Zinc - it helps your bones

Everyone knows the calcium is essential for bone health in our older years. What amazes me is that there is a host of other nutrients that directly impact bone density/health that people are not aware of. Vitamin D and magnesium are the ones that immediately come to mind.

Well we need to add Zinc to the list. It turns out that:

Zinc is an essential trace mineral that is a component of >200 enzymes and is known to be necessary for normal collagen synthesis and mineralization of bone. In animals, zinc deficiency has been associated with abnormalities in bone growth, bone formation, and mineralization. A significant positive correlation between human bone zinc content and bone strength suggests that zinc may play a role in bone health. Low zinc intake has been reported to be associated with low bone mass in women. Furthermore, reduced serum or plasma zinc concentrations and increased urinary zinc excretion have also been reported in women with osteoporosis 

This is taken from an introduction to 2004 paper. Hence this information is at least 6 years old. Now last time you saw anyone about your bone health - did they tell you about the importance of zinc. Not likely. Medical professionals are to busy to be keeping up with the latest nutritional information.......

The study then went onto show that zinc plasma levels in elderly men are correlated with osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is actually serious in men as well as women. With 1 in 8 men over 50 having a bone fracture due to this disease. 
 

Reference: Taisun H Hyun, Elizabeth Barrett-Connor and David B Milne Zinc intakes and plasma concentrations in men with osteoporosis: the Rancho Bernardo Study American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 80, No. 3, 715-721, September 2004