Minerals, also called electrolytes, are crucial to your body’s functioning. How crucial? Consider that electrolytes are one of the first things routinely measured when a person enters the hospital, and mineral status is a part of the CBC, the most basic blood test. This is because mineral imbalance or deficiency is at the root of many health conditions.

But what exactly are minerals?

Minerals are the ionic, or charged, form of low molecular weight metals. For you non-chemists, let’s just say that minerals are necessary nutrients. Plants get minerals from the soil they’re grown in, and animals that eat those plants also provide minerals.

Do you need mineral supplementation?

A healthy person on a good diet, eating food that has not been grown on depleted soil, should get all the necessary nutrients, including minerals, from food. But, unfortunately, this description doesn’t apply to many of us. Also, although adequate minerals can be obtained through diet, this isn’t the same as optimal types and amounts. This is where supplementation comes in.

The body usually balances minerals just fine as long as there isn’t a huge excess or deficiency, but the body might not do that balancing act as efficiently if illness is present. In such cases consciously managing mineral intake might be necessary.

What are some minerals?

The best-known minerals are the four that are needed in larger amounts than the others: calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium. But there are many others that are just as important, such as iron, zinc, manganese, boron, sulfur, phosphorus, selenium, and iodine. These are called trace minerals because lesser amounts are needed, although they are equally vital.

Trace minerals as well as vitamins and cofactors are needed for optimal mineral utilization. For example, calcium is often taken for strong bones, but you need magnesium, manganese, boron, and other minerals for the calcium to actually be used to strengthen the bones. In another example, vitamin C helps iron be absorbed.

Balance is key

Some minerals function in pairs, such that an excess of one can cause a functional deficiency of another. This is like a game of musical chairs – if you have red-shirted and blue-shirted people competing for the same chairs, the more red-shirted people there are, the fewer blue-shirted people get chairs. In the body, the more of one mineral is present, the less its paired mineral will make it to the cells, and deficiency-related health problems can result.

Calcium and magnesium are one such pair; sodium and potassium are another. If, as in the above example, calcium is taken alone, you might develop a deficiency of magnesium along with associated symptoms.

Mineral deficiency

An actual or functional (caused by an excess of the paired mineral) deficiency can cause certain symptoms, depending on the mineral:

Magnesium is needed for muscle function and relaxation. Deficiency can cause heart arrhythmias, muscle cramps, migraines, constipation, and painful menstrual cramps.

Calcium deficiency can cause joint and long bone pain, and diarrhea.

Potassium deficiency can cause insomnia with mind racing, rapid heartbeat, muscle cramps, and anxiety.

Sodium deficiency can cause rapid-onset fatigue and nausea.

Zinc deficiency can cause a reduction in the ability to taste and smell.

Sulfur is needed for detoxification, and without enough sulfur, you can develop symptoms of toxicity.

Fast acting

Unlike most nutrients, which need to be taken for days, weeks, and even months before effects are experienced, minerals work very fast. Mineral deficiency symptoms can clear up within 20 minutes of supplementation. For example, if you’ve been sitting in a hot tub for a long time, you’ve been sweating out minerals, especially sodium. If your sodium goes too low, you are likely to experience strong fatigue and nausea. A glass of salt water can restore you to normal within minutes.

Not all minerals are created equal

If you look at mineral supplement labels, you’ll see that the mineral comes in one form or another. You don’t just have magnesium, you have magnesium citrate, orotate, oxide, or glycinate, among others. Which ones should you take? Generally, stay away from any suffix ending in -ide, such as oxide. Oxide forms of minerals tend to be inexpensive, and are favored by makers of cheap supplements for this reason, but they are usually not well absorbed by the body. Forms ending in -ate are usually better. Magnesium supplements tend to loosen the bowels; if this effect isn’t desired, stick with magnesium glycinate.

Some minerals are chelated, or essentially predigested, to be better absorbed and utilized.

Together or separate?

It’s usually best to take minerals in the morning away from food, since stomach acid is the strongest without food in the stomach, and minerals are more soluble and thus more available to the body in an acidic solution.

It’s also usually best to take vitamins and minerals separately if possible. Yes, they’re often sold combined in a single pill, but supplement manufacturing follows consumer demand rather than what is best for the body. And, although some vitamins are needed as cofactors for some minerals, and they’re both necessary to the body, it’s still best to take vitamins and minerals a few hours apart, and take vitamins with food.

How do you know what mineral supplementation is needed?

The safest supplementation is a mix of minerals, which will avoid an imbalance. If you take calcium, find a supplement that has the other minerals mentioned above.

Have a professional assessment of mineral status done, such as with practitioners at CAM. They can guide you to the minerals you need as well as making recommendations as to the best form of minerals for your needs, and can make out a dosage schedule.

 

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