Vitamins and minerals are essential nutrients that help the various functions in the body. Vitamins are well known. Why? It is because vitamins are organic, so they are easily absorbed and utilized in the body. Most of the time, vitamins are not stored in the body, so they need to be consumed constantly, and severe symptoms such as scurvy and rickets can be easily caused by vitamin deficiency. Vitamin B12 is mainly present in animal foods, which can cause defects in vegetarians. Vitamin deficiency symptoms occur faster than mineral deficiency, and its therapeutic effect is also dramatic, so vitamins have become much more famous than minerals.

Utilizing Minerals
Minerals are a generic term for elements other than oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen, and they play an essential role as a cofactor for enzymes to function normally. Minerals are relatively more difficult to absorb than vitamins, so using them as nutritional supplements has many restrictions. So how can we make minerals absorb well and keep them healthy? That can be done through ionization. Ionization is a state that can dissolve in water. As long as minerals are dissolved in water, they can be easily absorbed through the small intestine and reach all parts of the body through blood, helping with various physiological functions.
However, the minerals we are going to ingest are bound to proteins in food. To extract them, we first need to break down proteins with gastric acid and enzymes. Unfortunately, some have less gastric acid and digestive enzymes, and sensitive people have lower gastric acid secretion because the sympathetic nerves themselves are tense. In particular, people infected with H. pylori need to be eradicated due to low gastric acid secretion.
To absorb minerals easily, a biochemical method called chelation is used. Chelation means crab claws in Greek, meaning that organic acids and amino acids hold a specific element as if it were sandwiched between crab claws. Two or more atoms combine to form minerals, metal ions. These minerals are protected from various digestive enzymes and intestinal environments, reach the intestine in a more stable state, and can be absorbed without competition with certain minerals. This is because minerals, which should have been entered through ion channels, are easily absorbed through specific amino acid receptors. In addition, chelation prevents the stimulation of minerals to the gastrointestinal tract and relieves the burden on the liver.
Imagine the next time you sprinkle lemon on oysters, you’re not just adding flavor, you’re also making the zinc in them more easily absorbable. This is because of the citric acid in lemons, a natural chelating agent. Similarly, the acetic acid in vinegar and lactic acid in fermented foods like yogurt also act as natural chelating agents, making mineral absorption a natural and enjoyable process.
These days, nutritional supplements are well available, so you can eat them with products like magnesium glycinate or zinc bisglycinate. But when do we memorize all of those things? The best way is to build an environment in the intestine that is easy to absorb minerals by eating fruits and vegetables that contain a lot of dietary fiber. The intestinal bacteria use dietary fiber to make several short-chain fatty acids, and these fatty acids automatically chelate minerals, which can increase the absorption rate.

Properties of minerals
Minerals react similarly because they have similar properties due to their chemical characteristics. For example, consuming potassium in case of an excessive salt intake makes it possible for the salt to escape from the body. In the event of a nuclear accident, a lot of potassium iodide is consumed to protect the thyroid gland. It is taken in anticipation of the effect of preventing the entry of cesium. This radioactive substance is a homologous element, into the body. However, this characteristic implies that consuming a lot of certain minerals can release other homologous minerals, leading to a mineral imbalance. Because magnesium and calcium are homologous elements, they interact with each other in the body and regulate their function. Consuming these minerals in animal bones and coral is effective, such as increasing absorption and physical balance. Of course, for people who are exhausted from magnesium due to taking certain drugs, such as chronic fatigue, it is recommended to increase the level by eating magnesium alone.

Magnesium
Speaking of magnesium, let’s learn about magnesium. Mitochondria in cells need magnesium to do their job and generate energy. Magnesium is consumed too easily for its usefulness and escapes from the body. Magnesium, which dissolves in water much more easily than calcium, escapes from sweat and urine, and sometimes comes into contact with chlorine in tap water to be discharged as magnesium chloride.
Magnesium regulates immunity, helps muscle contraction, regulates blood pressure and blood flow, and electrophysiological functions of cells including the heart. However, we should not trust only the magnesium content of the products or foods we consume because these magnesium are not easily absorbed by the body. For magnesium absorption, choosing the liquid type rather than the solid type is recommended, and choosing the chelated product is recommended. People with poor intestines may experience discomfort, such as not being able to absorb magnesium and having diarrhea. In this case, taking it with lactic acid bacteria or various enzymes that aid digestion is recommended.

Calcium
Most of the minerals found in our bodies are calcium, which is magnesium’s friend. However, a small amount of calcium present in the blood plays a very important role, and it is an essential nutrient that performs a variety of tasks, such as muscle contraction, osmotic pressure control in the body, blood clotting control, blood pressure control, cell DNA and cell division. Calcium is extracted from bones and used when calcium is insufficient because the concentration of calcium present in the blood must be constant at all times. Calcium deficiency is accompanied by a variety of symptoms, including osteoporosis, arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, and arrhythmia. Calcium intake is fundamentally important to suppress this calcium deficiency, but taking magnesium together, which regulates that concentration, is essential. Magnesium plays a crucial role in regulating calcium, providing a sense of reassurance and understanding to the audience.
However, if calcium is consumed alone in a high content, it can be rather problematic. The body needs magnesium, which can interfere with its absorption and cause fatal kidney problems. Some studies have reported that abnormally high blood calcium levels increase the risk of heart arrhythmia or seizures. People’s dosage has recently increased due to the concentration of calcium. Still, magnesium intake has remained in place, causing various problems. As mentioned earlier, it is important to balance magnesium and calcium, so it is difficult to take calcium alone.

Zinc
Finally, zinc is also an essential mineral. Zinc is a very popular mineral deeply involved in over 300 enzymes in our body. We need to taste because it is a mineral necessary to produce taste cells in the tongue. In fact, zinc was noted because people with taste disorders advanced treatment with it. Zinc aids in the synthesis and secretion of insulin in the pancreas and responds to blood sugar abnormalities. It is also involved in alcohol decomposition, helping the liver divide and produce cells.
Our body contains about 2 grams of zinc, which is mostly responsible for cell division, so it is contained in the reproductive organs and hair that are actively involved in cell division. Zinc is a protein called the zinc finger essential for DNA replication. Zinc is also essential because male hormones and sperm production are prominent in the prostate and testicles of adult men. Zinc is also not easily absorbed, so it must be combined with citric acid, acetic acid, and vitamin C.
Sometimes, zinc inhibits the function of copper in poultry. Copper is a mineral that acts when dopamine in our brain is converted to noradrenaline, and it is also necessary for new blood vessels. Copper also promotes the binding of iron and hemoglobin in the bone marrow to prevent anemia. This is an enzyme especially needed for children and pregnant women. Noradrenaline can cause depression if there is a lot of copper. Zinc antagonizes iron or copper when absorbed by the intestine, lowering its absorption rate. However, it is good to be careful because too much zinc can sometimes deplete the body’s copper.

Conclusions
Studying vitamins and ABCDEK are difficult, but it is difficult to memorize minerals. However, suppose minerals that help various functions are lacking even in trace amounts in the body. In that case, it is easy to develop difficult symptoms in many ways. Furthermore, minerals are difficult to ingest and absorb, and sometimes digestive disorders, deficiencies, and hyperplasia occur. However, knowing about these minerals’ deficiencies, eating and managing nutrients can make our bodies healthier. Take a blood test at a nearby hospital. We may find some minerals that are lacking or hyperplastic in our bodies. That may have been the cause of recent fatigue and various uncomfortable symptoms.