Minerals are essential nutrients that the body cannot produce itself. Which ones are there and why do we need them?
What are minerals?
Minerals are inorganic nutrients that are vital for the body. However, he cannot produce them himself – therefore they have to be ingested through food. Minerals are divided into so-called bulk elements and trace elements.
Mass elements are essential for the functioning of the heart, brain, bones and muscles and are used in larger quantities. The body needs trace elements in smaller quantities, primarily for certain metabolic functions.
Overview of the most important minerals
The body needs the following minerals:
Set elements
- sodium
- potassium
- magnesium
- calcium
- chloride
- sulfur
- phosphate
The concentration of these quantity elements in the body is more than 50 mg / kg body weight. There is one exception to the rule: The concentration of iron in the body is 60 mg / kg body weight, nevertheless it is one of the trace elements.
Trace elements
- copper
- iodine
- chrome
- manganese
- fluorine
- zinc
- iron
- selenium
- molybdenum
The concentration of trace elements is less than 50 mg / kg body weight. By the way: Many people in Germany suffer from an iodine deficiency, because our pastures and arable land hardly contain anything of the trace element. An iodine deficiency can, among other things, lead to an enlarged thyroid. Those who frequently use iodized salt and put sea fish on their menu several times a week can prevent this.
Why do we need minerals?
In contrast to vitamins, minerals have a relatively simple chemical structure. While vitamins are, among other things, responsible for supplying the body with energy, Minerals take on other tasks. These include:
- Preservation of tissue tension
- Stimulus transmission
- Build up of teeth, bones, blood cells and hormones
- Activation of enzymes
It is important to know that many of the minerals take on several functions in the body. Calcium, for example, is not only responsible for building teeth and bones, but also influences muscle functions and blood clotting at the same time.
Diet: How do I get enough minerals?
In order to be optimally supplied with nutrients, one should rely on a balanced and healthy mixed diet. With the right diet, we can prevent deficiency symptoms due to a lack of minerals (or too few vitamins). The daily requirement is specified in the so-called Recommended Dietary Allowance, or RDA for short. However, the amounts shown are for healthy people only – people with a disease may have different appropriate amounts.
Important to know: Those who take in too many or too few minerals run the risk of a diet-related illness. Various diets, for example, can lead to insufficient intake of vitamins and minerals. But special nutritional concepts are also known for the fact that they can lead to a deficiency: Vegetarians, for example, often tend to have an iron deficiency, as this nutrient is increasingly absorbed through meat.
Is every mineral used equally?
In fact, how well the body can use minerals depends on various factors. For example, it matters how the respective dishes are composed or in what form they are present in the food. Again, iron is a good example: The body can absorb the so-called trivalent iron from animal products such as meat or fish much better than the so-called divalent iron from vegetable products. But: Vitamin C improves the body's iron absorption. If you combine your food wisely, you can support your body with optimal absorption.
Reading tips: You can find out everything about iron deficiency here. We also explain how you can recognize an underactive thyroid and an overactive thyroid.
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H. Kasper: Nutritional Medicine and Dietetics, Elsevier, 2009