Mind your minerals! Bashundhara Bandyopadhyay, a 45-year-old housewife, didn’t when she was advised to do so years ago and now she is suffering the consequences. A patient of debilitating osteoarthritis ? brought on by severe calcium deficiency ? she is beset by aches and pains and swollen joints. Not only does she find it difficult to walk, at times movement of any kind becomes impossible. She is beginning to feel today, in her own words, like the “vegetables” she was advised to include in her daily diet when she was in her 30s.

According to Nina Singh, dietician, Woodlands Nursing Home, Calcutta, such green leafy vegetables as spinach and other indigenous saag, are rich in calcium, an essential mineral. If only Bandyopadhyay had included these in her regular diet, she could’ve avoided her present condition. Vegetables, however, are not the only source of calcium. The richest sources of calcium, points out Singh, are milk and milk products, like cheese, curd, paneer etc.

Calcium is also responsible for the normal functioning of the heart, nervous system and blood circulation process. However, it is only one of the essential minerals.

Raging debate

There is an ongoing debate about the number of essential minerals and trace elements (which are also minerals but are required in smaller amounts and present only in tiny amounts in the soil, water and food). The only point nutritionists and dieticians agree unanimously on is the importance of minerals for a healthy body and mind. Says Singh, “It is minerals which regulate certain essential functions of the human body. Depriving the body of essential minerals over a period of time will eventually lead to various physical ailments and even mental problems like depression.”

If you have to pick out the five absolute essential minerals, Singh prefers to list the following: calcium, iodine, iron, magnesium and phosphorus. However, water and mineral supplements are also sources.

Singh points out though, that the body’s ability to absorb certain minerals depends on whether you are taking it with the complementary vitamin. For instance, green leafy vegetables contain particles called oxalates, which prevent the absorption of calcium and therefore, to help in the process of absorption, these should be taken along with vitamin D (found in egg yolk, fish, liver etc). Also, Singh advises that in order to maximise the calcium absorption from dairy products, do not take dairy products together with green leafy vegetables (because of the oxalates).

Vital functions

Iron is responsible for the process by which haemoglobin mixes with oxygen and blood circulation in tissues. Deficiency can cause anaemia. Good sources of iron are egg yolk, liver and for vegetarians, dried fruits like apricots, dates, figs and again, spinach. Vitamin C (lime, lemon, citric fruits) helps absorb iron.

Iodine is responsible for the proper functioning of the thyroid gland. Iodine deficiency can lead to a condition called goitre, characterised by an enlargement of the thyroid gland. Seafood and fish (especially shellfish) have high concentrations of iodine. Iodised salt is another way to supplement iodine requirement. Bread and water rich in iodine are good sources. Singh also advises that pregnant women do regular iodine level check-ups to rule out deficiency which can cause deformities and physiological or neurological birth defects in new-borns, and even result in still births.

Magnesium activates energy-supplying enzymes and its deficiency causes depression, fatigue, lethargy etc. Have lots of whole grain cereals, bananas and chlorophyll-rich vegetables like cabbage and spinach to get your fill of magnesium.

Phosphorus deficiency can cause brittle bones and other diseases related to bone decay. Foods rich in calcium (like milk products, fish, meat and whole-grain cereals) are also rich in phosphorus.

You are what you eat

There are many different ways in which minerals and trace elements can be obtained. Traditional fish- and seaweed-eating cultures, such as the Japanese, get their supplies from their diet.

Mountain-dwellers obtain their minerals from water and food.

Mineral baths and spas with highly mineralised water were once widely used as mineral sources in Europe. Many cures at Lourdes may have stemmed not just from faith alone, but by the mineralised water — containing micro-nutrients — drunk by pilgrims there. Their bodies may have been starved of such micro-nutrients for decades.

Organic gardeners obtain theirs through using good organic manure such as seaweed, leaf mould, ground volcanic rock etc.

Vitamin and mineral supplements have now become a big industry.

Many people today rely on supplements, pills, powders or liquids. Sources include readymade drinks, as in organic vegetable and fruit juice. Seaweed; blue/green algae such as chlorella and spirulina, and rigorously tested aphanizomenon flos aquae are also good sources of many trace elements.

it’s all in the stars

Why minerals are one of the most enduring chemicals

In the over 7,000 enzymatic processes involved in metabolism, many of them require minerals. Scientist Dr Gary Farr, founder of an online health portal, writes: “Minerals had been around for a long, long time, having been born in the thermo-nuclear furnace of a star. In that sense, our bodies are made from particles of stardust. Apart from (perhaps) our DNA, they (minerals) are the only part of our physical presence we can be sure of leaving behind: a few pounds of minerals and trace elements ... When life emerged, the mineral and nutrient-rich environment provided the building blocks of life and helped power evolution”.

Singh points out that today, one of the main causes of mineral deficiency is over-consumption of refined sugar, salt and oils. Unrefined sugars (jaggery, molasses etc.) are better alternatives.