Elemental my dear Watson

Thursday 28th January 2010 2:20pm

bowl of food Trace elements are something that many people don't think about too much. Most people have heard about things like iodine and chromium but often associate one with a skin antiseptic and the other with the shiny bits on cars and taps!

Well that’s true but there are much more important uses of most trace elements that are much closer to home. Although they are only present in trace amounts (hence their name) in the body they really do punch above their weight when it comes to helping control important body systems.

Often they work closely with much more complex chemicals and structures with the body’s cells to bring about significant biological changes. Take iodine for example. It is incorporated into every molecule of thyroid hormone that circulates within your body so without it the hormone can’t function resulting in sluggish metabolism which can manifest as chronic tiredness, poor exercise tolerance and weight gain.

Likewise chromium plays a number of important roles in the body including working synergistically with insulin, the hormone which controls blood glucose levels within the body.

The list of trace elements is quite long and includes things like manganese, chromium, selenium, iodine, cobalt and molybdenum all of which are necessary for normal function but the problem is that in Australia these elements are quite scarce in the environment.

Australia’s soils are quite impoverished because of the age of our continent and the fact that a lot of our food is grown on marginal farming land. We are able to grow food in these areas because of the use of irrigation and fertiliser but often the trace elements are left out of the picture so they don’t make it into the food that we eat.

For most Australians the easiest way to make sure that you get an adequate supply of these vital elements is to take a good supplement. Often though iodine is not included so read the label and if it isn’t there then add Herb Valley’s Kelp tablets to your list.

This information is not intended as a substitute for qualified medical advice. Please consult a properly qualified health care practitioner.