Phosphorus is a mineral that makes up 1% of a person’s total body weight. It is present in every cell of the body. Most of the phosphorus in the body is found in the bones and teeth.
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Benefits
- The health benefits of phosphorus include healthy bone formation, improved digestion, regulated excretion, protein formation, hormonal balance, improved energy extraction, cellular repair, optimized chemical reactions, and proper nutrient utilization. The health benefits of phosphorous make it an important constituent of any diet.
- Phosphorus is an important constituent of human bones, meaning that it would be impossible to one function normally without an adequate amount of this mineral in the body. In fact, phosphorus is regularly noted as the second most profuse mineral in the human body, and is the second most important element when it comes to maintaining bone health and integrity, behind calcium.
- Apart from providing strength to bones and teeth, other health benefits of phosphorus are essential for performing essential activities for different body parts like the brain, kidney, heart and blood. Therefore, it is a very bad choice for your health to exclude phosphorus from the list of nutrients that make it onto your plate.
Food Sources
- The main food sources are the protein food groups of meat and milk.
- A meal plan that provides adequate amounts of calcium and protein also provides an adequate amount of phosphorus.
- Although whole-grain breads and cereals contain more phosphorus than cereals and breads made from refined flour, this is a storage form of phosphorus called phytin, which is not absorbed by humans. Fruits and vegetables contain only small amounts of phosphorus.
Cautions
- There is generally no deficiency of phosphorus because it is so readily available in the food supply.
- Excessively high levels of phosphorus in the blood, although rare, can combine with calcium to form deposits in soft tissues such as muscle.
- High levels of phosphorus in blood only occur in people with severe kidney disease or severe dysfunction of their calcium regulation.