Source Of Mineral Matter In The Food

The mineral matter received into the body comes either from the solid food or dietetic fluids. With the exception of sodium chlorid (common salt) it is not usually added to the diet. Such additions, however, are often prescribed as medicine in states of ill health. Thus phosphates and hypophosphites of lime, sodium and potassium are used largely in rickets and scrofula. Iron is given for impoverished blood. It is better to give them in the form of food as far as possible, and care should be taken to see that the food is rich in the mineral elements needed even if they are at the same time being given in inorganic form, for the body can use food salts in many instances to much greater advantage.

Animal food in general contains the same mineral constituents that are found in corresponding human tissues.

Cow's milk is rich in calcium and phosphorus in organic forms, and contains small amounts of sodium, potassium, magnesium, iron and chlorin.

Eggs contain iron and phosphorus in their most assimilable forms, especially in the yolks.

Meats are lacking in calcium, and while red meats are comparatively rich in iron, it is not in as available form as in eggs.

Since the animals used by us as food obtain their mineral matter from plants, the richest and most varied supply is commonly found in the vegetable kingdom. Calcium is abundant, especially in such vegetables as beans and peas, fresh or dried, in other green vegetables, in fruits and the outer parts of grains. There is little in polished rice or fine flour.

Vegetable foods are rich in potassium, which usually occurs in the form of potassium phosphates. Spinach is richer in iron than almost any other plant food; whole wheat, oatmeal, peas and beans, raisins and prunes are also valuable sources of organic iron.

Vegetable Acids And Their Salts

Some authorities consider these substances under the head of mineral matter, although they have an organic origin and do not pre-exist in the soil. They comprise the acids of juicy fruits such as the citric acid of the citrus group, the malic acid of apples, pears, etc., and the tartaric acid of grapes. They exist partly in a state of combination with sodium and potassium. Prom a dietetic standpoint they may be placed in the same category as the carbonic acid gas and alkaline carbonates of the diet, because in the body they quickly become changed to carbonates, and assist in the maintenance of the proper reaction of the blood. Various diseases are believed to be due to an excess of acid in the diet, or what is the same thing, to a diminution of alkali. There is no doubt that substances containing these bodies and their compounds form a very useful and agreeable addition to dietaries.

Importance Of A Proper Supply Of Mineral Matter

It was formerly thought that since mineral matter is universally present in food and drink, an individual need pay little attention to this phase of the feeding problem. Before the paths of elimination of ash constituents had been studied with any care, it was assumed that many such compounds were excreted in the feces without having ever been absorbed. Since more light has been thrown on the fact that the intestines form the regular path of excretion of certain mineral matter, and on the chemical nature of the regulation of body processes, there has been greater realization of the fact that unless a diet is chosen from a wide range of food materials, there is danger of some of these constituents being supplied in too small quantities or not at all. This is especially true in. the case of artificially-fed infants and of growing children, whose demand for building material is large, but it is not negligible even in adults, especially for the proper control of the body processes. If care is taken to provide iron, phosphorus and calcium in organic forms, there is little danger of inadequate supply of the inorganic salts, since these are present in the milk, eggs, green vegetables and fruits which best supply the elements mentioned above.