What happens if the human body lacks minerals

Our body's daily life energy requires a lot of substances to maintain, so our three meals a day cannot be reduced, and we should drink more water, so as to ensure the energy needed for life activities. Our body needs a lot of various minerals, which are generally taken from our diet. So what will happen if the human body lacks minerals?

1. What are minerals?

Minerals, also known as inorganic salts, are also important substances that constitute human tissues and maintain normal physiological activities. It is indispensable for maintaining normal life activities of the human body. Human tissues contain almost all the elements that exist in nature. Among them, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen are the main components of organic substances such as proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Most of the remaining elements function in the body in the form of inorganic compounds, collectively referred to as minerals or inorganic salts. Some elements are also components of organic compounds in the body (such as enzymes, hormones, and hemoglobin). These minerals are divided into major elements (also known as macroelements) and trace elements according to their content in the human body. Elements whose content in the body is greater than 0.01% of body weight are called macroelements, which include calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, magnesium, chlorine, sulfur, etc. They are all essential elements for the human body. Trace elements are those whose content is less than 0.01% of body weight. There are many types of trace elements. Currently, people believe that there are 14 essential trace elements, namely zinc, copper, iron, chromium, cobalt, manganese, molybdenum, tin, vanadium, iodine, selenium, fluorine, nickel and silicon. Although trace elements are present in small amounts in the body, they have very important physiological functions. They are both the constituents of the body and the participants and regulators of life activities. Moreover, they cannot be replaced by other substances.

Minerals and trace elements are like other nutrients, and the more the better. Each mineral and trace element has a certain suitable range in the body to exert its physiological function. If the intake is below this range, deficiency symptoms may occur, and if the intake is above this range, poisoning may occur. Therefore, it is important to control their intake well.

2. Overall physiological functions of minerals and their deficiency

In summary, it can be divided into three aspects:

1. It is the main material that constitutes hard tissues such as human bones and teeth.

2. It dissolves in body fluids in the form of ions to maintain the normal distribution of water in the human body, the acid-base balance of body fluids and the normal excitability of nerves and muscles.

3. It is a component and activator of some enzymes.

Due to metabolism, a certain amount of minerals and trace elements are excreted through feces, urine, skin, hair, nails, etc. every day and must be supplemented from food and drinking water. The minerals and trace elements that are easily lacking in the Chinese people's diet include calcium, iron, iodine and other elements. In some areas with special geological conditions, there is a problem of fluorine poisoning or selenium poisoning due to excessive intake of fluorine or selenium.