Think Zinc - An Essential Nutrient

Zinc is found in practically every cell in your body. There are about two grams of zinc where it is highly concentrated in the skin, hair, nails, eyes and testes.

Sexually active men need one third more zinc than women. With the exception of breast-feeding women, because the infant will absorb larger amounts of its mother’s zinc supply than normal.

Zinc is a precious mineral. Although our need for this mineral may be small, it plays an enormous part in growth and well-being. This need starts before birth.

It is needed for healthy skin and hair, proper healing of wounds, successful pregnancies and male virility. It also guards against infection and diseases.

Zinc also helps to transport Vitamin A to the retina in the eye. It is a constituent of many enzymes involved in metabolism. There are 156 enzymes that require zinc to be able to function.

Growth and sexual maturity depend on zinc.

What Is An Enzyme?

Enzymes are a protein that helps to break down the nutrients we take into the body through the food we eat; this in turn helps our metabolism.

What Is Metabolism?

Metabolism is the speed that the food we eat is absorbed and used by the body for normal daily living.

How Does Zinc Get Into The Body?

The body cannot manufacture Zinc; it has to be taken into the body by what you eat.

Food Sources are:

Oysters, Red Meat, Beans, Dairy Products, Poultry, Nuts and Whole Grains, Liver and Seeds.

The recommended daily dietary requirements of zinc are 15 mg. Vegetarians may suffer from a zinc deficiency, due to not eating red meat. Most of our intake of zinc is from our eating protein foods.

So a vegetarian should be sure to eat dairy products, beans and lentils. Pumpkin seeds provide one of the most concentrated vegetarian food sources of zinc.

Zinc is lost via the faeces, urine, hair, skin, sweat, semen and also menstruation.

Deficiency can result in weight loss, skin diseases, loss of hair, poor appetite, diarrhoea and frequent infection.

Those suffering from rheumatoid arthritis may have a zinc deficiency. And heavy drinkers lose a great deal of zinc in their urine.

If you don’t eat enough zinc providing food, you should take Supplementation.

Zinc in Combination

Zinc is usually found in combination with Calcium and Vitamin C.

What Zinc Can Do For You?

It helps to support a healthy Immune System. For example in Wound Healing. Also it helps you to taste and smell.

For normal growth and development during Pregnancy and Childhood Zinc is essential.

Too Much Zinc Can Be Bad For You.

Excess zinc is toxic. In other words it can poison the body. Too much will interfere with the metabolism of other minerals in the body, eg iron and copper.

Symptoms of too much zinc can include nausea, vomiting and fever.

For your good Health ……… Think Zinc.

Copyright 2005 Eva Moffat

About The Author

Eva Moffat an Independent Herbaife Distributor. My mission is to help you with your nutritional needs. Specialising in Weight Loss.

Please visit my website for further information.

http://www.weight-loss-4-you.com

E-Mail: eva.moffat@onetel.net

The Growth In The Organic And Healthy Food Market

Organic produce is one of the fastest growing food retail sectors in the country.

Health scares such as BSE and foot-and-mouth, plus fears of GM crops/food and synthetic dyes and ingredients such as Sudan1 have led to considerable growth in the organic and the healthy food market as worried consumers seek out more healthy and natural products.

Recent research by market analysts nVision suggests four in ten adults now choose organic options on a regular basis. Organic supermarkets in England are boming and Europes biggest organic event, the Biofach exhibition in Germany in getting bigger every year.

Unfortunately, at the moment retailers are charging artificially high prices. I was in Tesco last week which is a rare occurrence as I shop locally where possible, and I nearly died when I saw the prices being charged for organic yogurt and eggs compared to the non-organic brands. Its about time that the government started to investigate these organic suppliers and supermarkets to see who is ripping us off! Encouraging competition is not always a good idea as this can drives down prices (good for the consumer) which can put organic suppliers out of business if they have small profit margins. I understand that we have to pay more for organic produce because there are more crop failures due to the fact that the farmers cannot use pesticides, but what is an acceptable percentage and does this vary from product to product. Should organic fish be 10 percent more expensive than non organic fish and vegetables 20 per cent etc?

Once only available in small health shops or farmers markets, organic foods are becoming much more widely available. In the past 10 years sales of organic food in the UK have increased over 10-fold from £100m in 1993/94 to nearly £1.4bn in 2004/05. This large growth is predicted to continue, and many companies are jumping into the market. Sales through farmers markets and farm shops have grown faster than any other retail outlet. Organic food and drink now accounts for 1.2 per cent of the total retail market (Source Soil Association).

There are two types of organic foods.

Fresh food

Fresh food is seasonal and perishable. Vegetables and fruits are the most available type of organic, fresh food, and are closely associated with organic farming. They are often purchased directly from growers, at farmers markets, supermarkets or through speciality food stores. Organic meat, eggs, dairy are also available.

Processed food

Processed food accounts for most of the items in a supermarket. Often, within the same store, both organic and conventional versions of products are available, and the price of the organic version is usually higher as already mentioned. Most processed organic food comes from larger companies producing and marketing products like organic baby food, organic beer, organic pasta or other convenience foods.

How do I know its organic?

The term organic is defined by law - all organic food production and processing is governed by a strict set of rules. Look for symbols such as the Soil Association symbol for your guarantee of the highest organic standards. The Soil Association organic symbol is the UK's largest and most recognisable trademark for organic produce. Wherever you see it you can be sure that the food you have purchased has been produced and processed to strict and rigorous animal welfare and environmental standards. Other symbols to look out for include the Organic Food Federation and Certified Organic Ingredients.

Most people dont have enough time to read the labels of all the different food products that they buy to check for organic ingredients. So look for the various symbols, you can then be sure that the product complies with minimum government standards.

The use of such symbols is entirely optional and a product can still be organic even though if it doesnt carry the symbol of a certifying body. That means if you want to be 100% satisfied that what you are eating or using is organic always read the label or speak to the vendor.

Where you will find the symbol? - Look out for organic symbols on almost any kind of food and drink you can think of from fresh produce like fruit, vegetables and meat to processed foods such as bread or baby food. You can even buy organic pet food!

About The Author
Davinos Greeno works with the Organic and Eco directory http://www.guidemegreen.com This growing green products directory lists 100s of Organic, Fairtrade, Eco and Ethical companies, jobs http://www.jobs.guidemegreen.com and Campaigning Videos http://www.videos.guidemegreen.com.

Tips on Protecting Yourself and Your Pet from Toxic Food

Brace yourself it’s an eating frenzy between now and the end of the year. The office parties and gatherings at homes are ready to entice you with delicious food offerings. Besides watching your waistline grow, there can be danger lurking in the delectable food dish in front of you.

If you watched the news this summer, cases of E. Coli from spinach caused a scare and the recall of packaged spinach. Packaged lettuce was also a concern for E. Coli contamination.

Many of the parties and pot lucks have food left out over a long period of time and may not be safe to eat later in the day. Your best strategy is to get there early when the food is just put out for consumption. Of course getting there early usually guarantees the best selection of food choices. Most people who bring in potluck items are conscientious enough to prepare food in a cleanly manner. Most caterers have to abide by health department regulations.

So what do you do to protect yourself from consuming something that may be unhealthy for you? There’s always the sniff test and the appearance test. You can usually tell if some food dish is getting crusty from being left out and then you know to stay away.

You may have all star intuition or gut feeling tell you, this food is not safe or appropriate for you to eat. Chances are your emotions take over and you load your plate with delicious looking comfort food ignoring those signals you get to pass on a particular food choice.

You may even be sensitive to the ingredients of a dish and have an allergic reaction if you eat it. This is a time to enjoy yourself and getting sick from eating at a party or potluck is not usually your idea of a fun time.

Many office refrigerators are prime breeding grounds for neglected food that grows smelly and moldy. Throwing out that food is a no-brainer, and yet the habit of leaving it for someone else to toss prevails.

One of the first steps is to pitch in and make sure your home and office refrigerator is cleaned and to toss that old food. When it comes to the office refrigerator, it’s usually left for someone else to do and may not get done. Getting someone to help you clean the refrigerator (if you decide to take it on) is a harder sell than The Little Red Hen had when she invited people to help her make the bread.

It’s possible you have survived the eating frenzy during these holiday parties and potlucks. You can be grateful that you have never had a problem. The enticement of free and plentiful food sometimes clouds your judgment to protect yourself from getting ill from consuming it.

One of the things you could do is to use dowsing or muscle testing (kineseology or device-less dowsing) to ask if the food you are about to put on your plate or into your mouth is safe for you to eat. Using dowsing with a pendulum at a public gathering may not make you look too good. But using device-less dowsing can give you the protection you need while being discreet in public. You can easily learn how to dowse with your fingers.

As with all dowsing you need to establish a link with a higher power then establish a yes and no response. It is best if you test your yes and no response with questions you know the answers to like your name and birthday. There are several different ways to use your fingers to dowse. One is rubbing your index and thumb in a circular motion, a stick usually is meant to be a yes and smooth movement can be the no response.

Asking dowsing questions is best to be phrased to get a yes or no response. For example, if you are questioning the safeness of a particular food dish, “is this casserole safe for me to eat?” And then you can ask, “is it in the highest and best good for me to eat this brownie?” Well, when the sweet tooth hits sometimes even the no response can be overridden. You have to decide in that moment whether the pleasure of eating that sweet treat now will be better than the possible expansion of the waist or even the discomfort you could feel from overstuffing yourself.

For some of you there can be a tendency of offering treats to your pets during the holidays. You need to be cautious when sharing people food to your pets. Be aware there have been recalls of pet treats and pet food. You can’t have the Internet reports with you everywhere you go shopping for food, unless you have the latest and greatest tech device.

Even then you can use device-less dowsing to check to see if that treat or bag of food is safe for your pet. I just saw a coupon from a product that seems great for dogs and is meant to help clean teeth (it is the same color as lawns in the summer) – I recall a report that revealed that some dogs became ill from this product and some dogs even died. For people who love their pets and treat them as family members, protecting them from toxic food products is vital to caring for your pet’s health and avoiding high vet bills.

Enjoy yourself, and as they say, “Eat, drink and be merry.” It’s always easy to assume the safety of your food and your pet’s food until a recall or problem hits the news. If you value your health and the health of your family and pets you will consider taking the steps you need to protect it.

You have a choice to discover if a food choice is by using the ancient art of dowsing. It’s a simple thing to learn and to use. Discover how dowsing can help you at http://www.thedowsingadvantage.com. Many people wish for peace of earth this time of year. Why not take that a step further and give yourself peace of mind.

About The Author
Lynn Wertheimer has been dowsing for over 20 years. Lynn uses her pendulum and device-less dowsing in all areas of her life including making sure the food she buys is safe to eat. She is the author of the eBook, The Dowsing Advantage. The Dowsing Advantage is offered with 4 bonus reports: How to Guide for Shopping; How to Find and Improve Relationships; Tips on How to Use Dowsing for Feng Shui and Fun Experiments for Kids. You can learn the Secrets to Dowsing fast for making powerful decisions and more by visiting http://www.thedowsingadvantage.com.

Top Three Death-Causing Toxic Chemicals That Can Be Found In Commercial Dog Foods

As a dog owner, you should be always looking for healthier dog food with higher quality.

The problem is that most of the dog owners like you are taught to believe that commercial dog foods are healthier choices for your dogs. The truth is most of them are NOT. Read on to find out why.

Here are the top three death-causing toxic chemicals that can be found in most commercial dog foods:

1. Sodium pentobarbital
2. BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole), BHT (butylated hydroxytolulene), Ethoxyquin and Propylene glycol
3. Lead

Their devastating effects have led them to be banned from human consumption. Read on to find out.

Sodium pentobarbital is the chemical that veterinarians use to put dogs and cats to ‘sleep’. This toxic chemical cannot be removed completely during food processing. So when your dog eats those commercial dog foods, it is possible for this death-causing toxic to accumulate inside their body system permanently. When it reaches a toxic level, it will kill, if not, cause irreversible damages to your dog’s body system eventually causing it to fall ill easily or result in organ failure.

BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole), BHT (butylated hydroxytolulene), ethoxyquin and propylene glycol are commonly used as fat stabilizers in dog foods as preservatives. BHA and BHT cause liver and kidney dysfunction while ethoxyquin is a potential cancer-causing agent. Hence, many companies have claimed that they moved away from using ethoxyquin. Another toxic chemical, propylene glycol, is found in many semi-moist dog foods and causes red blood cells destruction.

Lead, an extremely toxic heavy metal is also commonly found in pet foods. A research conducted in Massachusetts Institute of Technology published as "Lead in Animal Foods," presented one shocking discovery – A typical 9-pound cat was found to be ingesting, through commercial pet food, far more lead daily than the toxic level for children in their lifetime. Imagine that on your dog. And here is the worst part – heavy metals reside in body systems permanently. Heavy metals have known to cause nervous damage to animals when accumulated in their body systems.

This is a very real fact of commercial dog foods though not all commercial dog companies pumps all these materials into their dog food products.

So if you truly want the best for your dog, the best way out is to personally prepare food meals for it. At least you know you won’t be pumping the food up with any unnecessary deadly preservatives.

© Dominic Tay, DogFoodSecretsExposed.com

About The Author
© Dominic Tay, DogFoodSecretsExposed.com

Dominic Tay is a dog lover and the owner of DogFoodSecretsExposed.com, a site dedicated to educating dog owners the real truth behind commercial dog food. Visit his website now and find out how he can save your dog from the devastating effects of commercial dog food and prolong your pet’s lifespan by 134% NATURALLY at http://www.DogFoodSecretsExposed.com.