Minerals

You usually hear the word minerals with the word vitamins, because you don’t really need very much of them in your diet.  They are really important though and you would be very unwell without minerals and vitamins!  Your body cannot make minerals so you have to get them from the food you eat – but that doesn’t mean you have to eat rocks!  Like vitamins, you cannot store the minerals you eat in your body so you have to make sure you get enough from the food you eat, every day!  Minerals are found in lots of foods you like to eat – check out the table (Table 1) to see what minerals you need every day and where you can find them.

Your body needs minerals to make sure your body develops properly as you grow.  You also need minerals to make sure your body stays healthy when you are grown! Minerals help your body to build strong bones and teeth and allow messages to travel to and from your brain to the rest of your body. Some minerals even help to make hormones, chemical messengers in your body and other keep your heart beat at the right rate!

There are two different types of minerals – Macrominerals and traceminerals.  The difference between these is quite easy to remember – macro- is a Greek word that means ‘large’ so you need a larger amount of these. Trace- just means ‘small’ so you need a smaller amount of these.  The macrominerals are calcium, cholride, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and sulfur.  The trace minerals are cobalt, copper, fluoride, iron, manganese, selenium and zinc.  Table 1 will tell you what food you need to eat to get these minerals.

Table 1

	MINERAL			WHAT IT DOES				WHERE YOU FIND IT
		Calcium			Keeps your bones and teeth strong and healthy				Dairy products like milk, cheese and yoghurt Green leafy vegetables Tins of salmon (with the bones!)
		Copper			Helps your body to use iron properly				Fish Green leafy vegetables
		Iron			Transports oxygen in your red blood cells to every cell in your body!				Beans Eggs Green leafy vegetables Red meat like beef or lamb Salmon Tuna Whole grains like wheat or oats
		Magnesium			Helps your muscles to stay healthy Helps your body to use the energy it gets from food				Green leafy vegetables
		Phosphorus			Helps to keep your bones, cells and teeth healthy				Cheese Eggs Fish Meat Milk
		Potassium			Keeps the water balance in your body right Keeps your muscles and nervous system working properly				Bananas Beans Broccoli Citrus fruit Green leafy vegetables Lentils Peas Tomatoes
		Selenium			Helps to keep your cells healthy				Cheese Eggs Fish Meat
		Sodium			Keeps the water balance in your body right				Table salt
		Zinc			Helps to keep your immune system workingHelps to heal cuts and scrapes				Beans & peas Cheese Beef, lamb & pork Eggs Fish Lentils