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Zinc
It's hard to believe, but more
than 90 percent of healthy elderly people don't get the minimum daily
requirement of zinc. Even if you feel healthy, increasing your zinc intake
could improve your sense of sight, smell, and taste; boost your immune
system; and help you heal faster after accidents or surgery. It's even been
shown to help the common cold. Just a little zinc can help you live a
longer, zestier life.
You may not even be aware of a quiet gland that stands guard in your body,
protecting you from disease. Your thymus gland, which is part of your immune
system, may not attract much attention, but it performs a valuable role in
keeping you healthy and disease free.
Located in your upper chest, your thymus consists of fat, epithelium
(membranes), and lymphocytes (white blood cells). The thymus' job is to turn
these lymphocytes into special kinds of cells, called T cells, which help
your immune system fight off disease.
Helper T cells identify harmful substances in your body, like bacteria and
viruses. They then alert the killer T cells, which latch onto and destroy
any cells these substances have invaded. Without T -cell protection, you
would soon fall prey to every infectious disease you encountered. Aren't you
lucky your thymus sends out these good guys to help guard your health?
Your thymus gland grows until late puberty, then begins to shrink, and fat
cells slowly replace all your wonderful protective lymphocytes. It also can
shrivel up within hours if you become seriously ill. What if you could
preserve the immunity boosting power of a younger, bigger, stronger thymus?
You'd probably stay healthier and live longer because you'd be better able
to fight off infections and disease.
Evidence for the anti-aging powers of a strong thymus comes from Dr. Gregory
Fahy, a leading researcher on aging. According to Dr. Fahy, transplanting
the thymus of a young animal into an old animal actually reverses
age-related changes. If a younger thymus can make an old rat young again,
could it do the same for you? Unfortunately, you can't go out and replace
your thymus every 10 years. But you can keep this incredible gland working
at peak production to help you stay young.
What's the secret? A little-noticed mineral called zinc. This critical
mineral helps restore your thymus, enabling it to produce those incredible
T--cell warriors. Studies show that people with low zinc levels have fewer T
cells, and tend to be more susceptible to infectious disease. When they
raise their zinc levels, T -cell levels shoot up as well.
Restores your senses. Have you ever told someone they've lost
their senses? You probably didn't mean it literally, but this actually could
happen. As people get older, they often experience a loss of certain senses,
such as taste and smell. Good nutrition is essential to staying young, but
if something doesn't smell good or taste good, you may not want to eat it.
This can lead to poor eating habits at a time when proper nutrition is
especially important. Some people even develop anorexia, a severe eating
disorder.
Zinc helps put the zip back into your sense of smell and the zing back in
your taste buds. Many elderly people who begin zinc supplementation are
amazed at the return of these senses, because the losses occurred so
gradually they didn't realize they had a problem.
Speedy healing. No matter how lucky you are, you'll probably
get injured or have surgery sometime in your life. The less time you spend
healing, the more time you will have to enjoy life. How can you decrease the
time you spend recuperating? Studies show that zinc increases the rate of
healing when given to people before and after surgery. People who are zinc
deficient heal more slowly than others, so make sure you get enough zinc in
your diet to enjoy a speedy recovery.
Controls complications of diabetes. Diabetes can cause lots of
complications, and the loss of your sight may be the one you fear most.
However, zinc just may come to the rescue and save your precious vision.
Studies show that diabetics with retina damage have even lower levels of
zinc than usual. Researchers believe zinc protects your eye from free
radicals, and when you don't have enough, it leaves you open to free-radical
attack and possible eye disease. One small study found that a daily 30-mg
supplement of zinc raised diabetics' zinc levels while lowering their free
radical levels.
Studies also show that if you lack zinc you may not be able to keep your
blood sugar level normal after eating. This is partly due to lower
concentrations of insulin in your blood. A survey found that only 6 percent
of diabetics were getting their Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of zinc,
so supplementing might be good insurance against diabetes.
Aids vision. Zinc also may help protect vision in people who
don't have diabetes. Your eye contains more zinc than any other part of your
body. In macular degeneration, an age-related disease of the eye, injury
caused by light may set off free radical damage that can slowly rob you of
your sight. Zinc supplementation may protect against this damage or even
reverse damage that has already occurred.
Zinc plays a role in keeping your night vision sharp, possibly because it
helps activate vitamin A in your eye. Vitamin A is well known for its
eye-protecting abilities, but zinc may be its silent, helpful partner.
Curtails cold symptoms.
The common cold may not make you older, but it sure can make you feel older.
It is probably the most frequently occurring illness in the world, and
scientists have been searching for centuries to find a cure. Zinc may not be
the miracle cure for the common cold, but it may provide quicker relief from
the symptoms. One study found that people who used zinc lozenges spent half
as many days with coughing, nasal drainage, and sore throat as those who
didn't. The lozenges also reduced the number of days they experienced
headache, hoarseness, and nasal congestion.
However, the zinc also produced some side effects, such as nausea and an
unpleasant taste, so the lozenges may not work for everyone. The flavorings
in some lozenges also may interfere with the zinc so it can't work. Look for
a form of zinc called zinc gluconate-glycine, which is easily released when
you suck on the lozenges.
Axes anemia. Do you feel older than you are because you're
tired all the time? Anemia is a condition in which your blood loses some of
its ability to carry oxygen. The result is fatigue, dizziness, and breathing
difficulty. You may even experience heart palpitations because your heart
isn't getting enough oxygen. Iron deficient anemia is the most common form
of anemia, but surprisingly, you may need to treat it with zinc in addition
to iron supplements. Studies show that zinc helps return your blood to its
proper oxygen pumping potential.
Sizzling sexual function. Have you ever heard that oysters are
an aphrodisiac? They actually may boost a man's sex drive because of their
rich supply of zinc. Since zinc is necessary for production of testosterone,
sperm, and semen, it could help put some zip back into your sex life.
Fights cancer. Low zinc levels are common in people with many
different types of cancer. This is probably because the T cells that zinc
helps stimulate are some of your body's leading weapons in the battle
against cancer. Zinc levels may quickly become exhausted while trying to
help produce enough T cells to fight this serious disease.
Although zinc has not been proven to help treat or prevent cancer, it is
being used as an additional treatment in precancerous conditions of the
esophagus. One study found that people with a certain type of lung cancer
lived longer if they had high levels of zinc.
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