Minerals for Health (Part 1)

What are more important- Vitamins or Minerals? (Part 1)

Of course that is a silly question. Our bodies need optimal intakes of vitamins and minerals from food and supplements to be at their best. The reason I ask the question is that many people take multi-vitamins, typically a B complex and some other nutrients.

One of the most popular nutritional supplements in NZ has a B complex with low levels of most minerals. While there is nothing wrong with the product, we need to ask whether spending money on high potency vitamins is really what we need. Maybe the word ‘vitamin’ just sounds cool; while ‘minerals’ a bit more dull.

I was reading an article by a rural soil scientist who was explaining the importance for farmers in getting soil trace mineral balance right. He went on to discuss a number of animal health issues that can be remedied by the correct balance of trace minerals.

Farmers are well aware of the relationship between soil minerals and animal health.
If farmers and soil scientists know the importance of trace minerals for animal health, why are minerals are mostly ignored for human health? I joke with my farming clients that perhaps the reason is that animals have a financial/productivity value while we do not.

This raises another question: if trace minerals are so critical for animal and human health, should these be the very first nutrients we address by diet and supplements? I could make a strong case that a trace mineral supplement is much more important than a vitamin supplement. Of course the answer is that we need both. Everything starts with a good diet but a well formulated multi-mineral, multi-vitamin and multi-antioxidant like Cell-eXtra (previously Cell-X) just may be the most important supplement you can take.

Please note that the health advice given through this column is for general educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or treat any health problem. © John Arts 2021