Copper - a vital element in health. Balancing trace elements.

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Balancing trace elements


	Sources of minerals

		The intake of adequate copper is, on its own, not good enough. Minerals interact in the body, working as a team. The advice of research scientists is to regard copper, iron and zinc as an essential trio - too much of one can hamper the body's ability to absorb or process the other two. Deficiency diseases may then result.

Picture 5. The trio of essential micronutrients are all transition metals and are close to each other in the periodic table.

Sources of minerals

Mineral	Functions in human body	Deficiency/ disease	Common food sources
Iron	oxygen carrier (haem) in haemoglobin electron carrier (in respiration) enzymes cofactor (catalase; peroxidase - breakdown of hydrogen peroxide)	anaemia	liver red meat spinach
Zinc	enzyme cofactor (carbonic anhydrase - carriage of carbon dioxide; carboxypeptidase - protein digestion)		most foods


	Deficiencies

		For example: zinc inhibits copper - too much zinc can inhibit the absorption of copper. This may result in poor copper status in the body, which over time may lead to bone abnormalities, problems with the heart and circulation and impaired immunity. iron needs copper - without adequate copper, iron cannot be converted to its most useful ferric form; copper is also necessary for the transport of iron to and from the tissues.

Picture 6. The Egyptians used the ankh symbol to denote copper in their system of hieroglyphs. It also represented eternal life.


	Summary

		Copper is increasingly being recognised as an essential micronutrient. A growing body of research indicates that, as part of a balanced diet, an adequate intake of copper is vital to ensure a wide range of health benefits.