Macro, micro and trace minerals
Minerals essential to the human body are divided into three categories. Minerals required in amounts greater than 100 milligrams are called “macrominerals”. If less than 100 milligrams of a mineral are needed for normal functioning, they are classified as either “microminerals” or “trace minerals”. Only minute quantities of trace minerals are found in human tissues.
Macrominerals: (greater than 100 milligrams required daily by the human body)Calcium
Phosphorous
Potassium
Magnesium
Sodium
Sulphur
Microminerals: (less than 100 milligrams required daily by the human body)
Zinc
Iron
Copper
Manganese
Iodine
Trace Minerals include: (minute amounts required daily by the human body)
Selenium
Chromium
Molybdenum
Cobalt
Nickel
Silicon
Vanadium
Keys to the ignition of life
Minerals work in the body to trigger enzymes, like an ignition key for a car. The key may be tiny by comparison, but the car is useless without it.
Many mineral functions are interrelated with those of vitamins. For instance, phosphorous must be present for B-complex vitamins to be absorbed. Calcium could not be absorbed without vitamin D and vitamin C enhances the absorption of iron. Minerals also provide the strength to skeletal structure and are important factors in digestion.
Mineral deficiencies are widespread
Mineral deficiencies are actually more common than vitamin deficiencies. Essential vitamins are present in foods in about the same amounts around the world; however, this is not true of minerals. The mineral content of food is dependent upon the minerals available in the soil. While a mineral may be extremely scarce in one geographic location, it may be abundant in the soil of another.
A second reason mineral deficiencies are so prevalent relates to the nature of the nutrient itself. The body does not efficiently break down and absorb minerals. In some foods, minerals are included in compounds that the body cannot break down. Spinach, for example, is a rich source of calcium, but it is not in a form that the body can utilize. It is, therefore, not absorbed but eliminated as waste. Of all the minerals we consume in our diet, only a small amount is actually absorbed by the body. Mineral absorption is also affected by age, sex, stress levels, physical activity, living and working environment and genetic factors.
We don't or won't eat mineral foods
Today researchers are reporting alarming statistics of wide spread mineral deficiencies throughout our world. The major factor contributing to this problem, however, is not related to the mineral content of the food we have available nor mineral absorption difficulties; instead, it is a problem of food choices and dietary preferences. The foods that are rich sources of minerals, such as dairy products, are not popular in the diets of most adults and for good reason too! Many are high in fat and cholesterol and avoiding them is advisable. Also, processed and refined foods contain few minerals.
Some groups of people may require greater than normal amounts of minerals on a daily basis than is supplied by their normal diet. People considered at risk of mineral deficiencies include: the elderly, pregnant women, patients on certain medications, people who eat low kilojoule diets and strict vegetarians.
Current directions in mineral researh
Recent studies have focused on the effects of trace mineral deficiencies and their relationship to certain aggressive and very prevalent challenges to our well-being. Of much interest to researchers has been the relationship and function in the body of selenium, chromium and zinc.
Undoubtedly the most researched mineral since 1980 is calcium. Its relationship to health and fitness in general has been the focus of hundreds of studies. There continues to be a great deal of interest in the science of minerals and human health.