This is where we must start to get scientific, after all the word chelate is a very specific scientific word that has almost become trendy in the marketplace. Certainly the word chelate is often misinterpreted and then, not surprisingly, misused. Because of this, “chelate” is almost reaching the point of being genericized in reference to nutritional minerals. This is why Albion Human Nutrition feels a strong and compelling need to help educate the industry and consumer in mineral chelates.

“Chelate” is a specific term identifying a type of bond between an inorganic mineral atom and an attached molecule structure referred to as a ligand. As you learned in Vitamins, Minerals, Chelates: What's the Difference, we know that the mineral portion of a chelate is an element and the attached organic ligand is a molecule. When this ligand attaches to the mineral to form a new molecule, it must attach itself in two locations - not just one. This is the broad basis of what a “chelate” is. Now it starts to get fun. Life itself is all about variation and chelates are no different.