conscious eating
Potassium Why we need it: fl uid balance, nerve trans- mission, muscle contraction Food sources: bananas, dried fi gs, nuts, avocadoes Recommended Daily Intake: 4.7 grams (g)
MIGHTY MINERALS What We Need to Stay Healthy
by Judith Fertig
Minerals—inorganic chemical elements or compounds that cannot be produced by the body, but occur in nature—play a key role in helping us function at our best.
A
ccording to the authors of Minerals: T e Forgotten Nutrient - Your Secret Weapon for Getting and
Staying Healthy, they are integral to our health. Joy Stephenson-Laws, the lead author and founder of the nonprofi t Proactive Health Labs, in Santa Monica, California, suggests getting a full-spectrum mineral test through a healthcare provider to identify any defi ciencies or imbalances. Although the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration gives a broad, general Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for minerals, it’s not the most up-do-date or the most specifi c information accord- ing to gender, age or stage in life. T e more current Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) are nutrient-reference values devel- oped by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies—fi ve private, nonprofi t institutions that provide inde- pendent, objective analysis, located in Washington, D.C., Irvine, California, and Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Intended
12 Austin Edition
to serve as a guide for good nutrition by covering 40-plus nutrient substances and more demographically specifi c than the RDA, the DRI provides a scientifi c basis for the development of food guidelines in the U.S. and Canada. T is list of important minerals,
based on the worldwide studies collected in the journal Minerals, is a good starting point. Another good reference is the extensive chart from the IOM of the National Academy of Sciences at
ConsumerLab.com/RDAs.
Our Body’s Periodic Table
Sodium with Chlorine Why we need it: fl uid balance, nerve transmission, muscle contraction Food sources: sodium combines with chlorine in salt; Himalayan sea salt also contains 84 trace elements Recommended Daily Intake: 1,500 mil- ligrams (mg) of sodium
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Calcium Why we need it: strong teeth and bones, muscle relaxation and contraction, blood clotting, blood pressure regulation, immune system health Food sources: leafy green vegetables, fortifi ed nut milk, dairy products, canned sardines/salmon, dried fi gs, oysters; plus mineral water brands labeled higher in cal- cium and lower in sodium, per integrative medicine pioneer Dr. Andrew Weil Recommended Daily Intake: 1,000 to 1,200 mg
Sulfur Why we need it: joint function Food sources: fi sh, beef, poultry, egg yolks, beans, coconuts, bananas, garlic Recommended Daily Intake: 6 mg of sulfur-containing amino acids per pound of adult weight
Phosphorous Why we need it: works with calcium to build strong bones, repair cells Food sources: salmon, yogurt, turkey, lentils, almonds Recommended Daily Intake: 700 mg
Magnesium Why we need it: strong bones, energy, mental health Food sources: leafy green vegetables, nuts, seeds and foods with fi ber Recommended Daily Intake: 310 to 320 mg for adult women, 410 to 420 mg for adult men
Iron Why we need it: helps make blood hemo- globin Food sources: breakfast cereals fortifi ed with iron, white beans, dark chocolate, beef liver, spinach Recommended Daily Intake: 18 mg for adult women, 8 mg for adult men
Manganese Why we need it: healthy immune system Food sources: nuts, seeds, green leafy vegetables Recommended Daily Intake: 11 mg
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