Minerals From Food: Is It Enough?
It's one of the questions I hear most often.
And I wish it were that easy.
After many years and hundreds of mineral tests in my clinic, I've come to see minerals as one of the most insightful and most overlooked parts of the health picture. Here's why I recommend a mineral test to almost every client I work with.
Why I Test Rather Than Guess
Many symptoms overlap. Tiredness, poor sleep, anxiety, muscle twitches and low mood can each point to several different deficiencies, or even to an excess.
Clinical experience helps me narrow things down. Still, no practitioner can cover everything by observation alone.
The more information we have, the more accurate the treatment plan can be. I don't want to cut corners and assume. I want the data to speak for itself.
At the same time, the body is far more complex than anything we can measure. That's exactly why I like to take as many measurements as possible, so we don't miss anything important.
What Mineral Testing Can Show
A mineral test gives me a window into how someone's body is actually working – for example: how well they're absorbing from their gut, how they create energy, and how they handle stress. It can also give me clues about how their liver, thyroid or mitochondria are functioning.
I use two different tests, because each shows a different side of the picture.
Oligoscan gives an indication of the minerals and heavy metals the body is holding on to in the tissues. I treat it as useful information rather than a diagnosis, one more piece alongside symptoms, history and blood tests.
One pattern I see often, is unusually low or high phosphate. In my experience this tends to show up in people who are very tired, don't detoxify well, and whose cells aren't producing energy efficiently. Their bodies are managing the basics, but there's little left over for everything else a healthy body needs to do, including clearing away the by-products that come with making energy.
Metabolic syndrome, once known as Syndrome X, also tends to show up clearly. Chromium, which supports healthy blood sugar balance, is very often extremely low in these individuals.
Hair tissue mineral analysis (HTMA) shows what the body is excreting. It's particularly helpful for seeing:
stress patterns, through the balance of sodium and potassium
thyroid activity, through the balance of calcium and potassium
metabolic rate, through calcium and phosphorus, where calcium acts like the brake and phosphorus like the accelerator for energy production
whether the body is actually clearing heavy metals
what someone's mineral reserves look like, since some people are far more depleted than they realise
Minerals Work as a Team
One of the things I find most fascinating is how one mineral influences another.
If selenium is low, for example, the body may struggle to clear heavy metals such as mercury and cadmium, so they can gradually build up. Zinc, copper and iron also balance each other, so pushing one too high can drive the other down.
This is why balance matters so much more than simply taking more of something.
What I've Seen in Clinic
A school-aged child came to me with involuntary movements that medication wasn't fully settling. Her mineral test showed very high copper, which in excess can drive oxidative stress and affect the nervous system. After we addressed it, alongside her medical care, her symptoms eased. It was a huge relief for her and her family, as she was able to go back to happy, playful and carefree.
Another client came in with deep fatigue, slow metabolism and was low across many minerals. As we gradually replenished them, their energy began to return.
Every body is different, and results vary from person to person, but exploring minerals properly can make such a difference in treatment outcomes.
So, Can't I Just Get It From Food?
Food is always the foundation. But these days it's often not enough on its own, for a few reasons.
Research suggests our soils have become more depleted over time, so our food carries less nutrients than it once did. At the same time, modern life asks more of our bodies than ever, and our nutritional needs rise with those demands.
We're also exposed to more chemicals and toxins, and these can accumulate over many years. Research even shows some can pass from mother to baby during pregnancy.
So I believe in being smart about it. In my experience the right supplements, at the right time and at the right dose, can be incredibly supportive. They help keep us out of deficit and support healthy ageing and healthy living. Prevention is always easier, and improvements are possible at any stage of health.
Why Self-Prescribing Can Backfire
The most common example I see is, "I'm tired, so I must be low in iron."
Too much iron can cause very similar symptoms to too little. Excess iron can place a real burden on the liver and increase oxidative stress, compounding the problem. Hereditary haemochromatosis, where the body stores too much iron, is relatively common in Australians of northern European heritage, which is one more reason to test first.
Zinc can also build up over time and push copper out of balance.
The body is usually very good at keeping minerals in balance when it's well fuelled. But ongoing stress, poor sleep and accumulating metabolic strain can tip it into a kind of bottleneck, where energy production and detoxification both slow down. That's when the right support, in the right amounts, helps get things back on track.
Medications That Quietly Deplete Nutrients
As a pharmacist, I see this often. Some of the most common are:
acid-reducing medications (PPIs), which can lower magnesium, zinc, iron, calcium and vitamin B12
metformin, which commonly lowers vitamin B12
the contraceptive pill, which can lower magnesium, zinc and B vitamins, and tends to raise copper
diuretics, which can lower potassium, magnesium and zinc
long-term corticosteroids, which can affect calcium and potassium
These medications are often important and necessary. If you take any of them long term, it's simply worth a conversation with your doctor, pharmacist or practitioner about your mineral status.
Three First Steps
If you're feeling depleted and wondering where to begin, here's where I'd start:
See an integrative practitioner who can look at the whole picture.
Get the data: comprehensive blood work and a mineral test.
Make one lifestyle change you already know you need. Just one is enough to begin.
When to See Your GP
Please see your doctor promptly if you notice shortness of breath, chest pain, a racing or irregular heartbeat, fainting, very heavy bleeding, unexplained weight loss, or symptoms that are getting worse. An integrative approach works best alongside good medical care.
Rebuilding From the Ground Up
Minerals are a quiet foundation. When they're brought back into balance, the body often has more to work with, for energy, sleep, mood and resilience.
If you'd like to understand what's happening beneath the surface, I'd love to help. You're welcome to book a free discovery call, and we can explore together whether mineral testing is right for you.
Rosemary Bui
Functional Medicine Holistic Health Strategist