Minerals

• The human body is made up of specific chemical elements, including oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen, which make up 96% of body weight.
• All the remaining elements are minerals, which represent only 4% of body weight.
• Excessive amounts of minerals can be toxic, causing hair loss and changes in nearly all body tissues.
• Minerals are essential for good health.
• A mineral is an inorganic (non-carbon-containing) element that is necessary for the body to build tissues, regulate body fluids, or assist in various body functions.
• Minerals originate in soil and water and are ingested via food and drink.
• Deficiencies in minerals can result in conditions such as anemia, rickets, and goiter.
• A well-balanced diet can prevent mineral deficiencies.
• Concentrated forms of minerals should be taken only on the advice of a physician.
• Minerals are necessary to promote growth and regulate body processes.
• Minerals are found in all body tissues.
• Any abnormal concentration of minerals in the blood can help diagnose different disorders.
• Minerals cannot provide energy by themselves, but in their role as body regulators, they contribute to the production of energy within the body.
• Minerals are found in water and in natural (unprocessed) foods, together with proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and vitamins.
• Minerals in the soil are absorbed by growing plants.
• Humans obtain minerals by eating plants grown in mineral-rich soil or by eating animals that have eaten such plants.
• The specific mineral content of food is determined by burning the food and then chemically analyzing the remaining ash.
• Enriched foods are foods to which nutrients, usually B vitamins and iron, have been added to improve their nutritional value.
• Highly processed or refined foods such as sugar and white flour contain almost no minerals.
• Iron, together with the vitamins thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, and folate, are commonly added to white flour and cereals, which are then labeled enriched foods.
• Most minerals in food occur as salts, which are soluble in water.
• The minerals leave the food and remain in the cooking water.
• Sodium controls the extracellular fluid and is essential for osmosis.
• Hypertension is higher than normal blood pressure.
• Hyperkalemia is a condition where there is excessive amounts of potassium in the blood.
• Potassium is found in many foods, particularly fruits and vegetables.
• Potassium is necessary for transmission of nerve impulses and for muscle contractions.
• Sodium participates in the transmission of nerve impulses essential for normal muscle function.
• Sodium is necessary to maintain the acid-base balance in the body.
• Symptoms of potassium deficiency include nausea, anorexia, fatigue, muscle weakness, and heart abnormalities.
• If the sodium level outside the cell drops, fluid enters the cell to dilute the potassium level, thereby causing a reduction in extracellular fluid.
• Potassium deficiency can be caused by diarrhea, vomiting, diabetic acidosis, severe malnutrition, or excessive use of laxatives or diuretics.
• Alkalosis is a condition in which excess base accumulates in, or acids are lost from, the body.
• Alkaline is base; capable of neutralizing acids.
• Edema is an abnormal retention of fluid by the body.
• With the loss of sodium and reduction of extracellular fluid, a decrease in blood pressure and dehydration can result.
• Dehydration is the loss of water from the body.
• Sodium is an electrolyte whose primary function is the control of fluid balance in the body.
• Acidosis is a condition in which excess acids accumulate or there is a loss of base in the body.
• The sodium inside the cell increases, the fluid within the cell also increases, swelling it and causing edema.