Minerals (Dietary)
The minerals (inorganic nutrients) that are relevant to human nutrition include water, sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, phosphate, sulfate, magnesium, iron, copper, zinc, manganese, iodine, selenium, and molybdenum.Cobalt is a required mineral for human health, but it is supplied by vitamin B 12. Cobalt appears to have no other function, aside from being part of this vitamin. There is some evidence that chromium, boron, and other inorganic elements play some part in human nutrition, but the evidence is indirect and not yet convincing. Fluoride seems not to be required for human life, but its presence in the diet contributes to long term dental health. Some of the minerals do not occur as single atoms, but occur as molecules. These include water, phosphate, sulfate, and selenite (a form of selenium). Sulfate contains an atom of sulfur. We do not need to eat sulfate, since the body can acquire all the sulfate it needs from protein.
The statement that various minerals, or inorganic nutrients, are required for life means that their continued supply in the diet is needed for growth, maintenance of body weight in adulthood, and for reproduction. The amount of each mineral that is needed to support growth during infancy and childhood, to maintain body weight and health, and to facilitate pregnancy and lactation, are listed in a table called the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA). This table was compiled by the Food and Nutrition Board, a committee that serves the United States government. All of the values listed in the RDA indicate the daily amounts that are expected to maintain health throughout most of the general population. The actual levels of each inorganic nutrient required by any given individual is likely to be less than that stated by the RDA. The RDAs are all based on studies that provided the exact, minimal requirement of each mineral needed to maintain health. However, the RDA values are actually greater than the minimal requirement, as determined by studies on small groups of healthy human subjects, in order to accomodate the variability expected among the general population.
The RDAs for adult males are 800 mg of calcium, 800 mg of phosphorus, 350 mg of magnesium, 10 mg of iron, 15 mg of zinc, 0.15 mg of iodine, and 0.07 mg of selenium. The RDA for sodium is expressed as a range (0.5-2.4 g/day). The minimal requirement for chloride is about 0.75 g/day, and the minimal requirement for potassium is 1.6-2.0 g/day, though RDA values have not been set for these nutrients. The RDAs for several other minerals has not been determined, and here the estimated safe and adequate daily dietary intake has been listed by the Food and Nutrition Board. These values are listed for copper (1.5-3.0 mg), manganese (2-5 mg), fluoride (1.5-4.0 mg), molybdenum (0.075-0.25 mg), and chromium (0.05-0.2 mg). In noting the appearance of chromium in this list, one should note that the function of chromium is essentially unknown, and evidence for its necessity exists only for animals, and not for human beings. In considering the amount of any mineral used for treating mineral deficiency, one should compare the recommended level with the RDA for that mineral. Treatment at a level that is one tenth of the RDA might not be expected to be adequate, while treatment at levels ranging from 10-1,000 times the RDA might be expected to exert a toxic effect, depending on the mineral. In this way, one can judge whether any claim of action, for a specific mineral treatment, is likely to be adequate or appropriate.
People are treated with minerals for several reasons. The primary reason is to relieve a mineral deficiency, when a deficiency has been detected. Chemical tests suitable for the detection of all mineral deficiencies are available. The diagnosis of the deficiency is often aided by tests that do not involve chemical reactions, such as the hematocrit test for the red blood cell content in blood for iron deficiency, the visual examination of the neck for iodine deficiency, or the examination of bones by densitometry for calcium deficiency. Mineral treatment is conducted after a test and diagnosis for iron-deficiency anemia, in the case of iron, and after a test and diagnosis for hypomagnesemia, in the case of magnesium, to give two examples.
A second general reason for mineral treatment is to prevent the development of a possible or expected deficiency. Here, minerals are administered when tests for possible mineral deficiency are not given. Examples include the practice of giving young infants iron supplements, and of the food industry's practice of supplementing infant formulas with iron. The purpose here is to reduce the risk for iron deficiency anemia. Another example is the practice of many women of taking calcium supplements, with the hope of reducing the risk of osteoporosis.
Most minerals are commercially available at supermarkets, drug stores, and specialty stores. There is reason to believe that the purchase and consumption of most of these minerals is beneficial to health for some, but not all, of the minerals. Potassium supplements are useful for reducing blood pressure, in cases of persons with high blood pressure. The effect of potassium varies from person to person. The consumption of calcium supplements is likely to have some effect on reducing the risk for osteoporosis. The consumption of selenium supplements is expected to be of value only for residents of Keshan Province, China, because of the established association of selenium deficiency in this region with "Keshan disease."
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