Macro & Micro...Minerals!

Minerals are essential for balanced health. The body uses minerals for different jobs, such as keeping the bones, muscles, heart and brain working properly. They contribute to regulating fluids inside and outside the cells and are particularly important for the production of enzymes, taking part in many metabolic processes. They are also necessary for forming various hormones, and by possessing antioxidant actions, they contribute to the fight against free radicals.

Minerals in the body serve two main functions:

• The operation of the reconstruction of solid materials

• The regulation of body processes in combination with vitamins, other minerals and enzymes.

There are two types of minerals: macro and micro (trace elements). It would be best to have more significant amounts of macro minerals than micro minerals. For example, macro minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride and sulfur are necessary for quantities of 100 mg per day or more. In contrast, microminerals (trace elements) such as iron, manganese, copper, iodine, zinc, cobalt, fluoride and selenium are needed in smaller amounts, less than 15 mg per day.

Metals are components of inorganic salts and organic complexes, such as phosphoproteins, phospholipids, metalloenzymes and other metalloproteins, such as haemoglobin. The essential nutrients from minerals are:

Calcium: almost all calcium is stored in bones and teeth to help make and keep them strong. The body needs calcium to help muscles and blood vessels contract and expand, and to send messages through the nervous system. Calcium is also used to help release hormones and enzymes that affect almost every function in the human body.

Phosphorus: is a mineral that helps keep the bones healthy. It also helps keep blood vessels and muscles working. Phosphorus is found naturally in foods rich in protein, such as meat, poultry, fish, nuts, beans, and dairy products.

Magnesium: is a mineral naturally present in many foods. It is also available as a dietary supplement in some medicines. It helps the body regulate muscle and nerve function, blood sugar levels, and blood pressure. It also helps the body to make protein, bone, and DNA.

Sodium: is made up of the elements sodium and chlorine - the technical name for salt is sodium chloride. The body needs some sodium to work properly. It helps with the function of nerves and muscles. It also helps to keep the right balance of fluids in your body as long as it is in natural form.

Potassium: is a mineral that your cells, nerves, and muscles need to function properly. It helps the body regulate blood pressure, heart rhythm, and cell water content. It also helps with digestion. Most people get all the potassium they need from food and drink, but it is also available as a dietary supplement.

Chlorine: is a mineral that helps maintain the acid-base balance in ... measures the amount of chloride in the blood.

Sulfur: The body needs sulfur to build and fix the DNA and protect cells from damage that can lead to serious diseases such as cancers. Sulfur also assists the body in metabolizing food and contributes to the health of your skin, tendons, and ligaments.

Zinc is a mineral that people need to stay healthy and is found in cells throughout the body. It helps the immune system fight off invading bacteria and viruses. The body also needs zinc to make proteins and DNA, the genetic material in all cells. The body needs zinc to grow and develop properly during pregnancy, infancy, and childhood. Zinc also helps wounds heal and is important for the ability to taste and smell. Zinc is found in a wide variety of foods, and is found in most multivitamin/mineral supplements.

Iodine: is a mineral found in some foods. The body needs iodine to make thyroid hormones. These hormones control the body’s metabolism and other functions. They are also important for bone and brain development during pregnancy and infancy.

Iron: a mineral is also a part of haemoglobin, a protein that transports oxygen from the lungs to the tissues. It helps provide oxygen to muscles. Iron is important for cell growth, development, and normal body functions. Iron also helps the body make some hormones and connective tissue.

Manganese: is a trace mineral that is present in tiny amounts in the body. It is found mostly in bones, the liver, kidneys, and the pancreas. Manganese helps the body form connective tissue, bones, blood clotting factors, and sex hormones. Fat and carbohydrate metabolism, calcium absorption, and blood sugar regulation are also affected. Manganese is also necessary for normal brain and nerve function.

Copper: it is an essential trace mineral that works to assist various enzymes that produce energy for the body, break down and absorb iron, and build red blood cells, collagen, connective tissue, and brain neurotransmitters. Copper also supports normal brain development and immune functions and is a component of superoxide dismutase, an antioxidant enzyme that dismantles harmful oxygen “free radicals.” Copper is absorbed in the small intestine and is found mainly in bones and muscle tissue.

Cobalt: it forms a part of the structure of vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 has several important functions, including making red blood cells and releasing energy from food.

Fluoride: is a trace mineral naturally found in small amounts in various foods. It is most recognized for preventing and reversing dental caries and building strong teeth and bones. Most fluoride is absorbed in the gut and stored in bones and teeth.

Minerals, unlike vitamins, are inorganic elements which retain their chemical identity. Once minerals enter the body, they stay until they are excreted, they cannot be changed into anything else. Minerals are not destroyed by heat, air, acids or agitation; the ash that remains when foods are burned is the minerals that were in them in the first place. Minerals can only be lost from food if they dissolve in water.

Minerals give strength and resistance to the skeleton. They are involved in various functions such as helping to balance fluids, regulating the organic balance in the water, as components of organic compounds making the movement of nutrients smoother, maintaining the physical blood acidity, in the proportion of functional exocrine and endocrine glands, and helping the metabolic balance.

Mineral interactions

Minerals can have harmful interactions with other minerals, affecting their intestinal absorption, transport, utilization and storage. For example, zinc absorption can be reduced by non-heme iron supplements, excessive zinc intake reduces copper absorption, and excessive calcium intake reduces manganese, zinc, and iron absorption.

Composition of metals in the body

Minerals represent 4 – 5% of body weight. About 50% of this weight corresponds to calcium, and another 25% to phosphorus in the form of phosphates. Most of the calcium and 70% of the phosphates are found in the bones and teeth. The other five essential minerals are magnesium, sodium, potassium, chlorine and sulfur. The 11 trace elements are iron, zinc, iodine, selenium, manganese, fluorine, molybdenum, copper, chromium, cobalt and boron, accounting for the remaining 25%.

Action of minerals

Minerals have an essential effect in the form of ions dissolved in body fluids and as components of necessary molecules. Mineral ions in body fluids regulate the action of many enzymes, maintain acid-base balance and osmotic pressure, facilitate transmembrane transport of essential nutrients and molecules, and maintain nerve and muscle excitability. In some cases, metal ions are structural components of extracellular tissues of the body, such as bones and teeth.

Many minerals, such as zinc and iron, are involved in various growth processes. Finally, some heavy metals or toxins create severe problems for our health, so they must be avoided. Toxic metals are:

• Lead

• Mercury

• Cadmium

• Male

• Aluminum.

People whose food intake is varied and adequately studied (people with a healthy and balanced diet), in most cases, obtain all their minerals from their food and a tiny percentage from supplements, such as capsules, pills or syrups.

Sometimes, your doctor may recommend a mineral supplement when needed. People who have specific health problems or take certain medications may need to take less of one of the minerals or vice versa.