There’s a reason why eating a balanced, varied diet is one of the first pieces of advice you’ll come across if you’re looking to embrace a healthy lifestyle: besides satisfying our hunger cues and providing our gut microbiome with the fibre it needs to thrive, eating plenty of different foods gives you the chance to soak up all the nutrients your body needs to survive.

Most of us know all about the importance of getting enough macronutrients, of which protein, fats and carbohydrates are the three major ones. But far fewer are familiar with the myriad of micronutrients our body needs to function at its best.

This is particularly true in the case of minerals; while we might understand the roles of vitamin C in supporting immunity or vitamin D in maintaining bone health, not many of us could name all the essential minerals we need, unless we’re talking about supplementing magnesium for sleep. 

So, to give you a crash course in minerals and their importance, we spoke to Aimee O’Keeffe, performance nutritionist and Vitamin Well ambassador.  

Vitamins and minerals are both essential nutrients the body needs to function, but they differ in several ways. The primary difference lies in their chemical composition: while vitamins are complex organic compounds (meaning they are made up of one or more carbon atoms combined with other elements), minerals are simpler and inorganic (meaning they aren’t derived from or consisting of living matter).

“A mineral is a naturally occurring inorganic element or chemical compound that the human body requires in relatively small amounts to support various physiological functions and maintain overall health,” O’Keeffe explains.

“Minerals play essential roles in bodily processes, including bone health, muscle function, nerve transmission, fluid balance, energy metabolism and immune function.”

This second point is another example of the difference between minerals and vitamins. While minerals serve structural roles within tissues and fluids, vitamins instead act as coenzymes or cofactors, meaning they help the enzymes within the body to function. 

According to the NHS, the key minerals that make up a healthy diet include:

• Calcium
• Iron
• Iodine
• Chromium
• Copper
• Magnesium
• Manganese
• Molybdenum
• Phosphorus
• Potassium
• Selenium
• Sodium
• Chloride
• Zinc

The human body needs more of some minerals than others, so they’re often sorted into two groups: major minerals and trace minerals.

The major minerals that are used and stored in larger quantities include calcium (which helps to keep bones and teeth healthy), magnesium (which helps to turn the food we eat into energy) and iron (which is important for making red blood cells).

Overall, it should be possible to get all the minerals you need from your diet alone, although there are a handful of exceptions, O’Keeffe adds. The amount of iodine in foods such as prunes and potatoes depends on the soil quality where they are grown, as does selenium. 

In most cases, it’s better to get your mineral intake from food sources alone. “Foods provide a complex mixture of vitamins, minerals, fibre and other beneficial compounds,” O’Keeffe explains. “These nutrients often work synergistically, enhancing each other’s absorption and effectiveness when consumed in whole foods. Supplements lack this natural synergy.”

Eating whole foods, as opposed to supplements, also provides you with phytonutrients – chemicals found within plants that often possess antioxidant properties. The minerals found within food also tend to be more bioavailable (easier for the body to absorb) than pure supplements. And that’s not forgetting the fact that you gain enjoyment and satisfaction from eating them.

There are, however, some cases when supplements are required. When your iron is low, supplements are necessary, and people on a vegan diet can also require calcium supplementation. 

Want to make sure you’re consuming plenty of minerals? O’Keeffe recommends adding some of the following foods to your diet to ensure you’ve got the main minerals covered.

• Calcium: dairy products, fortified dairy-free milks and tofu.
• Iron: red meat, poultry, seafood, beans, lentils, fortified cereals and spinach.
• Magnesium: nuts (almonds, cashews), seeds (pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds), leafy greens, whole grains and beans.
• Zinc: red meat, poultry, dairy products, beans, nuts and whole grains
• Sodium: table salt, processed foods, canned soups and some vegetables.
• Potassium: bananas, oranges, potatoes, sweet potatoes, spinach and beans. 

Images: Getty