Mineral (nutrient)

Our bodies need tiny bits of food called minerals.

Plants get these bits from the soil. Animals get them by eating plants.

Some minerals are very big parts of us. Calcium helps build strong bones and teeth. Phosphorus is also found in our bones.

Other minerals are only needed in tiny amounts. These are called trace elements. Iron is one of these small bits.

We get these bits from many foods. You can find them in milk and meat. They are also in nuts and seeds.

Eating many kinds of food helps us stay healthy.

It is good to eat well!

Minerals are special parts of our food. They are chemical elements. Our bodies use them to work well. They help build parts of our bodies. They also help our bodies perform many jobs.

Some minerals are found in large amounts. Calcium is a major mineral. It helps build strong bones and teeth. Most calcium stays in your bones. Phosphorus is another major mineral. It is also found in your bones and cells. Other big minerals include potassium, sodium, and magnesium.

Some minerals are only needed in tiny amounts. We call these trace elements. Iron is one trace element. It helps make hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a part of your blood that carries oxygen.

Plants get minerals from the soil. Animals get minerals by eating plants. You can find many minerals in foods like milk, meat, and nuts. Some people take supplements to get more minerals. Supplements are pills that add extra nutrients to your diet. It is important to eat a variety of foods to stay healthy.

Minerals are one of the four main groups of nutrients our bodies need. Along with vitamins, fatty acids, and amino acids, they help us stay healthy. In nutrition, a mineral is a chemical element that serves a special job. Some minerals are needed in large amounts to build our bodies. Others are only needed in tiny amounts to help things work.

Minerals move through the world in a very specific way. It all starts in the ground. Plants pull minerals from the soil to grow. When animals eat those plants, the minerals move into their bodies. This is how minerals travel up the food chain. Some larger animals even eat soil or use salt licks to get more. This process helps move these elements from the earth into living things.

To use a mineral, our bodies must be able to absorb it. This means the mineral must be soluble, or easy to dissolve. For example, molybdenum is an essential mineral for people. However, eating plain metallic molybdenum does not help the body. Instead, we must eat things like legumes or nuts to get it. This is because the minerals must be in a form the body can actually use.

Our bodies are made of many different elements. Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen make up about 96% of our weight. The rest includes many important minerals. Calcium is the largest mineral in an adult. It makes up about 1.5% of body weight and mostly lives in bones and teeth. Phosphorus is also very important for our bones and cells. Other major minerals include potassium, sodium, magnesium, and chlorine.

There are also trace elements that we need in very small amounts. These include iron, zinc, copper, and iodine. Iron is a famous one because it helps make hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is what carries oxygen through your blood. Zinc is also vital because it helps many enzymes work. Some minerals are found in many foods, like dairy or meat. Others come from things like seaweed or spinach. We can get these from our meals or from special pills called supplements.

In the study of nutrition, a mineral is defined as a chemical element. Minerals are one of the four essential nutrient groups. The other three groups are vitamins, essential fatty acids, and essential amino acids. While many chemical elements exist, only a specific set is essential for supporting human biochemical processes. These elements serve vital structural and functional roles within our bodies.

Minerals move through the environment via a specific biological chain. It begins when plants obtain minerals from the soil. Animals then ingest these plants, which moves the minerals up the food chain. Some larger organisms even practice geophagia, which is the consumption of soil. Others might use mineral resources like salt licks to meet their needs. For a mineral to be useful, it must be bioavailable. This means it must be soluble or easily extractable so the organism can absorb it. For example, molybdenum is essential, but metallic molybdenum provides no nutritional benefit. Instead, humans must consume molybdates found in foods like legumes.

Scientists categorize minerals based on the quantity the body requires. The five major minerals include calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and magnesium. Calcium is the most abundant mineral in an adult. It makes up about 1.5% of body weight, ranging from 920 to 1200 grams. Most of this calcium is stored in bones and teeth. Phosphorus is also a major component, making up about 1% of body weight. It is found in bones, cells, and molecules like DNA and ATP. Together, these major minerals and others like potassium and sodium form the bulk of our mineral needs.

Beyond the major minerals, the body requires trace elements. These are needed in much smaller amounts to facilitate specific functions. The generally accepted trace elements include iron, chlorine, cobalt, copper, zinc, manganese, molybdenum, iodine, selenium, and bromine. There are also about 18 ultratrace minerals. These comprise only about 0.15% of the body, totaling roughly 100 grams for an average person. While most minerals are common on land, some like sodium and iodine are also found in the ocean.

Each mineral performs a distinct biochemical job. Iron is required for proteins like hemoglobin, which prevents anemia. Zinc is a component of many enzymes, such as carbonic anhydrase, which helps with exhalation. Iodine is necessary for the synthesis of thyroid hormones. Magnesium is required for processing ATP, which is how cells manage energy. Even cobalt plays a role, though it is only available to animals after bacteria process it. These elements act as co-factors, meaning they help enzymes perform their chemical tasks.

Historical and scientific debate sometimes surrounds these elements. For instance, scientists disagree on whether chromium is an essential nutrient. The United States and Japan classify it as essential. However, the European Food Safety Authority did not agree after a 2014 review. This is because no chromium-containing biochemical has been purified yet. This demonstrates that defining "essential" requires finding a specific, testable function within a biomolecule. Some elements, like silicon, may only be needed in traces or not at all.

Maintaining the correct balance is a matter of strict limits. Health authorities set a Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) and an Upper Limit (UL). The UL is the maximum amount considered safe to consume. For example, the US sets the UL for calcium for adults over 70 at 2,000 mg. If you exceed these limits, it can be dangerous. Interestingly, magnesium is an anomaly. The UL for magnesium is 350 mg, which is lower than the recommended daily intake for men. This specific limit applies to taking magnesium as a supplement, as it can cause diarrhea if taken all at once.

Minerals are deeply connected to the broader systems of life on Earth. Plants and animals use very similar enzymes to process these elements. For example, legumes host a specific enzyme called nitrogenase that contains molybdenum. Humans do not have this. Similarly, many animals use iron in hemoglobin to transport oxygen, but plants do not rely on this method. Understanding these chemical requirements allows us to improve agriculture through tailored fertilizers. It also helps us design better diets and supplements to support human metabolism.