Dietary element
Minerals, misleading, often abbreviated to everyday use minerals or minerals that are vital inorganic nutrients, which can not be produced by the organism; they have to be fed to it with the food. The substances mentioned here relate only to the human or animal body; Plants, fungi and bacteria require some other minerals.
Since the minerals from organic and the elements are present mostly as ions or in the form of inorganic compounds, they are, unlike some vitamins, to most cooking methods insensitive. For example, they can not be destroyed by heat or air. However, many of these can be leached out by excessively long cooking in too much water from the food and are thus lost when the cooking water is not consumed, but is discarded.
Classification and survey
Dividing the minerals in the body in two dimensions a: Elements are referred to as volume or macro-elements with a concentration higher than 50 mg per kg body weight. Elements with less than 50 mg per kg body weight hot tracks or microelements. An exception is iron, although it is one of the trace elements, however, lies with about 60 mg per kg body weight over the definition. For a number of trace elements, it is still unclear whether they are random part of the people or whether they indeed have a physiological function.
Function. In all cases, the correct dosage is crucial: Both deficiency and overdose can be dangerous. Examples: arsenic or selenium poisoning, copper storage disease.
Set elements
- Calcium Ca
- Chlorine Cl
- Potassium K
- Magnesium Mg
- Phosphorus P
- Sulfur S
- Sodium Na
Essential trace elements
- Chromium Cr
- Cobalt Co
- Iron Fe
- Fluorine F
- Iodine ( iodine) I
- Cu Copper
- Manganese Mn
- Molybdenum Mo
- Selenium Se
- Silicon Si
- Vanadium V
- Zn zinc
Probably also essential for humans:
- Arsenic As
- Boron B
- Rubidium Rb
- Tin Sn
Functions in the organism
Some minerals are in a functional loop and influence each other, for example sodium and potassium, which act as antagonists at the nerve signal line.
Some are components of hormones, such as the iodine ( iodine) in the thyroid hormone. Dissolved others, such as some amount of elements provide as electrolytes in the form of positively charged cations and negatively charged anions for electrical neutrality in the body fluids from the tissues and for the maintenance of osmotic pressure
Minerals are in different chemical compounds (see under the individual listed above minerals ). Light or even available for the organism are usually only certain compounds, such as sodium and chlorine in the form of the sodium chloride or zinc in the form of zinc chelate.