Minerals

  1. Major minerals - amounts > 100 mg/day

    • Calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, sodium, chloride, magnesium

  2. Trace minerals - amounts <mg/day

    • Iron, zinc, copper, manganese, iodine, selenium

  3. Shortfall nutrients:

    • Calcium, potassium, magnesium, and iron

  4. Overconsumed:

    • Sodium

Major Minerals:

  • The need for each of these is greater than 100 mg/day in some cases far greater

    • Calcium

    • Chloride

    • Magnesium

    • Phosphorus

    • Potassium

    • Sodium

    • Sulfate

  • The major minerals are also called microminerals

Calcium:

  • Most abundant mineral in the boy

  • Critical to body functioning

  • Storate facilities- 99% in bone and teeth

  • Bones

    • Big part of bone structure

    • bone calcium serves as a bank that can release calcium to the body fluids if a drop in blood calcium

    • Formation and dissolution takes place every minute

  • Teeth: Bone and tooth formation

  • Hydroxyapatite: the chief crystal of bone and teeth, formed from calcium and phosphorus

  • Bone: Hydroxyapatite crystals invades collagen

  • Teeth: Hydroxyapatite forms on collagen to create dentin that gives strength to teeth

  • One % of the body’s calcium is in the fluids.

  • Roles:

    • Regulates the transport of ions across cell membrane

    • Helps maintain normal blood pressure

    • Essential in the clotting of blood

    • Essential for muscle contraction (heartbeat)

    • Activates cellular enzymes

  • Blood calcium is tightly controlled

  • Calcium balance:

    • Intestines, kidneys and bones assist with calcium balance

    • Skeleton serves as calcium bank

      • Bone density: a measure of bone strength, the degree of mineralization of the bone matrix

  • Calcium absorption

    • Increase in times of need

      • Times of increased absorption:

  • Bone loss:

    • Peak bone mass

      • Highest bone density attained by an individual; developed during the first three decades of life

      • Inevitable consequence of aging

      • Insufficient calcium savings cause:

      • Osteopenia: a condition of low bone mass that often progresses to osteoporosis

      • Osteoporosis: Reduction of the bone mass of older people in which the bones become porous and fragile

Osteoporosis:

  • Osteoporosis prevalence:

    • 10 million have disease

    • 80% are women

    • Fractures

    • Gender, age, genetics and physical activity

    • Develops silently over years.

Development of Osteoporosis:

  • Bone:

  • Trabecular: Weblike structure composed of calcium-containing crystals inside a bones solid outer shell wall. Provides strength and acts like a calcium storage bank. Tapped to raise blood calcium

  • Bone loss:

    • Dowager’s hump

    • Fractures: Hip and spine are common sites

Nutrients and Bone Health:

  • Calcium and vitamin D

    • Bone strength in later life

    • Bone building during childhood and adolescence

    • You can’t build any more bone after 30.

  • Protein

    • Improves bone status and reduces the incidence of hip fractures

  • Nutrients important to bones

    • Vitamins K, A, and C

    • Magnesium and omega-3 fatty acids

Phosphorus:

  • Second most abundant mineral in the body

    • Majority found in bones and teeth

  • Roles in the body

    • Phosphorus salts are critical buffers, helping to maintain the acid-base balance of cellular fluids

    • Essential for growth and renewal of tissues due to being a part of DNA and RNA of every cell

    • Involved in metabolism of energy nutrients

    • Phosphorus compounds act as cofactors, assisting many enzymes in extracting energy from nutrients

    • Phosphorus forms part of the molecules of the phospholipids that are the principal components of cell membranes

    • Present in some proteins

  • Deficiencies are unlikely

  • Excess phosphorus in the blood.

    • Indicators of heart and kidney diseases.

Magnesium:

  • Major mineral as it is a dietary requirement

  • Over half of it is in the bones

    • The rest is in the muscles, heart, liver, other soft tissues, and body fluid

  • Roles in the body:

    • Cofactor for hundreds of enzymes

    • Needed for the release and use of energy from the energy-yielding nutrients

    • Part of the cellular protein-making machinery.

    • Critical to nerve transmission, muscle contraction, and heart function

    • Works with calcium for proper functioning of the muscles

  • Deficiency:

    • Chronic: Causes diabetes, heart failure, hypertension, inflammation, and stroke

    • Acute: May occur with alcoholism, prolonged diarrhea, vomiting, or severe malnutrition.

  • Toxicity:

    • Symptoms include diarrhea, acid-base imbalance, and dehydration

Sodium:

  • Principal positively charged ion in outside cells

  • Roles:

    • Major part of fluid and electrolyte balance

    • It is the chief ion used to maintain the volume of fluid outside cells

    • Helps maintain acid-base balance

    • Essential for muscle contraction and nerve transmission

  • Deficiency:

    • Results in hyponatremia: The condition of having too little sodium in the blood

  • Recommendations:

    • DRI: 1500 mg for healthy, active young adults; 1300 for 51-70 years of age, 1200 mg for elderly

  • UL: 2300 mg/day adults

  • Dietary guidelines for Americans 2015-2020

    • consume less than 2300 per day of sodium

    • further, reductions to 1500 of sodium may produce greater benefits to people with hypertension or prehypertension

  • Blood pressure: High sodium intake correlates with hypertension, heart disease, aggrevated kidney problems, and stroke.

  • Dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) diet

    • Increased potassium-rich fruits and vegetables

    • Adequate amounts of nuts

    • Fish

    • Whole grains

    • Low-fat dairy products

    • Controlling salt intakes

    • Cut down processed and fast foods

Potassium:

  • Principal positively charged ion inside cells:

  • Roles

    • Fluid and electrolyte balance

    • Cell integrity

    • During nerve impulse transmission and muscle contraction, potassium and sodium trade places briefly across the cell membrane. The cell the pumps bac into place

    • Heartbeat

  • Deficiency: Dehydration, heart failure

  • Toxicity: can stop the heart when injected into a vein

Chloride:

  • Chloride ion is the major negative ion

  • Roles:

    • Helps maintain fluid balance

    • Maintains acidity of the stomach, necessary for protein digestion

    • Food source: Salt

Sulfate:

  • Roles

    • important in helping strands of protein assume their functional shapes

  • NO recommended intake

  • Deficiencies unknown

  • Toxicity

    • causes diarrhea and may damage the colon

Trace Minerals:

  • These minerals are needed by the body in tiny amounts

    • Iodine

    • Iron

    • zinc

    • Selenium

    • Fluoride

    • Chromium

    • copper

    • Manganese

    • Molybdenum

    • Also called microminerals

Iodine:

  • Body’s work is done by ionic form iodide

  • Roles:

    • Cofactor that works with the hormone thyroxine, made by the thyroid gland

    • Thyroxine regulates:

      • The body’s metabolic rate, temperature, reproduction, growth, and heart functioning

  • Deficiency:

    • Goiter: Enlargement of the thyroid gland, Enlargement due to iodine excess is toxic goiter

    • Cretinism: Severe mental and physical retardation of an infant caused by the mother’s iodine deficiency during pregnancy.

  • Toxicity:

    • Enlarged thyroid gland

    • Poisonous in large amounts

  • Food sources

    • Seafood, salt, and vegetables grown in iodine-rich soil

Iron:

  • Every living cell contains iron

  • A compound of two proteins

    • Hemoglobin: The oxygen-carrying protein of the blood; found in the red blood cells, carries oxygen from the lungs and to tissues throughout the body

    • Myoglobin: The oxygen-holding protein of the muscles

  • Roles:

    • Carries oxygen

    • Makes new cells, amino acids, hormones, and neurotransmitters.

    • Part of the enzymes involved in energy metabolism

  • Iron stores:

    • Iron from red blood cells recycled and stored in bone marrow

    • Special proteins transport and store iron

  • Hepcidin regulates blood iron levels

  • Absorption of iron

    • Heme: Iron containing part of hemoglobin and myoglobin from meat, poultry, and fish.

    • Nonheme iron: From plants and meat

      • Vitamin C and MPF factor promote absorption

    • Impaired by tannins (compounds in tea and coffee that bind iron)

    • and phytates (compounds present in plant foods (whole grains) that bind iron and may prevent its absorption)

Promotors and Inhibitors of Iron Absorption:

  • These dietary factors increase iron absorption

    • Heme form of iron

    • Vitamin C

    • Meat, fish, poultry (MFP) factor

  • These dietary factors hinder iron absorption

    • Nonheme form of iron

    • Tea and coffee

    • Calcium and phosphorus

    • Phytates, tannins, and fiber

Iron Deficiency:

  • Iron-deficiency anemia:

    • A form of anemia caused by a lack of iron and characterized by red blood cell shrinkage and color loss.

    • Distinction between iron deficiency and its anemia is a matter of degree.

      • May be iron deficient (depleted iron stores) without being anemic. With worsening iron deficiency, they may become anemic.

    • Anemia: Condition of inadequate or impaired RBC’s; a reduced number of volume of RBC along with too little hemoglobin in the blood.

  • Signs of deficiency:

    • Fatigue, apathy, and a tendency to feel cold.

    • Children become restless, irritable, unwilling to work or play

    • Pica: A craving and intentional consumption of nonfood substances

      • Ice, chalk, starch, clay, soil, and other nonfood substances.

Causes of Iron Deficiency and Anemia:

  • Inadequate iron intake

  • Blood loss

  • Groups most susceptible to deficiency

    • Women in reproductive years and pregnant women

    • Infants, toddlers, adolescents, and obese individuals.

Too Much Iron:

  • Toxicity:

    • May promote cancers of the colon and rectum

    • Damages to liver, joints, or heart

    • Susceptibility to infections

      • Can harm the immune system

    • Poisoning can be fatal in young children

  • Symptoms:

    • Fatigue, mental depression, or abdominal pain.

Zinc:

  • Present in every organ

  • Roles - Cofactor form more than 300 enzymes to:

    • Protects cell structures against damage from oxidation

    • Makes parts of cells genetic material

    • Makes the heme of hemoglobin

    • Assists the pancreas with its digestive and insulin functions and helps metabolize carbohydrate, protein, and fat

    • Special zinc-containing proteins associate with DNA and help regulate protein synthesis and cell division

    • Functions critical to normal growth before and after birth.

    • Needed to produce the active form of Vitamin A in visual pigments

  • Zinc also:

    • Affects behavior, learning, and mood

    • Assists in proper immune functioning

    • Essential to wound healing, sperm production, taste perception, normal metabolic rate, nerve and brain functioning, bone growth, and normal development in children.

  • Groups at risk of deficiency:

    • Pregnant women, young children, the elderly, and the poor

  • Excess zinc:

    • Causes vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, and exhaustion

    • Inhibits iron absorption from the digestive tract

Selenium:

  • Roles in the body:

    • Works as a cofactor

      • Limits the formation of free radicals

      • Prevents oxidative harm to cells and tissues

  • Deficiency:

    • Muscle disorders with weakness and pain

    • Increases the risk of heart disease and cancer

  • Toxicity:

    • Due to supplements:

      • Hair loss, brittle nails

      • Diarrhea and fatigue

      • Bone, joint, and nerve abnormalities

  • Sources: Meat and shellfish

Fluoride:

  • Roles in the body:

    • Fluorapatite improves resistance of bones and teeth to demineralization

  • Deficiency:

    • Dental decay

  • Toxicity:

    • Fluorosis: Discoloration of the teeth due to ingestion of too much fluoride during tooth development

  • Sources: Water

Chromium:

  • Participates in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism

  • Roles: Regulates blood glucose

  • Sources: Unrefined foods

  • Toxicity: Industrial chromium: a carcinogen that damages DNA

Copper:

  • Helps form hemoglobin and collagen

  • Deficiency:

    • Disturbs growth and metabolism in children

    • Impairs immunity and blood flow through the arteries in adults

    • Food sources: Organ meats, seafood, nuts, and seeds

Other trace minerals and some candidates:

  • Molybdenum

  • Manganese

  • Boron

  • Cobalt

  • Nickel

  • Others

  • All trace minerals are toxic in excess

    • UL’s exist for boron, nickel, and vanadium