Some science behind the scenes

Minerals

Chemical elements in order of abundance in the human body include the seven major dietary elements calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, sodium, chloride, and magnesium. All these are essential to human life and help in the building of cells and in the functioning of the nervous system.

Important "trace" or minor dietary elements, necessary for mammalian life, include iron, cobalt, copper, zinc, molybdenum, iodide, manganese, chromium, and selenium.

Trace amounts of some elements e.g., boron, are known to have a role but the exact biochemical nature is not yet known. Arsenic, silicon, and vanadium have established, albeit specialised, biochemical roles as structural or functional cofactors in other organisms, and are thus possibly used by humans. Strontium is believed to be involved in the utilization of calcium in the body. In contrast, tungsten, bromine, and cadmium, for example, have specialized biochemical uses in certain lower organisms, but these elements appear not to be used by humans.

Minerals in mammals are normally obtained via the food chain. Plants absorb dissolved elements in soils, which are subsequently ingested by either humans directly or by herbivores. If we then eat the herbivores, we get minerals that way. The liver of many animals, for example, is rich in iron.

Bacteria play an essential role in the process that results in the release of nutrients both for their own nutrition and for the nutrition of others in the ecological food chain. One element, cobalt, is available for use by animals only after having been processed into usable molecules (e.g., vitamin B12), by bacteria. “Scientists are only recently starting to appreciate the magnitude and role that microorganisms have in the global cycling and formation of biominerals”.

The following summary table derived from Wikipedia shows an overview of the minerals, the main dietary sources and their uses. Each mineral has its own entry in the suppression section with a far more detailed table of the sources, there is an entry in the overload section for corresponding imbalances.

Dietary element	Category	Dietary sources	Imbalance
Potassium	is a systemic electrolyte and is essential in coregulating ATP with sodium.	Herbs Coffee Tomatoes Radishes Red peppers Soy sauce, Chocolate Seaweed Alliums	Potassium imbalance - Hypokalemia hyperkalemia
Chloride	is needed for production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach and in cellular pump functions.	Table salt (sodium chloride) is the main dietary source.	Chloride imbalance
Sodium	is a systemic electrolyte and is essential in coregulating ATP with potassium.	Table salt (sodium chloride, the main source).	Sodium imbalance -Hyponatremia -Hypernatremia
Calcium	is needed for muscle, heart and digestive system health, builds bone, supports synthesis and function of blood cells.	Dairy products Seaweeds Nuts Fish Seeds Beans Figs Rhubarb Green vegetables Garlic Eggs Baked potatoes Wholegrain rice	Calcium imbalance -Hypocalcaemia -Hypercalcaemia
Phosphorus	is a component of bones (see apatite), cells, in energy processing and many other functions.	Seeds Milk Cheese Caraway Nuts Anise Beans Fish Egg yolk Wholegrains Herbs Red meat Turmeric Game Chocolate	Phosphorus imbalance Hypophosphatemia hyperphosphatemia
Magnesium	is required for processing ATP and for bones.	green vegetables nuts seeds dark chocolate wholegrains coffee tea Herbs Onions, Peanut butter beans spices anise red peppers marmite and vegemite	Magnesium imbalance hypomagnesemia, hypermagnesemia
Zinc	is pervasive and required for several enzymes also key to the immune system.	Oysters Seeds Wholegrains Red meat Offal Game Herbs Marmite and vegemite Egg yolk Fish and shellfish Mushrooms Spices Chocolate Nuts Peanut butter Maple syrup Beans Cheese Popcorn Turkey chicken	Zinc imbalance
Iron	is required for many proteins and enzymes, notably hemoglobin.	Herbs Seaweed Spices Seeds Offal Cocoa Beans Ovaltine Mushrooms Fish Game Red peppers Tofu Tomatoes Eggs Potatoes Nuts Worcester sauce Dried fruit Marmite	Iron imbalance heavy metal poisoning
Manganese	is a cofactor in enzyme functions.	Spices Wholegrains Nuts Herbs Seeds Fish and shellfish Seaweed Maple syrup Chocolate Tea Blueberries Coriander Dandelions Nettles Prunes Raspberries Strawberries Tahini Yerba Mate	manganese imbalance manganism
Copper	is required component of many redox enzymes, including cytochrome c oxidase.	Mushrooms, spinach, greens, seeds, raw cashews, raw walnuts, tempeh, barley.	Copper imbalance copper toxicity
Iodine	is required not only for the synthesis of thyroid hormones, thyroxine and triiodothyronine and to prevent goiter, but also, probably as an antioxidant, for extrathyroidal organs as mammary and salivary glands and for gastric mucosa and immune system (thymus):	Sea vegetables, iodized salt, eggs. Alternate but inconsistent sources of iodine: strawberries, mozzarella cheese, yogurt, milk, fish, shellfish.	Iodine imbalance iodism
Selenium	a cofactor essential to activity of antioxidant enzymes like glutathione peroxidase.	Brazil nuts, cold water wild fish (cod, halibut, salmon), tuna, lamb, turkey, calf liver, mustard, mushrooms, barley, cheese, garlic, tofu, seeds.	Selenium imbalance selenosis
Molybdenum	the oxidases xanthine oxidase, aldehyde oxidase, and sulfite oxidase.	Tomatoes, onions, carrots.	Molybdenum imbalance
Sulphur	Relatively large quantities of sulfur are required, it is used for amino acids	Protein, alliums - see sulphur entry	No name
Cobalt	Cobalt is required in the synthesis of vitamin B12	See foods containing vitamin B12	Cobalt imbalance Because bacteria are required to synthesize the vitamin, it is usually considered part of vitamin B12 deficiency rather than its own dietary element deficiency. Cobalt poisoning is a problem.

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Some science behind the scenes

Minerals