Minerals come from the earth or from water. Plants and animals absorb them to get nutrients. Many minerals are found in the body and they are crucial in metabolism and health maintenance. Fruits and vegetables contain many vitamins and minerals. If you have an interest in a highly popular multivitamin multimineral product, visit MultiVit Rx multivitamin. You may also wish to visit coral calcium information.
Ann Internal Medicine. 2013. Vitamin and mineral supplements in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer: An updated systematic evidence review for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Limited evidence supports any benefit from vitamin and mineral supplementation for the prevention of cancer or CVD. Two trials found a small, borderline-significant benefit from multivitamin supplements on cancer in men only and no effect on CVD.
Mineral Composition in the human body, how much is present in our
bodies
About 96 percent of the body weight in humans comes from organic elements
present in several forms. DNA, RNA proteins, lipids and sugars are all composed
of primarily Oxygen (65%), Carbon (18%), Hydrogen (9%) and Nitrogen (3%). Also,
Water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2)as well as other small molecules involve
these elements. About 4% of body weight comes from elements present in the form
of salts.
Here is a list of minerals found in the
human body in decreasing order:
Calcium - the human
body is made of 1.5% calcium mineral which predominantly is found in bones.
Phosphorus - found in 1 percent in the body
Potassium - 0.4%
Sulfur - 0.3%
Sodium - 0.2%
Americans should lower sodium consumption to optimize their health
– but not below levels of 2,300 mg per day, according to a 2014 report
from the Institute of Medicine
Chlorine - 0.2%
Magnesium mineral - 0.1%
Iodine- 0.1%
Iron - 0.1%. You can by
an
Iron pill
supplement online.
Chromium which is often
available as the mineral chromium picolinate in supplements
Cobalt
Copper mineral
Fluorine or fluoride
Manganese mineral
Molybdenum
Advances in Nutrition, 2018. Molybdenum, a trace element essential
for micro-organisms, plants, and animals, was discovered in 1778 by a
Swedish chemist named Karl Scheele. In the 1950s, the essentiality of
molybdenum was established with the discovery of the first
molybdenum-containing enzymes. In humans, only 4 enzymes requiring
molybdenum have been identified to date: sulfite oxidase, xanthine
oxidase, aldehyde oxidase, and mitochondrial amidoxime-reducing
component (mARC).
Selenium is often added
to multivitamin supplements for its antioxidant properties. It is
available also as
methylselenocysteine
as a dietary nutraceutical.
Tin
Vanadium
Zinc
Silica or
silicon element
Boron mineral. If you
wish to supplement with boron purchase
this mineral supplement.
Germanium
Aluminum
in underarm deodorant may be involved in breast cancer.
Mercury may be
found in high amounts in sushi from tuna
Strontium may be
helpful for bones
A daily vitamin and mineral
supplement is available at
Multivitamin.
Other products sold online
MegaFood - Balanced Minerals, Supports Bone Development, Muscle
Function, & Metabolism, 90 Tablets (FFP)
Chelated mineral information
Chelated minerals are those joined with various amino acids
and/or oligopeptides. Some people think that they are better
absorbed than non-chelated minerals. There may be certain minerals, e.g.,
trivalent chromium and zinc, where this is possibly the case. However, in
most cases chelated and non-chelated minerals are absorbed pretty much
equally, and for practical reasons the latter are cheaper and just as
good for daily health. Even if chelated minerals are better absorbed,
most supplements have more than enough of their daily requirement.
Mineral water
This is water containing minerals or other dissolved
substances that alter its taste or give it therapeutic value. Salts,
sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved
in the water. Mineral water can often be effervescent. Mineral water can
be prepared or can occur naturally. Traditionally mineral waters would be
used or consumed at their source, often referred to as taking the waters
or taking the cure, and such sites were referred to as spas, baths or
wells. Spa would be used when the water was consumed and bathed in, bath
when the water was not generally consumed, and well when the water was not
generally bathed in. In modern times it is far more common for mineral
waters to be bottled at source for distributed consumption. There are over
3000 brands of mineral water available commercially worldwide.
Colloidal mineral supplementation
Colloidal mineral supplements refer to liquid extracts of minerals
mainly derived from humic shale deposits or from aluminosilicate-containing
clays. Humic shale extracts predominantly contain sulfates of iron and
aluminum and traces of colloidal metal hydroxides. The term colloidal
mineral is derived from the presence in these preparations of colloidal
metal hydroxides. However, many of the minerals are present in ionic
forms. In addition to the sulfates of iron and aluminum, colloidal
minerals from humic shale deposits contain zinc, nickel, manganese,
magnesium, calcium, chromium, boron, copper, lithium and silicon. They
also contain traces of several other elements including arsenic, vanadium,
strontium, selenium, iodine and praseodymium. Similar minerals may be
found in colloidal minerals derived from clay and from plant sources.
Humic and fulvic acids are found in some preparations. Interestingly,
humic acids convert minerals into more useable forms for plants. It is
believed by some that minerals in colloidal form are more easily
absorbable than minerals in solid form (tablets and capsules). Colloidal
minerals are sometimes referred to as liquid minerals. However, some
supplements marketed as liquid minerals are generally different from the
so-called colloidal mineral supplements. They are liquid mineral mixtures
comprised of chelated minerals, ocean minerals and mineral citrates, as
well as some colloidal minerals.
Q. Your website is fascinating, and I read it
faithfully. Could you let me know if the claims are true for colloidal
minerals with trace
elements in liquid form. I have heard that it is a beneficial supplement
to take before bed for joints, nails, and hair. Do you have a colloidal
mineral product available, and are the claims true? Thank you for you
researched and informative site.
A. I am not aware of any long term human research that the
ingestion of colloidal minerals improves health. In general most
Americans who have a good diet ingest an adequate amount of various
minerals. Would taking additional minerals in the form of colloidal
minerals offer health benefits or cause side effects? The answers are
not yet clear.
Trace mineral
A trace of something means that there is only a little of it. So
even though your body needs trace minerals, it needs just a tiny bit of
each one. Scientists are still trying to find out exactly how much of
these trace minerals we need each day. Trace minerals include iron,
manganese, copper, iodine, zinc, cobalt, fluoride, and selenium.
Additional ones
Asbestos
mineral
Indium mineral is promoted
as having hormone balancing properties although we are not aware of human
research that supports this viewpoint.
Lead
mineral
Nickel found in coins
Zeolite now being sold as
a supplement
Dr. Sahelian's opinion
on Hair Mineral Analysis
Except to determine toxicity from select few minerals, such
as lead, I am not a believer in hair mineral analysis as a guide to
which mineral supplements should be used. Hair mineral analysis, in
many cases, is not reliable and does not really tell what the body
needs or how much of the minerals are within the cells of the body.
Hair mineral analysis just tells us (if done by a good lab who knows
what they are doing) how much of the mineral is found in hair.
Hair Mineral Analysis
Hair mineral analysis is useful in determining certain levels
of metals, such as cadmium, copper, and mercury. But, some doctors do a hair
mineral analysis to test for all metals and think that this reflects toxicity or
deficiency in the body. This is not necessarily true.
Hair as a biopsy material: trace element data on one man over
two decades.
Eur J Clinical Nutr. 2004. Klevay LM,
Christopherson DM, Shuler TR.
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research
Service, Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center, ND
Hair mineral analyses are being performed frequently both with and
without medical advice. Reasons for analysis often are ill defined.
To assess variability of trace element data both within a
series of samples from an individual and among mean values published
from other research laboratories. DESIGN: Many samples of hair were
collected carefully from a healthy man over a comparatively long
period of time and were processed and analyzed under standard
conditions. Extensive published data from other research
laboratories also were reviewed and compared. RESULTS: Coefficients
of variation for trace elements in hair of the donor ranged from 17
to 74% for the essential elements copper, selenium and zinc and from
53 to 121% for the potential intoxicants aluminum, cadmium and lead.
The ratio of high mean to low mean for values published by others on
hair samples from healthy people ranged from two for selenium and
zinc to 18 for aluminum. CONCLUSIONS: Hair analysis should be based
on a diagnostic hypothesis such as
cadmium intoxication or copper
deficiency rather than on the ease of analysis or attempts to
explain vague symptoms because within-person variability is large
and interlaboratory agreement on normal values is poor.
Hair element concentrations in females in one
acid and one alkaline area in southern Sweden.
Ambio. 2003.
Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund
University, Sweden.
Concentrations of 34 trace elements in hair have been determined
in 47 females from an acid region in southern Sweden, who were
compared with 43 females from an alkaline area. The concentrations
of these elements in hair and drinking water were determined by
inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy and
inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The hair
concentrations of boron and barium were significantly higher in hair
samples from the acid region, the hair levels of calcium, strontium,
molybdenum, iron, and selenium were significantly higher in the
alkaline region. For some metals, e.g. calcium, lead, molybdenum,
and strontium, there were positive correlations between the
concentrations in hair and water indicating the importance of intake
from minerals in water. The increased ratio of selenium/mercury
concentrations in hair samples obtained in the alkaline district
indicates that these subjects may have better protection against the
toxic effects of mercury.
Assessment of hair mineral analysis commercially offered in Germany.
J Trace Elem Med Biol. 2002.
To evaluate intra- and inter-laboratory agreement concerning hair
mineral analysis and interpretation of results, hair samples from 2
volunteers were sent to seven laboratories, which commercially offer
hair mineral analysis in Germany. 6 weeks later, another identical
part from the hair sample of volunteer 1 was sent to all seven labs.
Altogether, 50 elements were analyzed, 23 by all seven labs. For
comparability, only the results for these 23 elements were assessed.
The intra-laboratory reproducibility was evaluated by the 2
identical hair samples from volunteer 1. On the average, the
reproducibility seems to be sufficient (median +/- 9.48% to +/-
20.59%), but for individual elements there were unacceptable
out-rulers up to 100%. Only one lab classified all elements of the
first and the second analysis of the identical hair sample in the
same category (below, within, or above normal range). The others
grouped 4 to 7 elements different. This is not tolerable. The
inter-laboratory comparability was assessed by the results of the
hair samples of both volunteers. For the sample of volunteer 1 at
least the results of 6 (out of 23) elements were within an
acceptable range of +/- 30% from the consensus value (= mean of all
seven labs). For volunteer 2 this was only the case for 2 (!)
elements. Differences of more than 100% were found for most other
elements. Moreover, in the vast majority of the tested elements
there was no comparability of the classification to the respective
reference ranges of the different laboratories. For example, for
volunteer 1 only 3 elements (our of 23!) were identically classified
by all seven labs. As neither the analytical results nor the
classification to the individual reference ranges by the
laboratories correspond in tolerable borders, conclusions, drawn
from these results, cannot be valid. Hair mineral analysis from
these laboratories is unreliable. Therefore we must recommend to
refrain from using such analysis to assess individual nutritional
status or suspected environmental exposure.
Hair Mineral analysis questions
Q. I've already read in one of your responses that you are not a big proponent
of hair analysis and so you may not offer too much more information that I read
in that answer. About 4 years ago a former roommate nutritionist did a hair
analysis on me and all my readings were within normal acceptable range (100% or
below as the scores were graphed) except for uranium. With that toxic metal I
scored at 220%. Since that time I more or less try to seek a healthy lifestyle
with organic foods (as much as possible), additional supplements like COQ10,
pycnogenol and alpha lipoic acid, and other natural solutions (filtered water).
Do you have any advice of a medical test, alternative approach or advice about
what to do with the uranium finding or just keep on as I'm doing and ignore it?
A. You may wish to send a sample of your hair to 2 or 3 other hair
mineral analysis labs to see what they say. It will tell us whether this was a
fluke or whether there is a serious problems going on with uranium toxicity.
Most often, though, we prefer going by symptoms of a patient as opposed to a lab
study which may or may not be accurate.
Vitamin and mineral fruit
The vitamin and mineral content in fruits is varied, and in general fruits have
a good amount of potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, selenium, along with
smaller amounts of iron, manganese, copper and zinc.
Questions
Q.
Is the mineral Sierrasil good and safe for those with joint
problems?
A. We have not seen any long term studies in humans
regarding arthritis or other joint problems and Sierrasil. According
to the promotional material, "Sierrasil is a distinct,
naturally-occurring mineral composite found only in the high Sierra
Mountains, SierraSil ® contains a rich complex of minerals with
unique properties unlike any other composite known. Used alone or
enhanced with other synergistic nutrients, SierraSil is excellent
for active men and women of all ages including baby boomers,
seniors, and athletes."
To me, this Sierrasil promotion sounds like typical
marketing hype with little human studies to support the claims. The
same type of promotion is done with coral calcium and lots of other
mineral products.
Q.
Your recent article about keeping hydrated during the summer weather
triggered a question. After having a hair analysis taken, I learned
I have high levels of metals in my system ... uranium and tin. I
also had my water tested, and it tested high for uranium. I get
conflicting information concerning reverse osmosis. Some say it will
remove the uranium; others said it will not. Do you have any
information about this? There was a time when I drank more diet
sodas and very little water. I decided to change that, and drink
more water and less sodas. I thought was doing something healthy.
Now I'm not so sure!! Your response is much appreciated!
A. I'm not a big fan of hair mineral analysis as a
reliable tool to tell us what minerals our body needs to supplement
or remove, except in limited cases.
Q. Have you heard of angstrom-size minerals? As an example, calcium
and magnesium. Magnesium is not meant to cause diarrhea in this
form.
A. I have not heard of angstrom-size minerals so I can't say much
about this topic, but my first impression is that it is a marketing
gimmick.
I recently
started to take sea minerals called Supa boost in hopes that it might help with
my psoriasis and energy problems but have found each time I take it I feel the
opposite, and extremely fatigued. I'm not sure if its just a detox or if I
should continue with it. I'm also taking super greens as well but still no help
with the psoriasis but the sea minerals seem to be causing side effects. Have
you heard of the Supa boost sea minerals, and any suggestions?
I am not familiar with this product. A google search reveals
Supa Boost contains several ingredients including graviola, hawthorn, stinging
nettle and others.
Have you ever
done any research on Adya Clarity or Black Mica?
Not at this time.
What are your
thoughts about the efficacy and possible side effects, known and unknown of
Angstrom minerals? I'm concerned about the safety issue, crossing brain barrier
and other possible untoward effects.
I have not seen enough information on this topic to have a clear
opinion but the marketing of angstrom mineral sounds suspicious to me.
Mineral Makeup benefit
Mineral makeup products are promoted as all natural, finely ground
minerals from the earth, without any of the chemicals, dyes, and
preservatives found in traditional makeup. Some users of mineral
makeup complain it's drying, irritating, and accentuates wrinkles.
The main ingredients of mineral makeup (minerals such as mica, zinc
oxide, and titanium dioxide), have been the basis of most makeup
foundations for decades.
One advantage of mineral makeup is that a consumer can avoid
fragrances, binders, synthetic dyes, and preservatives that can
irritate the skin. Some dermatologists think that these mineral
makeup cosmetic products may also be good for patients with acne or
other skin problems since the minerals don't clog up pores.
There are a wide variety of mineral makeup products on the market,
and just because a makeup product has minerals does not mean the
rest of the ingredients in this particular makeup are good for you.
Each mineral makeup product has to be evaluated on its own rather
than grouping them all in one category. Some companies may still add
unhealthy synthetic fillers, colors, binders, preservatives, and
other chemicals to their mineral makeup products.
Trace Minerals Research Files Lawsuit Against
Mineral Resources International
OGDEN, UTAH, 2006 - Trace Minerals Research, a leading
provider of mineral -based supplements for more than 35 years, has
taken legal action against Mineral Resources International for
trademark infringement and misuse of the company's intellectual
property. Trace Minerals Research previously had a supply
relationship with Mineral Resources International that was formally
terminated in May 2006. Since ending this supply agreement, Trace
Minerals Research has established an exclusive partnership with Salt
Lake Minerals that allows the company to guarantee a consistent
source of the highest quality food grade minerals extracted from
Utah's Great Salt Lake. "Although steps were taken over the past
year to reach a resolution without having to resort to litigation,
our negotiations with Mineral Resources International were not
successful and official legal action was taken in July 2006," stated
Matt Kilts, partner, Trace Minerals Research. "This legal action in
no way impacts our ability to continue to provide our customers with
the trusted quality products they have come to expect from us."
Trace Minerals Research (www.traceminerals.com), founded in 1969, is
the original marketer and distributor of essential minerals
harvested from Utah's Great Salt Lake for supplement use. Today, the
company uses these naturally balanced, naturally occurring minerals
as the basis for all products in its brand product line. Extensive
research supports the need to keep minerals in proper balance
throughout the body in order to achieve optimal health. Trace
Minerals Research is focused solely on servicing the natural
products industry.