The importance of zinc in weight reduction

The latest International Journal of Obesity has a interesting study regarding Zinc. Zinc is found in many parts of the body, and I have already blogged about zinc and depression. Zinc is a key factor in the enzyme (Zinc-alpha2-glycoprotein for those who want to know). It would appear that this enzyme, called by its acronym ZAG, is important in weight regulation. It was found that the higher the ZAG levels in blood, the thinner a person is, and lower blood levels we found in obese people.

It is not yet completely understood why this is but it is throught that ZAG reduces or stops the enzymes that eat up body fat.

Without zinc being available for the body to use, you cannot produce ZAG. Therefore you are likely to come obese. And if you are trying to loose weight and you don't have enough zinc then you are fighting an uphill battle so to speak.

Reference: F-Y Gong, S-J Zhang, J-Y Deng, H-J Zhu, H Pan, N-S Li1 and Y-F Shi Zinc-alpha2-glycoprotein is involved in regulation of body weight through inhibition of lipogenic enzymes in adipose tissue. International Journal of Obesity (2009) 33, 1023–1030;