Dietary mineral

Dietary minerals are the chemical elements required by living organisms, other than the four elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen present in common organic molecules. The term "mineral" is archaic, since the intent of the definition is to describe ions, not chemical compounds or actual minerals.

Dietitians may recommend that minerals are best supplied by ingesting specific foods rich with the element(s) of interest. Sometimes minerals are ingested as mineral dietary supplements, the most common being iodine in iodized salt.

The dietary focus on minerals derives from an interest in supporting biochemical reactions with the required elemental components. Appropriate intake levels of certain chemical elements are thus required to maintain optimal health. According to nutritional experts, the requirements are met simply with a conventional balanced diet.

Essential minerals

Some sources state that sixteen minerals are required to support human biochemical processes by serving structural and functional roles as well as electrolytes: The term "dietary minerals" does not include the fundamental elements of organic chemistry: hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. Also, sometimes a distinction is drawn between this category and micronutrients. Most of the essential minerals of relatively low atomic weight:

H																		He
Li	Be												B	C	N	O	F	Ne
Na	Mg												Al	Si	P	S	Cl	Ar
K	Ca	Sc		Ti	V	Cr	Mn	Fe	Co	Ni	Cu	Zn	Ga	Ge	As	Se	Br	Kr
Rb	Sr	Y		Zr	Nb	Mo	Tc	Ru	Rh	Pd	Ag	Cd	In	Sn	Sb	Te	I	Xe
Cs	Ba	La	*	Hf	Ta	W	Re	Os	Ir	Pt	Au	Hg	Tl	Pb	Bi	Po	At	Rn
Fr	Ra	Ac	**	Rf	Db	Sg	Bh	Hs	Mt	Ds	Rg
			*	Ce	Pr	Nd	Pm	Sm	Eu	Gd	Tb	Dy	Ho	Er	Tm	Yb	Lu
			**	Th	Pa	U	Np	Pu	Am	Cm	Bk	Cf	Es	Fm	Md	No	Lr

The four organic basic elements

Quantity elements

Essential trace elements

Pervasive but no identified biological function in humans

The following play important roles in biological processes:

zinc toxicity

Mineral	RDA/AI	Description	Category	Insufficiency	Excess
Potassium	4700 mg	Quantity	is a systemic electrolyte and is essential in coregulating ATP with sodium. Dietary sources include legumes, potato skin, tomatoes, and bananas.	hypokalemia	hyperkalemia
Chloride	2300 mg	Quantity	is needed for production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach and in cellular pump functions. Table salt is the main dietary source of chloride.	hypochloremia	hyperchloremia
Sodium	1500 mg	Quantity	is a systemic electrolyte and is essential in coregulating ATP with potassium. Dietary sources include table salt (sodium chloride, the main source), sea vegetables, milk, and spinach.	hyponatremia	hypernatremia
Calcium	1000 mg	Quantity	is needed for muscle, heart and digestive system health, builds bone, supports synthesis and function of blood cells. Dietary sources of calcium include dairy products, canned fish with bones (salmon, sardines), green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds.	hypocalcaemia	hypercalcaemia
Phosphorus	700 mg	Quantity	is a component of bones (see apatite) and energy processing and many other functions. In biological contexts, usually seen as phosphate.	hypophosphatemia	hyperphosphatemia
Magnesium	420 mg	Quantity	is required for processing ATP and for bones. Dietary sources include nuts, soy beans, and cocoa.	hypomagnesemia, magnesium deficiency	hypermagnesemia
Zinc	11 mg	Trace	is pervasive and required for several enzymes such as carboxypeptidase, liver alcohol dehydrogenase, and carbonic anhydrase.
Iron	8 mg	Trace	is required for many proteins and enzymes, notably hemoglobin. Dietary sources include red meat, leafy green vegetables, fish (tuna, salmon), eggs, dried fruits, beans, whole grains, and enriched grains.	iron deficiency	iron overload disorder
Manganese	2.3 mg	Trace	is a cofactor in enzyme functions.	manganese deficiency	manganism
Copper	900 µg	Trace	is required component of many redox enzymes, including cytochrome c oxidase.	copper deficiency	copper toxicity
Iodine	150 µg	Trace	is required for the biosynthesis of thyroxine.	iodine deficiency
Selenium	55 µg	Trace	a cofactor essential to activity of antioxidant enzymes like glutathione peroxidase.	selenium deficiency	selenosis
Molybdenum	45 µg	Trace	the oxidases xanthine oxidase, aldehyde oxidase, and sulfite oxidase	molybdenum deficiency

Other elements

Many elements have been suggested as essential, but such claims have usually not been confirmed. Definitive evidence for efficacy comes from the characterization of a biomolecule containing the element with an identifiable and testable function. One problem with identifying efficacy is that some elements are innocuous at low concentrations and are pervasive, so proof of efficacy is lacking because deficiencies are difficult to reproduce.

• Relatively large quantities of sulfur are required, but there is no RDA, as the sulfur is obtained from and used for amino acids, and therefore should be adequate in any diet containing enough protein.

• Cobalt is required in the synthesis of vitamin B12, but because bacteria are required to synthesize the vitamin, it is usually considered part of vitamin B12 deficiency rather than its own mineral deficiency.

• There have been occasional studies asserting the essentiality of nickel, but it currently has no known RDA.

• Chromium is sometimes described as essential. It is implicated in sugar metabolism in humans, leading to a market for the supplement, chromium picolinate, but definitive biochemical evidence for a physiological function is lacking.

• Fluoride has been described as conditionally essential, depending upon the importance placed upon the prevention of chronic disease.

Arsenic, boron, bromine, cadmium, silicon, tungsten, and vanadium have established, albeit specialized, biochemical roles as structural or functional cofactors in other organisms. These elements appear not to be utilized by humans.