Tech | April 16, 2009 | 3 comments

The Chemistry of Life: The Human Body

source: http://www.livescience.com/health/090416-cl-human-body.html

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DeliaTheArtist
"You are what you eat. But do you recall munching some molybdenum or snacking on selenium? Some 60 chemical elements are found in the body, but what all of them are doing there is still unknown.

Roughly 96 percent of the mass of the human body is made up of just four elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen, with a lot of that in the form of water. The remaining 4 percent is a sparse sampling of the periodic table of elements.

Some of the more prominent representatives are called macro nutrients, whereas those appearing only at the level of parts per million or less are referred to as micronutrients.

These nutrients perform various functions, including the building of bones and cell structures, regulating the body's pH, carrying charge, and driving chemical reactions.

The FDA has set a reference daily intake for 12 minerals (calcium, iron, phosphorous, iodine, magnesium, zinc, selenium, copper, manganese, chromium, molybdenum and chloride). Sodium and potassium also have recommended levels, but they are treated separately.

However, this does not exhaust the list of elements that you need. Sulfur is not usually mentioned as a dietary supplement because the body gets plenty of it in proteins.

And there are several other elements — such as silicon, boron, nickel, vanadium and lead — that may play a biological role but are not classified as essential.

"This may be due to the fact that a biochemical function has not been defined by experimental evidence," said Victoria Drake from the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University.

Check out the link for a full run down of just what the hell is in your BODY!!
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3 comments // The Chemistry of Life: The Human Body

  • stopnoise
    • 0
      stopnoise  

    • Great Post Delia! I was just watching the health care reform initiative last night and America needs to learn how to eat better and take care of our food and body. Thumbs up!

    • 2 years ago
  • mcwally
    • 0
      mcwally  

    • all the other chemical elements present in the human complex..are to do with its own chemical processing plant..
      The human complex can duplicate and process all known made chemicals as they are made from the natural materials of the planet...
      That is why if you try to come off of certain drugs the complex will manufacture the same responses chemically for you until you have been weened off of them..as one example...
      We really are a totally amazing machine..we only need to learn how to drive it sensibly...

    • 2 years ago
  • DeliaTheArtist
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