Minerals

Summary

Minerals are important for your body to stay healthy. Your body uses minerals for many different jobs, including keeping your bones, muscles, heart, and brain working properly. Minerals are also important for making enzymes and hormones.

There are two kinds of minerals: macrominerals and trace minerals. You need larger amounts of macrominerals. They include calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride and sulfur. You only need small amounts of trace minerals. They include iron, manganese, copper, iodine, zinc, cobalt, fluoride and selenium.

Most people get the amount of minerals they need by eating a wide variety of foods. In some cases, your doctor may recommend a mineral supplement. People who have certain health problems or take some medicines may need to get less of one of the minerals. For example, people with chronic kidney disease need to limit foods that are high in potassium.

NIH Office of Dietary Supplements

Patient Handouts

• Chloride in diet Medical Encyclopedia
• Chromium in diet Medical Encyclopedia
• Copper in diet Medical Encyclopedia
• Iodine in diet Medical Encyclopedia
• Magnesium in diet Medical Encyclopedia
• Phosphorus in diet Medical Encyclopedia
• Selenium in diet Medical Encyclopedia
• Zinc in diet Medical Encyclopedia

Specifics

• Chromium National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements
• Iodine National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements
• Magnesium National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements
• Manganese National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements
• Selenium National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements
• Zinc National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Minerals National Institutes of Health

Reference Desk

• Definitions of Health Terms: Minerals National Library of Medicine

Start Here

• Dietary Supplement Label Database (DSLD) National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements
• Minerals: What They Do and Where to Get Them Texas Heart Institute
• Overview of Minerals Merck & Co., Inc.
• Trace Elements: What They Do and Where to Get Them Texas Heart Institute
• Vitamins and Minerals: How to Get What You Need American Academy of Family Physicians

Find an Expert

• Find a Nutrition Expert Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
• Food and Drug Administration Food and Drug Administration
• Food and Nutrition Information Center Food and Nutrition Information Center
• National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements

Related Issues

• Metals: In Sickness and in Health National Institute of General Medical Sciences

Children

• Minerals Nemours Foundation

Journal Articles

• Minerals

Teenagers

• Vitamins and Minerals Nemours Foundation