Handbook of Minerals as Nutritional Supplements PDF

Preface

The Internet, television, and magazines are flooded with nutrition supplement advertisements, with many claims being made for various products. One area with an especially large recent growth spurt is the mineral supplement area. Moreover, a number of nutrition business trade journals are projecting that the mineral supplement market should see sustained growth over the next few years. As claims continue to be made for various mineral supplement products, major questions are arising, such as:

• What research, if any, is behind these claims?
• Do different forms of mineral supplements have different efficacies?
• Are these supplements beneficial only for correcting deficiency, or can there be benefits of eating more than the levels currently recommended as adequate?
• What are the safety issues of mineral supplements?

These questions are being asked not only by the general public, but also by many health care professionals, biomedical researchers, and people involved in the nutrition industries themselves. This last group is especially important to public health because their marketing can drive the sales of supplements. Therefore, the players in nutrition industries, as well as health care professionals and researchers, need a way to evaluate mineral supplement claims. Some information can be obtained using a quick search of the Internet, or by using a program like Medline. However, interpretation of the information obtained can be hampered by the lack of a specialized background and time available. For example, if one study says that a calcium supplement has no effect on blood pressure, and another study says the opposite, how does one reconcile the conflict? Someone with a good biomedical background can search out the issue, but this can be very time consuming.

This book is intended to provide a concise, yet informative presentation and interpretation of the current state of research on various mineral supplements. Each of the above-noted questions are addressed. The information should be technical enough to satisfy a biomedical audience but will avoid jargon used mainly by mineral specialists. Even so, it's hard to write this type of a book without using some words for which the definition may not be known. Therefore, this book includes a glossary for some words that appear often.

As author of this book, I have tried to present more than one perspective for controversial areas, but I have also given my opinions on many of them. When I have given my opinion, I have tried to clearly state that this is what I am doing.

There is no doubt that more research is needed in almost all the areas I cover in this book. In that regard, I have pointed out some of what I think should come next in research. At the same time, I recognize that a lot of people, from the general public to the most dedicated researcher, sometimes get frustrated if a report on nutrition or any other subject is totally noncommittal. So, I state what I feel is safe to conclude right now, and I provide some conjectures.

My hope is that this book can spur many of us to further consider how mineral supplements should and should not be used for health promotion and health care.