Minerals
Table of Contents
In Context of Nutrition
In the context of nutrition, a mineral is a chemical element required as an essential nutrient by organisms to perform functions necessary for life. However, the four major structural elements in the human body by weight (oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen), are usually not included in lists of major nutrient minerals (nitrogen is considered a “mineral” for plants, as it often is included in fertilizers). These four elements compose about 96% of the weight of the human body, and major minerals (macro-minerals) and minor minerals (also called trace elements) compose the remainder.
Nutrient minerals, being elements, cannot be synthesized biochemically by living organisms. Plants get minerals from soil. Most of the minerals in a human diet come from eating plants and animals or from drinking water As a group, minerals are one of the four groups of essential nutrients, the others of which are vitamins, essential fatty acids, and essential amino acids. The five major minerals in the human body are calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and magnesium. All of the remaining elements in a human body are called “trace elements”. The trace elements that have a specific biochemical function in the human body are sulfur, iron, chlorine, cobalt, copper, zinc, manganese, molybdenum, iodine, and selenium.
Most chemical elements that are ingested by organisms are in the form of simple compounds. Plants absorb dissolved elements in soils, which are subsequently ingested by the herbivores and omnivores that eat them, and the elements move up the food chain. Larger organisms may also consume soil (geophagia) or use mineral resources, such as salt licks, to obtain limited minerals unavailable through other dietary sources.
Bacteria and fungi play an essential role in the weathering of primary elements that results in the release of nutrients for their own nutrition and for the nutrition of other species in the ecological food chain. One element, cobalt, is available for use by animals only after having been processed into complex molecules (e.g., vitamin B12) by bacteria. Minerals are used by animals and microorganisms for the process of mineralizing structures, called “biomineralization“, used to construct bones, seashells, eggshells, exoskeletons.
seashells 
exoskeleton 
eggshells
Roles of Minerals in Biological Processes
| Dietary element | Category | High nutrient density dietary sources |
|---|---|---|
| Calcium Macromineral | Needed for muscle, heart and digestive system health, builds bone, supports synthesis and function of blood cells | Dairy products, eggs, canned fish with bones (salmon, sardines), green leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds, tofu, thyme, oregano, dill, cinnamon.[17] |
| Chlorine Macromineral | Needed for production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach and in cellular pump functions | Table salt (sodium chloride) is the main dietary source. |
| Chromium Trace Mineral | Involved in glucose and lipid metabolism, although its mechanisms of action in the body and the amounts needed for optimal health are not well-defined[27][28] | Broccoli, grape juice (especially red), meat, whole grain products[29] |
| Cobalt Trace Mineral | Required in the synthesis of vitamin B12, but because bacteria are required to synthesize the vitamin, it is usually considered part of vitamin B12 which comes from eating animals and animal-sourced foods (eggs…) | |
| Copper Trace Mineral | Required component of many redox enzymes, including cytochrome c oxidase | Liver, seafood, oysters, nuts, seeds; some: whole grains, legumes[24] |
| Iodine Trace Mineral | Required for synthesis of thyroid hormones, thyroxine and triiodothyronine and to prevent goiter: Iodine in biology | Seaweed (kelp or kombu)*, grains, eggs, iodized salt[25] |
| Iron Trace Mineral | Required for many proteins and enzymes, notably hemoglobin to prevent anemia | Meat, seafood, nuts, beans, dark chocolate[22] |
| Magnesium Macromineral | Required for processing ATP and for bones | Spinach, legumes, nuts, seeds, whole grains, peanut butter, avocado[21] |
| Manganese Trace Mineral | A cofactor in enzyme functions | Grains, legumes, seeds, nuts, leafy vegetables, tea, coffee[24] |
| Molybdenum Trace Mineral | The oxidases xanthine oxidase, aldehyde oxidase, and sulfite oxidase[30] | Legumes, whole grains, nuts[24] |
| Phosphorus Macromineral | A component of bones (see apatite), cells, in energy processing, in DNA and ATP (as phosphate) and many other functions | Red meat, dairy foods, fish, poultry, bread, rice, oats.[18][19] In biological contexts, usually seen as phosphate[20] |
| Potassium Macromineral | A systemic electrolyte and is essential in coregulating ATP with sodium | Sweet potato, tomato, potato, beans, lentils, dairy products, seafood, banana, prune, carrot, orange[16] |
| Selenium Trace Mineral | Essential to activity of antioxidant enzymes like glutathione peroxidase | Brazil nuts, seafoods, organ meats, meats, grains, dairy products, eggs[32] |
| Sodium Macromineral | A systemic electrolyte and is essential in coregulating ATP with potassium | Table salt (sodium chloride, the main source), sea vegetables, milk, and spinach. |
| Zinc Trace Mineral | Pervasive and required for several enzymes such as carboxypeptidase, liver alcohol dehydrogenase, and carbonic anhydrase. | Oysters*, red meat, poultry, nuts, whole grains, dairy products[23] |
Full View at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_(nutrient)