Maximize your health with minerals

In Dave Asprey’s new book Smarter Not Harder, he emphasizes the importance of minerals.

“A lack of raw materials is one of the biggest blockers of your energy, longevity, and performance.” — Smarter Not Harder, Pg. 33

Minerals contribute to the structure of your body and are required for proper enzyme function and energy transfer. If you are deficient in minerals, you will have low energy and probably other issues with overall performance.

There are three categories of minerals:

1. Macrominerals — Magnesium, calcium, sodium, potassium, chloride, phosphorus, and sulfur.
2. Trace minerals — Iron, copper, iodine, zinc, cobalt, manganese, and selenium
3. Ultratrace minerals — Found in tiny quantities in the Earth’s crust

You might think you get all the minerals you need from your diet. You eat minimally processed, organic, whole foods. You pay extra to get the good stuff. Maybe drop an entire check at Whole Foods. Did you know some “healthy” foods have antinutrients that bind to minerals and make them unusable for your body?

One example is phytic acid, a natural plant chemical and potent antinutrient. Phytic acid binds with minerals, making them unusable for your body. Humans don’t make meaningful amounts of the enzyme that cancels out phytic acid. Plants don’t want you to eat their babies, so seeds in all forms tend to be high in phytic acid. Our ancestors knew about this and used…