Handbook of Nutrition

Table of Contents

  1. Preface

    2. Basics

  2. What is a Calorie?
  3. Measuring Nutritional Requirements

    4. Nutrients

  4. Essential vs Non Essential Nutrients
  5. Water
  6. Carbohydrates
  7. Dietary Fibre
  8. Proteins
  9. Fats
  10. Vitamins
  11. Minerals

    12. Food

  12. Ensuring a Balanced Diet
  13. Raw Food In Your Diet
  14. Zero or Low Sugar Diet
  15. Vegetarianism
  16. What is Junk Food?
  17. The Truth About Supplements
  18. The Truth About Superfoods

    19. Conclusion

  19. What's Next?

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Minerals

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Contents

Minerals are naturally occurring chemical elements that are essentials to the functioning of organisms. Minerals required by the human body, from a nutritional stand point1 can be classified into two:

Here is a table of some minerals and their requirements. The RDA requirements are taken from the ICMR report called Nutrient Requirements for Indians, 20202, while all RNI requirements are taken from WHO recommendations3.

Calcium

RDA
Men 1000 mg
Women 1000 mg
Pregnant Women 1000 mg

Iron

RDA
Men 17 mg
Women 13.2 mg
Pregnant Women 14.5 mg

Zinc

RDA
Men 1000 mg
Women 1000 mg
Pregnant Women 1000 mg

Magnesium

RDA
Men 440 mg
Women 220 mg
Pregnant Women 220 mg
Lactating Women 190 mg

Selenium

RNI
Males 10-18 years 32 μg
19-65 years 34 μg
65+ years 33 μg
Females 10-18 years 26 μg
19-65 years 26 μg
65+ years 25 μg

Iodine

μg/kg/day
Males and females above 13 years 2
Pregnant Women 3.5
Lactating Women 3.5

All minerals can be toxic if present in high quantities. As with every other nutrients, one does not need a weighing scale or a tracking table to formulate one's diet. All required minerals can be procured by eating a balanced diet of the corresponding cuisine with locally available and sourced food.

  1. All organisms are made up on carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen and they constitute an enormous part of the human body by weight. However, they are not considered minerals from a nutritional standpoint. ↩

  2. Nutrient requirements for Indians, 2020. ICMR-NIS. Visit resource. ↩

  3. Vitamin and mineral requirements in human nutrition. 2nd edition. Visit resource. ↩

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Corrections?

We base our writings on science and reasoning, but we could be victims of cognitive biases whilst doing our research. If there are any inaccuracies in our writings, please do let us know.

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