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What about Minerals? Nutrients Your Body Needs. By Our Student Pharmacist, Kelly Usakoski.

What about Minerals?

Last week I wrote about the nutrients your body needs to survive, but I didn’t have a chance to cover one important aspect – minerals! Unlike vitamins that are found naturally in food and plants, minerals are inorganic elements that are found in the earth and certain foods. Despite this difference, it is possible to get all of the necessary minerals you need from a balanced, diverse diet of vegetables, protein, and carbohydrates.

Types of Minerals: Macrominerals versus Trace Minerals

Your body only needs a very small amount of trace minerals to be healthy and getting too much of these minerals can be very toxic.  On the other hand, macrominerals are needed in much larger quantities.

Here is a list of some of the minerals you need.

Macrominerals: calcium (Ca), chloride (Cl), magnesium (Mg), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), sodium (Na), and sulfur (S)

Trace minerals: cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), fluoride (F), iodine (I), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), selenium (Se), and Zinc (Zn)
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How do Minerals Work in Your Body?

Minerals help make sure that your cells are healthy and able to function properly.  They play a role in muscle contractions, heart health, proper blood flow, and cognitive functioning. Minerals work together to maintain your body’s equilibrium, also known as homeostasis.

What to do if you have an imbalance?

Minerals need to be kept at a certain level in your body.  If you have too much or too little of a certain mineral, there can be troublesome side effects.

The most common reason for having a mineral deficiency is not getting enough of the mineral from your diet. The serious side effects are usually rare and occur in cases of severe deficiency or excess. The amount of each mineral you need varies by your age, sex, and health conditions. When your healthcare professional takes your blood, they can determine if your levels are within the normal range.
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Learning more about minerals

Here is some detailed information on three common minerals and supplements you may need.

Iron: Approximately 3 to 4 grams of Iron (Fe) can be found in the body.  The majority of iron exists in red blood cells to help deliver oxygen through the blood to your muscles and tissues. You can get iron from a variety of meats including chicken, beef, and oysters. You can also get iron from beans, lentils, tofu, cashews, and spinach.

Too much iron (iron overload)

  • Commonly caused by: red blood cell transfusions, hereditary hemochromatosis – a condition that causes too much iron absorption, and liver disease.
  • Side effects: Excess iron can cause inflammation in your heart, liver, and pancreas, which is hard to see. Iron studies, liver function tests, and blood cell counts can help with detection.

Too little iron (anemia)

  • Commonly caused by: pregnancy, menstruation, inflammatory bowel disease, gastric bypass surgery, celiac disease, blood loss, chronic kidney disease
  • Side effects: tiredness or fatigue, reduced exercise tolerance, a craving for ice cubes (pica)
  • Serious side effects: heart racing (tachycardia), hemodynamic instability leading to septic shock

Sodium: Sodium (Na) is abundant in many foods we eat and cook due to its use during food processing as a preservative. The most common sources of sodium are bread, pizza, sandwiches, cured meats, soups, burritos, chicken, cheese, and savory snacks. The recommended intake of sodium per day is less than 2,300 milligrams. This recommendation may be even lower if you have conditions such as high blood pressure, kidney disease, or heart disease. If you do have these conditions, your healthcare provider may have suggested the DASH diet plan (see below) that helps reduce your sodium intake.  

Too much sodium (hypernatremia)

  • Commonly caused by: loss of water without replenishing your water intake especially as you age, diabetes insipidus – a condition not related to diabetes that stops your body from maintaining a proper fluid balance, kidney disease
  • Side effects: excessive thirst, extreme tiredness, muscle spasms

Too little sodium (hyponatremia)

  • Commonly caused by: drinking too much water, eating disorders, water pills, congestive heart failure
  • Side effects: nausea and vomiting, loss of energy, headache
  • Serious side effects: seizures, coma

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Potassium: Potassium (K) can be found in fruits and vegetables like bananas, oranges, spinach, and mushrooms. It can be found in drinks like coffee and tea and some types of fish and meat. Potassium helps your muscles work, including your heart muscles and your brain. It also plays an important role in maintaining your body’s fluid balance.

Too much potassium (hyperkalemia)

  • Commonly caused by: high blood sugar due to diabetes, dehydration, kidney disease, certain blood pressure medications
  • Side effects: muscle cramps and pains, tiredness, feeling weak
  • Serious side effects: trouble breathing, unusual heartbeat, chest pains

Too little potassium (hypokalemia)

  • Commonly caused by: water pills, excessive vomiting and diarrhea, eating disorders
  • Side effects: generalized weakness, having trouble focusing, constipation
  • Serious side effects: trouble breathing, muscle paralysis, in patients with heart disease an unusual heartbeat may occur

References:

  1. Definitions of Health Terms: Minerals: MedlinePlus. Accessed April 14, 2021.https://medlineplus.gov/definitions/mineralsdefinitions.html
  2. CDC. Micronutrient Facts. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Published December 3, 2020. Accessed April 15, 2021.https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/micronutrient-malnutrition/micronutrients/index.html
  3. Vitamins and Minerals Explained. Pharmacy Times. Accessed April 15, 2021. https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/vitamins-and-minerals-explained
  4. PubChem. Periodic Table of Elements. Accessed April 16, 2021. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/periodic-table/
  5. Minerals: Their Functions and Sources | Michigan Medicine. Accessed April 16, 2021. https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/ta3912
  6. Top Iron-Rich Foods List. Accessed April 19, 2021. https://www.webmd.com/diet/iron-rich-foods#1.
  7. Hemochromatosis (Iron Overload): Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, Diet & More. Cleveland Clinic. Accessed April 20, 2021.https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/14971-hemochromatosis-iron-overload
  8. Lopez, A., Cacoub, P., Macdougall, I. C., & Peyrin-Biroulet, L. (2016). Iron deficiency anaemia. The Lancet, 387(10021), 907-916. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60865-0
  9. Top 10 Sources of Sodium | cdc.gov. Published February 26, 2021. Accessed April 20, 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/salt/sources
  10. Hypernatremia: Symptoms, Treatment, Causes, and More. Healthline. Published October 2, 2017. Accessed April 20, 2021.https://www.healthline.com/health/hypernatremia
  11. Hyponatremia – Symptoms and causes – Mayo Clinic. Accessed April 20, 2021. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hyponatremia/symptoms-causes/syc-20373711
  12. Image 3: DASH Diet what to eat.  Accessed April 16, 2021. https://themomedit.com/dash-diet-meal-plan-grocery-list-for-families/
  13. Which Foods are Rich in Potassium? WebMD. Accessed April 15, 2021. https://www.webmd.com/diet/foods-rich-in-potassium
  14. High potassium (hyperkalemia). Accessed April 15, 2021. http://www.kidneyfund.org/kidney-disease/chronic-kidney-disease-ckd/complications/high-potassium-hyperkalemia.html
  15. Gennari FJ. Hypokalemia. New England Journal of Medicine. 1998;339(7):451-458. doi:10.1056/NEJM199808133390707

 

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