Trace Mineral: Your Guide to the Most Essential Micronutrients
Have you heard of trace minerals? The trace minerals, also known as trace elements, are essential micronutrients that the body requires in very small amounts in order to function properly. Minerals such as iron, zinc, chromium, and copper may make up a tiny portion of the nutrients we take in, but they impact everything from oxygen transportation, to metabolism, to our ability to grow and maintain cells. Discover how trace mineral supplements can help improve your health, energy, and metabolism.
What are Trace Minerals
The trace minerals are minerals, metals, or compounds that are present in the body’s tissues in trace amounts and are necessary to maintain life and its functions. The daily required intake for most trace elements is miniscule–typically between 0.2 and 15 milligrams.
While we may need very little of these nutrients to stay healthy, they pack a hefty nutritional punch. Most trace minerals are coenzymes that help drive important chemical reactions within the body. Some of these reactions are responsible for gene expression, energy production, hormone synthesis, and immune system function. Others serve specialized functions, such as the role of heme iron in red blood cells.
Trace Mineral Deficiency
Supplementing trace minerals can help make up for gaps in your nutrition, improve your energy, and help you reach your health goals. Deficiencies in trace minerals often occur over time as the result of chronic illness, absorption difficulties, or malnutrition.
The two most common trace mineral deficiencies involve iron and zinc. Iron deficiency can often appear as a form of anemia as iron is a necessary part of hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to your tissues. Symptoms of iron deficiency include: weakness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, dizziness, coldness, and bruising.
Zinc deficiency (though less common than iron deficiency) is also an issue which typically develops over time. As a mineral, zinc plays an essential part in the body’s metabolism and immune system, especially protein synthesis and wound healing. Common symptoms of zinc deficiency include appetite loss, decreased immune functioning, slowed or stunted growth, diarrhea, hair loss, and impotence.
The Essential Trace Minerals
Iron
In addition to forming hemoglobin, an oxygen-carrying protein present in red blood cells, dietary iron has many important uses and functions. Iron is also a component of myoglobin, a secondary oxygen-carrying protein, as well as an important cofactor in the reactions that sustain muscle metabolism, hormone synthesis, and basic cellular functioning. Every cell in the human body contains iron.
The iron we take in from food generally comes in two forms: heme and nonheme. In nature, nonheme iron is found in plants, whereas meat contains both heme and nonheme iron. Modern iron-fortified foods (including processed grain products) only contain nonheme iron. Common sources of dietary iron include red meats, seafood, and dark leafy vegetables.
Iodine
For most of us, iodine is associated with salt, specifically iodized table salt–one of the most common forms of dietary iodine. However, despite its often overlooked status as a mineral, iodine plays a central role in the creation of thyroid hormones, which form the basis for our metabolism, digestion, and heart rate. Similarly, iodine helps cells convert food into energy.
Iodine deficiency can result in thyroid dysfunction, including goiter (a condition in which the thyroid glands in the neck swell) and hypothyroidism (a condition in which the thyroid is unable to produce enough hormones for the body to function properly).
In addition to iodized table salt, dietary sources of iodine include: bread, dairy products, eggs, and seafood.
Zinc
Often underappreciated for its roles in protein, lipid, and carbohydrate metabolism, as well as gene transcription and immune function, Zinc is one of the most abundant trace minerals in the human body. However, due to the body’s poor storage capacity for zinc, intake must be regular enough to avoid a deficiency.
The best sources of dietary zinc are: red meat, poultry, oysters, beans, whole grains, and dairy products.
Copper
Not just for pennies and pots, copper is an important micronutrient that the body uses to make collagen, energy, and blood vessels, along with other connective tissues including ligaments and cartilage. Copper is also essential for several neurological processes including gene expression, brain development, and neurotransmitter activation.
Most people don’t need to worry about copper deficiency. However, some individuals, especially those with celiac disease, Menkes disease, or those taking high doses of zinc supplements may struggle to absorb adequate copper from their diet. Common symptoms include: extreme fatigue, light patches of skin, high cholesterol, connective tissue disorders in the skin and/or ligaments, and loss of coordination.
Looking to bump up your copper intake? Try incorporating more nuts, seeds, grains, and shellfish into your diet. Chickpeas, avocados, mushrooms, and potatoes are also great choices.
Manganese
An essential trace mineral, Manganese helps the body metabolize glucose, cholesterol, and amino acids, combat oxidative stress, and form new bones. It also plays a role in reproduction and immune response.
Overall, we absorb only about 1%-5% of the manganese we take in through food. However, dietary manganese is hardly rare–foods rich in manganese include: whole grains, legumes, mussels, oysters, and other shellfish.
Should I Supplement Trace Minerals?
Concerned about getting enough trace minerals from your diet? Looking to boost your energy, metabolism, and overall nutrition? A comprehensive trace mineral supplement can help you close the gaps in your dietary intake with less risk of exceeding healthy levels of any one micronutrient.
Our top pick, Standard Process Trace Minerals-B12 TM contains six essential trace minerals alongside Vitamin B12 for additional energy support.
