The Specific Uses of Minerals or Elements in the Body-Sulfur

July 2007: Volume 2 Number 7

Sulfur [S] – Sulfur occurs free in nature as a solid and is found in animal and vegetable matter. Sulfur is present in all the cells of the body, primarily in cell proteins. Sulfur is distributed in such molecules as the amino acids cystine and methionine; as well as in cartilage, tendons and bone matrix. Small amounts of organic sulfates along with sodium and potassium are present in the blood and other tissues. A few other examples are heparin, glutathione, insulin, thiamine, biotin, coenzyme A, and lipoic acid.

Methionine is one of the amino acids that have sulfur in its molecular structure, which must be provided to the body from an outside source. The malabsorption of methionine in the jejunal mucosa of the intestine can cause white hair, mental retardation, convulsions, hyperneic attacks and edema. Methionine bonds with Adenosine to the form S–adenosylmethionine (SAM), which is the principal source of methyl groups in the body that function in cell proliferation and growth, stabilize intact cells, sub-cellular organelles and membranes. It is these methyl groups that stabilize DNA and RNA. SAM has anti-inflammatory effects and has been shown to rebuild cartilage, strengthen muscles, and may slow the degenerative progression of arthritis.

Cysteine, another amino acid, is a nutritionally nonessential molecule that the body can synthesize from methionine. Cysteine is a precursor of coenzyme A that helps to make acetyl–CoA and then into Cholesterol. Cholesterol is the precursor of all other steroids (i.e. corticosteroids, sex hormones), bile acids, and vitamin D. As you can see, sulfur plays a major role in the health of the body.

We will discuss the Sodium (Na) and Chlorine (Cl) atoms in our next lecture as a continuation of the specific uses of minerals or element in our bodies.

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