The Minerals in Your Food

THERE was a time when the role that minerals play in nutrition was not appreciated. The emphasis in nutrition was on proteins (such as meat, fish, dairy products and eggs), fats (such as butter, lard, oils) and carbohydrates (all the sugars and starches). Then men began to discern that good health depended also upon other factors, such as vitamins, and that even certain minerals, found in the body in very small amounts, were indispensable.

Concerning these minerals we are told that they carry a clear message: “Man cannot exist elsewhere.” Also that “had man [come into existence] on another planet, he would have had a different mineral composition.”a This is just what we should expect in view of the Bible’s account of creation as found at Genesis 2:7: “Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul.”

Interestingly, the fact that Jehovah God originally gave man “all vegetation bearing seed . . . and every tree on which there is the fruit of a tree bearing seed” as food is also borne out by a study of these minerals. While the body carefully guards many of these minerals, not so with potassium, obtained mostly from fruits and vegetables. Daily the body expels a certain amount of potassium regardless of how much is taken in, requiring daily consumption of potassium-rich foods. This has caused a team of leading nutritionists to ask, “Could it be because man originally lived on fruits and vegetables?” Yes, undoubtedly that is the reason.​—Gen. 1:29.

Scientists today list over a hundred elements as being found on this earth. However, some of these are man-made. As many as sixty of the natural elements have been found in living things and some forty have been found in man.

Not included here for special consideration are the four major elements described as “having a molecular weight of 16 or less.” These account for 96 percent of the body’s composition. They include oxygen, 65 percent; carbon, 18 percent; hydrogen, 10 percent; nitrogen, 3 percent. The fact that 75 percent of the body’s composition is oxygen and hydrogen would seem to show the need of daily drinking sufficient liquids.

“Macro” and “Micro” Minerals

What is being considered here are the “macro” minerals and “micro” or “trace” elements or minerals. The macro elements comprise a total of about 3.5 percent of the body’s composition. They exist in quantities of less than 3 percent and more than 1/100th of 1 percent. (See chart.) These are calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine and magnesium.

The micro elements account for the remaining about 1/2 of 1 percent. Among the more important micro or trace elements are iron, manganese, copper, iodine, zinc, molybdenum, cobalt, fluorine, chromium and bromine.

These various minerals have an importance in nutrition far beyond the extremely small amounts that are found in the body. Calcium, the major one of these, represents only about 1/70th of the body’s composition. And there is from 400 to 500 times as much calcium in the body as there is iron. Then again, there is twenty times as much iron as there is copper, and five times as much copper as there is iodine in the body. Yet iodine is essential to good health even though it is found in the body only to the extent of one part in 2.5 million or more.

Man has still much to learn about the presence and value of these minerals in the body. As one medical journal expressed it: “New knowledge concerning minerals both macro and micro opens up bright vistas in the prevention and treatment of disease, as well as in the maintenance of optimal nutrition. . . . They offer a treasure-house of exciting opportunities for investigators.”

Basically, the minerals in the body serve two functions. One is that of building blocks; the other is that of regulators of the body’s processes by combining with vitamins, with other minerals and with enzymes. In fact, a number of these minerals serve quite a variety of valuable purposes in the body.

In considering information on minerals it is well to keep in mind that nutrition is by no means a science on which there is general agreement as there is with, say, mathematics and physics. There is some disagreement as to the exact proportions of these elements in the body, as to just where to draw the line between macro and micro elements and as to which trace elements are essential. But what is known can be very helpful.

The Variable Factor of Soil Content

With this article there appears a chart of these minerals, giving their amounts, their location in the body, their value and sources. In addition it appears wise to offer a few guiding principles as to obtaining sufficient amounts of these in one’s food. There seems to be no question about the fact that these elements need to be found in the soil before they can be found in the food grown on it.

In this regard there is something to be said in favor of organic gardening, which puts emphasis on the use of manure, compost and the growing of such crops as winterpeas and vetch to improve the mineral content of the soil. Some thirty-five years ago, Dr. Alexis Carrel, the late famed biologist and Nobel Prize winner, stated:

“Man is literally made from the dust of the earth. . . . The staple foods may not contain the same nutritive substances as in former times. Mass production has modified the composition of wheat, eggs, milk, fruit, and butter, although these articles have retained their familiar appearance. Chemical fertilizers, by increasing the abundance of the crops without replacing all the exhausted elements in the soil, have indirectly contributed to changing the nutritive value of cereal grains and vegetables. Hens have been compelled, by artificial diet and mode of living, to enter the ranks of mass producers. Has not the quality of their eggs been modified?”​—Man the Unknown.

Practical Considerations

However, while ever so many persons may be able to do very little about procuring organically grown food, there still is much that they can do about getting sufficient minerals in their food. For example, they can choose unrefined foods. Whole wheat flour, dark rye flour, steel-cut oats or old-fashioned rolled oats, unpolished rice, all contain many times more vital minerals than their refined counterparts. Blackstrap molasses, honey, maple syrup, raw sugar and dried fruits (such as raisins and apricots, dates and figs) abound in such vital minerals as copper and iron, which are wholly lacking in white sugar.

It is also a known fact that food taken from the oceans is richer in certain minerals than food taken from the soil; and especially is this true if the soil has been cultivated for generations and replenished only with chemical fertilizers. This applies not only to fish and shellfish but also to sea vegetation such as kelp, which is a staple part of the diet of many peoples, such as the Japanese, and which in Western lands is available mostly in tablet form.

The ideal situation is for the housewife to be concerned with these things, as that is part of her obligation to the family. Knowing which foods are rich in needed minerals, she can include them in her family’s menu. She can also make it a point to learn to prepare cooked and raw vegetables appetizingly, so that her family will readily eat more of these foods that are rich in minerals. Judicious use of spices, onions and garlic can do much to help her realize this objective. Wise is it also to make use of all “pot liquor,” that is, the water from boiled vegetables, for it abounds in minerals.

The “sweet tooth” of the family can be catered to without resorting to white sugar, which, according to one of England’s leading nutritionists, “is the only dietary difference that can consistently be found between persons who develop coronary heart disease and those who do not.” As already noted, there are many sweet foods that not only are appealing to the palate and furnish much energy but are very rich in valuable minerals. In particular should the womenfolk apply to themselves these suggestions, as many of them have the poorest dietary habits. At least that is what the United States Department of Agriculture concluded after receiving replies to questionnaires from 14,500 American women.

There is also the matter of cost to be considered. True, fruits, nuts, fresh or frozen vegetables, mushrooms and certain seafoods may seem to be rather costly. But are they really costly when one considers their nutritional value and that they might save on medicine and doctor bills? On the other hand, use of peanuts, whole-grain cereals, baked potatoes, wheat germ, and especially such legumes as lentils and soybeans can materially cut down on one’s bill for meat, generally the most costly food item.

No question about it, good nutrition requires sufficient of these valuable minerals. But at the same time a word of caution seems fitting. It would not be wise to go “overboard” in regard to these things, as if one’s physical food were the most important thing in life. It is not. Why not? Because “man must live, not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth from Jehovah’s mouth.”​—Matt. 4:4.

[Footnotes]

[Chart on page 18]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

MINERALS IN THE BODY

Macro Minerals

Mineral % of Body Where Located, Value Some Good Sources

Calcium 1.5-9 99% in bones, teeth. Milk, other dairy

Aids in blood clotting, products, cabbage,

muscle activity, kale, etc.,

nerve function, unrefined cereals,

heart action; legumes, bone

activates certain meal.

enzymes. (Most persons

do not get enough

calcium.)

Phosphorus 1.0 75% in bones, teeth. All protein foods:

Aids in cell life, re- meats, fish, nuts,

production utilization legumes, dairy

of carbohydrates, fats products,

in maintaining acid-base unrefined cereals.

balance; nourishes brain

etc.

Potassium  .35 Found in cells. Plays All fruits, vege-

leading role in utiliza- tables. Potato

tion of proteins, carbo- peelings richest

hydrates; helps maintain source. (Must be

normal heartbeat. taken daily.)

Sulfur  .25 Found in (and important Protein foods,

to) skin, fingernails, onion, cabbage

hair; the “beauty families.

mineral.”

Sodium  .15 Found throughout body. Table and sea

Maintains water balance, salt, cheese,

osmotic pressure in body butter, cereals.

fluids; aids in maintain- “A diet truly

ing acid-base balance; low in sodium

indispensable for kidney would be hard to

function. achieve.”

Chlorine  .15 Mostly in extracellular Salt, meat, leafy

fluids, part of hydro- vegetables, milk,

chloric acid in stomach. tomatoes, etc.

Aids liver function,

maintaining acid-base

balance.

Magnesium  .05 Bones, soft tissues. Nuts, legumes,

Important to heart, fish, whole

nerve tissue; vital grains, blackstrap

to a host of enzyme molasses, raw

functions. leafy vegetables.

Micro or Trace Minerals

Iron  .004-7 In hemoglobin. Aids in Liver, lean meats,

bringing oxygen to cells; legumes, egg

aids certain cellular yolks, molasses,

enzymes. (Women need dark leafy greens,

more iron than do men.) raisins, apricots,

berries, onions.

oysters, whole

grains.

Manganese .0003 Essential for bone Whole grains,

formation, body growth, legumes, beet

normal metabolism; tops, pineapple,

activates many essential bananas, blue-

enzymes. berries, saltwater

fish.

Copper  .0002 Aids in utilization of Liver, kidney,

iron; activates many shellfish,

essential enzymes. “Key legumes, nuts,

element to life itself.” raisins, unre-

fined cereals.

Micro or Trace Minerals​—Continued

Mineral % of Body Where Located, Value Some Good Sources

Iodine  .00004 Mostly in thyroid gland. Seafood (animal

Controls metabolism and vegetable),

rate, aids in forming mushrooms, crops

thyroid hormone, grown near oceans,

prevents goiter, etc. iodized salt.

Zinc Trace Mostly in sex organs Animal proteins,

and thyroid. Plays fish, whole grains,

vital role in enzymes maple sugar.

needed for growth and

body functioning.

Molybdenum Trace Essential for bone Legumes, whole

formation, normal grains, dark

metabolism, body growth. leafy greens,

organ meats.

Cobalt Trace In pancreas, liver, Liver, legumes,

spleen. Aids in blood whole grains.

formation, vital part

of vitamin B-12.

Fluorine Trace Found in bones and Seafood, tea.

teeth. Prevents tooth

decay.

Chromium Trace Contributes to growth, Raw sugar.

longevity, resistance

to disease, especially

diabetes.

Bromine Trace Persons suffering from Watermelons,

depressive psychoses tomatoes.

found to have less than

average in blood.

(It is to be expected that authorities differ; listings are representative rather than comprehensive.)