Ultratrace minerals

The body requires balanced amounts of minerals, meaning that too much is as harmful as too little. Ultratrace minerals are particularly toxic when taken in large quantities. Cadmium, chromium, and nickel, for example, are potent carcinogens, and arsenic is a well-known poison. Yet our bodies need microquantities of these minerals if we are to stay healthy. Eating a well-balanced diet is... 

Many minerals are required in the diet. They are generally divided into the classifications of electrolytes (inorganic ions that are dissolved in the fluid compartments of the body), minerals (required in relatively large quantities), trace minerals (required in smaller quantities), and ultratrace minerals (Table 1.8). 

Nielsen FH (1994) Ultratrace minerals. In Shils ME, Olson JA, and Shike M (eds.) Modem Nutrition in Health and Disease, 8th edn, vol. 1, pp. 269-286. Philadelphia Lea Febiger. (9th edition with updated chapter on ultratrace minerals in progress.)... 

The essential mineral nutrients are classified either as principal elements or as trace and ultratrace elements. The distinction between these groups is the relative amounts ia the dietary requirement (see Table 1). 

The first two processes may be operative at ultratrace concentration levels. The first one is relevant whenever the mineral has a high surface-to-mass ratio, as in the case of colloids. The last two processes are by far the most important in geochemistry and can be appropriately described in thermodynamic terms. 

Minerals The main mineral constituents in milk are calcium and chlorine, magnesium chloride, phosphate, and citrate. Minerals in milk are mainly present as soluble salts or in colloidal form associated with caseins. Their concentrations may vary enormously. Thus, the minerals present in milk can be classified according to their concentration level as major and minor elements, with small quantitative contributions from trace and ultratrace elements. The total content of minerals in mammalian milks should correspond to the growth requirements of each biological species. Accordingly, the mineral total content in cow milk is four times higher than in human milk. 

Source Reprinted with permission from F.H. Nielsen, The Ultratrace Elements, in Trace Minerals in Foods, K.T. Smith, ed., p. 385, 1988, by courtesy of Marcel Dekker, Inc. 

Nielsen, F.H. 1988. The ultratrace elements. In Trace minerals in foods, ed. K.T. Smith. New York Marcel Dekker. 

Thyroid, adrenal, and pituitary hormones are known to influence copper metabolism indirectly, presumably by reducing its biliary excretion, whereas hormones of the gonads, particularly estrogen, increase ceruloplasmin by synthesizing the protein in a manner that is independent of copper concentration in the liver (103), Our own observations on the relationship of hormones and ultratrace-metals metabolism will be mentioned later in this review. SuflBce it to say that aging and its influence on mineral metabolism in general may be mediated through altered hormonal activity. 

Ratios of bulk metals to ultratrace metals have been used by some workers to gain insight into the altered relationship of metal concentration in the aged (US), For example, the ratio of calcium to zinc in both trabecular and cortical bone has been found to be inversely proportional to the age of the subject. In patients with osteoporesis, minerals in general are quantitatively reduced although they remain the same qualitatively, meaning that bone density decreases as the subject advances in age. 

Some of the more recent publications about trace elements, trace minerals, or ultratrace elements or minerals, also described as micronutrients, include Micronutrients in Health and Disease Prevention, edited by Adrianne Bendich and C.E. Butterworth Trace Elements in Nutrition of Children, edited by Ranjit Kumar Chandra and Trace Elements, Micronutrients and Free Radicals, edited by Ivor E. Dreosti. The latter reference raises the important question of the undesirable health effects of the chemical agents called free radicals, and their control or eradication by such vitamins as E, C, and beta-carotene. There is a history of the health effects of trace elements going back to Henry A. Schroeder, who in the early 1970s wrote Trace Elements and Man Some Positive and Negative Aspects and also The Poisons Around Us Toxic Metals in Food, Air, and Water. Even further back there was Karl... 

First, it is interesting to note that a deficiency or excess of one element does not directly induce a particular symptom in cultivated or wild plants. In this respect, it is necessary to examine the macro, trace and ultratrace element transfer from the different polluted and unpolluted soils into the plant. Indicator plants must be easy to identify, grown worldwide, and indicate the mineral transfer to the food chain. On cultivated soils in many parts of the world, these conditions are met by wheat Triticum sativum), rye Secale cereale), and red clover Trifolium pratense sativum) of the field and meadow varieties (TrifoUum pratense spontaneum). The green plants were harvested when the rye was in blossom, the wheat shooting, the field red clover in bud, and the meadow red clover in blossom. 

The magmatic and sedimentary rocks contain highly different amounts of macro, trace and ultratrace elements, which after weathering of the rocks become components of the soil and of the soil waters. During weathering, the elements are released from the primary minerals and usually also fixed by organic matter. Thus, most of the macro, trace and ultratrace element contents are controlled by conditions of soil formation and the initial contents in the parent rocks. 

Anke M, Arnhold W, Muller R and Angelow L (2001a) Nutrients, macro, trace and ultratrace elements in the food chain of mouflons and their mineral status. Second Part Trace Elements. In Nahlik A and Uloth W, eds. Third International Symposium on Mouflon. pp. 243-261, Lover Print, Sopron Hungary. 

Three groups of essential mineral elements can be distinguished (Table 3.1). For convention and historical reasons, the elements are divided into macro, trace, and ultratrace elements. The animals requirement for macro elements is > 100 mg kg of food DM (dry matter), while that for trace and ultratrace... 

Factors which are important for the lowering of human health risks due to mineral deficiency and intoxication are the normative requirements of the macro, trace and ultratrace elements, recommendations for their intake, their apparent absorption and excretion rates, their interactions, tolerance limits for chemicals in food and water, and occupational health standards. 

Nielsen FH (1996) How should dietary guidance be given for mineral elements with beneficial actions or suspected of being essential RDA Workshop New Approaches, Endpoints and Paradigms for RDAs of Mineral Elements. Dietary Guidance for Ultratrace Elements. American Institute of Nutrition, 2377S-2385S. 

Electrolytes Minerals Trace Minerals Ultratrace or Trace Minerals ... 

Table 7. Trace- and ultratrace-analysis of lithium by FOMS . All samples are applied to the emitter by the syringe technique without pretreatment. For one analysis 1 /tl of mineral water and about 3 ftl of the other samples are needed...

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