Our average daily allowance of essential (vital) minerals can be subdivided in this way:
- Macro minerals: Over 100 mg.
- Trace minerals: From 1 - 100 mg.
- Micro minerals: Less than 1 mg. (Usually measured in microgram)
Micro minerals are just as important as macro minerals, since they form part of enzymes, hormones, and other regulating chemical processes in a complex interplay. It is important that our mineral intake is balanced and proportioned, since too large doses of one particular minerals may push out other minerals.
These general guidelines are based on an average daily allowance for people with a fairly healthy mineral balance. Particular circumstances such as illness or genetic individuality can increase the need for minerals.
The macrominerals are
Calcium, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, sodium and sulphur.
The trace minerals are
Iron, copper, manganese, and zinc.
The micro minerals include
Caesium, fluorine, germanium, iodine, chlorine, chromium, cobalt, lithium, molybdenum, nickel, rubidium, selenium, silicon, strontium, tin and vanadium.
Not all micro minerals have been proved necesssary for life, e.g. caesium, flour, lithium, and molybdenum, but they are part of biological processes in the body anyhow. New scientific research will probably be able to incorporate more minerals into the group of essential minerals.
Poisonous minerals
In the group of minerals which we do not need and which are only poisonous to the body are aluminium, lead, cadmium and mercury. The harmful accumulation of toxic minerals in the body is reduced if sufficient amounts of essential minerals are supplemented.
Mineral deficiency in farm land
The satisfaction of our need for minerals depends on several factors. The minerals must be present in the soil where the plants grow. Intensively cultivated farm land and vegetables from market gardens will in time be short of essential minerals. This is due to the fact that agricultural fertilizers do not contain all the minerals found in the original farm soil.
Market gardens which grow vegetables on rockwool or the like add fluid fertilizers which are important for plant growth, but do not contain essential minerals. Even if the crops have a nice appearance, they can be low in essential minerals.
Moreover, phosphate fertilizer and pesticides inhibit plant absorption of zinc. Zinc deficiency is one of the most common mineral deficiencies in the industrialized world.
Industrial processing of alimentaries removes large quantities of minerals from our food. This is the case for refined flour, industrially processed milk and sugar and husked rice. Various digestive problems may lead to a reduced uptake of minerals from the diet. Certain kinds of medicine, a high intake of sugar, alcohol, coffee, and tea can drain minerals from the body. Many athletes and people who work hard have an increased need for minerals. This also goes for pregnant women and children. Many elderly people suffer from a vitamin deficiency on account of the reasons already mentioned.
Bioavailability
It is paramount that the minerals are made accesible to the body, since we cannot utilize the minerals in their pure form, but must have them supplemented as mineral salts. This is also known as bioavailability, and is more important for some minerals than for others.
Besides lactic acid, the lactic acid bacteria in the small intestine produce different amino acids which attach themselves to (chelate) certain minerals, so that they are more easily absorbed through the wall of the intestine.
Chelation is also used to increase the bioavailability of mineral supplements. An important difference between good and lesser mineral supplements is - besides the content of minerals - the degree to which the manufacturer has made an effort to chelate the mineral with the best carrying substance(s).
Read about the individual minerals in the Health Products category.
