"Minerals," literally?

Question

I'm wondering about our vitamins that supposed to have "minerals" (it says on the label on the bottle). But do this pills contained the METALS like "iron" "magnesium" etc like in the mine? So we chew or eat this METALS for is used most in the factories? Eeeooowww!!

Answer 1

Most metals in our body exist as ions (rather than the free metal), so manufacturers of multivitamins/supplements also use metals in the ionized forms (like Ca 2+, Mg 2+, Zn 2+) in the manufacturing process, so that our body can actually make use of the stuff.

Iron, for example, must be in the ferrous (Fe 2+) form for it to be absorbed.  So swallowing an iron nail (if you can find one nowadays) won't do you any good!

Answer 2

Yeah, minerals are metals, and they are necessary. But they are not like in the mine exactly, they are in a different form.

One way of getting more iron in your diet is using iron cookware as some will be absorbed into your food.