Phosphorus for your health

It is vital for our body: the essential mineral phosphorus. Our body cannot produce it itself, so we have to take in phosphorus with food. It has numerous functions in the body and is also necessary for the effectiveness of other minerals and vitamins.

Our bones consist of about 25 percent water, 30 percent organic and 45 percent inorganic components. The inorganic part is a calcium phosphate, i.e. a compound of calcium and phosphate. It is only through the incorporation of the hydroxyapatite, i.e. the calcium phosphate, that the bone acquires structure and strength. About 85 percent of the phosphorus in our body is bound in the bone. In addition to controlling hormones, bone metabolism depends to a large extent on the availability of calcium, phosphate and blood plasma. Hydroxyapatite also gives our teeth their hardness and strength: tooth enamel, the hardest material in our body, consists of 95 percent of this mineral and protects the underlying dentin and pulp.

Phosphorus compounds are components of the DNA and RNA molecules, the carrier substance of the hereditary information of all living beings. Each nucleotide of DNA and RNA contains a phosphate group.

Acids and bases are present in the human body. In some organs, for example in the stomach, it is very acidic, hydrochloric acid is produced there. In other areas, for example in saliva or the duodenum, alkaline values prevail. Only in the blood is the pH value constant at 7.4. The pH value indicates whether an environment is acidic or alkaline, the value 7 is neutral and 7.4 slightly alkaline. The value in the blood must always be constant at 7.4, as even slight deviations can lead to severe organ damage. The constant pH value in the blood is ensured by the blood buffer, a very complex buffer system that buffers the pH value of the blood within narrow limits. It is part of the acid-base balance. It consists of four different buffers, one of which is the phosphate buffer. Phosphate thus has a regulating effect of the acid-base balance.

Phosphate is a component of adenosine triphosphate, or ATP for short. ATP is the universal and immediately available energy carrier in our cells and an important regulator of energy-supplying processes. Every single cell and many metabolic processes in our body draw their energy from ATP. Without ATP you are not viable and cannot perform either physically or mentally. ATP stores the energy you take in with food for a short time and makes it available to the cells.

Our muscles also need adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, for propulsion. It provides the necessary energy for muscle contraction. The more energy available to the muscle, the better it works; if there is too little energy available, every movement is strenuous. If you want to build muscle, you need more ATP.

Every human or animal cell is encased in a membrane that protects the cell interior from harmful influences from the outside and allows the necessary exchange of substances from the outside to the inside or from the inside to the outside. The main components of this membrane are phospholipids, a compound of fatty acids, phosphoric acids and various active groups. Our body produces the phospholipids itself or absorbs them through food and transports them to the body cells. High phospholipid concentrations are found, for example, in bone marrow (up to 10 percent) or in the brain (up to 6 percent).

Calcium and phosphate are the most important basic substances of our bones. The metabolism of these two minerals is subject to close regulation in our body. To maintain the balance, the daily intake of the two minerals with food, the absorption in the intestine and the regulated excretion via the kidneys and urine are necessary. The hormones vitamin D, parathyroid hormone and FGF23 (fibroblast growth factor 23) regulate calcium-phosphate metabolism. They promote or inhibit each other's release. This regulates the absorption of calcium and phosphate in the intestine, the excretion in the kidney and the formation and degradation of the bone matrix. Even a small drop in calcium levels, for example, causes increased parathyroid hormone PTH to be secreted by the parathyroid gland. PTH stimulates the conversion of vitamin D into its active form calcitriol, which increases calcium absorption from the intestine. PTH also ensures reduced urinary excretion of calcium and increased urinary excretion of phosphorus. On the one hand, this increases the serum calcium level, and on the other hand, it decreases the serum phosphorus level, which in turn has a positive effect on the formation of the active form of vitamin D in the kidneys.

Phosphorus is present in our body as phosphate and has numerous functions. Together with calcium, it ensures the structure and strength of the bones and the hardness of the teeth. 85 percent of all phosphorus in our body is bound in the bones and teeth. Phosphorus is an important component of DNA and RNA, the carrier substance of genetic information. The energy currency of our body, adenosine triphosphate ATP, contains phosphorus as an essential component. Without ATP, and thus without phosphorus, there would be no human life.