Check Your Copper The following excerpt is quoted from Prevention Magazine, (June 2000, pg 64). The wrong kind of copper may be lurking in your supplement! Chances are good that you're suffering from a nutrient shortage that's making you age faster than you should (ed. note: bet we have the baby boomers attention now, don't we!). And your multi-vitamin/mineral supplement may not help you. That surprising news comes from scientists studying copper, a mineral that your body needs in small but critical amounts. The problem is most American diets don't supply the Daily Value for copper of 2 milligrams (mg). Women average only half that! Men barely get 1.5 mg a day. Over time, your body may become low enough in copper to speed up a process called protein glycation. Basically, that's the kind of tissue breakdown that happens as you age, says USDA copper specialist Jack Saari, PhD, and could leave your heart, blood vessels, and kidneys old before their time. (Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, Apr 1999). What's astonishing is, your supplement may not contribute any copper. David Baker, PhD nutrition researcher at the University of Illinois, Urbana, found that most multi’s contain a copper compound (cupric oxide) that your body can't absorb (Journal of Nutrition, Dec 1999). "I'm amazed to find cupric oxide in some multi’s when we know it's not absorbed," says Dr. Baker. Bottom line: Age-proof your diet with copper-rich nuts, whole grains, leafy greens, and beans. Choose multi’s with easy to absorb copper sulfate." |
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