Sorgete Tesorino Europa Vertriebs GmbH
Mineral Salts
What are they and how do they occur in water?
We know the fundamental role mineral salts play in the well-being of our bodies and how important it is to replenish them after physical activity, especially in the warmer months.
But what are mineral salts?
In reality they are two questions deliver: What is a salt and what is a mineral?
A salt
is an electrically neutral connection and is generally solid. To greatly simplify the underlying chemical theory, salts are neutral because they are made up of negatively charged elements (called anions) and positively charged elements (called cations). The sum of the charges on these elements equals zero (neutrality). Let's take the salt as an example, sodium chloride or table salt: It consists of the chloride anion with a negative charge and the sodium cation with a positive charge, -1+1=0. This applies in a more or less complex way to all salts.
Both
Minerals
, referred to in the field of nutrition, are obviously not stones and rocks studied in mineralogy, but rather some of the elements found in the system of chemical elements (the periodic table):
Ca: Calcium, Na: Sodium, Mg: Magnesium, K: Potassium, P: Phosphorus, S: Sulfur, Cl: Chlorine, Fe: Iron, these are some of the most important ones with the corresponding chemical symbol.
These elements, alone or in combination with other elements such as oxygen (O) and hydrogen (H), can form anions (negative charges) or cations (positive charges): by combining so that the overall charge is zero, they form salts. mineral salts.
Mineral salts are essential components of both the structure and function of plant and animal life. In humans, they make up about 6-7% of body weight and are divided into macroelements (calcium, sodium, magnesium, potassium, sulfur, chlorine, oxygen, hydrogen) and trace elements (iron (Fe), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) , iodine (I), selenium (Sn), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), fluorine (F)). Macroelements are the most common elements that we need to replenish the most, while microelements we only need in small amounts, sometimes on the order of micrograms per day.
Mineral water, in varying quantities depending on the type and solid residue, contains a large part of the macroelements dissolved in it in the form of anions or cations, which are indicated on the label with their chemical symbol, their electrical charge and the amount present in mg/liter: Na+ (Sodium), K+ (Potassium), Cl- (Chloride), Ca++ (Calcium), Mg++ (Magnesium), HCO3- - (Bicarbonate) SO4- - (Sulfate) are the ones generally present. The form in which macroelements occur in water is the form in which they are most easily absorbed by the body.
Electrolytes
Essential for the organism
Strengthening
Oxygen supply to the body cells
Need for mineral salts
Mineral salts are essential for the organism; They represent 4% of the body mass and, together with other nutrients, ensure the functioning of the organism and contribute to the strengthening of certain structures as well as the oxygen supply to the body's cells.
