This is the important stuff, the minerals that most people do not know about. It is simply because it is not common knowledge and definitely not taught enough in the schools.

Since fast foods have been taken into our lives as common place and even perfectly okay to eat, even though they have no nutritional value, many people are not getting the vitamins they need and definitely not the minerals. They do not even sell veggies at fast food places. However, some of them do have salads. But what nutrients do iceberg lettuce and GMO tomatoes have in them anyway?

Potassium is one of the most important minerals you need to get from your diet. However, you do need to get them all from your diet, because they are all necessary for some part of the quality of life.

Potassium has a role in helping your body with its sodium content. You have something as part of your anatomy that is called the sodium/potassium pump. If you have a healthy diet which contains much potassium, then it can help control your sodium.

Your heart needs potassium to work properly and it helps your nerves and muscles communicate with each other. Contraction of your muscles needs potassium to happen. Without potassium your heart cannot function and you will die.

A rich amount of enough dietary potassium can lower your susceptibility of stroke, but only "dietary" potassium. It must come from food.

Potassium is one of the minerals that helps nutrients, like minerals and liquids, move across the cell membrane into your cells. It also helps the waste products move back across the cell membrane out of your cells.

The kidneys are the organ that controls how much potassium you excrete as urine as it keeps a balance of how much you need to keep. It may help with kidney stones and bone loss. Having the proper amount of potassium in your blood is dependent on sodium and magnesium in your body.

Food sources of Potassium are: many and include, baked potatoes only if eaten with the skin, other root veggies like carrots, white beans, bananas, spinach raw or cooked, dried apricots, yogurt, baked acorn squash, salmon, white mushrooms, avocados, citrus like grapefruit and oranges, green leafy veggies like collard greens, fruits like blackberries, grapes, cucumbers, eggplant, zucchini, pumpkin, tomatoes, dairy foods, poultry, nuts, fish, meat, broccoli, lima beans, flounder, cod, cantaloupe, and strawberries.

Some deficiencies of Potassium are: gastrointestinal problems which will start first. A deficiency of this very important mineral has been known to cause neurological problems. Potassium deficiency has also been known to cause high blood pressure, irritability, and fatigue.

Hypokalemia (a lack of enough potassium in your body) is not normally caused by a lack of potassium in the diet but hypokalemia has been known to be caused by eating too much black licorice on a constant basis. Other symptoms of hypokalemia cause cellular processes to be impaired therefore weakness sets in.

If you are diabetic, or have a heart condition, ulcers, some kind of kidney disease, or any other health conditions do not consider taking a potassium supplement unless your doctor prescribes it. Always ask your doctor first, if you think you might want to take one. It is possible to get too much potassium by taking a supplement.

Most people get enough of this mineral from their diet, if they eat a healthy diet. However, if you eat much processed food, you might not be getting enough minerals, and/or potassium in your diet.

Some people find they are allergic to potassium supplements.

Manganese is a necessary trace mineral that can easily be toxic by taking too many supplements.

It is a principle helper in reducing oxidative stress in your mitochondria (this is a good thing), which happens to be the biggest user of oxygen in your body.

There are some enzymes that are dependent on manganese. These enzymes are important in certain metabolism activities for things like cholesterol metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, as well as the metabolism of amino acids.

Manganese can help with proper functioning of your thyroid gland.

Manganese is essential for your body to use two important vitamins, which are Vitamin B1 and Vitamin E. It is also required for lactation and healthy skin. It is also required for the formation of blood clots, sex hormones, and connective tissue. Manganese can also help with cancer and assists in getting rid of free radicals.

This important mineral is necessary in the proper formation of bone and cartilage. It is also quite necessary for the process of wound healing. This is so important because wound healing requires more collagen to be produced than normal. In both of these actions manganese is involved and necessary to the enzymes that carry on these processes.

Iron and manganese seem to have an inverse absorption rate, the higher your iron level, the less the absorption of manganese. This is also true with iron and manganese in your diet and meals. Manganese toxicity in your brain can happen and has been known to happen much easier with iron deficiency.

Magnesium and calcium also have been shown to have a slight depletion effect on manganese.

Food sources of Manganese are: nuts, seaweed, egg yolks, mustard greens, wheat germ, kale, raspberries, strawberries, chard, romaine lettuce, bulgar wheat, garlic, eggplant, summer squash, turnip greens, cloves, blackstrap molasses, cinnamon, maple syrup, black pepper, buckwheat, dried peas, oats, leafy veggies, avocados, whole grains, teas, pineapple juice, raw pineapple, oatmeal, thyme, peanuts, pecans, almonds, turmeric, navy beans, lima beans, pinto beans, raisin bran, brown rice, sweet potatoes, cooked spinach, and whole wheat bread.

Foods that contain phytic acid: (which are) beans, soy products, nuts, seeds, and whole grains slightly inhibit the absorption of manganese. Foods that contain oxalic acid: (which are) sweet potatoes, spinach, and cabbage also inhibit the absorption of manganese a little.

Then there are the tannins in foods like tea, grapes, and nuts, that may inhibit the absorption of manganese, and there are other foods that seem to limit how much manganese is retained, like phosphorous, iron, and calcium.

Some deficiencies of Manganese are: not as common as toxicity. However, deficiency is not a focus as much as toxicity, because it is a bigger concern in certain industries.

Manganese deficiency to the point of disease has been called Manganism. This is a biphasic disorder, and has symptoms of: depression, slowed speech, compulsive disorders, psychosis, and mood swings, early in the problem. In late stages, Manganism symptoms resemble much of Parkinson's disease except there is no loss of smell and L-Dopa does not help. Manganism symptoms can be reversed if the causes are replaced with enough manganese.

Some of the deficiency symptoms in humans are early on are nausea, vomiting, shivers, dizziness, clumsiness, skin rash, hearing loss, loss of hair color, sexual problems, and can go on to include, impaired growth as well as bone demineralization. The people with these symptoms have been fixed with supplementation.

Even more deficiency symptoms can be: memory loss, pancreatic damage, eye problems, PMS, teeth grinding, atherosclerosis, convulsions, too much perspiration, high cholesterol, rapid pulse, heart disorders and high blood pressure.

There have also been some with an occasional skin rash, and the alkaline phosphatase, calcium and phosphorous, in the blood have been seen to be elevated from deficiency which led to bone remodeling.

In women there has been a blood glucose tolerance abnormality showing with deficiency.

It may also be that deficiency of manganese contributes to getting certain diseases. Even though it has not been proven, these are known to be seizures disorders like epilepsy, diabetes mellitus, and osteoporosis.

Toxicity of Manganese: can come in two forms, inhaled or ingested.

There are some people who are more susceptible to manganese toxicity than others. The list can include newborns, children, iron deficient communities, and people who live with chronic liver disease.

One of the ways of becoming toxic with manganese is by ingesting it, and this has caused permanent neurological symptoms very much like Parkinson's Disease.

When neonates are given what is called "total parental nutrition" abbreviated as TPN, which contains manganese and they can become toxic.

There is current research to see if manganese toxicity is also part of the cause of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's, restless leg syndrome, multiple sclerosis, Huntington's as well as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Ingesting manganese can also be from drinking water with too much manganese in it, and of course by taking too much in supplement form.

Another way of becoming toxic is from inhaled manganese dust or fumes, and can also lead to permanent symptoms like Parkinson's Disease.

Inhaled manganese dust is the worse of the two exposure ways because it goes through the nose directly up to the brain and therefore does not get detoxified in any way by the liver.

The preceding symptoms can be neurological in design and can include psychiatric problems like aggressiveness, hallucinations, and also irritability. The following symptoms can be facial muscle spasms, difficulty walking, and tremors, which are all similar to Parkinson's.

Inhaled manganese dust causes the lungs to show an inflammatory response of which clinically shows as a decreased lung function, cough, or acute bronchitis. This is seen in environmental dust or occupational manganese dust.

Fumes can come from gasoline enriched with something called MMT, which is methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl, an antiknock component.

We are now moving on to even more very important minerals you may have heard of by now. They are selenium and zinc. Selenium is more necessary then most people first thought, especially in cancer, and zinc you may have heard is great for fighting infections.