Like vitamins, minerals play a vital role in body growth and maintenance. Your bones, teeth, hair, nails, red blood cells, body fluids, hormones, and enzymes all rely on minerals. Minerals also help to regulate metabolism, blood-clotting, heartbeat, and acid-base and fluid balance, as well as aiding in the function of nerves and muscles.

The essential minerals the body needs to survive form two groups:

• Macrominerals (more than 100mg/day required) including calcium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, chloride, magnesium.
• Trace Minerals (much smaller amounts required) including iron, zinc, copper, fluoride, iodine, selenium, cobalt, molybdenum, manganese.

Mineral balance is very important to the health of your body. The correct proportion or ratio of minerals can be kept by eating a wide variety of unrefined fresh foods. However, it is a delicate balance that can be upset by certain diseases, as well as extreme forms of dieting or supplementation.  

Minerals are not destroyed by cooking. But, as with vitamins, they are often lost to trimming and peeling, or are drained away with water that food has been cooked in.

Note on heavy metals: The so-called “heavy metals” are minerals including lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic, which are toxic to humans. They can contaminate the food supply as a byproduct of industrial processes. Breathing polluted air and cigarette smoke also contributes to heavy metal intake.