| Fulvic acids are natural compounds that can be
found, among other places, in soils, rivers, lakes and ocean sediments.
They are a family of organic acids that come from soil humus. Plants absorb
small quantities of fulvic acids from the soil as a normal part of
their way of accessing mineral nutrients like iron, zinc, manganese and
copper (Chen and Aviad, 1990). Research confirms that plants retain small
amounts of fulvic acids (Ghabbour and Davies, 1994) after they have been
taken up from the soil. Once absorbed, fulvic acids stimulate the metabolic
activity of plants in a number of ways (Nardi, 1996).
In undisturbed natural settings, the soils are rich in
fulvic acids. Animals and people eat the plants containing them and thereby
benefit from them as a normal part of their diet.
In modern times, the carbon cycle has been interrupted
to varying degrees on most large-scale farms. Farms depend on chemical
fertilizers and pesticides, burn crop stubble, and till the soil intensely
(rather than depend on crop rotation and manures or composts). Practical
and economic considerations have driven the vast majority of farms in the
developed world to adopt such practices. These farming methods have been
shown to dramatically reduce the amount and quality of humus and other
organic matter in the soil. Under intense cultivation, soils may lose half
or more of their active humus fractions in three to five years (Freeman,
1969). Numerous studies show that fulvic acids are consumed much faster
than the other constituents of soil humus. One study showed that soil from
forest lands in Poland, for example, lost over 90% of its soluble fulvic
acids from plant uptake and microbial degradation after being cleared and
replaced with wheat and corn farms (Insam, 1996). Other soil fractions
were less impacted.
A general reduction in fulvic acids in agricultural soils
logically results in a lower intake of fulvic acids in the diet of the
average person. Furthermore, much of the fulvic acid that does make it
into our diet may have been degraded by heat during processing.
Scientists are becoming increasingly aware of the importance
of organic soil amendments in general, and of fulvic and humic acids in
particular (Piccolo, 1996). Producers of food and fiber are using commercial
concentrates of fulvic acids (and humic acids) to an ever increasing extent.
Fulvic and humic acid containing compositions promote better plant growth
and improve the uptake of fertilizers and mineral nutrients into plants
(Day, 2000). The effects of fulvic acids on plant growth have been studied
and documented in great detail (Chen, 1999). Extensive scientific literature
reviews are available on the subject (Vaughan and Malcolm, 1985, Chen and
Aviad, 1990 and Nardi, 1996).
As the active ingredient in peat based mud baths, fulvic
acids have been used and studied (Grassi, 2003) for many years in the treatment
of various ailments by topical contact with the skin (Beer et al., 2003).
Scientific documentation of these benefits is becoming more extensive.
In recent years, there has also been a dramatic rise in the use of fulvic
acid fortified mineral supplements (UC Berkley Wellness Letter, June 1997).
Studies to document the benefits of fulvic acids in the diet are beginning
to appear in international scientific publications (Madej, 1993). There
has also been a rise in the use and study of fulvic acids as supplements
in animal feeds (Covington et al., 1997).
The growing body of scientific literature from various
domains sheds a great deal of light on potential uses for fulvic acids
in human nutrition, in topical applications to the skin, and for the treatment
of various diseases. Although much research remains to be done on the subject,
early indications are quite favorable to support the supplementation of
fulvic acids in the diet and for their use in topical skin treatments.
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