Worried about your mineral intake? Try out these supplements to help you ensure your mineral nutrition basics are covered.

Each cell in the body requires minerals to function properly. A primary cause of aging prematurely, experiencing poor health and illness is due to mineral depletion. Supplementing the diet with minerals is important for everyone, especially if you are already facing health problems, living a physically demanding lifestyle or undergoing chemotherapy.

Minerals can help your body heal and stay healthy. The body requires seven macro-minerals including magnesium, calcium, potassium, chloride, sulfer, sodium and phosphorus to remain healthy. There are ten other micro-minerals including iron, cobalt, zinc, copper, iodine, manganese, fluorine, selenium, chromium, and molybdenum also needed by the body.

There are several ways you can increase your dietary mineral intake:

Eat more vegetables: Include several servings of green leafy vegetables in your daily diet. Green leafy vegetables such as kale, lettuce, spinach, arugula, and cabbage are low in calories and dense in nutrients including minerals.

Add sea vegetables to your meals: Sea vegetables are also low-calorie and provide minerals that help the body to detoxify. Sea vegetables contain all 56 minerals and pack more nutrition per bite than vegetables. Try to eat sea vegetables such as dulse, nori, kombu, agar, hijiki, arame, and wakami.  

Include fermented drinks and foods in your diet: Fermented foods and drinks such as cultured vegetables and kefir help to multiply the nutrients in your body. These foods support healthy probiotic bacteria needed for the body to assimilate nutrients properly.

Causes and symptoms of mineral deficiencies

Mineral deficiencies can cause a wide range of symptoms. Some possible signs of mineral deficiency may include:

• Fatigue, disturbed sleep, weakness, cramps, and joint and muscle problems
• A decrease in immunity and experiencing frequent illness
• Heart palpitations
• Pain in the abdomen
• Digestive disturbances and a loss of appetite
• Constipation and bloating
• Nausea and vomiting

 If you’re concerned about experiencing any of these symptoms, you should speak to a medical practitioner to determine your body’s mineral status.

 Treating mineral deficiencies

There are various ways to treat mineral deficiencies, depending on the cause for deficiency. These include:

Dietary changes
You may need to eat certain foods to help correct a diagnosed mineral deficiency. For example, if you are low in iron, you may need to include more poultry, meat, and eggs. A dietician can help you to balance your diet in a way that will meet your body’s mineral needs. 

Fortified foods and beverages
Including drinks such as Ensure and Boost may be recommended for you to increase your mineral intake. However, these drinks often contain artificial ingredients and unhealthy added sugar.

Parenteral mineral administration
In severe cases of mineral deficiency, you may need to have minerals delivered into the body via the muscles or veins. This procedure is typically carried out in the hospital because it has potential side effects and associated risks. 

Nutritional Multi-Mineral supplements
Taking a well-balanced multi-mineral supplement designed to nourish your body can help to increase your mineral levels without extra calories, sugars or artificial ingredients. Taking a daily multi-mineral supplement helps you ensure you are getting the minerals your body needs.

At OTCDeal, we offer a number of multi-mineral supplements. Click on the following link to see our wide range of nutritional supplements.