A guest post by Amy C, a tabletop fountain enthusiast. She enjoys exploring the topics of health, spirituality, and fitness.
Most of us never realize our body is complex machinery that needs sufficient amounts of micronutrients to function optimally. Micronutrients consist of vitamins and minerals. Here is a brief introduction to six of the most important minerals and a quick guide for balancing these minerals to create a healthy, vibrant life.
Iron
Plentiful in red meat, iron is one of the most important minerals for effective body functioning. The iron that is found in red meat is known as heme iron. This heme iron is very easily absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract, mainly because it is bound to protein. Individuals who prefer a vegetarian diet get a lot of iron from leafy green vegetables like spinach and broccoli. However, this form of iron is not easily absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract because it is bound to other non-absorbent compounds. If you are living a vegetarian lifestyle, consult your nutritionist for high-quality iron supplement recommendations.
Chromium
Maintenance of insulin levels is one of the main functions of chromium. Many Americans are chromium deficient because of their high-sugar, high-starch diets. This kind of unhealthy diet depletes the chromium levels in the body. High intensity exercises also cause chromium depletion. The optimum level of chromium to create a lean and healthy human body is at least 200 milligrams a day.
Calcium and Magnesium
Bone building, repair, and growth are contingent on healthy levels of calcium and magnesium. These two minerals work together to contract and relax muscle fibers and maintain blood pressure levels. To enrich the levels of calcium and magnesium in your diet, consider adding nuts, legumes, green vegetables, seafood and dairy products.
Selenium
This is one the mineral that boosts the immune system and eliminates cancerous cells. It performs these functions by working hand in hand with vitamin E. To increase your levels of selenium, include organ meats and seafood in your diet. Vegetarians may have to rely on supplements because of low amounts of selenium in vegetable diets.
Potassium
Adequate potassium levels help maintain normal blood pressure, improve muscle health, and optimize nervous system functioning. Low levels of potassium result in weakness, cramping, and muscle fatigue. Potassium levels drop when a person engages in intense physical workouts.
Meeting your body’s micronutrient needs is critically important. When you balance the amounts of the above mentioned minerals in your diet, you will develop a healthy, vibrant body.
**None of this should be considered professional health advice. Please consult your physician for health related issues. The information in this article is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified healthcare professional and is not intended as medical advice.
Image Credit
Calcium image courtesy of Flickr user Ethan Hein published under the CC license.
I just had my first interview today (these guys are in Las Vegas now) and was so...
6 Comments
I had a fair amount of sugar, ate pasta for dinner, and I had a vigorous kettlebell workout today. This leaves me feeling like I am chromium deficient for the day. What are good sources for chromium that I can add to my diet to make sure I get the chromium I need? Same question for potassium, as well.
You can eat some lean meats (especially processed meats), cheeses, pork kidney, whole-grain breads and cereals, molasses, spices, and some bran cereals. Also check out some mushrooms, prunes and asparagus.
So a turkey and cheese sandwich with mustard on whole grain bread seems to pretty much get the chromium job done.
I’ve got no problem throwing down some turkey sandwiches, but pork kidney has me running scared.
@Jason – Banana’s are excellent source of potassium.
Would you recommend a multi-vitamin or taking separate supplements for those of us whose diet won’t cover these in our food.
Thank you for the information, do you think someone (or some company) could ever invent a process in which a multi-vitamin can be custom tailored to each individual. For Example, maybe I could take a comprehensive but easy to take test that calculates my vitamin needs and then transfers that into a computer that is able to create, package and dispense my own personal multivitamin.. Or perhaps create a process in which a small sample of blood goes into a system that uses a method to scientifically find what vitamins and/or minerals that my body needs and then it can create and dispense that vitamin to me… Wouldn’t that be nice? Custom Vitamins
One Trackback
[...] Six Must-Have Micronutrient Minerals for a Healthy Life (at Babeled): Amy C of TabletopFountainStore gives an introduction to six of the most important minerals and a quick guide for balancing these minerals to create a healthy, vibrant life. [...]