Minerals

Minerals are inorganic chemical elements not attached to a carbon atom. They participate in many biochemical and physiological processes necessary for optimum growth, development and health There is a clear and important distinction between the terms mineral and trace element. If the body requires more than 100 milligrams of a mineral each day, the substance is labelled mineral. If the body requires less than 100 milligrams of a mineral each day, the substance is labelled trace element. .

Many minerals are essential parts of enzymes. They also participate actively in regulating many physiological functions, including transporting oxygen to each of the body's 60-trillion cells, providing the stimulus for muscles to contract and in many ways guaranteeing normal function of the central nervous system. Minerals are required for growth, maintenance, repair and health of tissues and bones.

Most minerals are widely distributed in foods. Severe mineral deficiency is unusual in the Western world. Of all essential minerals, only a few may be deficient in a typical diet. Even so, there are exceptions. Iron deficiency is common in infants, children and pregnant women. Zinc and copper deficiencies occur fairly frequently.

Detailed charts are provided for many minerals, including:
Calcium , Chloride , Magnesium , Phosphorous , Potassium , Sodium , Sulphur

In addition, detailed charts are provided for trace elements, including:
Chromium, Fluorine, Iodine, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum, Selenium, Vanadium, Zinc

Nickel, tin, silicon and arsenic are also considered essential. Charts are not included because all available- information about these trace elements comes from studies done on animals, not human experiments or experience.

Multivitamin / Mineral Preparations

Some foods contain all the nutrients you need. For healthy people who are past the growing stage and not over 55, food is the best, most-reliable source of nutrients—if you eat a well-balanced, nutritious diet every day. Not many people fit all these parameters.

If you or your children need supplementation, it is probably better to take one of the commercially available multivitamin/mineral preparations rather than attempt to augment your food intake with separate products containing only one or two substances. Commercial over-the-counter products usually have a good balance of nutrients. Taking separate products may lead to an imbalance of nutrients, which can lead to an overabundance of one substance at the expense of decreased absorption or effectiveness of another. The cost is also much less if you take a combination product rather than separate products.

There are exceptions to this rule. For example, iron and folic-acid needs pregnancy should be met with a single product.

Most major pharmaceutical manufacturers supply widely advertised combination products. The brand names are too numerous to list and change constantly. Your chemist or doctor should be able to recommend a good source for a superior multivitamin/ mineral preparation.

If you study vitamins and minerals, you may find you need supplements for one reason or another. I hope this book provides you with enough information to choose wisely or be able to ask the right questions to find out what is best for you.

Supplements

Supplements are chemical substances that are neither vitamins nor minerals, but they have received notice as nutritional supplements. Many supplements have proven effects in the body but may not yet have proved safe and effective when taken in pill or capsule form to supplement normal food intake. Speculated benefits and claims frequently go beyond what can be proved at present. These include anti-aging properties and claims that substances create and preserve health.

People separate into two distinct groups almost immediately when talk turns to supplementation. On one hand, the traditional medical establishment (of which I am part—partially renegade - but still a part) usually cries, "Eat a well balanced diet, and you'll get all the carbohydrates, fat, fibre, protein, vitamins, minerals and micro-nutrients you need."

But hard data now available about our "normal, well-balanced" diet shows we are overfed and undernourished. The majority of experts in the medical field and in nutrition now agree. We consume too many calories, too much fat, too little fibre, too much refined sugar, too much sodium and not enough unrefined carbohydrates.

So insisting a normal, well-balanced diet is all we need is a concept that is in deep trouble.

On the other hand, some view every nests supplement or every new promising piece of information about the existing supplements as a miracle that will cure our ills if the overly conservative medical establishment will get out of the way. Advertisers are quite successful with this group because many people are easily persuaded if they take a product, they will be healthier, live longer and look and feel sexier, slimmer and smarter.

Not much is written that takes a middle ground. I believe this position represents the true status of human nutrition at present. But this book does take a middle ground! No personal opinions are expressed, only the consensus of the majority of experts, presented as impartially as possible.

Selected supplements discussed in this book include amino acids, nucleic acids and other supplements.

Detailed charts are provided for many supplement Amino acids detailed in charts include:
Arginine, L-cysteine, L-lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine

Nucleic acids detailed in charts include:
Adenosine, DNA/RNA, Inosine, Orotate, Taurine, Tryptophan, Tyrosine

Other supplements detailed in charts include:
Coenzyme Q, Dietary fibre, Gamma-linolenic acid (evening primrose oil), Inositol, L-carnitine, Lecithin, Omega-3 fatty acids (EPA/Max EPA), Superoxide dismutase, Wheatgrass

Note:
The charts referred to are in the Vitamin Fact File book which consists of 500 pages and is available from many Health Food Stores, From Fisher Books in the USA and from Thorsons Publishers in the UK.

This book is useful in that it provides very detailed information for researchers and for medical practitioners including, known effects, unproven benefits, contra-indications, toxic levels, and RDA levels.

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