Trace minerals are found in a wide range of everyday foods, including meat, seafood, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and legumes. Your body needs only small amounts of each one, but they’re essential for everything from carrying oxygen in your blood to supporting your immune system and thyroid. The eight trace minerals your body requires are iron, zinc, selenium, iodine, copper, manganese, molybdenum, and fluoride.
No single food covers all of them, but a varied diet built around whole foods gets most people close. Here’s where to find each one and what affects how much your body actually absorbs.
Iron: Meat, Shellfish, and Legumes
Iron comes in two forms. Heme iron, found in animal foods, is absorbed more efficiently by the body. Non-heme iron, found in plants, is absorbed less readily but still contributes significantly to your intake. Adult men need about 10 mg per day, while premenopausal women need about 15 mg per day due to menstrual losses.
The richest heme iron sources are beef, chicken, clams, and scallops. For non-heme iron, your best options are lentils, kidney beans, chickpeas, soybeans, and other dried legumes. Pine nuts, macadamia nuts, hemp seeds, spinach, and potatoes also contribute meaningful amounts. Fortified cereals, breads, and tofu are common sources in the typical American diet.
Zinc: Red Meat, Nuts, and Seeds
Zinc supports immune function and wound healing. The recommended intake is 15 mg per day for men and 12 mg per day for women. Oysters are famously the richest source, but beef, poultry, and shellfish are how most people get their zinc. On the plant side, chickpeas, lentils, peanuts, and sesame seeds all provide zinc, though your body absorbs it less efficiently from these foods.
Selenium: Seafood, Eggs, and Grains
Selenium plays a key role in thyroid function and acts as an antioxidant. Adults need roughly 55 to 70 micrograms per day. The largest share of selenium in most diets comes from cereal-based foods and meat, which together account for about half of the average intake. Milk and other beverages contribute another 21%, followed by seafood and fish at 10%, and eggs at 4%.
Marine fish contains the highest concentration of selenium among common foods, followed by eggs, beans, and beef or chicken. Brazil nuts are an exceptionally concentrated source, though they’re not a staple food for most people. One important caveat: selenium levels in plant foods vary dramatically depending on the soil where they were grown. In many parts of the world, soils are naturally low in selenium, which means crops from those regions contain less of it.
Iodine: Seafood, Dairy, and Iodized Salt
Your thyroid gland depends on iodine to produce hormones that regulate metabolism. Adults need about 150 micrograms per day. Marine fish is by far the richest natural source, with concentrations roughly five to ten times higher than other foods. Eggs, milk, and dairy products are the next best sources, especially for people who don’t eat much seafood.
In inland areas where seafood is scarce, iodized salt has been the main strategy for preventing deficiency since the 1920s. Like selenium, iodine levels in plant foods depend heavily on soil quality. Many regions worldwide have iodine-deficient soils, which means locally grown vegetables and grains may not provide enough on their own.
Copper and Manganese: Nuts, Whole Grains, and Legumes
Copper and manganese share many of the same food sources, so eating for one generally covers the other. A safe range for copper intake in adults is 1.5 to 3 mg per day.
For manganese, the daily value is 2.3 mg. Hazelnuts deliver 1.6 mg per ounce (70% of your daily value), making them one of the most concentrated sources. Pecans and brown rice each provide about 1.1 mg per serving, roughly half a day’s worth. Clams and chickpeas come in at 0.9 mg per serving, followed by soybeans, whole wheat bread, and oatmeal at 0.7 mg each. Tea is also a significant source of manganese and ranks among the top contributors in American diets alongside grain products and vegetables.
Molybdenum: Legumes and Grains
Molybdenum helps your body process certain amino acids and break down toxins. It doesn’t get as much attention as iron or zinc, partly because deficiency is rare. Legumes are the single richest source. Whole grains, nuts, and beef liver also provide substantial amounts. For teenagers and children, milk and cheese tend to be the primary contributors. Most people eating a varied diet that includes beans, lentils, or whole grains get plenty without thinking about it.
Why Your Body May Not Absorb Everything
The trace mineral content listed on a nutrition label doesn’t tell the whole story. Several natural compounds in plant foods can bind to minerals and reduce how much your body actually takes in.
Phytates, found in high concentrations in cereals, legumes, nuts, seeds, and pseudocereals like quinoa, are the biggest factor. They bind tightly to iron, zinc, copper, and calcium, forming compounds your body can’t break down. This is most relevant for people who rely heavily on plant foods for their mineral intake without much variety in preparation methods.
Oxalates, concentrated in spinach, Swiss chard, beets, rhubarb, and sweet potatoes, primarily interfere with calcium absorption but can affect other minerals too. Spinach is often celebrated as an iron-rich food, but its high oxalate content means you absorb far less iron from it than from an equivalent serving of lentils or meat.
Tannins, the compounds that give tea, cocoa, berries, and red wine their astringent quality, also inhibit iron, copper, and zinc absorption. Drinking tea with a meal, for example, reduces iron uptake more than drinking it between meals.
How to Get More From Your Food
Simple kitchen techniques can dramatically reduce these absorption blockers. Soaking dried beans and grains before cooking breaks down a significant portion of their phytate content. Fermenting (as in sourdough bread) and sprouting grains are even more effective. Boiling spinach for 12 minutes reduces its soluble oxalate content by up to 87%, making its minerals far more available.
Cooking method matters for mineral retention too. Boiling produces the highest mineral losses across nearly all foods because minerals leach into the cooking water. This is especially pronounced in vegetables, where iron and zinc losses can be substantial. Steaming, stewing, and frying retain more minerals than boiling. If you do boil vegetables, using the cooking liquid in soups or sauces captures what would otherwise be lost.
Industrial processing also takes a toll. Dehulling lentils significantly reduces their calcium, copper, iron, and manganese content. Refining whole grains into white flour strips away the mineral-rich bran and germ. Choosing whole grain versions of rice, bread, and pasta is one of the simplest ways to keep trace mineral intake high.
Pairing plant-based iron sources with vitamin C (from citrus, peppers, or tomatoes) boosts non-heme iron absorption. Eating high-oxalate foods alongside calcium-rich foods helps neutralize the oxalates before they interfere with other minerals. These small adjustments add up, especially for people eating predominantly plant-based diets.