DiNicolantonio James - The Mineral Fix: How to Optimize Your Mineral Intake for Energy, Longevity, Immunity, Sleep and More

You might have heard the term micro nutrients before. These are the smaller nutrients (hence the term micro) that are found in the foods that you eat. Examples of micronutrients are vitamins and minerals. Many of them, but not all of them, are considered essential for maintaining healthy physiological functioning of the body and thus need to be consumed from the diet. For example, micronutrient deficiencies during pregnancy, such as a lack of folic acid, iodine, zinc or iron can lead to birth defects or preterm birth. . Thus, getting appropriate amounts of micronutrients can prevent severe acute consequences or prevent the decline in your health. To put this differently, your nutrition directly determines how well you age.

When we think of nutrition, many debate about what percentage of calories should come from macro nutrients (carbs, fats and protein). Those following a ketogenic diet tend to eat a higher fat, moderate protein, lower carbohydrate diet, while a more plant-based diet is higher in carbs, moderate in protein, and lower in fat. Then there are the high protein advocates who believe in consuming more protein because they tend to be more active and have more muscle. Regardless of which macronutrient camp you fall under all of us need to consume micronutrients.

Dont let the term micro fool you. Micronutrients do not have a micro effect on your health. In fact, when it comes to your health micro- nutrients have macro- effects on your healthspan and lifespan. This is because micronutrients are what your body uses to perform nearly all of its tasks such as regulating your heartbeat, allowing your body to cool off when its too hot, synthesizing energy (ATP), DNA and protein. If you can think of a physiological function in the body, there is a good chance that micronutrients are involved. Many enzyme systems in the human body require micronutrients as cofactors .

Essential macronutrients include protein and fat, whereas the body can synthesize glucose making dietary carbohydrates technically non-essential . However, this book focuses on micronutrients, specifically minerals. Just like with fats and protein, there are essential minerals that must be consumed otherwise we perish. Another example of essential micronutrients are vitamins. There are minerals that are considered non-essential and yet if we are not obtaining enough of them in the diet this can lead to worse health outcomes. Thus, both essential and non-essential minerals are extremely important for health and longevity.