Name: _____________________
Period: ____ Table: _____ Score: _______/26
MINERALS
Define mineral.
Give advice for intake of calcium, sodium, and potassium.
Minerals are inorganic elements your body needs to function. Inorganic means they don’t come from
living things—they come from rocks. The good news is, you don’t have to eat rocks to get them.
You get minerals by: Eating plants that soaked up minerals from their soil.
Eating animals that ate the mineral-rich plants.
Drinking water that has minerals dissolved in it. (Sometimes even breathing its fog.)
Three minerals Americans have been advised to be more careful about are calcium, sodium, and potassium.
CALCIUM: Your body has more calcium than any other mineral. 99% of it is in your teeth and bones, but the other 1% is essential for helping
your heart, nerves and muscles operate. If you don’t eat enough calcium to do these jobs, your body steals some
from your bones. Serious loss leads to a condition called osteoporosis (osteo=bone; porous=with holes).
If osteoporosis occurs, broken bones occur easily, and vertebrae may collapse, leading to hunched posture. Your
Chance of developing osteoporosis increases if you are:
female
thin
not very active
elderly
and if you:
have a family history of osteoporosis
smoke
drink lots of alcohol
drink little milk
Normal
Bone Loss
Youth from 9-18 should have 1300 mg a day of calcium.
That’s about the amount in 4 glasses of milk. This
provides lots of calcium for building for strong, dense
bones. Once you are an adult, you lose the ability to
strengthen your bones, so 3 glasses of milk are
recommended for adults.
On the lines provided at the right, show how you would get
1300 mg of calcium on a typical day. Use the charts at the
back of the green nutrition book, or another source. Dairy
foods will be especially high in calcium. Fish you eat with
bones (such as canned sardines) are also high.
Food
_____ mg Calcium (Ca)
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
Total (must be at least 1300 mg)
_________
_________
_________
_________
_________
_________
_________
_________ (4 points)
Like muscle, bones need exercise to become strong. The best exercise for your bones makes them work against gravity, or against weights.
(Astronauts lose bone mass in space without gravity.) Swimming and bike riding are good exercise for muscles, but not for bones. The water or bike
support your weight, and bones don’t need to. List 4 things you can do that will exercise your bones. These will be activities in which your bones
support your weight, or use resistance against weights.
1.
_________________________
2. ________________________
3. _______________________
4. __________________________
Sodium: Sodium performs many important functions, but Americans get too much of it, causing
health problems. One of these problems is an increase in blood pressure. Blood pressure naturally
tends to increase as we age, and 90% of U.S. adults
eventually will develop high blood pressure, which
can result in heart attacks or stroke. Reducing sodium
intake can reduce the likelihood of high blood pressure
Naturally
and its resulting problems. Reducing sodium intake
occurring
can also reduce the chance of cancer of the stomach.
12%
Salt is about half sodium, so reducing your salt intake
is a good plan. But only 5-10% of the sodium you eat
Salt while comes from salt you put on your food. Most of it
eating 6% comes from salt manufacturers add to processed
foods. So a big way to reduce sodium intake is to cut
Home
down on these processed foods: baked goods (breads &
cooking
baked desserts), cheeses; pastas, processed meats, soups,
5%
condiments (such as ketchup, mustard, pickles, flavoring salts).
Potassium: Increased potassium
intake seems to counteract some
of the effects of too much sodium.
It can help lower your blood
pressure. It also appears to help
reduce the chances of kidney
stones, and to reduce bone loss.
African Americans* and people
with high blood pressure are
especially benefited by increasing
potassium.
Many healthful foods are good sources of
potassium, especially fruits and vegetables.





K
Potassium (K) to the rescue.
Fruits: citrus fruits, cantaloupe, bananas, kiwi,
papayas, prunes, and apricots, dried fruits: dried
apricots, figs, prunes, raisins
Vegetables: tomatoes, lettuce, broccoli, peas,
lima beans, potatoes (especially their skins),
sweet potatoes, and winter squashes
Meats: both red meats and chicken, some fish
(salmon, cod, flounder, and sardines) Soy
products are also good sources of potassium.
Dairy: Milk and yogurt
Nuts
*According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, “African
Americans, however, are more likely than Caucasians to have
high blood pressure and its related kidney problems—even
when their blood pressure is only mildly elevated. In fact, African
Americans are six times more likely than Caucasians to develop
Source::
hypertension-related kidney failure.”
http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/highblood/
Now use your information about minerals
to make some decisions.
1. You want to improve your bone density.
In each pair, check the more helpful choice.
milk ____ OR ____ vitamin water
cake ____ OR ____ ice cream
pizza ____ OR ____ hamburger
tuna, no bones ____ OR ____ sardines, bones
smoking ____ OR ____ no smoking
bike riding ____ OR ____ jogging
2. You want to decrease sodium intake, and
increase the amount of potassium you eat.
In each pair, check the more helpful choice.
fresh veggies ____ OR ____ canned
apple ____ OR ____ banana
Make garlic bread with
pressed garlic ____ OR ____ garlic salt
pretzels ____ OR ____ nuts
ham ____ OR ____ chicken
processed food____ OR ____natural food
3. In the
grocery cart,
draw 3 foods
that will help
you get enough
potassium.
4. Put back
on the store
shelf 3 foods
that are high
in sodium.
(Draw them in)