Essential Minerals

Essential minerals are inorganic chemicals that your body needs to function properly. Some of them help your cells perform chemical reactions, while others build up your bones or blood. Some minerals work together to make your muscles function properly or to transport oxygen throughout your blood stream, so an adequate mineral intake helps to keep your whole body running efficiently.

Calcium

Your bones are made of a crystal called hydroxyapatite, which is composed of calcium and phosphate. Calcium is such an essential component of your blood and soft tissue that if you don’t have enough of it circulating in your blood, your body takes it out of your bones and puts it into your blood stream, weakening your bones. The Institute of Medicine recommends getting 800 to 1,000 milligrams of calcium per day to supply your body with all the calcium it needs.

Iron

Iron promotes proper growth, metabolism, DNA synthesis, immunity and healing. It is an ingredient in the proteins hemoglobin and myoglobin, which carry oxygen throughout your blood and muscles. Your body absorbs heme iron, found in animal-based sources such as meat, more easily than non-heme iron, which comes from plant sources, such as spinach or lima beans. Eating a vitamin C-rich food with a non-heme iron source optimizes your body’s ability to absorb plant sources of iron. The IOM recommends most adults get 5 to 6 milligrams of iron a day, but women up to age 30 need 8.1 milligrams and pregnant women should get 22.

Potassium and Sodium

Your cell membranes have sodium on the outside and potassium on the inside. Keeping a balance between the two promotes a healthy water balance in your body that keeps your blood pressure at a safe level. It also keeps your cells properly charged, helping your nerves and muscles to function correctly. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends keeping your daily sodium intake below 2.3 grams, while getting 4,700 milligrams of potassium per day.

Copper and Zinc

Copper facilitates wound healing, gives your cells energy and benefits your immune system and nervous system. The IOM recommends that adults get 700 micrograms of copper per day, but it is important to get the right balance of copper and zinc, as an excess of one can cause a deficiency of the other. Women need 6.8 milligrams of zinc daily and men need 9.4 milligrams. Zinc also benefits your immune system, and it helps your cells divide properly and promotes a proper sense of smell and taste.

Magnesium

Most of the magnesium in your body is in your bones and muscle, but some is in other tissues and fluids. Magnesium helps your body form protein, replicate cells and produce energy, and it works with calcium to enable you to contract your muscles. It helps regulate your blood pressure and improve your heart function. Women should get 265 milligrams of magnesium per day and men should get 350.

Phosphorus

Every cell in your body needs phosphorus to function normally, as it interacts with other minerals to help your body produce and store energy and maintain normal acid-base balance. About 85 percent of the phosphorus in your body is within your bones, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. The IOM recommends that you get 580 milligrams a day, an easy task for those who eat meat and dairy products, but vegans may benefit from taking supplements containing this mineral.