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It is one of the great ironies of life that unimportant and unrelated facts come together somewhere, somehow to have profound and practical meaning. Equally amazing is how our subconscious mind works with these obscure facts and just out of the blue will pop into our conscious mind with solutions to problems that we didn’t even realize were problems.
As an example of this, recently I saw a TV commercial that used the tune of a familiar song but I couldn’t think of the name of the song. This was a little annoying but I let it go and went on to more important business of fixing myself a snack. When I got up the next morning, the name of that song popped into my head and the melody played over and over all day long. My subconscious mind had obviously worked all night to solve this problem that didn’t amount to a hill of beans. Of course, the work of the subconsious mind is not always this petty.
A few days ago I overheard a conversation between a local veterinarian, Dr. Darrel Gray and two Co-op employees. They were discussing cattle minerals and which ones were the most beneficial for cattle. Dr. Gray asked if we could get chelated minerals (pronounced “key’-lay-did”– Mr. Webster may not agree but I can’t make all those squiggly little marks on my word processor). With the word “chelated” now interjected into the conversation, the discussion rose to that higher and more refined level concerning the benefits of chelated minerals. As I was passing by, I felt obliged to put in my two cents worth.
I don’t remember a lot from high school chemistry, but the word chelated was a word that I did remember somewhat. I remarked to the group that “chelated meant that the molecule had an outer valence that did not contain all the electrons that it was capable of carrying.” It is like a racetrack going around the nucleus of an atom that can hold eight cars but only has six in it. This less than full outer valence of electrons makes it easier for this atom to join to another such atom and form a molecule or compound. It’s like a boy and girl who want companionship and are attracted to each other and end up getting married. This makes chelated minerals better because they get absorbed easier inside the cow instead of just passing on through the digestive system and becoming expensive urine.
Dr. Gray surprisingly agreed with my crude definition of
chelated. I don’t know if I was close to right or if he saw this as an opportunity to avoid a time consuming explanation of what it really meant.
You would think that this would be the end of the story. But no, my subconscious mind has to take this tiny morsel of information and do a little analyzing with it. The startling conclusion suddenly pops into my head a few days later.
“MY BISCUITS MUST BE
CHELATED!”
This may not sound important to you. But suddenly it became crystal clear why it is so hard for me to get rid of a “few” unwanted pounds. (“Few” is a relative term that helps to avoid specifics.)
I can only imagine what must be taking place inside my digestive tract after eating those chelated biscuits. What are all those biscuit particles doing that I sent down there this morning? Those rascals have probably grown little claws so they can hang on for dear life. Not content with just hanging around themselves, they also harass the other fellows down there. These other guys include the hydrogen and carbon atoms that are just passing through. They want to take the one-day tour and get out at the nearest exit. But the chelated biscuit particle has other ideas. He hollers over to the hydrogen and carbon atoms, “Hey fellows, come over here and look at this!” They don’t figure it will take very long so they mosey on over. Before you can say “fat molecule” they are attached to the chelated biscuit particle and can’t get away. Now they have no choice but to hang out with him wherever he wants to stay. I know all too well where that is.
Folks, reading food labels at the grocery store does pay off. The next time that you are shopping for biscuits, don’t just pick up any kind. Read the label and be sure that you are getting the
UN-CHELATED brand. Chelated minerals are great for cows but chelated biscuits are a no-no for many humans.
Darrell Thompson is the manager of Lawrence County Exchange in Moulton. |
