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conscious eating


Potassium Why we need it: fl uid balance, nerve transmission, muscle contraction


Food sources: bananas, dried fi gs, nuts, avocadoes


Recommended Daily Intake: 4.7 grams (g)


Calcium Why we need it: strong teeth and bones, muscle relaxation and contraction, blood clotting, blood pressure regulation, immune system health


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.


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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 according to gender, age or stage in life. T e more current Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) are nutrient-reference values developed by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies—fi ve private, nonprofi t institutions that provide independent, objective analysis, located in Washington, D.C., Irvine, California, and Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Intended to serve


22 Central Florida


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 milligrams (mg) of sodium


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 calcium 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 hemoglobin


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


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