Minerals, like vitamins, do not provide energy to the body, but have important regulatory and structural functions. Minerals are important for your body and for staying healthy. The body uses minerals for many different functions, including building bones, producing hormones, and regulating the heartbeat.
Minerals of a healthy diet
They can be divided according to their amount in the body:
– Major elements: calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sulfur, sodium, potassium and chlorine.
– Minor or trace elements: iron, zinc, iodine, copper, chromium, cobalt, manganese, fluorine, selenium.
Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body (2% total weight).
It appears mainly in bone tissue, and also in intra and extracellular fluid, where it is involved in various functions such as the maintenance of neuromuscular activity, activation of enzyme systems, regulation of membrane permeability and blood coagulation.
More than half the iron present in the body it is part of the hemoglobin in the blood, it also appears in ferritin, transferrin, hemosiderin, myoglobin and cytochromes.
