ESSENTIAL MINERALS

Sixty minerals and trace minerals (trace elements) may be needed in our diet every day to keep it nourished and healthy according to scientic research.

Although making up only about 4 per cent of our body weight, minerals play such a vital role that a few grams a day can make all the difference between health and disease, life and death.

If missing from the diet, minerals must be supplemented because the body cannot make them - as it can of any of the complex carbohydrates and proteins it constructs from the elements in our food and drink. (These are the elements oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen whose combinations make up the other 96 per cent of the body weight).

Minerals, whether in our food in the form of ionic salts or as colloids, all derive from the earth's crust. They are leached from the rocks and mined and made bioavailable by plants and microbes.

Seventeen minerals are best known in human nutrition - the seven macro minerals: sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, chlorine (together weighing about 10 grams for an adult recommended daily intake); and 10 micro minerals, most often called trace elements; iron, copper, zinc, selenium, cobalt, iodine chromium, silicon, manganese and molybdenum.

Microminerals are so named because there are needed in much smaller or 'trace' amounts and weighed in milligrams ( 1/1,000 gram) and micrograms (1,000,000 gram). The remaining 43 essential minerals are also needed by the body in trace amounts, measured in parts per million (ppm)

MACRO MINERALS

Sodium (symbol Na) is found in every cell of the body and particularly in the (extracellular) fluid bathing our cells. With potassium it equalises the acid-alkali factor in the blood, regulates water balance, and is involved in the operation of muscles and nerves. Sodium helps in the transport of amino acids, (the building blocks of protein) and of oxygen and carbon dioxide. It prevents the other minerals from clumping and acts with chlorine (chloride) to keep the lymphatic system working. We could not digest food without it, since sodium takes part in making hydrochloric acid in the stomach.

Sodium depletion can result in disorders such as dehydration, oedema, heat cramps, heat strokes, and toxemia.

Potassium (K) is the major cation of the (intracellular) fluid inside our cells. With sodium it equalises the acid-alkali factor in the blood, regulates water balance, and is involved in the operation of muscles and nerves, (in muscles, the electrical changes causing contraction and expansion are caused by the movement of potassium out of cells and of sodium into cells). Potassium regulates the transfer of nutrients to cells and takes parts in the synthesis of nutrients to cells and takes part in the synthesis of protein from amino acids in the blood and in carbohydrate metabolism. It helps to keep skin healthy and blood pressure stable.

Potassium depletion can result in nervous disorders, constipation, insomnia, slow/irregular heartbeat, and damage to muscles. People with kidney disorders are more at risk.

Calcium (Ca) is present in the soft tissues, intracellular fluid and blood, but 99 per cent of this abundant macro mineral is deposited in the bones and teeth, where it acts in cooperation with phosphorus and magnesium to build and maintain them and to store mineral for use by the body. Its other roles are to maintain the cardiovascular system and regulate the heartbeat, assist in blood clotting and iron assimilation, regulate cell nutrtion and blood acid-alkali balance, activate digestive enzymes, and take part in nerve-signal transmission and all muscle activity.

Calcium depletion can result in cramps, bone malformation, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, joint pain,heart palpitations, insomnia, eczema, brittle nails, limb numbness. A diet rich in calcium in early life offers good protection against bone-calcium loss (The NHMRC recommends calcium intake to prevent osteoporosis should be obtained from foods rather than in the form of calcium supplements).

Magnesium (Mg) is mainly located with calcium and phosphorus in the bones, and in fact aids bone growth, but also concentrated inside soft-cell tissues where it activates enzymes responsible for cellular energy production and protein and nucleic acid synthesis. Urea production, vascular tone and cellular electrical stability also come under its influence. Magnesium helps regulate the acid-alkali balance, interacts with calcium in muscular activity, and is involved in the regulation of body temperature.

Magnesium depletion can result in gastrointestinal disorders, irregular heartbeat, lack of coordination, muscle twitch, weakness, confusion, depression, and irritability.

Phosphorus (P) is the second most abundant mineral in the body. Being present in all cells, it is involved in almost all cells, it is involved in almost every chemical reaction in the body. About 600g is present in adult bones and teeth and 100g in the form of vital biochemical compounds such as DNA, RNA, ATP, ADP phospholipids, and sugar phosphates. In bones and teeth it combines with calcium in the ratio of 1 to 2. All natural foods contain phosphorus and net phosphate absorption from food is a high 65 per cent of intake. But unlike calcium, whose plasma concentration is maintained, the body has little control over its phosphate concentration; body content is regulated by the kidneys, which control urinary excretion. High-fat diets increase the absorption of phosphorous in the intestine and prevent calcium uptake as a balancer.

Depletion, which is rarely due to lack of phosphorus in the diet, can result in stunted growth, osteoporosis and poor quality bones and teeth, lack of appetite and weight loss, obesity and coma.

Chlorine (Cl) present as chloride occurs with sodium or potassium primarily in the blood, concentrated in red blood cells, and in extracellular fluids. It helps regulate the acid-alkali balance and osmotic pressure, "lubricates" joints and tendons, distributes hormones, and stimulates toxic waste disposal by the liver and hydrochloric acid production by the stomach. Chlorine in the diet is provided by sodium chloride, or common salt.

Chloride depletion, which also points to sodium depletion, can result in hair and tooth loss, impaired digestion, feeble muscle contraction, kidney problems and acidosis.

Sulfur (S) is a component of the genetic material of cells, and is needed for the health and maintenance of the skin, hair and nails. It disinfects the blood, supresses bacteria, and detoxifies. Sulfur is present in insulin and the B-group vitamins, thiamine and biotin. Most of the body's supply comes in the form of sulfur-containing amino acids, from protein.