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What Are The Five Major Minerals In The Human Body

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Just like vitamins, minerals help your body grow, develop, and stay healthy. The body uses minerals to perform many different functions from building strong bones to transmitting nerve impulses. Some minerals are even used to make hormones or maintain a normal heartbeat. They are materials found in foods that are essential for growth and health. The minerals that are relevant to human nutrition are water, sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, phosphate, sulfate, magnesium, iron, copper, zinc, manganese, iodine, selenium, and molybdenum. The five major minerals in the human body are calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and magnesium.
 Calcium: is the most abundant mineral in the body. About 99 percent of calcium in the body is in your bones and teeth. Bones are constantly being rebuilt. You are probably getting enough calcium unless you belong to one of these groups: children, adolescent girls, adult women, and adults 51 years of age and older. Milk and milk products provide most of the calcium we consume. …show more content…

 Sodium: Sodium plays many important roles in the body. It maintains fluid balance and is a main nutrient used in nerve impulse transmission and muscle contraction. Sodium is an essential mineral for the human body. The major source of sodium in the diet is salt.
 Magnesium: About 50 percent of the magnesium in the body is in the bones. Magnesium is a part of chlorophyll, the green pigment found in plants, so green leafy vegetables are one good source. The magnesium content of refined foods is usually low. Although magnesium is present in many foods, it usually occurs in small amounts.
Finally, we often hear that certain foods contain a certain amount of vitamins and minerals. Minerals are important basic building blocks for proper nutrition and health. Without them, other nutrients are unable to function

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