3 foot hydroponic beds. Nutrient solution flooded the beds, was drawn out and returned to a tank three times a day. Experimental beds received 112-pounds of sea solids to 5000 gallons of water; controls got conventional hydroponic solution.

Tobacco Mosaic Virus, lethal to tomatoes, was sprayed on all plants. Experimentals didn't contract the disease, while all the controls died of the virus. In trial after trial, sea solids seemed to confer greatly enhanced disease resistance—nearly immunity.

Recycle the Sea

"Plants flourished as none have in this modern day of fertilized soil," enthused Murray. "The contrast of experimental with controls was truly exciting. Taste difference was very significant, especially in tomatoes and carrots. Production rate was considerably higher, disease resistance apparent."

Murray concluded, "The most effective nourishment for hydroponic-grown plants is to supply all needed elements in predetermined ratio as inorganic minerals dissolved in water. Surprisingly, this nutrient solution is in substantially the same ratios as seawater.

"All essential nutrients can be supplied in proper proportions by a single dilute solution of seawater, plus nitrogen. Dissolving complete sea solids in fresh water formed dilute solutions of 1000 to 8000 parts per million."

Eventually, Murray operated a successful five acre hyroponic farm in south Florida, growing tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, celery, and other produce in intensive beds. Because he grew superior yielding crops of healthy, tasty, disease free plants, market demand for his crops was high, and his farm very profitable.

"My experiments proved adequate supplies of food can be developed if man recycles the sea," insisted Murray.

Animal Testing

Murray's most remarkable tests were trials feeding animals foods grown in sea solid-fertilized soil. Cattle feeding behavior provoked his excitement. Corn grown on sea solids fertilized soil was marked by wrapping tape around a stalk, mixed with conventional cornstalks, and dumped in a pasture.

Astonished, Murray recalled, "As animals munched away, immediately they preferred sea-solid stalks. After once sampling an experimental stalk, animals would nuzzle and burrow the pile to find another, ignoring control stalks until they had no other choice."

In further proof animal instinct knows best, Murray treated a 100 square foot section of clover with sea solids. When clover was six inches, sheep were allowed to graze. They walked and grazed until they came to the treated spot, then ate until the clover within the treated area was nubbed to the ground.

Results urged larger, elaborate study of animal feeding. Murray designed a series of trials with various feed grains and types of animals. Working with several farmers, he devoted years to studying the benefits of sea-solid fertilized feeds.

He reported, "In 1954, three staple feeds—corn, oats and soybeans—were grown, and subsequently fed to animals under controlled conditions: four parts corn, two oats, one soy. Not only were experimental crops superior, but effects on animal physiology and pathology were delightfully amazing."

Feeding experiments with cattle showed greater weight gain eating less experimental feed. Chickens were particularly partial to sea solid grown feeds; they grew more quickly, hens produced more, larger eggs sooner, and at slaughter, their meat better quality.

Murray wrote, "Chickens, pigs and cattle fed sea solids produce reached maturity sooner than controls, and resisted diseases common to their species better. Experimental pigs carried benefits into a second generation; there were no runts in litters."

Cancer: Nutrition or Genetics?

Murray's most astonishing tests were with lab mice—a C3H strain genetically selected by inbreeding to develop spontaneous cancer. Murray wanted to see what effect, if any, his sea solid-fertilized feeds might have on these DNA-doomed mice.

He wrote "A first animal experiment was on C3H mice, which get spontaneous cancer of the breast. We hoped sea solids-grown food could build resistance to the virus or cancer.

"C3H mice weredivided in two groups. Controls were fed regular cereal grain, while experimentals were fed cereal grain raised on sea solids-treated soil.

"Instead of cancer IN 90% OF CONTROLS, experimental animals' rate dropped to 55%. Second generations born to parents fed sea solids food had cancer in only 2% of the population!"

This single experiment caused Murray to reconsider conventional causes attributed to this dread disease. He repeated his experiment in variations. Each time, sea solids fertilized feed seemed to impart resistance, perhaps immunity, to cancer.

In his time, organic farming was obscure, perpetuated by very few dedicated souls. Natural food stores and coops didn't exist. Ecological whole system thinking was unknown, amid total reliance on reductionist analysis, synthetic remedies, petrochemicals, and machinery.

And cancer was just beginning a rapid rise to overshadow human health—modern medicine's biggest boogieman.

Nutritional Deficiency Diseases

Murray faced facts compiled in experiment after experiment, and realized nutrient deficiencies are a key element contributing to degenerative diseases.

"Our frightening increase in chronic disease can be attributed to the absence of complete, balanced physiological chemistry," believed Murray. "If necessary elements aren't in our food, where are they? Certainly nature provided them.

"My research clearly indicates Americans lack complete physiological chemistry because balanced, essential elements of soil have eroded to the sea; consequently, crops are nutritionally poor, and animals eating these plants are, therefore, nutritionally poor.

"minerals have departed from our soils due to continuous taking of crops and erosion. Most crops require forty elements from the soil. In no case do fertilizers add more than twelve, most add six."

Unlike technicians who see only their own small problem, Murray's lifelong work with oceans, farmers, hydroponics, and medicine gave him a broad view. He recognized a new pill won't resolve the real problem. Only addressing the root source can relieve disease. Murray correctly saw topsoil and farming is the real root cause, and called for changes, not in medicine, but farming and food processing.

Sea Energy Agriculture

In 1976, Murray published a small book titled Sea Energy Agriculture—a remarkable testimony to a natural approach to soil fertility, and a nutrition approach to medicine. Murray wrote hopefully, believing he had important news to report.

for excerpts from
Dr. Murray's 1976 book
Sea Energy Agriculture

"This is my lifelong search to open doors to a provocative new arena of science and technology called sea energy agriculture..... quite possibly this could lead to the end of disease and famine."

Dr. Murray lucidly described his 45 years investigating sea minerals in farming, food and medicine. Knowing his message was sure to provoke astonishment, disbelief and controversy among his medical and scientific peers, he began by quoting G.P. Hardy in A Mathematician's Apology.

"Sometimes one has to say difficult things,
but one has to say them as simply as possible."

In his Preface, Murray assures us, "As a scientist, I have great respect for what our technology has accomplished, but it is imperative that we accept a junior partnership with nature. To join this, we must alter the way we grow our food, protect our plants from pests and disease, and process our food."

Organic Farming

Murray's one chapter on organic farming reveals weak insight into ecology—a prevalent shortcoming in his day. He believed plants feed directly on inorganic ions in watery soil solution. No matter if a nutrient was natural (organic) or man-made (synthetic).

The physician knew little of how bacteria, fungi and microbes affect plant feeding—that roots and soil organisms form intimate communities, wedded together in tight symbiotic dependencies. Actually, the medical doctor saw microbes mostly as unfriendly and dangerous.

Nonetheless, his Conclusion said: "Today's organic farmers realize a giant commercial farmer, specializing in one crop, using only chemical fertilizer, is destroying soil's ability to produce food. If this continues, soil will be ruined and lost through erosion. To prevent this, and reclaim soil already destroyed, organic farming must be used."

Thus, Murray cast his lot with the tiny minority to challenge the chemical orthodoxy of his times. Like every other small voice of reason, he was ignored in the petrochemical rush to pump up yield with synthetics.

Lifetime Research

Murray's Conclusion states, "Research reported is in the nature of pilot projects. Tremendous further research needs to be done to render conclusive the appealing results and provocative trends indicated to date."

The book ends by Murray musing on his findings' human implications. He cautioned against extrapolating his observations into human nutrition and health, yet recognizes this is an issue of our time—a key to renewing America's soil, food and health.

"For man to continue to live on earth, he must make fundamental changes. He must look to oceans as a source of needed elements. These elements must be returned to soil so better quality, more healthful foods can be produced.

"Man must stop destroying soil. This requires basic changes in our agricultural system. Large commercial farms probably must be broken up and small regional farms using organic methods take their place.

"We have the means and ability to make these changes. We need now only the desire."

Yet, Murray's voice fell on deaf ears. His time's closed chemical mindset couldn't embrace views differing from dominant paradigms. His data on nutrition and disease, soil minerals and food quality, trace elements and health was lost. His warning to renew all the minerals needed in topsoil was ignored.

Dr. Maynard Murray was fond of saying, "Nature can teach us so much, if we would only listen." He died in 1984, not sure his own message was heard or understood.

A quarter century has passed since Sea Energy Agriculture was published. Maybe now insights of this 20th century bioneer will be recognized and put to proper use. Certainly the need has never been greater.