Dietary minerals or trace minerals are chemical elements required by living organisms in very small quantities. The term micronutrients is also used to designate these elements and compounds containing them.
In human nutrition, the most important trace minerals include (in alphabetical order):
Secondary trace minerals, not all of which have been definitively established as essential to human nutrition, include: Calcium and sodium are not generally considered trace minerals, as they are needed in larger quantities. Aluminium is an essential trace mineral, but is toxic in higher doses; due to the extensive use of aluminium in food packaging today, one is more likely to get too much than too little. Iron and potassium are needed in larger quantities than the other listed minerals and are sometimes included, sometimes not.