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Deficiency Diseases and Good Nutrition
Phosphorus
P
Phosphorus has more functions than any other mineral in your body. Eighty to eighty five percent of all the phosphorus in your body is in your bones and teeth in the form of calcium phosphate. The 1 1/2 - 2 pounds of phosphorus in your body helps to keep your bones and teeth strong. Phosphorus is important to your bones for another reason. Phosphorus is vital to collagen production and bone is 3/4 collagen. Tendons, ligaments, cartilage, skin, and eyes, are composed greatly of collagen. Without phosphorus, your body could not make any of the above vital connective tissues and organs.

Phosphorus joins up with fatty acids in the body to form phospholipids. Phospholipids have a very interesting characteristic: they are soluble in water and fat. The fatty acid makes phospholipids soluble in fat and the phosphorus makes it soluble in water. This unique trait makes phospholipids very useful as the main component in cell membranes. This allows for fat and water soluble nutrients to pass in and out of the cell. Each cell needs fat and water soluble nutrients to live, so this property is vital. Cell membranes would collapse without phospholipids.

Phospholipids also have a job in the blood. Phospholipids keep blood fat in small globules. Large globules can get stuck on artery walls, which can eventually cause heart disease. Lecithin is a phospholipid used in chocolate to keep it smooth. In the body, phospholipids keep the blood smooth.

Lecithin helps to make bile at an even rate. Bile helps you emulsify fats (break into very small globules). If you don't have enough phosphorus, you can't make lecithin to help make bile, which results in painful gallstones. Lecithin helps to keep fat from accumulating in the liver (cirrhosis).

Phosphorus helps to transport fatty acids throughout your body. It maintains the proper pH in blood and stomach so the needed reactions can take place. Phosphorus has to be present to use fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Phosphorus combines with carbohydrates to be stored as energy. Phosphorus is a MAIN component in ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which is the primary source of energy for all living cells. Without ATP, you could not catalyze any reaction. Phosphorus is needed in myelin, which is the fatty covering on nerves to help the impulses travel faster. Phosphorus fatty acid compounds make up 1/3 of the brain's dry weight. Muscles could not contract without phosphorus because the nerves could not properly transmit the impulse without myelin. The muscle would not have the energy to contract without phosphorus containing ATP.

The RDA for phosphorus is identical to that of calcium: 1200 mg until 24 and from then on 800 mg a day.

In a healthy varied diet, we easily get enough phosphorus. Phosphorus is added to processed and refined foods in large quantities. If you eat a lot of processed foods, then you should watch your phosphorus intake so you don't get too much.



Foods High in Phosphorus

Grilled cheese sandwich, 1   531 mg
Macaroni and cheese, 1 cup   322 mg
Milkshake, vanilla, 10 oz.   289 mg
Milk, 2 %, 1 cup             232 mg
Pizza, 1/8 of 15" diameter   216 mg
Split pea soup, 1 cup        213 mg
Ham, 3 oz.                   210 mg
Ice milk, soft serve, 1 cup  202 mg
Oatmeal, 1 cup               178 mg
Lentils, cooked, 1/2 cup     178 mg
Cheese, cheddar, 1 oz.       146 mg
Shrimp, boiled, 2 large      137 mg
Baked beans, white, 1/2 cup  137 mg
Ground beef, 3 oz.           135 mg
Potato, baked with skin, 1   115 mg
Egg, 1                        86 mg
Bread, whole wheat, 1 slice   74 mg
Romaine lettuce, 1 cup        25 mg
Cauliflower, fresh, 1/2 cup   23 mg

You should be careful when eating fresh foods because they could be covered with a arsenic compound containing pesticides. Arsenic and phosphorus are very similar in molecular structure. So similar, in fact, that your body thinks it is phosphorus and puts it in compounds. These compounds of course don't work. This is especially dangerous when you think about phosphorus's role in myelin and cell membranes.

Phosphorus deficiency is very rare by itself. It is usually accompanied by calcium deficiency. As a result, the signs for phosphorus deficiency are almost identical to those of calcium deficiency. Most people get way too much phosphorus, though, so it's not one of those nutrients you can easily be deficient in.

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Revised: 14 Sep 99