5. Obtaining The Minerals We Need
5.1 All Minerals Present in a Natural Diet
All mineral needs may be supplied to the body by eating a varied diet of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and sprouts as they are found in their natural unprocessed state.
Before these minerals can be efficiently used, it may be necessary to give the body a complete physiological rest through fasting. A fast will enable the body to increase its metabolic powers.
Given that we lead our lives in a healthy manner, free from undue emotional and mental stress, we should have no trouble at all satisfying all our mineral and other nutritive needs from a simple Hygienic diet.
The efficiency of a Hygienic diet in supplying all of our mineral needs can best be illustrated by analyzing the mineral contents of two typical daily menus. These menus were taken at random from Herbert Shelton's book Superior Nutrition, and the reader is referred to this source for more examples of the Hygienic dietary.
The first menu is a summer menu and the second is a fall-winter menu. The amounts of each food below were chosen to be the similar amounts an adult woman or man might eat. For increased mineral or nutritive content, the amounts of food eaten could also be increased in accordance with environment, type of work done, physical constitution, etc. All mineral content estimates were made on the conservative side.
5.2 Examples of Mineral Contents of Meals
SUMMER MENU
| Meal | Food |
| Breakfast | Watermelon |
| Lunch | Bibb lettuce |
| Yellow squash | |
| Sunflower seeds | |
| Dinner | Cherries |
| Nectarines | |
| Bananas |
MINERAL CONTENT OF FIVE ESSENTIAL MINERALS
| CALCIUM | 400 milligrams |
| IRON | 18.2 milligrams |
| MAGNESIUM | 16 milligrams |
| PHOSPHOROUS | 1150 milligrams |
| IODINE | .245 milligrams |
FALL/WINTER MENU
| Meal | Food |
| Breakfast | Oranges |
| Grapefruit | |
| Lunch | Lettuce |
| Asparagus | |
| Chard | |
| Almonds | |
| Dinner | Persimmons |
| Apples | |
| Grapes |
MINERAL CONTENT OF FIVE ESSENTIAL MINERALS
| CALCIUM | 600 milligrams |
| IRON | 18.9 milligrams |
| MAGNESIUM | 458 milligrams |
| PHOSPHOROUS | 800 milligrams |
| IODINE | .235 milligrams |
Looking over the mineral contents of these two daily menus, we discover that they usually supply anywhere from 100 to 180 percent of the officially recommended allowances, except for calcium, which totals 70 - 90% of our daily requirements.
It should be noted that calcium needs on a vegetarian diet (such as this one) are significantly less than the calcium requirements for a carnivorous diet, upon which the official recommendations were based. Consumption of flesh causes the body to excrete calcium to neutralize the toxins within the meat and the uric acid formed. Calcium needs are less on a vegetarian diet.
By adhering to a diet of fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and sprouts, a person need never worry about obtaining sufficient minerals in the diet. In fact, this is the most minerally-rich and efficiently utilized diet for humans.