Food Facts

The mineral zinc has received some attention as of late because it appears to help fight the common cold when taken at the onset of symptoms. However, new research has shown another potential use in regard to idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss, also known as SSNHL.

The featured study found the following nutrients to have a beneficial impact on telomere length:

• Vitamin B12
• Zinc
• Vitamin D
• Omega-3
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin E

Below, I will review a few of those, plus several additional recommendations for what I believe are among the most important nutrients to maintain and promote telomere lengthening.

Zinc is an essential mineral required by the body for maintaining a sense of smell, keeping a healthy immune system, building proteins, triggering enzymes, and creating DNA. Zinc also helps the cells in your body communicate by functioning as a neurotransmitter. A deficiency in zinc can lead to stunted growth, diarrhea, impotence, hair loss, eye and skin lesions, impaired appetite, and depressed immunity. Conversely, consuming too much zinc can lead to nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, and headaches in the short term, and can disrupt absorption of copper and iron in the long term. If you have a zinc deficiency, then animal foods are better sources of zinc than plant foods. The current daily value (DV) for Zinc is 15mg. Below is a list of the top ten foods highest in Zinc by common serving size, for more, see the list of high zinc foods by nutrient density, and the extended list of zinc rich foods.

A study published in Osteoporosis International has concluded that lifetime supplementation with vitamin K1 or, even better, K2, vitamin D3, and calcium is likely to reduce fractures and increase survival in postmenopausal women.

You may be aware that vitamin D and calcium are a powerful duo for bone health, including the prevention of osteoporosis. One of the undisputed benefits of vitamin D is that it helps you ABSORB calcium – this link has been known for many decades.

Spirulina has a record of safety, even at high doses, with few reported side effects. However, if harvest from polluted waters, or cultivated incorrectly, it can accumulate toxins from the environment.

Flax seeds resemble sesame seeds in appearance but are slightly bigger in size. Flax seeds are known as Alsi in Hindi. They have a hard but smooth and shiny outer shell. The colour of this seed ranges from deep amber to reddish brown. It has a warm, kind of nutty and earthy flavour.

                              
Genetically modified foods (or GM foods) are foods produced from organisms that have had specific changes introduced into their DNA using the methods of Genetic Engineering . These techniques have allowed for the introduction of new traits as well as a far greater control over a food's genetic structure than previously afforded by methods such as selective breeding and mutation breeding.