Dietary Minerals are the chemical elements required by living organisms, other than the four elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen present in common organic molecules. The term "mineral" is archaic, since the intent of the definition is to describe chemical elements, not chemical compounds or actual minerals.
Examples:
§ Calcium
§ Magnesium
§ Potassium
§ Sodium
§ Zinc
§ Iodine
Dietitians may recommend that dietary elements are best supplied by ingesting specific foods rich with the chemical element(s) of interest. The elements may be naturally present in the food (e.g., calcium in dairy milk) or added to the food (e.g., orange juice fortified with calcium, salt fortified with iodine, iodized salt).
Dietary supplements can provide several different chemical elements, a combination of vitamins and chemical elements, or a single element, such as calcium or magnesium.
The dietary focus on chemical elements derives from an interest in supporting the biochemical reactions of metabolism with the required elemental components. Appropriate intake levels of certain chemical elements are thus required to maintain optimal health.
A healthful, balanced diet can meet all the body's chemical element requirements, although supplements can be used when some requirements (especially calcium, which is found mainly in dairy products) are not adequately met by the diet.