Minerals are just as important as vitamins for our bodies to function properly.
Q. What are minerals?
A. Minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and iron are non organic compounds. This means that unlike vitamins minerals molecules do not contain carbon and do not originate from living organism. As the name suggests they come from the earth’s crust, mainly from the soil.
Q. They how do we get minerals by eating stones?
A. Indirectly. People obtain minerals from the plant or animal foods they eat and from water which may contain dissolved minerals. Supplementation is another way to get minerals.
Q. You have already mentioned several minerals. What ones do we need?
A. There are 15 which are currently considered essential for humans: Calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, chlorine, iron, iodine, copper, manganese, zinc, molybdenum, selenium and chromium.
Q. How does an inorganic compound such as mineral get into plants, which are organic?
A. Plant obtains minerals from the soil in which they are grown. Plants grown in soil that is deficient in a certain mineral will themselves be low in that mineral.
Q. What is term trace minerals, what is that?
A. Trace minerals are minerals that we need only in traces or very small amounts. Minerals are often grouped into two categories those required in our diets in amounts greater than 100 mg a day, and those required in amounts less than 100 mg a day. Those minerals that we require in large amounts (greater than 100 mg a day) are referred to simply as minerals. Those we need in small amounts are called trace minerals. There are even minerals called intra trace minerals such as molybdenum, which may be needed in fractions of milligrams.
Q. I have also seen the term trace element. Is a trace element the same as a trace mineral?
A. Yes. Both words have same meaning and are interchangeable. All the minerals are chemical elements substances which can’t be broken down to simpler substances.
Q. Are some foods higher in minerals than other?
A. Yes minerals are present in most foods in varying amounts. Dairy products, for instance are an excellent source of calcium as well as some potassium and magnesium as well some potassium and magnesium. Fruits and vegetables provide potassium magnesium and sometimes calcium. Meats poultry and fish contain iron. Zinc, copper and other trace minerals.
Even some herbs and spices are highly concentrated sources of trace minerals, the herb thyme, for instance contains 100 times as much as meat does, and 400 times as much as manganese. Black pepper, cloves ginger, and bay leaves are all rich sources of trace minerals. In fact, it’s been suggested that their richness in taste due to their concentration of such minerals.
Q. So what foods don’t supply minerals?
A. Foods that contain no appreciable amounts of minerals include animal fats oil, sugar, alcohol, and unless are enriched refined grains such as white flour.
Q. What do minerals do?
A. Even though they might be receiving less public attention these days than vitamins, minerals are just as important as vitamins for our bodies to function properly. Like vitamins dietary minerals participate in many biochemical and psychological processes necessary for good health.
For instance, calcium the mineral we think of as important for strong bones also plays a major role in blood pressure regulation blood clotting, the maintenance of muscle tone and the normal rhythmical contraction of the heart.
Iron generally known for its important role in the blood molecule hemoglobin which carries oxygen throughout the body is also involved in the proper function of the thyroid gland, in the production of the neurotransmitters (chemical substance that allow the brain and nerves to function) in the regulation of the body temperature and in metabolism.
And magnesium a mineral few of us probably know much about is known to be part of more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body it plays a vital role in virtually every body function from bone development to blood pressure regulation to proper brain function.
Q. Are there other essential minerals besides those you have mentioned?
A. Possibly. Some trace minerals appear to be important for animals. These are fluorine, tin, boron, vanadium, silicon, nickel, arsenic, cadmium and lead. But what role if any, these elements, play in human nutrition has yet to be determined. There is still a great deal to be learned about the role of minerals especially those we need in tiny trace amounts. We know very little for instance, about elements such as boron and manganese. We don’t know how much occurs in foods or how much is actually. We don’t even know whether these elements are absorbed. These trace minerals occur in small amounts that sophisticated and expensive equipment is needed to detect and study them.
The Role of Research
Q. Were the letters in vitamin names A, B C and so on given to them by researchers in the order in which they were discovered?
A. Well, they were meant to be but science is not as orderly as we might like. Vitamin A was discovered first, but the b vitamins rather mixed things up.
Researchers initially thought there was only one B vitamin. They called it water soluble B. later however they realized what they thought was one molecule was several and so, some of the B vitamins were given the letter B and numbers.
These days researchers prefer to drop the number, designation and refer to vitamins by their proper chemical names. You might see B6 listed as pyridoxine on a vitamin bottle label for instance. The B vitamin group is known B complex.
Vitamin K is also named because its Danish discoverer found that it was necessary for blood clotting coagulation in Danish.
Q. How do researchers determine what amounts of a vitamin or mineral are necessary for good health?
A. Most research to determine the amount of a nutrient that is necessary for good health has been bases on the absence of the physical symptoms associated with deficiency. The amount of a nutrient that prevents deficiency related symptoms in most people is considered in an adequate amount.
More recently, however researchers have started looking at the amounts of nutrients needed for optimum health the amounts needed for the greatest resistance to cancer and infection the lowest risk of diabetes and heart disease even the longest possible life. Those amounts are considered optimum levels. Optimum levels yet to be determined for many nutrients and researchers and public health officials frequently argue over what amounts should be officially recommended.
