Ever feel drained, achy, or mentally foggy, even though you're doing everything to eat healthy? It’s not just in your head. Mineral imbalances could be quietly undermining your energy, metabolism, and overall well being.

The truth is, modern agricultural practices have stripped our diets of essential minerals. Decades of monocropping, synthetic fertilisers, and soil depletion have drastically reduced the levels of crucial minerals in our fruits and vegetables compared to what our ancestors consumed, leaving many of us unknowingly deficient, even if we prioritise whole foods. 

Why we're so mineral depleted

• Soil depletion: Industrial farming has stripped minerals from the land, meaning our produce is less nutrient-dense
• Processed foods: Refined grains, packaged snacks, and ultra-processed foods are stripped of their natural mineral content during manufacturing, leaving them nutritionally hollow
• Missing nose-to-tail nutrition: We eat mostly muscle meats today, but our ancestors got vital minerals from organs, bones, and connective tissue.
• Filtered water: Tap and bottled water undergo filtration and purification processes that remove harmful contaminants but also strip out naturally occurring minerals
• Lifestyle factors: Chronic stress, caffeine, alcohol, and medications like birth control, diuretics, and antacids rapidly deplete minerals, making it harder for the body to maintain balance.

Your cells, hormones, and enzymes depend on these minerals. Let's have a look at the 6 you’re most likely to be missing, and the best ways to replenish them.

 

1. Magnesium

What’s at stake

• Enzyme support: Magnesium is involved in over 300 enzymatic reactions, fueling ATP production (cellular energy), DNA repair, and muscle relaxation.

• Stress & sleep: Adequate magnesium can help regulate stress responses (lowering cortisol) and encourage deep, restorative sleep. Studies link higher magnesium intake with fewer migraines and better insulin sensitivity.

Signs you might be deficient

• Frequent tension headaches, muscle cramps, restless legs.
• Feeling “tired but wired” or having trouble settling down at night.
• Anxiety, irritability, or insomnia.

To replenish

• Grass-fed red meat: Provides magnesium alongside supportive minerals like iron and zinc.
• Slow-simmering bones: leach magnesium and other cofactors.
• Topical magnesium oil or spray: Magnesium glycinate in spray form can penetrate the bloodstream via the skin’s lipid barrier, making it a great option for those with low stomach acid, gut issues, or poor magnesium retention. This form is chelated, meaning the magnesium is bound to glycine (the magician in bone broth), an amino acid that enhances absorption and has its own nervous system regulating properties

2.  Iodine

What’s at stake

• Thyroid hormones: Iodine is essential for T3 and T4 hormone production: low iodine starves the thyroid, leading to hypothyroid symptoms like weight gain, fatigue, and hair thinning.
• Brain development: In pregnancy, sufficient iodine is tied to proper fetal neurological growth.

Signs you might be deficient

• Chronic low energy, mental fog, or feeling cold when others are comfortable.
• Weight gain for “no reason,” slow metabolism, or a subtle neck swelling (goiter).
• Dry skin, thinning hair, brittle nails.

To replenish

• Wild-caught seafood & shellfish: Salmon, cod, shrimp, and especially oysters. All dense with iodine plus other trace minerals.
• Sea vegetables: Think kelp, nori & dulse
• Pasture-raised dairy & eggs: Animals with access to coastal grasses pass more iodine into milk and yolks.

3. Iron

What’s at stake

• Haemoglobin: Iron forms haemoglobin, delivering oxygen to cells. Without it, fatigue and weakness become the norm.

• Cognition & immunity: Also vital for immune cell production and sharp mental function.

Signs you might be deficient

• Persistent fatigue, pale skin, breathlessness climbing stairs.
• Hair loss, brittle nails, frequent infections.
• Feeling chilly, random dizziness.

To replenish

• Red meat (grass-fed beef, bison): Heme iron is the most bioavailable form, absorbed up to 3x better than non-heme from plants.
• Organ meats (liver): Nutrient powerhouses, particularly high in iron, B12, and folate. Perfect for repleting iron.
• Pair iron with vitamin C: Squeeze lemon on a steak or enjoy fresh berries with your iron rich meal to enhance uptake.

4. Zinc

What's at stake

• Immunity: Zinc fuels the development of T-cells, your frontline defenders. Even mild deficiency can mean more colds or stubborn infections.

• Hormone balance & skin health: Key to testosterone production, wound healing, and clear skin. Low zinc can worsen acne or delay tissue repair.

Signs you might be deficient

• Getting sick more often than usual.
• Stubbornly slow-healing scrapes or acne.
• Hair thinning, brittle nails, or diminished sense of taste/smell.
• Painful periods

To replenish

• Oysters & shellfish:  The most concentrated source of highly bioavailable zinc.
• Grass-fed beef & lamb: Provide zinc in a highly absorbable form, plus synergy with iron.
• Soak, sprout, or ferment (if you consume grains/legumes) to reduce phytates that block zinc absorption.
• Rethink copper coil: Excess copper from  the copper IUD (coil), can lead to copper toxicity, which directly competes with zinc for absorption, potentially causing a zinc deficiency.