Minerals are vital for health.

Minerals are needed by the body to perform hundreds of necessary functions - from keeping our bones, muscles, heart and brain healthy, to making vital enzymes and hormones. Your body does not manufacture its own minerals, so we rely on our diet and supplementation.

Minerals normally come into our food from the soil, or from fresh mineral-rich water. However, modern industrial farming adds only a few minerals back into the soil to grow crops, while the numerous minerals that humans, plants and animals need have become depleted from the soils over the years. The result is mineral-deficient food, animals and people!   This is one reason that regenerative farming practices which return a bounty of minerals to the soil are so important to our health. About 95% of Americans today are deficient in at least one macro-mineral and several trace minerals. 

Macro-minerals

are minerals required by the body in large amounts to use as electrolytes, for the nervous system, for pH balance and for building tissues, enzymes and hormones. The macro-minerals we need include:

Trace minerals

are equally important but these are needed in very small amounts to catalyze many reactions in the body such as production of energy, transport of oxygen in the blood, maintenance of metabolism, and regulation of cell growth and blood sugar levels. Essential trace minerals include:   

Silica ~ Zinc ~ Iodine ~ Iron* ~ Copper ~ Manganese ~ Selenium ~ Boron ~ Chromium

Some foods contain a wide variety of Trace minerals, including those listed above and others.

Note: *Iron is considered in many sources to be a trace mineral but you will sometimes find it listed as a major mineral because the body needs a higher amount of iron than other trace minerals.