Over the past few weeks we’ve been discussing the fat soluble and water soluble vitamins. This week, we’re going to shift gears and start discussing minerals.
To recap let’s review the difference between a vitamin and mineral. A vitamin is any compound that contains carbon and therefore is organic. There are two classes of vitamins…fat soluble A, D, E and K or water soluble, B and C.
Minerals on the other hand do not contain carbon and are what we call inorganic. There are macro- minerals and micro-minerals. Macro-minerals are calcium, chloride, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and sodium. Micro-minerals are: chromium, iron, copper, zinc, iodine, manganese, molybdenum, selenium and iron.
There are many factors that can decrease the absorption of vitamins and minerals which include: alcohol, caffeine, antibiotics, stress, corticosteroids, aspirin, diuretics, oral contraceptives, sugar and tobacco. Therefore if your lifestyle includes any of these factors and you are not well there could be a good chance that you are not absorbing your essential nutrients. You will learn over the next few weeks the critical affect that each of the vitamins and mineral have over the health of your body.
This week we will be discussing Copper
Copper is found throughout the body, particularly in the brain, liver and muscles. Copper is used to help treat arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, fatigue, anemia and allergies.
What it Does: Copper performs many functions throughout the body we will be listing just a few examples
- Needed to form hemoglobin which carries oxygen throughout the body
- Helps with respiration
- Helps to form collagen within the bones
- Needed to convert the inactive thyroid hormone to the active form
- Helps with inflammation by regulating histamine levels
- Lowers cholesterol
- Anti-diabetic
- Needed to get iron out of the liver
Absorbing and Utilizing Copper:
- An adequate intake of protein and fresh veggies is needed to help copper be absorbed in the body.
- Access manganese and zinc will interfere with the absorption of copper
Found In: beets, pumpkin, flax seeds, green peas, raspberries, mangos, sweet potato, almonds
It’s important to mention that copper can produce toxicity in high doses. Therefore, it is best not to supplement copper unless you know for sure that you have low levels based upon lab testing.
Another important point to state is that high fructose corn syrup which is found in many products that have a shelf life interferes with the absorption of copper. Therefore, make sure to read your labels!
Resource: The Power of Nutrient Dense Food by Pattie Weller, C.C.N

a time discussing what it is, what it does and factors that affect absorption. We will also be giving you a general list of food items that contain the vitamin or mineral that we will be discussing for that week.
great to be able to have choices when one needs to eliminate certain foods from ones diet for health reasons. However, just because something says that it’s organic or gluten free does not make it healthy, don’t be suckered in to these “healthy labels”.
thought to be in women’s heads. The truth of the matter is, is that PMS is a real thing with real experiences. There are many reasons why women could be suffering from PMS…a poor diet, lack of exercise, mineral and/or vitamin deficiencies, day to day stressors as well as emotional stress. Would you believe me if I told you that pain in any form in the body could be there for a reason, as if it’s trying to tell us something about ourselves…what we need to change, take charge of or heal? This blog entry is not about the emotional connection to PMS. However, if you would like to read more about emotional healing please read our blog entry Healing Emotional Pain. Instead within this blog entry we will be discussing some basic nutritional tips that will help you to start taking control of your PMS and begin reversing the symptoms.
The majority of people tend to go to the grocery store without a planned out menu for the week as well as many times walk into the grocery store hungry. Walking into a grocery store hungry is not safe at all. Why? Because EVERYTHING starts to look good and before you know it you have walked out of the store buying so many items that you don’t need nor are healthy for you.


