Healthy eating: stay healthy with minerals

Healthy eating: stay healthy with minerals

Your body needs essential minerals

What are essential minerals?

The body needs many minerals; these are called essential minerals. The essential minerals are those that your body needs but cannot produce. These are inorganic substances found in foods.  A balanced diet usually provides all of the essential minerals. These minerals are divided up into two groups.

a)      Major minerals (macrominerals)

b)     Trace minerals (microminerals).

These two groups of minerals are equally important, but trace minerals are needed in smaller amounts than major minerals. Some of them are listed as under:

Major Minerals (macrominerals)

i)                    Sodium

ii)                  Chloride

iii)                Potassium

iv)                Calcium

v)                  Magnesium

vi)                Phosphorus

vii)              Sulfur

Sodium

Sodium is needed for proper fluid balance, nerve transmission, and muscle contraction. List of sources are given as under:

a)Table salt

b) Soy sauce

c) Processed foods

d) Milk

e) Bread

f) Vegetables

g) Unprocessed meats

Chloride

Needed for proper fluid balance and stomach acid. . List of sources are given as under:

a)Table salt

b) Soy sauce

c) Processed foods

d) Milk

e) Bread

f) Vegetables

g) Unprocessed meats

Potassium

Needed for proper fluid balance, nerve transmission, and muscle contraction.  List of sources are given as under:

a)      Meats

b)      Milk

c)      Fresh fruits and vegetables

d)     Whole grains, legumes

Calcium

Important for healthy bones and teeth; helps muscles relax and contract; important in nerve functioning, blood   clotting, blood pressure regulation, immune system health. List of sources are given as under:

a)      Milk and milk products

b)      Canned fish with bones (salmon, sardines)

c)      Fortified tofu and fortified soy milk

d)     Greens (broccoli, mustard greens)

e)      Legumes

Phosphorus

Important for healthy bones  and teeth; found in every cell; part of the system that maintains acid-base balance. List of sources are given as under:

a)      Meat

b)      Fish

c)       Poultry

d)     Eggs

e)      Milk

f)       Processed foods (including soda pop)

Magnesium

Found in bones; needed for making protein, muscle contraction, nerve transmission, immune system health. List of sources are given as under:

a)      Nuts and seeds

b)      Legumes

c)      Leafy green vegetables

d)     Seafood

e)      Chocolate

f)       Artichokes

g)      Hard drinking water

Sulfur

Found in protein molecules. List of sources are given as under:

a)      Occurs in foods as part of protein: meats, poultry

b)      Fish

c)      Eggs

d)     Milk

e)      Legumes

f)       Nuts

Trace minerals (microminerals)

Iron

Part of a molecule (hemoglobin) found in red blood cells that carries oxygen in the body; needed for energy metabolism. List of sources are given as under:

a)      Organ meats

b)      red meats

c)      fish

d)     poultry

e)      shellfish (especially clams)

f)       egg yolks

g)      legumes

h)      dried fruit

i)        dark, leafy greens

j)        iron-enriched breads and cereals

k)      fortified cereals

Zinc

Part of many enzymes; needed for making protein and genetic material; has a function in taste perception, wound healing, normal fetal development, production of sperm, normal growth and sexual maturation, immune system health. List of sources are given as under:

a)      Meats

b)      Fish

c)      Poultry

d)     whole grains

e)      vegetables

Iodine

Found in thyroid hormone, which helps regulate growth, development, and metabolism. List of sources are given as under:.

a)      Seafood

b)      foods grown in iodine-rich soil

c)      iodized salt

d)     bread

e)      dairy products

Selenium

Antioxidant. List of sources are given as under:

a)      Meats

b)      seafood

c)      grains

Copper

Part of many enzymes; needed for iron metabolism. List of sources are given as under:

a)      Legumes

b)      nuts and seeds

c)      whole grains

d)     organ meats

Manganese

Part of many enzymes. List of sources are given as under:

a)      Widespread in foods, especially plant foods

Fluoride

Involved in formation of bones and teeth; helps prevent tooth decay. List of sources are given as under:

a)      Drinking water (either fluoridated or naturally containing fluoride)

b)      Fish

c)      most teas

Chromium

Works closely with insulin to regulate blood sugar (glucose) levels. List of sources are given as under:

a)      Unrefined foods, especially liver

b)      brewer's yeast

c)      whole grains

d)     nuts

e)      cheeses

Molybdenum

Part of some enzymes. List of sources are given as under:

a)      Legumes

b)      breads and grains

c)      leafy greens

d)     leafy, green vegetables

e)      milk

f)       liver

Other trace nutrients known to be essential in tiny amounts include nickel, silicon, vanadium, and cobalt.