Zeolite is a mineral formed from volcanic ash and sea salt over millions of years. There are three main kinds; fibrous, leafy and crystalline zeolite. Medical use is from crystalline zeolite that contains high quantities of the mineral clinoptilolite.

Zeolite is an extremely hard honeycomb-like structure permeated by ducts and cavities throughout. These caves, or channels, are openings where minerals and heavy metals can bind to. The silicon building block in Zeolite is electrically neutral, but the aluminum building block carries a negative charge, which creates charged sites throughout the entire crystal structure.

A three-dimensional framework produces net negative charge that traps environmental pollutants and is balanced by the exchangeable cations Calcium, Magnesuim, Phosphate.

The clinoptilolite attracts positive minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium and iron. These common positive cations then are displaced by heavy metals such as cadmium, mercury, nickel, and arsenic and removed safely from the body.

This process is called Cationic Exchange: