Human Nutrition 3(3+0)

Lesson 33 : Minerals

Functions

Minerals have three general functions in the body.

• Minerals maintain electroneutrality across cell membranes and help to maintain water balance.
• Minerals are important to the structural integrity of the skeletal system and components in some proteins. Calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and fluoride are important to bone and teeth. Zinc provides structural integrity to proteins, which is important for DNA transcription.
• Minerals act as cofactors to many enzymes and participate as electron carriers in several reactions.