Minerals Overview

Minerals occur naturally and are formed as solids. As natural elements, they’re already in their simplest chemical form, so the body doesn’t have to break them down any further before absorbing them. This also means that minerals can’t be broken down by heat or light, so when they’re cooked, they remain intact and aren’t damaged. Unlike vitamins, minerals can’t be synthesized in a laboratory. Minerals come from many different foods (fruits, vegetables, milk, cheese, nuts, protein-rich foods, etc.). This is just one reason it is so important to eat a wide variety of foods.

There are two categories of minerals when it comes to nutrition: Major Minerals and Trace Minerals. Major minerals are those that the body needs at least 100mg of every day, and 5g or more of these minerals can be found in the human body (stored). The seven major minerals are: calcium, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, chloride, magnesium and sulfur. The major minerals are involved in dozens of bodily functions such as fluid balance, nerve transmissions and muscle contraction.

Trace minerals, as their name suggests, are only needed in trace (very small) amounts. Trace minerals are needed in amounts less than 100mg each day, and less than 5g is found in the body. Eight trace minerals that are essential are: iron, zinc, copper, selenium, fluoride, iodine, chromium and manganese. Trace minerals are involved in such functions as metabolism, healthy teeth and bones and glucose transport, just to name a few.

As with vitamins, both deficiency and toxicity can occur when a person consumes too little or too much of a certain mineral. See a complete breakdown of each mineral under Vitamins & Minerals (A-Z). Hope this helped shed some light on what minerals are and what they do for you.