When it comes to talking about what we put into our bodies to help regulate or enhance our health, a lot of words get thrown around. Terms such as “supplements,” “herbs,” “vitamins,” “nutrients,” and even “essential oils” come to mind. Let’s add to that list “essential minerals,” which are not to be confused with gold, silver, platinum, or emeralds.
In terms of nutrition and health, we are talking about more than a dozen minerals that are part of nutrient-rich foods and classified by health experts as essential to your health. Essential minerals play a key role in activating enzymes in our body, each of which play a beneficial role or roles.
Because our bodies don’t manufacture essential minerals, it’s up to us to eat a well-rounded, healthy diet to keep our body properly stocked with a sufficient amount of all of them. Interestingly, these to-be-ingested minerals actually do originate from rocks, soil, and water. In the cycle of life, however, they eventually end up absorbed by growing plants and animals from which we source much of our food.
As suggested by The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025, a healthy dietary regimen that provides ample nutrient-dense foods is the best means for meeting your nutritional needs.
Major vs. Trace Essential Minerals
Essential minerals are divided into two categories; major and trace. Major essential minerals are those that are stored and used in abundance within the body. Trace minerals, while no less vital to your health, are not needed in such great amounts.
Essential minerals are most effective for our good health when derived from the food you eat, although supplements and vitamins are always available to pick up the slack when deficiencies are diagnosed, such as during an unexpected visit to the doctor’s office when disturbing symptoms pop up in your body and you need answers.
7 Major Essential Minerals
Following are summaries, in alphabetical order, of the seven major essential minerals that can benefit your health, listed. Be sure to discuss your use of any of these essential minerals with your personal physician or other healthcare professional. Descriptions of nine trace essential minerals will follow in a separate blog coming soon.
Calcium: Dairy products such as milk and cheese are considered rich food sources for calcium, which is best known for its role in helping to form and strengthen teeth and bones. Maintaining a proper level of calcium over the years can help guard against osteoporosis as you age and also help with clotting blood, maintaining a normal heartbeat, and regulating nerve signals..
Chloride: This essential mineral is commonly found in table salt or sea salt in the form of sodium chloride. Chloride is an electrolyte that typically needs ample replenishment when you’ve lost a lot of fluid such as during bouts of stomach flu-induced vomiting and/or diarrhea.
Magnesium: This busy-as-a-beaver mineral is always hard at work all throughout your body while engaged in hundreds of biochemical reactions. Among its functions are transforming food into energy, assisting muscle contraction and relaxation, and regulating the nervous system’s transmission of messages between brain and nervous system.
Phosphorus: This second-most abundant mineral (behind calcium) found in our bodies is, like calcium, also involved in the development and strength of our bones and teeth. Phosphorus is known to assist in filtering out waste from the kidneys and ease the pain that typically accompanies an extensive physical workout.
Potassium: Potassium can be found in a variety of supplements, not just those that contain only potassium but also multivitamins. A lack of sufficient potassium in the body can be the source of high blood pressure possibly leading to heart disease and stroke, a loss of calcium in your bones, and the development of kidney stones. A potassium deficiency is also linked to a condition known as hypokalemia which can produce symptoms such as constipation, tiredness, and muscle weakness leading to more severe issues.
Sodium: Sodium is an electrolyte that works to regulate blood, govern body fluids, and transmit electrical impulses throughout your body. In a broader sense, sodium regulates cellular activity as well as healthy functioning of the nervous system.
Sulfur: Sulfur works within your body to manufacture and repair DNA while also guarding your cells from possible damage from large-scale diseases. It also plays a role in helping to metabolize food once you have consumed it.
You are probably already familiar with at least the names of these essential minerals. Knowing furthermore what they can accomplish in terms of enhancing and guarding your health probably makes them more valuable to your quality of life than all the gold and silver in the world. Again, before adding any of these minerals to your daily regimen, be sure to talk it over with your personal physician or healthcare professional, especially if you are taking prescription medications.