The Importance of Having Trace Minerals in Your Diet

Keeping healthy should be a top priority for each and every one of us. Peak health means fewer visits to the doctor, less work time lost, and more time to enjoy each and every day. Peak health also means that you can feel much more comfortable and confident that your body is able to heal itself and fight off disease.

There are several ingredients that go into a healthy lifestyle – exercise, weight control, healthy food and of course quality vitamin and mineral supplements. Even for people who consider themselves in top health, supplementing vitamin and mineral intake is a good idea.

When you’re thinking about the minerals your body needs to be healthy, you probably think of calcium, potassium, iron and others. But do you know that your body also needs trace minerals to maintain great health?

Trace minerals are minerals that are needed only in tiny amounts, but those tiny amounts make a big difference to your body. These minerals are usually co-factors of enzymes (meaning they’re catalysts) for helping with oxygen transport, growth, energy metabolism, and protecting cells and nerves.

They help the body fully utilize vitamins and nutrients. Trace minerals are important for aiding digestion and in the manufacture of the many enzymes and hormones that power your body’s functions.

When you’ve lost electrolytes due to physical exertion or a bout of diarrhea, trace minerals help replace them. Another very useful function of trace minerals is protection against toxic reactions and heavy metal poisoning.

Along with vitamins (which need minerals to work correctly), and the other “bigger” minerals, trace minerals like the ones you’ll find in a good quality supplement such as SeaAloe, are something that you really can’t do without in your diet. Together, they create a balance that the body needs. The following are considered trace minerals:

· Cobalt – which aids with biosynthesis of vitamin B12

· Copper – required for oxidation and reduction enzymes

· Fluorine – helps form tooth enamel

· Iodine – which is required for biosynthesis of thyroxine

· Iron – required for hemoglobin and many enzymes and proteins

· Manganese – a co-factor in the function of antioxidant enzymes

· Molybdenum – required for certain oxidases

· Nickel – which is present in urease

· Selenium – required for antioxidant proteins

· Sulfur – essential component of certain amino acids and is also an enzyme co factor

· Zinc – required for several enzymes

Each of these trace minerals performs functions that contribute to your overall health. If you’re missing some trace minerals, you might not notice it for awhile. But over time, a lack of trace minerals will upset your body’s nutritional balance and could lead to illness and reduced quality of life.