How to Get More Minerals from Your Diet

When it comes to essential nutrients, there are two main categories: micro and macro. The macronutrients, aka “macros” in the fitness world, are fat, protein and carbohydrates. Meanwhile, micronutrients include vitamins and minerals that our bodies cannot produce and therefore must obtain from diet and, when appropriate, supplementation. 

Back in the day, our ancestors used to grow, harvest, hunt, and gather foods that were naturally rich in minerals so they never even had to consider how to build a nutritionally balanced plate. Yet after centuries of industrial agriculture, our soils are depleted which translates to less nutrient-dense crops. That, in conjunction with the advent of processed foods, requires us to be extra intentional about getting adequate minerals from our diets.

Don’t worry, it’s not as hard as it sounds! We put together a handy list of mineral-rich foods and compiled our top tips on how to add in more daily minerals. And if you’re looking for a product that delivers a hefty dose of minerals without any of the effort, check out Mineral Boost. 

Major Minerals & Where to Find Them:

• Calcium: yogurt, cheese, milk, salmon, leafy greens
• Chloride: salt
• Magnesium: spinach, broccoli, legumes, pumpkin seeds, whole-wheat
• Potassium: meat, milk, fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes
• Sodium: salt, soy sauce, vegetables

Trace Minerals & Where to Find Them:

• Chromium: meat, poultry, fish, nuts, cheese
• Copper: beef liver, shellfish, nuts, seeds, whole-grains, beans, prunes
• Fluoride: fish, tea
• Iodine: iodized salt, seafood
• Iron: red meat, poultry, eggs, fruits, green vegetables, fortified bread
• Manganese: nuts, legumes, whole grains, tea
• Selenium: Organ meats, seafood, brazil nuts, walnuts
• Zinc: meat, shellfish (oysters!), legumes, whole grains

Our Top Tips for Getting More Minerals:

1. Embrace diversity. Let’s start with the obvious answer here– eat a wide variety of foods every meal, every day. We like to say try to aim for 30 different fruits and vegetables per week, but you can totally up the ante on that if you want. Pro tip: if you have access to local farmers markets or asian markets, wander the produce section for your weekly shop. They usually have heirloom varieties and generally way more options than your average grocery store. 

1. Lean on ancestral foods. Although we live in a culture that tends to consider things like organ meats and raw foods pretty revolting, they’re some of the very best sources of minerals! Historically, our ancestors embraced nose-to-tail eating, which essentially means that they didn’t let any part of the animal go to waste. This looked like eating organs, bone-on cuts of meat, and consuming the skin and cartilage. Not only are these foods rich in amino acids, they’re also incredibly high in heme iron, copper, selenium, zinc, and magnesium. But if you’re grossed out by the metallic taste of organ meats, you’re not alone. One way to get around this is by hiding beef liver or heart in spiced-up dishes like meatballs or spaghetti sauce. Alternatively, you can buy ancestral blends of ground meats that contain organ meats OR you can simply take them in supplement form.
2. Eat more sea plants and animals. Think about it, sea water is LOADED with minerals, so anything that lives in it will also contain a good amount of minerals, too. Kelp and seaweed are particularly high in iodine, potassium, calcium and sodium while fish and shellfish have lots of iron, zinc, magnesium, and phosphorus. In fact, oysters have more zinc than any other food on the planet, so eating a single raw oyster nearly gets you to your RDA (recommended dietary allowance)!

1. Cook with a high quality mineral salt. While most salt you buy on the shelves is either iodized table salt or purely sodium chloride, mineral salts include a slew of both major and trace minerals. So what’s mineral salt? Himalayan pink salt, sea salt (Celtic, fleur de sel, etc), black lava salt, red alaea salt all fall into this category. Simply swapping out your table salt for mineral salt is an easy way to add some serious mineral content to your meals without even thinking about it. 
2. Take electrolytes. Most electrolyte powders and drops feature at least three essential minerals – potassium, sodium and magnesium. But nowadays, you can find products that are 3x that! Similar to the mineral salt tip, this hack is great for those of us that don’t want a huge lift when it comes to upping our mineral intake. You just add the electrolyte formula of your choice to your water and you’re good to go. 
3. Incorporate nutritive herbs. Deep green wild plants like nettle, alfalfa, red clover and horsetail are packed with minerals including magnesium, silica, calcium and potassium in much higher doses than cultivated leafy greens. Our plant-based mineral tincture, Mineral Boost, bottles up all of these nutritive herbs and more to fill in any nutritional gaps in your diet.