Minerals
Minerals are important to your body to stay healthy.
Functions
The body needs many minerals. these are called essential minerals. Essential minerals are sometimes divided up into major minerals (macrominerals) and trace minerals (microminerals). These two groups of minerals are equally important, but trace minerals are needed in smaller amounts than major minerals. The amounts needed in the body are not an indication of their importance.
A balanced diet usually provides all of the essential minerals. The two tables below list minerals, what they do in the body (their functions), and their sources in food.
Major Sources of Minerals
- Calcium: helps to controlmuscle contractions, initiate DNA synthesis, signal biochemical processes atthe cellular level, improve your metabolism and even properly clot the blood.
- Iron: helps to carry oxygen throughout the body and also aids in digestion. If youdon’t get enough iron then you can suffer from a number of different healthproblems, the most common of which is chronic fatigue.
- Iodine: works in the thyroid which affects your hormone levels.This can alter everything from your mood to your metabolic rate.
Cooking Methods
Effects
Failure to get enough of this minerals can result in problems ranging from feeling tired to developing uncomfortable abnormalities like a goiter or swelled tongue. It can also lead to serious problems with childhood development or with issues related to aging.
The best way to get the right minerals into your body is toconsume them as a part of your natural diet.
Interesting Facts
- Plants then absorb minerals through their roots, and when you eat a plant or eat an animal that ate a plant, you absorb the minerals into your body.
- a mineral that can affect calcium and bone metabolism.
- It’s important to eat a variety of foods from each of the food groups in order to get all of the minerals in your diet.
- All nutrients require minerals for proper cellular function.
- Minerals can be taken as a dietary suppliment.
- People think that minerals are only found in animal products but all of the food groups have foods high in minerals.
- Minerals are very important during our growing cycles – as children, adolescents and in pregnancy, when structure is being formed.
- two types of minerals - macro minerals and trace minerals.
Acroustic Poem
M - minerals must be in a form your body can use.
I - important sources of many minerals are plant food.
N - naturally low in sodium are vegetables and rich in potassium.
E - Everyone needs mineral .
R - Remember that mineral is probably 1 of the important nutrients of the body
A - All of the food groups have foods rich in minerals.
L - like other nutrients. Minerals can be mixed with others too.