Dietary minerals are chemical elements required by living organisms. They can be either bulk minerals (required in relatively large amounts, macro minerals, grams or milligrams per day) or trace minerals (required only in very small amounts, micro or pico grams) Appropriate intake levels of each dietary mineral must be sustained to maintain physical health. Excessive intake of a dietary mineral may either lead to illness directly or indirectly because of the competitive nature between mineral levels in the body. So be careful how many rocks you eat and keep the kids away from the lead paint on the wall. Feed them Gummi bears instead.  Sometimes minerals are added to the diet separately from food, as vitamin and mineral supplements and in dirt eating, called pica or geophagy.

 Essential  Pronunciation: ĕs`sĕn´sjal  or i-sen-chl a :basic and fundamental  a: being a substance that is required for normal functioning but cannot be synthesized by the body and therefore must be included in the diet  s :absolutely required and not to be used up or sacrificed  s :of the greatest importance  s :absolutely necessary; vitally necessary   n :anything indispensable ie don't leave home without it....More important than Gummi Bears...

It is interesting to reflect that when we look at what humans are made of from a elemental point of view, it is seen that minerals make up only about 3% of our total body weight and almost half of this is Calcium. Over 99% of the Calcium in our body is in our bones, leaving only a tiny amount circulating in our blood and in our cells.  But, if this tiny amount of Calcium circulating is not just right we either go into convulsions or we go into a coma and die. The same applies for the other minerals in our bodies which exist in only very tiny amounts.  If these levels are not just right (“Goldilocks” again) much can go wrong.  When you think about it, it is quite amazing we can keep all these levels in reasonable ranges and at the same time eat quite badly, paying really no attention to the amounts of these important essential nutrients. 

A good example however is the well described situation where severe dieting as in anorexia leads to potassium and other mineral disorders leading to heart rhythm problems and you die, thought to be the cause of the sad case of Ms. Shiavo and others, possibly Karen Carpenter.

Every living cell on this planet has this mineral common denominator.  They are all dependant on minerals for proper function and structure.  For proper composition of body fluids and maintenance of healthy nerve function, and regulation of muscle tone, including that of muscles of the cardiovascular system, minerals are needed.  Minerals are vital for energy production growth, and healing.  Now that I have mentioned the energy word, I know that I have your attention.  As with all of nature, as well as the human body, minerals maintain proper chemical balance.  Ratios of minerals have an effect on the other vitamins and enzymes.  With this team tag balance, a serious chain reaction can lead to low energy, illness and disease.  The regulation of many enzymes by acting as cofactors, maintaining the acid-base balance, osmotic pressure, facilitation transfer of essential compounds across membranes, maintaining proper nerve and muscle conduction and contraction, regulating growth of tissue, and making up critical components of structural tissue.   The level of each mineral in the body has an effect on another mineral, and so, if one is out of balance, all minerals are affected.  It is estimated that 75% of Americans are low in magnesium or are getting below the recommended dietary allowances (RDA) for magnesium. The interesting fact remains that at the same time that most Americans are getting too little magnesium, their needs for magnesium are increased due to chronic stress.  Zinc is responsible for over 300 metabolic functions in the body.  If a person has a craving for chocolate, chances are they are low in zinc. These are a few facts about a few of the macro minerals. In the last 10 years many discoveries have been made in the function and importance of trace minerals.  But before I get the cart before the horse, let’s understand a little more about minerals. 

There are macro minerals and micro minerals.   Macrominerals are the minerals that exist in large quantities in the body, such as calcium, potassium, sodium, and phosphorus and we often need to take in a certain number of grams of these per day. Microminerals are needed in milligrams or micrograms.  Minerals are found in the soil, and are therefore in the plants that herbivorous animals eat.  We in turn, eat those herbivorous animals. Microminerals, or, trace minerals are needed only in minute quantities. They are needed in micrograms.  Even though smaller amounts of these minerals (boron, chromium, copper, germanium, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, selenium, silicon, sulfur, vanadium, and zinc) are needed, they are nevertheless vital to the delicate balance in the body. Minerals are not only in the water we drink, but also in the plant and animal food that we eat.  However, if the soil in deplete of these minerals, our diet will be lacking. Or, if the soil is overabundant in certain minerals, health challenges could appear. Usually the balance stays in tact with rain, decay of leaves, worm activity, and other natural occurrences.   For instance, iron is needed for proper oxygen nation of blood levels.  Anemia is a common fear for young women.  Consuming too much selenium is thought to be the reason all of Marco Polo’s horses wandered in a blind stupor and lost their hooves. Other cases of selenium poisoning have been reported in Wyoming as well.  Anyway, you get my point; the delicate balance of even trace minerals has profound effects.   It appears that many of the current diseases of today may stem from the depletion of trace minerals in the body.   Trace minerals are found in unprocessed foods. Unprocessed foods, such as fruit, vegetables, and whole grains are dependant on healthy soil for their nutrient levels to provide optimum nutrition.  Hence, the argument for organically grown foods holds their argument. The government has recognized the need for certain minerals and has allowed the fortification of foods to avoid broad stream health challenges.  For example, salt is fortified with iodine to improve healthy thyroid function. Milk is fortified with Vitamin D for calcium absorption. White flour is fortified with several minerals because of the loss of magnesium that is present in the outer layer “bran’ layer of the wheat kernel. Remember, grandma always said that you are what you eat.  We all return to the earth for one reason or another. A favorite southern grandma said that ” God made dirt, and dirt don’t hurt” I think that is the reason a lot of us use the 10 second rule when we drop something on the ground that we want to eat.  Before I get us all in a melancholy mood, let’s remember that we are dependant on the soil’s overall mineral content to have a healthy diet.  You get the picture; it could become a vicious cycle. That brings us to the philosophy of Inside Outside Wellness Center:” We are radical because we insist on the basics” One of the basics of life is the need for minerals.  Minerals are present in whole, unprocessed foods.  Eating raw or lightly cooked fruit, vegetables, and whole grains are a basic of every day life for good health.  Mineral content in these foods encourage good health.  Also, eating animal proteins encourage good health as well.  Remember, an apple a day keeps the doctor away.  What is it that keeps the dentist away?

More about minerals next month. We will first focus on important Macrominerals and then eventually some of the important microminerals.

METALS IN NUTRITION