Download MINERALS - Wilkes-Barre Area Career & Technical Center

MINERALS
Chapter
7
Minerals
J Pistack
MINERAL FUNCTIONS
Inorganic
Become part of body composition
Represent 4% of total body
weight
Help to regulate bodily functions
Essential to good health
MINERAL CLASSIFICATIONS
Major
(macrominerals)
 More than 5 grams
(approximately 1 tsp) in body
 Need 100 milligrams (1/50 tsp)
intake daily
Trace (microminerals)—less
than 5 grams
INTAKE REQUIREMENTS
Major—100
milligrams
(approximately 1/50 teaspoonful)
or more per day
Trace—less than 100
milligrams per day
Ultratrace—less than 1
milligram per day
MAJOR MINERALS
Calcium
Sodium
Potassium
Phosphorus
Magnesium
Sulfur
Chloride
CALCIUM
 Functions
Provides hardness to bones and teeth
Assists in the manufacture of ACH
Serves as catalyst in muscle
contractions
 Performs as catalyst in blood clotting
 AIs (adequate intake)
 Ages 19 to 50 years: 1000 milligrams
 Older than 50 years: 1200 milligrams
 UL (upper level)—2500 milligrams for
adults



CALCIUM SOURCES
 Animal
products—milk, sardines,
clams, oysters, salmon
 Plant products
 Rhubarb, spinach, greens, broccoli
 Cooking increases availability
 Fortified foods
CALCIUM DEFICIENCIES
 Osteoporosis—bone
mineral density (BMD)
 Greatest risk—postmenopausal, faircomplexioned white women
 Result—fractures
Spine
Hip
Forearm (sentinel event)

Two factors affecting bone health and growth
Smoking
 Alcohol consumption

CALCIUM DEFICIENCIES (CONTINUED)
 Tetany—MEDICAL
EMERGENCY
 Low ionized calcium in blood
(hypocalcemia)
 Diagnostic signs
Chvostek sign—tapping over facial nerve 
twitch of the facial muscles
 Trousseau sign—B/P cuff pressure  spasms
of the forearm and hand

CALCIUM TOXICITY

Hypercalcemia
Caused by diseases, usually not diet
 Can cause calcium deposits in soft tissues


Milk-alkali syndrome

Recent causes: excessive calcium carbonate ingestion
to prevent osteoporosis
PHOSPHORUS FUNCTIONS
 Calcium
phosphate provides hardness
to bones and teeth
 Component of DNA and RNA
 Contained in almost all enzymes
 Part of buffering compounds to
maintain proper blood pH
PHOSPHORUS DEFICIENCY AND TOXICITY
 Deficiency
Uncommon due to diet in healthy
person
 Drug interactions, disease, starvation

 Toxicity
Cow’s milk in very young infants
 Potassium phosphate laxatives and
enemas

SODIUM FUNCTIONS AND SOURCES
 Functions
Maintains fluid balance
 Helps transmit impulses along nerves
and muscle fibers

 Sources
Table salt—2 grams per teaspoonful
 Milk products, processed foods, some
vegetables

POTASSIUM FUNCTIONS AND SOURCES
 Functions
Helps to control fluid balance
 Helps transmit impulses along nerves
and muscle fibers

 Present
in all plant and animal cells
 Fats, oils, and white sugar have
negligible amounts
POTASSIUM DEFICIENCIES
 Alkalosis
 Potassium-wasting
diuretics
 Related to diet only in severe proteinenergy malnutrition
 Losses due to diarrhea, vomiting, laxative
abuse
 Over hydration with plain water by
perspiring athletes
 Increased losses in urine, stool, or sweat
POTASSIUM TOXICITY
 Rarely
caused by diet
 Diseases—diabetes, burns, crushing
injuries
 Correct administration of intravenous
potassium critical to health
MAGNESIUM FUNCTIONS
 Associated
with ADP and ATP in energy
metabolism
 Aids in transmission of nerve impulses
 Influences cardiac and smooth muscle
contractility
MAGNESIUM SOURCES
 Green
vegetables (magnesium is a
part of the chlorophyll molecule)
 Coffee,
tea, cocoa
MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY AND TOXICITY
 Deficiency
Malabsorption disorders—vomiting or
diarrhea
 Excessive alcohol use with poor nutrition
 Chronic diuretic use
 Diabetes

 Toxicity

usually doesn’t build except for kidney disease
SULFUR
 Adult
body contains approximately 175
grams
 Component of cytoplasm of every cell.
 Found in hair, skin, and nails; contributes
to their shape
 Component of thiamin, biotin, insulin,
heparin, and the amino acids methionine
and cysteine.
 Combines with toxins to neutralize them.
CHLORIDE
 Major
role in maintaining fluid and acid–
base balance
 88% is found in extracellular fluids—
stomach
 12% is found in intracellular fluids
 Released by white blood cells
 Mostly absorbed through the small intestine
 Excreted primarily by kidney as a result of
sodium regulation
TRACE MINERALS
Iron
 Iodine
 Fluoride
 Zinc
 Selenium
 Chromium
 Copper
 Manganese
 Cobalt
 Molybdenum

ULTRATRACE
Arsenic
 Boron
 Nickel
 Silicon
 Vanadium

These appear in the UL tables but RDAs or AIs are
not determinable
IRON
 Essential
 Primary
in formation of hemoglobin
storage form in body is ferritin
 Selectively
absorbed
IRON DEFICIENCY
 Most
significant worldwide
deficiency
 Groups at risk: infants, young
children, adolescents, childbearing
women
 30%–50% post bariatric patients
IRON TOXICITY
 Poisoning—most
common cause of
pediatric poisoning in United States
 Hemochromatosis
- is an inherited blood
disorder that causes the body to retain
excessive amounts of iron
 Cooking
in iron pots
IODINE
 Found
in iodide form in the body
 Average adult body contains 15–20
mg
 70%–80% found in thyroid gland
 Main function—synthesis of thyroid
hormones
 Intake from saltwater shellfish, fish,
seaweed
FLUORIDE
 Major
contribution to human health
relates to its role in preventing
dental caries
 Contained in public U.S. drinking
water
 Overdose rare—large volumes of
instant tea or secretive eating of
toothpaste with fluoride
ZINC
 Adult
humans contain 1.5 to 2.5 grams
 Found in all tissues, organs, and body
fluids
 86% in skeletal muscle and bones
 Abundant in central nervous system,
where it affects transmission of impulses
 Essential for tissue growth because it
synthesizes DNA/RNA
ZINC DEFICIENCY
 In

children
 Growth retardation
 Skeletal abnormalities
 Delayed sexual maturation
In adults
 Alopecia
 Loss of taste sensation
 Poor wound healing
 Impaired immunity
ZINC TOXICITY
 Swallowed
coins that released zinc
into the body
 Overuse
adhesive
of zinc-containing denture
COPPER
 Found
in all body tissues and most
secretions
 Involved in hemoglobin synthesis
and cell respiration
 Required for melanin pigment
formation
COPPER DEFICIENCY

Occur from






Taking medications that decrease stomach acidity
Consuming zinc supplements—typically
40 milligrams or more per day
Gastrointestinal diseases causing malabsorption
Some kidney diseases increase copper loss
Long-term complication of bariatric surgery
Cause
Bone abnormalities
 Impaired immune function
 Depigmentation of the skin and hair

COPPER TOXICITY
 Wilson
disease - is a rare inherited disorder
that causes excess copper to accumulate in the
body. Steadily increasing amounts of copper
circulating in the blood are deposited primarily in
the brain, liver, kidneys, and the cornea of the
eyes. WD is fatal if it is not recognized and
treated
SELENIUM
 Highest
concentrations occur in the
thyroid gland, kidneys, liver, heart,
pancreas, and muscle
 Integral to more than 25 enzymes that
primarily function as antioxidants
SELENIUM TOXICITY AND DEFICIENCY
 Rare
in meat-eating humans with
following exceptions:
Taking phenylketonuria formulas
 Receiving parenteral nutrition as sole
source of nutrients
 Consuming ketogenic diets – diets that
give rise to ketone bodies in
metabolism.

SELENIUM DEFICIENCY
 Signs
and symptoms
Poor growth
 Muscle pain and weakness
 Depigmentation of hair and skin
 Whitening of nail beds

CHROMIUM
 High
concentrations are found in the
kidney, liver, muscle, spleen, heart,
pancreas, and bone
 Vitamin C may enhance absorption
 Antacids and phytate (A phosphoruscontaining compound that binds with minerals in
the gastrointestinal tract and decreases their
bioavailability which decreases absorption)
CHROMIUM DEFICIENCY AND TOXICITY
 Individuals
receiving parenteral nutrition
without chromium have shown these signs
of deficiency:
Weight loss
 Peripheral neuropathy
 Impaired glucose utilization
 High plasma levels of free fatty acids


Toxicity can cause


Liver dysfunction/failure
Anemia
MANGANESE
 The
body contains 10 to 20 milligrams
of manganese
 Found in highest concentrations in the
bones, liver, pancreas, and kidneys
 Involved in the formation of bone and
cartilage
MANGANESE DEFICIENCY
 Signs
and symptoms
Dermatitis
 Decreased growth of hair and nails
 Changes in hair color

COBALT

Necessary for red blood cell formation
ULTRATRACE MINERALS
Molybdenum—binds to copper, thought to
diminish copper toxicities effects such as in
Wilson disease
 Arsenic
 Boron
 Nickel
 Silicon
 Vanadium

OTHER MINERALS THAT AFFECT HEALTH
Aluminum
 Lead
 Mercury

MINERAL SUPPLEMENTATION
 Most
beneficial healthy minerals can
be supplemented by food intake
 If supplementation is necessary with
medication, make sure it meets daily
requirements—not too much, little
 Make sure to tell health care
providers what supplements you
take