Minerals are naturally present in the earth’s crust; they form the rocks, hills and mountains. Minerals, like vitamins, cannot be made by humans or animals, so they must come from food.
In their natural form, minerals are inorganic (not alive). Limestone has a lot of calcium, but you cannot get much calcium by eating limestone. Magnesium oxide is a rock. It does have a lot of magnesium, but it is useless to us because it is inorganic.
Plants get minerals from the soil and incorporate them into the cellular components. Plants turn “dead” minerals from rocks into “alive” minerals that can support life.
Animals get minerals by eating plants (or by eating animals that eat plants). Humans are omnivores, so we get our minerals from both plant and animal sources.
Minerals are important for many biological actions that take place in your body. They help you grow, heal, and stay healthy. They are used to make strong bones, produce energy, make your muscles work, make your heart beat normally, keep your organs healthy and protect you from infections.
You need some minerals in large amounts. These are called macro minerals (macro means large) and include??calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride, and sulfur.
The minerals that you need in small amounts are called trace minerals.?These are iron, manganese, chromium, copper, iodine, zinc, cobalt, fluoride, and selenium.
Some minerals are used as structural components, for example calcium for bones, iron for red cells, and so on. Others are used to regulate the activity of various enzymes.
Enzymes are proteins that control all biological processes in your body. Nothing good can happen without the right enzymes. Growth and healing, immune function, cellular repair, protein synthesis, hormone production, digestion, and every other activity in your body depends on enzymes.
The main function of the minerals (and vitamins) is to help enzymes do their job. Most vitamins and minerals work as co-factors or co-enzymes. This means that enzymes can only do their work when a particular vitamin or mineral is present.
Think of your car. It is a very sophisticated transportation device, but it will go nowhere unless you have a key. The key is a co-factor without which your car cannot do its work.
Some enzymes need just one co-enzyme, others require many. Depending on which enzymes they help, vitamins and minerals have different roles and effects.
Since you cannot make minerals yourself, you must bet them from food. Only food can provide real organic (alive) minerals. Most nutritional supplements contain inorganic minerals, which are useless.
Look at the ingredients of your multivitamin. Most of the bestselling vitamins contain ingredients like calcium carbonate (limestone) and magnesium oxide (rock), which are not alive. Your body does not need them and cannot use them. These inorganic minerals are not well absorbed and cannot be utilized the same way as minerals from food.
All natural and unprocessed foods contain minerals (and vitamins). All processed and refined “foods” are not good sources of real vitamins and minerals.
The bottom line is this. If you want to get real minerals, eat real food or take supplements that are made from food, not dead rocks.
To learn more about vitamins, minerals, and proper nutrition use the link below.
Michael Teplitsky, MD has been practicing alternative and holistic medicine for over 20 years. He has treated thousands of patients using nutrition and nutritional supplements. His book Nutrition and Your Health explains complex and confusing nutritional concepts in an easy to understand layman language. Please visit the http://www.CommonSenseHealthGuide.com to get the book, a free report 7 Health Myths That Can Hurt You, health news, and other valuable information.
