Minerals

Dietary minerals are the chemical elements required by living organisms, other than the four elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen that are present in common organic molecules. The term "mineral" is archaic, since the intent is to describe simply the less common elements in the diet: heavier than the four just mentioned; including several metals; and often occurring as ions in the body. Some dietitians recommend that these be supplied from foods in which they occur naturally, or at least as complex compounds, or sometimes even from natural inorganic sources (such as calcium carbonate from ground oyster shells). On the other hand, minerals are often artificially added to the diet as supplements, the most famous being iodine in iodized salt.