Live Longer and Better with Minerals
Nearly 97% of Americans are deficient in at least one mineral, according to a 2022 study from the CDC. [*]
That’s almost all of us, and it’s a problem worth correcting, especially if you’re trying to extend your lifespan. A lot of longevity comes down to getting the basics right—giving your body the raw materials it needs to function at its best. And when it comes to the basics, minerals are at the top of the list.
Every single cell in your body relies on minerals. Mineral deficiencies can cause widespread but subtle cellular dysfunction, quietly sapping your wellbeing and increasing oxidative stress that shortens your lifespan.
The good news is that it’s fairly easy to replenish your mineral stores. Here’s a look at why minerals are important for health and longevity, and what you can do to increase your mineral intake, giving your body what it needs to live a long, healthy life.
Minerals Keep Your Skin Young
Your skin cells are particularly dependent on minerals. You need minerals for everything from sunlight protection to manufacturing collagen, the protein that keeps your skin smooth and elastic.
Here are a few examples of how your body uses minerals to maintain skin health:
Selenium is a cofactor in glutathione peroxidase, the main antioxidant that protects your skin from aging. [*] Your skin cells also use selenium to prevent damage from sun exposure. [*] Low selenium levels leave your skin open to oxidative stress, which causes wrinkles. [*]
Zinc also protects your skin from sunlight, and research shows that increasing your zinc levels can actually reverse sun damage. [*] A 2014 review concluded that zinc reduces inflammation, redness, and acne, [*] and another review found that zinc is essential for skin maintenance and repair, preventing accumulation of compounds that cause wrinkles and skin aging. [*]
Copper is important for helping collagen protein mature. It protects collagen from stress as it synthesizes, ensuring that it forms properly and can function as intended. [*] Collagen is the main protein that keeps your skin elastic and smooth.
Silicon is also essential for collagen synthesis. [*] It also increases skin thickness and keeps skin hydrated, [*] and a 2018 study found that it reverses photoaging in women over 30. [*]
If you want to look youthful as you age, you have to make sure your skin cells have plenty of minerals. They’re fundamental to skin health, especially when it comes to preventing wrinkles and keeping skin hydrated and elastic.
Minerals Support Your Hormones As You Age
Hormones are another major part of aging. Women lose more than 90% of their estrogen and progesterone during menopause [*] and men’s testosterone levels fall by about 1% per year after the age of 30. [*] For both sexes, thyroid hormone production falls after about age 40, increasing the risk of thyroid dysfunction, weight gain, and fatigue. [*]
Hormones control your mood, libido, mental clarity, muscle growth, and more, as well as your resistance to age-related diseases like diabetes, stroke, and dementia. If you want to age well, it’s essential that you maintain your hormone production as you get older.
Increasing your mineral intake is one of the best things you can do to support your body’s hormone production. They’re involved in the synthesis and distribution of almost every major hormone. For example:
Selenium, [*] iodine, [*] and magnesium [*] help you make thyroid hormones. You need more of all three as you age because your thyroid hormone production becomes less efficient. [*]
Boron is essential for both estrogen and testosterone production. [*] A 2011 study found that aging men who took a boron supplement for a week saw a nearly 40% increase in free testosterone levels, [*] and another study found that boron significantly increased estrogen levels in postmenopausal women. [*]
Zinc is a fundamental co-factor for progesterone in women. [*] It’s also important for both male and female reproductive health. [*] Even slightly low zinc levels (toward the bottom of the “acceptable range” in standard zinc tests) cause a significant drop in testosterone in men, [*] and low zinc causes a range of hormone-related fertility issues in women. [*]
Hormone health is a pillar of anti-aging, and one of the best things you can do to support your hormones is make sure you’re getting enough minerals.
Minerals Build and Maintain Muscle
Muscle loss (called sarcopenia) is a common problem in people over 50. It’s driven by a combination of declining hormones [*] and aging muscle cells that can’t use nutrients as efficiently as they used to. [*]
Sarcopenia (involuntary loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength) is one of the biggest predictors of age-related injury and loss of independence. As your muscles get weaker you become less mobile. Movement becomes harder, risk of injury increases, and the odds of you being unable to live on your own increase.
If you want to feel physically strong as you age, you have to build and maintain muscle—and again, one of the best ways to do that is by increasing your mineral intake.
Minerals play an important role in protein synthesis, the process that your muscle cells use to grow stronger.
A 2020 review found that selenium and magnesium are particularly important in preventing sarcopenia. [*]
Selenium acts as an antioxidant, preventing wear and tear in muscle cells that accumulates over years and impairs their function.
Magnesium helps with muscle contractions, and higher magnesium levels predict increased strength and ability to build muscle in people over 50.
As you read about in the previous section, a variety of minerals are also important for maintaining sex hormone production, which prevents muscle loss as you age.
Muscle loss is a major consequence of aging, and keeping your mineral stores high is a good way to support muscle strength and function, especially past age 50.
There’s a Simple Way to Replenish Your Body’s Mineral Stores
You need more than a dozen different essential minerals to function. Supplementing with all of them can become both complicated and expensive. You have to figure out the right doses, forms, sources, best brands, and so on.
That’s why I’m a fan of BEAM Minerals. They make mineral replenishment easy by offering a liquid full-spectrum mineral supplement. It contains every single mineral your body needs to function, in the right ratios, with close to 100% bioavailability.
With BEAM Minerals, you don’t need a kitchen cabinet full of supplements. All you have to do is take two half-ounce shots of liquid every morning. They taste like water and will replenish your mineral stores in 30 seconds a day. It’s quick, easy, and effective. I take these every day!
If you want a simple way to support your hormones, skin, muscles, and more, give BEAM Minerals a try (and use code “NAT20” for 20% off your first order!). They make a difference you can actually feel and they’re a powerful way to slow down aging.