Researchers have revealed that zinc is one of the most essential trace metals found in human nutrition and lifestyle and it affects the human body in many ways.

The adult body contains about two to three grams of zinc. It could be found in organs, tissues, bones, fluids, and cells. Foods with high protein content, specifically animal protein, would be major sources of zinc in the human diet. Zinc could also be used as fortification for other foods as well. Nearly half of the world's population could be at risk for inadequate zinc intake.

In a new article 'Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety' the researchers reviewed numerous studies and found that Zinc was not only a vital element in various physiological processes; but it was also a drug that helps in the prevention of many diseases.

It was established that the blood zinc level was less in patients brain with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease (Brewer, and others 2010).In a rodent study, it was observed that zinc behaves like an antidepressant (Nowak and others, 2005). It performs a noteworthy role in the regulation of arterial blood pressure. Males and females were reported to metabolize zinc differently when suffering from hypertension (Tubek, 2007).

Zinc deficiency in the liver occurred not only in those with liver cirrhosis, but also in less advanced alcoholic and nonalcoholic liver disease (Bode and others, 1998). A mild deficiency of zinc during a pregnancy could cause increased maternal morbidity, abnormal taste sensation, prolonged gestation, inefficient labor, atonic bleeding, and an increased risk to fetuses (Jameson, 1993).

The metal was very important in the synthesis, storage, and secretion of insulin (Chausmer 1998). A low level of zinc has been shown to play a role in diabetics with associated disease conditions such as coronary artery disease and several related risk factors including hypertension, and elevated levels of triglycerides (Singh and others, 1998). Zinc might also shorten the duration of severe pneumonia and time in the hospital (Brooks, 2004).

Studies show a correlation between zinc deficiency in geriatric patients and reduced activity of the thymus gland and thymic hormones, decreased response to vaccinations, and reduced immunity (Haase and Rink, 2009) and its deficiency has also been linked with delayed wound healing, and has been found to be crucial to the healing of gastric ulcers especially at the early stage (Kennan and Morris, 1993; Andrews and Gallagher-Allred, 1999; Watanabe, 1995).

The article is published by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT).

A new study has identified three potential pathways by which dried plums may contribute to bone health.

Researchers from San Diego State University and Florida State University Fifty-seven million Americans suffer from low bone density or osteoporosis, a disease which causes bones to become so weak and brittle that even a minor fall or other stresses might cause fractures. So the team examined the mechanism of the bone-protective properties of an unlikely source, California dried plums.

Dr. Shirin Hooshmand, PhD, said that while it was difficult to identify the exact mechanism behind dried plums' positive effect on bones, however, this study identified three potential pathways for the mechanism behind the effect of dried plums on bone resorption and bone formation.

This, according to study author and researcher Dr. Bahram H. Arjmandi, PhD, RD, Florida State University's Margaret A. Sitton Professor of the Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences and Director of the Center for Advancing Exercise and Nutrition Research on Aging (CAENRA) in the College of Human Sciences, was due, in part, to the ability of dried plums to suppress the rate of bone resorption, or the breakdown of bone, which tends to exceed the rate of new bone growth as people age.

Arjmandi suggested that dried plums might actually help to regenerate bone in people who have experienced bone loss, which was a serious issue for men and women alike.

Collectively, both the human and animal studies indicate that adding dried plums to the diet may be an effective way to help support healthy bones.However, the research also suggested that dried plums might also support heart health and digestive health.

The study found that dried plums help manage weight through improved satiety, perhaps by producing lower glucose and/or appetite-regulating hormone concentrations.

The study is published in the British Journal of Nutrition.

Niacin, a common cholesterol drug for 50 years, should no longer be prescribed owing to potential increased risk of death, dangerous side effects and no benefit in reducing heart attacks and strokes, researchers said.

"There might be one excess death for every 200 people we put on Niacin. With that kind of signal, this is an unacceptable therapy for the vast majority of patients," said cardiologist Donald Lloyd-Jones from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.

Niacin should be reserved only for patients at very high risk for a heart attack and stroke who cannot take statins, Lloyd-Jones added.

Lloyd-Jones's research was based on a large new study that looked at adults, aged 50 to 80, with cardiovascular disease who took niacin (vitamin B3) to see if it reduced heart attack and stroke compared to a placebo over four years.

All patients in the trial were already being treated with a statin medication.

Researchers found that Niacin did not reduce heart attacks and stroke rates compared with a placebo.

More concerning, Niacin was associated with an increased trend towards death from all causes as well as significant increases in serious side effects.

These included liver problems, excess infections, excess bleeding, gout and loss of control of blood sugar for diabetics.

"For the reduction of heart disease and stroke risk, statins remain the most important drug-based strategy," Lloyd-Jones said.

The research appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Being overweight may protect people from cardiovascular mortality, researchers, including one of Indian-origin, have claimed.

High body mass index (BMI) is associated with multiple cardiovascular diseases. However, emerging data suggest that there is an "obesity paradox" - that being overweight may actually protect patients from cardiovascular mortality.

Investigators have confirmed that the risk of total mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and myocardial infarction is highest among underweight patients, while cardiovascular mortality is lowest among overweight patients, according to two reports published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Abhishek Sharma, Cardiology Fellow at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of 36 studies.

They determined that low BMI (less than 20 kg/m2) in tens of thousands of patients with coronary artery disease who underwent coronary revascularisation procedures was associated with a 1.8- to 2.7-fold higher risk of myocardial infarction and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality over a mean follow up period of 1.7 years.

Conversely overweight and obese patients had more favourable outcomes. Cardiovascular mortality risk was lowest among overweight patients with a high BMI (25-30 kg/m2) compared to people with a normal BMI (20-25 kg/m2).

In obese and severely obese patients with a BMI in the 30-35 and over 35 kg/m2 range, all-cause mortality was 27 per cent and 22 per cent lower than people with normal BMI.

"At this stage we can only speculate on the reasons for this paradox. One explanation may be that overweight patients are more likely to be prescribed cardioprotective medications such as beta blockers and statins and in higher doses than the normal weight population," Sharma said.

In the second study, investigators led by Carl Lavie, Medical Director of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Preventative Cardiology at the John Ochsner Heart & Vascular Institute, Ochsner Clinical School, at the University of Queensland School of Medicine in New Orleans examined the "obesity paradox" from another perspective.

They evaluated the effects of body composition as a function of lean mass index (LMI) and body fat (BF) on the correlation between increasing BMI and decreasing mortality.

They estimated BF and LMI in nearly 48,000 people with a preserved left ventricular ejection fraction of more than 50 per cent and examined the survival advantages of obesity across strata of these body compositions.

This large observational study showed that higher lean body mass was associated with 29 per cent lower mortality, and while higher fat mass also exhibited survival benefits, this advantage disappeared after adjustment for lean body mass, suggesting that non-fat tissue bears the primary role in conferring greater survival.

Expectant moms or women who are trying to get pregnant should avoid light during the night, according to a new research.

Darkness is important for optimum reproductive health in women, and for protecting the developing foetus, said study researcher Russel J Reiter, a professor of cellular biology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

In a review of studies published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, Reiter and his colleagues evaluated previously published research, and summarised the role of melatonin levels and circadian rhythms on successful reproduction in females.

The evidence showed that every time the light at night was turned on, it turned down the production of melatonin, 'Live Science' reported.

Melatonin, a hormone secreted by the pineal gland in the brain in response to darkness, is important when women are trying to conceive, because it protects their eggs from oxidative stress, Reiter said.

"If women are trying to get pregnant, maintain at least eight hours of a dark period at night. The light-dark cycle should be regular from one day to the next; otherwise, a woman's biological clock is confused," he said.

Eight hours of darkness every night is also optimal during pregnancy, and ideally, there should be no interruption of night time darkness with light, especially during the last trimester of a pregnancy, Reiter said.

Turning on the light at night suppresses melatonin production in women, and means the foetal brain may not get the proper amount of melatonin to regulate the function of its biological clock, he said.