Dietary minerals represent the inorganic component of essential human nutrients. Much of what applies to vitamins, and many of the comments in our vitamins section, apply equally as well to minerals. In particular, scientific inquiry focusing specifically on dietary minerals has increased significantly in recent decades. The results of these studies are forcing the professional medical community, and everyone concerned about preventive health, to reevaluate the role of minerals in human nutrition.
      When considering dietary minerals, like vitamins, more is not always better, particularly where mineral supplementation is concerned. In excess, some minerals can be toxic, leading to serious health problems that may even become life threatening. As in many things, a proper balance of minerals in the diet is far more important than the amount of any one in particular.

      All essential minerals are equally important, but differ in the amounts required for adequate nutrition. Those required in larger amounts are referred to as the macrominerals, and those in smaller amounts, the microminerals.
      The macrominerals include calcium, magnesium and phosphorus, which work together metabolically as well as independently, and the electrolytes (sodium, potassium and chloride) which are involved primarily in the body’s fluid balance.
      The microminerals are a much larger group of nutrients, the most important of which include chromium, copper, iodine, iron, selenium and zinc, among others. This group is also commonly referred to as the trace minerals.

      As with all nutrients, the amount of any one mineral you consume is not a measure of how much your body will absorb. The ability of calcium to be absorbed in much higher concentrations in the presence of vitamin D is an excellent example, and is the reason that calcium supplements ordinarily include vitamin D. Another example would be how excess zinc and very large amounts of vitamin C interfere with the absorption of copper.
      Minerals are also important catalysts for the proper absorption and utilization of many vitamins. One example is how some forms of vitamin E are more readily absorbed in the presence of selenium than when this trace mineral is absent.
      Not only is it important to know which minerals are essential to your health, but also to understand how they relate to each other in your diet as a whole. It serves no purpose to take supplements that your body cannot absorb, nor does it make sense to consume combinations that can be injurious to your health.

      Recent surveys of large populations have suggested that many individuals do not consume nearly enough of the dietary minerals. It is for this reason that the routine use of a broad spectrum multivitamin containing many of these essential nutrients is probably good advice for most people. Beyond the basics, a better understanding of the individual minerals, and the specific roles they play in human nutrition, is extremely important, and a worthy goal in an overall view towards preventive health.