Minerals: Sources, Functions & Deficiency diseases


MACROELEMENTS 
(Required more than 100 mg/ day)

Mineral
Daily requirements
Source
Functions
Deficiency
Calcium
1200 mg
Milk, dairy foods, cereals (Ragi), meat, vegetables, fruits (Sitaphals)
Component of bones and teeth.
Helps in blood clotting
Muscle contraction
Conduction of nerve impulses etc.
Acts as cofactor of Myosin ATPase.
Defective bones and teeth
Tetany and rickets
Loss of muscle coordination
Phosphorous
1200 mg
Milk, dairy foods, Cereals, eggs, fish, meat etc.
Formation of bones and teeth
Component of nucleic acids, energy molecules and coenzymes
Do
Sodium
5- 10 gm
Table salt, vegetables
Maintenance of ionic and water balance, muscle contraction; conduction of nerve impulses; component of digestive juices.
Present in bile salts
Main cation of ECF
Improper muscle contraction; nervous depression; loss of Na+ in urine, dehydration
Potassium
1 gm
Vegetables, molasses, banana, date etc
Osmotic balance; muscle contraction; nerve impulse conduction
Nervous disorder; poor muscle control leading to paralysis
Magnesium
400 mg
Green leafy vegetables, soyabean etc
Cofactor for enzymes e.g. of hexokinase
Heart and vascular irregularities; dilated blood vessels, loss of muscle coordination.
Chlorine
5- 10 gm
Common salt
Main anion of ECF
Acid- base balance
Vomiting and hypochloremic alkalosis

MICROELEMENTS 
(Required in small amount)

Mineral
Daily requirements
Source
Functions
Deficiency
Iron
18 mg
Liver, eggs, molasses, cereals, pulses, leafy vegetables, apple, guava etc.
Formation of Hb so help in O2 transport
Component of cytochromes of ETS.
Cofactor of catalase enzyme.
Anaemia; skin problems
Iodine
0.14 mg
Sea foods, leafy vegetables, water, iodized salt etc.
Normal functioning of thyroid; component of thyroxin so controls BMR
Goiter, Cretinism, Myxoedema
Zinc
12- 20 mg
Beet, cheese
Cofactor of carbonic anhydrase so helps in CO2 transport
Vitamin A metabolism
Reduced respiration
Manganese
5 mg
Liver, kidney, peanuts
Normal reproductive functions, cofactor for enzymes
Reproductive failure; menstrual irregularities.
Copper
2- 2.5 mg
Liver, spleen, kidneys, peanuts, beet etc
Cofactor for enzymes e.g. oxidases and tyrosinase.
Component of haemocyanin.
Anaemia
Molybdenum
Traces
Cereals, pods, some vegetables
Cofactor for nitrogenase enzyme
Whiptail disease in cauliflower
Fluorine
Traces
Water, sea fish, cheese
Maintains enamel and prevents dental caries.
Dental caries.
Sulphur


Component of many proteins, enzymes and coenzymes

Cobalt
Traces
Milk, cheese, meat
Component of vit.B12
Pernicious anemia
Chromium
Traces
Yeast, sea food, meat, some vegetables
Catabolic metabolism
Irregularities of catabolism and ATP product
Selenium
Traces
Meat, cereals, sea food.
Cofactor of many enzymes; assists vitamin E.
Muscular pain, weakness of cardiac muscles.


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