Mineral Supplements

This is the one shelf in the Healthshop where the label is allowed to make a specific claim, and where a single number on the back decides whether it may.

What a mineral supplement is allowed to claim

Minerals are unusual in European food law. Herbs and mushrooms carry no authorised health claims at all, but for calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, selenium, iodine, chromium, manganese and potassium the approved wordings are written down and anyone may use them. There is one condition: the product has to contain a significant amount, which means at least 15 percent of the nutrient reference value in a daily portion. Below that line no claim may be made, whatever the ingredient list says. That single rule is why the percentage column on the back of the pack matters more than anything printed on the front.

The minerals on this shelf and what they do

Magnesium

Magnesium contributes to a reduction of tiredness and fatigue, to normal muscle function, to normal protein synthesis, to normal psychological function and to the maintenance of normal bones. Our Magnesium Citrate is 200 mg in one tablet, which is 53 percent of the reference intake, and citrate is the form people usually reach for when oxide has not agreed with them.

Calcium and bone density

Calcium contributes to the maintenance of normal bones and teeth, to normal muscle function and to normal neurotransmission. The Calcium, Magnesium and Zinc tablets carry 684 mg of calcium at 86 percent, 304 mg of magnesium at 81 percent and 10 mg of zinc at 100 percent, in two tablets a day. Worth knowing before you buy: that calcium is oystercalcium, so this one is not vegan.

Zinc, selenium and immune function

Zinc contributes to the normal function of the immune system and to the protection of cells from oxidative stress. Selenium does the same and adds normal thyroid function and the maintenance of normal hair and nails. Selenium Forte uses sodium selenite in a single daily capsule, Immune Support runs selenium at 182 percent and zinc at 120 percent, and Potency Pills push zinc to 250 percent and selenium to 364 percent.

Iron, potassium and the trace minerals

Iron contributes to normal formation of red blood cells and haemoglobin and to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue; Amino Complete carries 8.4 mg at 60 percent alongside its twenty amino acids. Potassium contributes to normal muscle function and electrolyte balance. Chromium contributes to normal macronutrient metabolism, and Chromium Picolinate delivers 200 micrograms, which is 500 percent of the reference intake in one tablet.

Read the percentage, not the front of the pack

Our own Mineral Concentrate is the clearest lesson on this page. The front says over ten minerals. The panel says magnesium at 54 percent and iodine at 80 percent, and then calcium, phosphorus, manganese, iron, zinc, copper and selenium all at 1 percent or below. Ten minerals is true. Two of them are present at a level that means anything.

Where the mineral actually comes from

Source matters as much as dose, and it is rarely on the front either. Mineral Concentrate is built on Atoligomer seawater concentrate and is fully vegan. The silicon in Green-Lipped Mussel Extract comes from bamboo, but the rest of that formula includes mussel, bovine chondroitin and collagen, so it is emphatically not. Calcium, Magnesium and Zinc uses oyster calcium. Amino Complete and L-Arginine come in gelatin capsules, the latter extracted from sugar beet molasses. Quercetin Extract and Potency Pills are vegan. Shilajit is a mountain resin at 20 percent fulvic acid, enhanced with selenium, rather than a plant at all.

How to pick one of these mineral supplements

Start from a single mineral rather than a complex if you know what you are after, because a one-mineral tablet tells you exactly what you took. Reach for a complex like Vitamin Complete when you want broad cover in one tablet and are not chasing a particular number. And do not stack: zinc at 250 percent in one product plus 120 percent in another adds up faster than most people expect. Thyme and rosemary sit on this shelf as the two culinary herbs in the range, and they are seasoning rather than supplementation.