MINERALS

Solid,inorganic,natural occurring substances, mainly

found in sea water and mines
Any class of substances occurring in nature, usually
comprising inorganic substances, of definite chemical
composition and usually of definite crystal structure
Inorganic elements as
calcium,iron,magnesium,potassium or sodium that
are essential to the functioning of the human body
and are obtained from foods
 The minerals have been classified on the basis of
their daily requirements
Those minerals whose daily requirement is more
than 100 mg are called
macrominerals,e.g.Calcium,phosphorus,magnessium
Those minerals needed in less than 100 mg amount
are called micro minerals or trace
elements.e.g,iron,zinc,copper,manganese
The dietary sources of minerals include whole grain
cereals, leafy green vegetables, meat and dairy
products
 Sodium as sodium ions(Na+) is present in most foods
and its dietary deficiency is rare
Kidneys are the main regulator of body Na+ and
normally 98% of the body loss of Na+ occurs in the
urine
The mechanism of sodium-potassium pump is
present in the cell membrane and is responsible for
maintain the physiological distribution of sodium
and potassium ions within and without the cell
 Most of the sodium ion is found in the extracellular
fluid of the body
Whole body contains 160 mg Na+/dL,the plasma
contains 330 mg/dL,while RBCs contain 85mg/dL.
The inorganic portion of skeleton contains about one-
third of the total body Na+
Estimated safe and adequate dietary intake of
sodium in,
Infants=115-750 mg
Children and adolescents=325-2700 mg
Adults=1100-3300 mg
Daily about 10 to 15 grams of NaCl are taken in food
which is much more than needed.
 Functions of Na+ in the body:
Most abundant ion in the plasma
It plays important role in the regulation of nerve
excitability
Primary role in the production of depolarization
phase of action potentials in excitable
tissues,i.e.neurons and muscles
Helps in the formation of HCl in the gastric juice
Essential for normal contraction of the cardiac
muscle fibers
 The recommended daily dietary allowance for K+ is 1.5 to 4.5
grams
An average diet contains 4 to 8 grams of K+/day which is
greater than its requirement
Food rich in K+ include fruits(citrus,tomato,banana)
vegetables,meats,whole grains and milk
Average person takes in about 4 grams daily of which at least
80% is excreted in urine
Potassium ions are the principal cations in the cell interior
and are present in low concentration in extracellular fluid
Estimated safe and adequate dietary intake of potassium in,
Infants=350-1275 mg
Children and adolescents=550-4575 mg
Adults=1875-5625 mg
 Functions:
A proper plasma K+ level is essential for the normal
heart functioning
K+ are needed for many enzyme reactions
Needed for neuron and muscle activity
Have an important role in the renal tubules
Chief cation of the intracellular fluid
Occurs chiefly within the tissue cells
Loss of potassium from within the cells to the
extracellular fluid,this results in hyperkalemia,
 Estimated safe and adequate dietary intake of chloride
in,
Infants=275-1200 mg
Children and Adolescents=500-4200 mg
Adults=1700-5100 mg
Chloride ions are closely connected with sodium ion in
metabolism during health as well as during disease
These ions are therfore essential for regulating water
balance,osmotic pressure and acid-base equilibrium
In gastric juice chloride ion takes part in the production
of HCl independently of sodium ion
In cushings syndrome hypochloremia occurs along with
hypokalemia and metabolic alkalosis
 Calcium forms about 1% of adult body weight
Most abundant electrolyte in the human body due to
its structural function for the skeleton
Normal serum or plasma calcium level is 9.0 to 11
mg/dL
More than 99% of calcium in the body occurs in
bones as its phosphate and carbonate.only 0.03% of
the total body calcium occurs in blood
Milk(120mg/dL) and milk products are the best
dietary sources of calcium
Other good sources are egg yolk,leafy vegetables and
hard drinking water
 Functions of calcium in the body:
Calcium salts take part in bone and tooth
development. Deficient supply of calcium leads to
rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults
The clotting of blood needs calcium ions
Calcium ions control the excitability of nerves
Calcium ions act as a cofactor or activator of certain
enzymes
Calcium ions take part in the contraction of muscle
including heart muscle and are involved in the
excitation-contraction coupling mechanism
Calcium is essential for maintaing the integrity of
capillary wall
 The adult human body has about 700 grams of
phosphorus which makes about 1% of body weight,
about 85% of it is in skeleton
The whole body contains about 48 mg phosphorus/dL
which is chiefly present as inorganic phosphorus, organic
phosphate esters and lipid phosphorus
Food rich in calcium are also generally rich in
phosphorus and include milk,beans,cereals,egg yolk and
meats
The phosphorus ingested with food is absorbed in
inorganic phosphate form by an active energy-dependent
process, about 2/3 of ingested phosphate is absorbed
All the phosphorus loss from the body occurs through
urinary excretion
 Recommended daily dietary allowance of phosphorus in:
Infants=300-500 mg
Children=800 mg
Adults=800-1200 mg
Functions:
Phosphorus takes part in the formation of bones and
teeth.80 to 85% of body phosphorus is in bones
Phosphorus forms a part of the high energy phosphate
compound such as ATP and creatine phosphate
It is a constituent of phospholipids such as
lecithins,cephalins,plasmalogens etc
It is an important constituent of cell membranes
Phosphates are the most abundant anions present within
tissue cells
Phosphorus form esters with sugars,e.g.glucose 6-
phosphate,fructose 6-phosphate which take part in
carbohydrate metabolism
 The body contains about 21 grams of Mg in the form
of its ions(Mg+2),half of which occurs in thee
inorganic matter of bones and the rest occurs in soft
tissues and body fluids
Blood plasma contains 0.8 to 1.2mmol/L of Mg
Muscle contain about 21 mg of Mg/100 gram of their
mass
Nuts,legumes,whole grains are very good sources
Magnesium is absorbed in the small intestine
Mostly excreted in the feces and only a small fraction
is excreted in urine
 Recommended daily dietary allowance of
Magnesium in,
Infants=40-60 mg
Children=80-170 mg
Adults=270-400 mg
Functions of Magnesium in the body:
It takes part in the formation of complex salts of
bones and teeth
It acts as a cofactor for many enzymes
It serves to decrease neuromuscular irritability
 It is present in all cells of the body as a constituent of S-
containing amino acids
Keratin is very rich in the S-containing amino acid
cysteine
Sulfur is ingested in the form of proteins which contain
methionine and systein
Functions of Sulfur:
It is the constituent of the following compounds occuring
in the body,
Thiamine,biotin,lipoic acid,glutathione,chondroitin
sulfate,heparin,insulin etc
Its other functions include conjugation of sulfate with
various toxic compounds formed in the body,e.g
indoxyl,phenols etc
 A total of 1 gram of sulfur is normally excreted in
urine every day.The urine sulfur occurs in the
following three forms,
Inorganic sulfate
Ethereal sulfate
Neutral sulfate
 The total iodine content of the body is 20 to 30
mg,20% of which is contained in the thyroid gland
Thyroid iodine occurs in the following forms
(1) 1% as iodine ions
(2) 20 to 25% incorporated in thyroid
hormones[triiodothyronine(T3) and
tetraiiodothyronine(T4)]
Rest of it occurs as organic precursor of thyroid
hormones known as thyroglobulin
Plasma iodine is found in following two forms,
1-inorganic or filterable ionic form(iodide)
2-organic or hormonal iodine
 Dietary sources are sea foods such as sea fish and cod
liver oil are very rich in iodine
An iodine deficiency leads to simple or colloid goiter
An excessive intake of iodine can lead to
thyrotoxicosis
 Fluorine occurs widely distributed in nature as
fluorides
It produces hardening of teeth and bones
Its deficiency occurs in the drinking water in certain
areas of the world and this has been shown to result
in an abnormal increase in the incidence of dental
caries and osteoporosis
Fluorides are also being added to tooth pastes and
even applied as such to teeth in children as a
prophylactic against dental caries
 An excessive fluoride intake produces brown
staining of teeth or dental mottling, the bones show
excessive density
With a very high intake of fluoride a condition called
fluorosis may result in which the ligaments may
become calcified, the spine is specially affected in this
disease.Nausea,abdominal
pain,vomitting,diarrhea,tetany and cardiovascular
collapse may be seen
ZAAH ALLAH DI MAL SHAA