Minerals

 

 The same way your body needs vitamins to survive, it also needs minerals in small amounts to keep your body healthy. Minerals are trace inorganic substances, meaning that they do not come from an animal or a plant and are mainly found on the earth and in foods.

They are needed primarily for the formation of bones, teeth, constituents of body fluids and tissues and for normal nerve function.

Let’s take a closer look at what happensif you don’t absorb enough minerals.

 
 
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Where can we find these minerals to keep us strong and healthy? 

 

 A well-balanced diet is the best way to fulfil your mineral intake. Here are some examples of their richest food sources: 

 
 
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To conclude is never good to have too much or too little of any food.

We need to find a balance.

UK reference nutrient intake:

 
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Glossary

Anaemia: a condition in which you lack enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen to your body's tissues. Having anaemia can make you feel tired and weak.

Alopecia: the partial or complete absence of hair from areas of the body where it normally grows; baldness.

Osteopenia: is when your bones are weaker than normal but not so far gone that they break easily, which is the hallmark of osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis: bones become brittle and fragile from loss of tissue, typically as a result of hormonal changes, or deficiency of calcium or vitamin D.

 Keshan’s Syndrome: a potentially fatal form of cardiomyopathy (disease of the heart muscle).

 Kashin-Beck disease: a disorder of the bones and joints of the hands and fingers, elbows, knees, and ankles of children and adolescents who slowly develop stiff deformed joints, shortened limb length and short stature due to necrosis (death) of the growth plates of bones and of joint cartilage.

 Hyponatremia: a low sodium concentration in the blood. It is generally defined as a sodium concentration of less than 135 mmol/L (135 mEq/L), with severe hyponatremia being below 120 mEq/L. Symptoms can be absent, mild or severe. ... Severe symptoms include confusion, seizures, and coma.

Hyperthyroidism: overactivity of the thyroid gland, resulting in a rapid heartbeat and an increased rate of metabolism.