Just like the human body needs vitamins, protein, carbohydrates, etc., to stay healthy, it also needs minerals to function properly. However, the use or benefits of minerals is not a usual topic to discuss. Not only that, but not many people know about minerals.
Despite that, no one can deny the benefits or functions of minerals in the human body. It helps to keep bones, muscles, and the heart working properly. Various minerals can also help to function hormones and enzymes.
This article is perfect for you if you do not know much about minerals. Here, we are going to discuss essential minerals supplements and their benefits.
What Are Minerals?
Vitamins and Minerals are essential things that help to keep your bones, muscles, brain, hormones, and enzymes working properly. They are inorganic substances and are divided into two categories:
- Trace minerals: The human body needs these minerals in lesser amounts. Some trace minerals include zinc, cobalt, fluoride, iodine, and copper.
- Macrominerals: Your body needs an ample amount of macrominerals to stay healthy. They include chloride, sulfur, calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium, phosphorus, etc.
Now that you know how many minerals there are and what those are, let’s discuss their benefits, and we shall also discuss the minerals supplements.
Minerals And Their Benefits
- Calcium
Calcium is one of the essential minerals helpful for overall health. It is essential for bone health. You can understand the necessity of calcium in the human body by its presence in our body. While ninety-nine per cent of calcium is present in our bones, the remaining one per cent is significant in playing a crucial role in the human body. This one per cent calcium helps the blood vessels move the blood through the body, and it also helps to strengthen the muscles.
Some of the calcium food sources are leafy vegetables, fish having soft bones, cheese, yoghurt, milk, salmon, sardines, etc. You can also take the doctor’s recommended calcium supplements. But remember that you must take the right amount of calcium to make it work in your body.
Children can benefit from calcium if they take thirteen hundred milligrams per day. Adults aged nineteen to fifty years should take at least a thousand milligrams of calcium daily to keep their bodies in working order. You can also take various trace mineral supplements to stay healthy.
- Iodine
Iodine is a trace mineral. So you can understand that even a little iodine in your body can help you get many benefits. But do you know the essential thing iodine does? Cells get the help to transfer the food into energy by using iodine which is perhaps the most important benefit of consuming iodine supplements. Also, iodine can help treat heart diseases like stroke, eye-related problems, breast cancer, thyroid, etc. It also treats skin disorders like eczema, inflammation, psoriasis, etc.
- Copper
Copper, one of the trace minerals, is also very beneficial for the human body. It not only helps us internally, but it does the same externally too. It becomes even more helpful if copper is added to iron. Together, copper and iron can form red blood cells and iron metabolism. Copper also helps the nerves, blood vessels, immune system, and bones to remain healthy and strong. Consuming nearly three mg of copper supplement regularly will greatly benefit the human body.
Oysters, shellfish, beans, nuts, whole grains, and potatoes are great sources of copper. However, you can also consume liquid minerals supplements to stay healthy.
- Magnesium
Magnesium, another abundant yet one of the most valuable materials, has multiple health benefits. It helps regulate muscles, reduce blood sugar and blood pressure, and strengthen nerve function. Though magnesium is a mineral that people do not discuss often, various food sources contain ample amounts of magnesium, like leafy vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, various seeds, etc.
If your age is between nineteen to thirty years, consuming four hundred milligrams of magnesium daily can help your body stay healthy. If You are a woman between nineteen and thirty, you can consume around three hundred and ten milligrams of magnesium daily to enjoy its benefits. You can also take various multi minerals supplements to stay healthy.
- Phosphorus
Phosphorus, another mineral, can make up about one per cent of body weight. Like calcium, magnesium exists in human cells and focuses on the proper functioning of the kidney, nerves and muscles.
Phosphorus is especially beneficial for growing children. Children between nine to eighteen years can eat twelve hundred and fifty milligrams of magnesium daily. In contrast, people over eighteen can consume seven hundred milligrams of magnesium regularly to utilise all its benefits.
- Iron
Iron is essential because it contains haemoglobin. Iron plays a great role in the human body by allowing red blood cells to transfer oxygen from the lungs to other body tissues. Iron supplements also support tissue health, muscle metabolism, and neurological growth.
You can eat lentils, tofu, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, citrus, etc., to keep your health in check. Just eighteen milligrams of iron every day can do the magic in your body.
- Selenium
Selenium is one of the minerals that help slow down stress. So, its requirement is based on the necessity to increase the activity of the enzyme glutathione peroxidase, a selenoprotein. The intake of selenium can help those experiencing a lot of stress due to any infectious disease, HIV or AIDS, running a high risk of cancer, etc.
- Zinc
Zinc is an important mineral. But if it interacts with copper, it can show growth and development. Zinc also helps to increase the immune function in older people experiencing a deficiency in multiple micronutrients.
Conclusion
The human body needs a lot more than you can ever imagine. Just like it needs a regular intake of protein, vitamins, collagen, etc., it also needs various minerals to function properly. However, unfortunately, minerals are one of the least discussed topics nowadays. But it is nearly impossible to avoid its benefits in the human body. That is why go through the article, learn how various minerals can benefit your body, and eat accordingly. It might be a small step towards getting a healthy body.
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