Minerals 101: are you being robbed of these vital nutrients?

Natural Health, March, 2006 by Laura Shin

HERE HAVE ALL the minerals gone? Unfortunately, they're being depleted by current agricultural practices. "Pesticides and herbicides kill microbes and beneficial bacteria in the soil that plants need to be healthy," says Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D., author of The Miracle of Magnesium. "The cheap fertilizers being used don't replace all the necessary minerals. So the soil becomes dead and empty, and foods lose their nutritional value."

Mineral deficiencies compromise function and boost disease risk; they also lead to overeating as the body tries to get what it needs. A proper diet and a good multivitamin/multimineral should meet most of your daily requirements, yet some situations call for extra calcium, magnesium, or other nutrients, says Dee Rollins, Ph.D., R.D., of the Baylor Regional Medical Center in Grapevine, Texas. To unearth more info, turn to our chart on 13 essential minerals.