Essential minerals in milk and their daily intake through milk consumption

Minerals, like vitamins, are a group of important nutrients. Although they make up only 4 % of body weight they are a part of every tissue, fluid, cell and organ in the human body. There is significant evidence that minerals, by themselves and in proper balance to one another, have important biochemical and nutritional functions (Pike and Brown, 1984). There are twenty minerals that are considered to be nutritionally essential. Sometimes minerals are classified as macrominerals (sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus) and as trace elements (iron, copper, zinc, manganese, selenium, iodine, chromium, cobalt, molybdenum, fluoride, arsenic, nickel, silicon and boron) and all of them are present in milk at some concentration (Cashman, 2006). The main elements are essential for human beings in amounts >50 mg/day, while Original scientific paper Izvorni znanstveni rad UDK: 637.144