Mineral in Human Bodies
In general, the function of minerals in the body can be divided into two categories, namely, building body tissue and regulating numerous processes.
Potassium, sulfur, phosphorus, iron and other minerals are structural components of soft tissue.
Sodium is principally found in extracellular fluid (bone is an exception), where it is the chief cation, and thus it is considered mainly as a primary determinant of body fluid osmolarity as well as the maintainer of body fluid pH.
Intracellular fluid contains much smaller amounts of sodium though these stores, and perhaps the sodium of the bone also serve in this capacity.
It is also important to mention that the energy for impulse transmission in the nerve and its action potential derive from the potential energy represented by the separathion of sodium and potassium across the cell wall.
On the other hand, calcium, together with phosphorus, magnesium and fluorine are components of bone and teeth. Deficiencies during the growing years cause growth to be stunted and bone tissue to be poor quality.
A continual intake of mineral is essential for the maintenance of skeletal tissue in good condition
Minerals are an integral part of many hormones, enzymes and other compounds that regulate physiological functions in the organism.
For example, iodine required to produce the hormone thyroxine, chromium is involved in the production of insulin and hemoglobin is an iron containing compound.
Thus, production of these substances in the organism depends on adequate intake of the involved minerals.
Minerals can also act as catalysts. Calcium is a catalysts in blood clotting. Some minerals are catalysts in the absorption of nutrients from the gastrointestinal tract, the metabolism of proteins, fat and carbohydrate and the utilization of nutrients by the cell.
Mineral dissolved in the body fluids are responsible for nerve impulses and the contraction of muscles, as swell as for water and acid base balance.
Minerals play an important role in maintaining respiration, heart rate and blood pressure within normal limits.
The deficiency of minerals in the diet may lead to severe chronic clinical signs of disease, frequently reversible after their supplementation on the diet or following total parenteral nutrition.
The influence of minerals on biochemical reactions in living systems also make it possible to use them intentionally in many food processes.
Mineral in Human Bodies
