Emma McGowan NatureCity author & contributor

Premenstrual syndrome can have a serious effect on certain women every month. A recent study shows that consuming more than 20 mg per day of iron may lower the risk of PMS by 30-40%. Consuming at least 15 mg of zinc was also found to confer some benefit in combating PMS.

The researchers chose 3,000 participants in the Nurses’ Health Study II who were free of PMS at the beginning of the study. At the end of the study, 1,057 of the women had been diagnosed with PMS. During the ten year study period, all of the participants completed food frequency questionnaires at baseline, 4 years later, and at the end of the study to assess mineral intake.

Women with the highest intake of iron derived from plants and supplements were up to 40% less likely to develop PMS compared to women with the lowest intake. Both the 20 mg of iron and the 15 mg of zinc consumed daily by the women with the highest intakes were higher than the current recommended levels for premenopausal women (18 mg and 8 mg, respectively).

The researchers also found that women with higher levels of potassium were more likely to develop PMS, which they attributed to the fact that potassium plays a role in managing the balance of fluids in the body.

The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Harvard University. It was published online ahead of print on February 26, 2013, in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Because iron is essential for healthy blood, iron consumption affects everything from muscle function to brain function to regulation of body temperature.

If you’re looking to add more iron to your daily diet, try to eat more lean, low-fat red meats. If you’re a vegetarian or just prefer not to consume too much meat, try legumes, lentils, soy beans, whole grains and green leafy vegetables as they are great dietary sources of iron.

An essential mineral, zinc has been linked to maintaining a healthy immune system, healing wounds, helping with growth, supporting the reproductive system, and better eye health.

Zinc can be found in many foods, including oysters, beef, crab, fortified cereals, lobster, beans, yogurt, nuts, milk, chicken, cheese, and oatmeal. You can also consume zinc in a supplement form, but be careful not to take too much. Intakes of greater than 150 mg per day have been associated with negative side effects, such as a weakened immune system.

Emma McGowan NatureCity author & contributor

The discovery of ancient medicines in archaeology, while extremely rare, can shed light on the development of medicine over the centuries. In a historic find, Italian researchers discovered zinc supplements in a ship that sank near Tuscany sometime around 130-140 BC.

The zinc supplements were sealed in oxygen-free metal tins and included a mixture of animal and plant lipids, pine resin, starch and linen fibers. They ranged in size from one to four centimeters.

The supplements match the descriptions of zinc tablets used to treat eye problems found in the writings of Theophrastus (who lived in 371-286 BC), Pliny the Elder (first century AD) and Dioscorides (first century AD. This finding provides concrete evidence that zinc supplements have been used for thousands of years to treat eye conditions.

The ship also contained ancient medical equipment, such as an iron probe and a bronze vessel that was probably used for bloodletting or for applying hot air to soothe aches.

An essential mineral, zinc has been linked to maintaining a healthy immune system, healing wounds, helping with growth, supporting the reproductive system, better eye health, and mood improvement in women.

Zinc can be found in many foods, including oysters, beef, crab, fortified cereals, lobster, beans, yogurt, nuts, milk, chicken, cheese, and oatmeal. You can also consume zinc in a supplement form but be careful not to take too much. Intakes of greater than 150 mg per day have been associated with negative side effects, such as a weakened immune system.

Scott Greenberg, NatureCity author & contributor

Research has shown that the prostate has the highest concentration of zinc of all the human organs and that cancer makes it difficult for cells to store zinc. This suggests that zinc levels in the prostate may be related to overall prostate health. A new study examining the Swedish population suggests that consuming zinc may lower the risk of dying from prostate cancer.

The researchers were based at the Harvard School of Public Health and the findings were published in the March 2011 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Participants in the study included 525 Swedish men with an average age of 71 and a prostate cancer diagnosis. The researchers followed the men for up to 20 years or until they died of prostate cancer or from another cause.

The participants completed food questionnaires to determine their zinc intake. At the end of the study the participants were divided into two groups: individuals who died from prostate cancer and those who died from another cause.

The researchers discovered that individuals who consumed the most zinc (more than 15.6 mg per day) were 36% less likely to die of prostate cancer than those who consumed the least zinc (less than 12.8 mg per day). Men in the earliest stages of the cancer at the time of diagnosis showed a 76% reduced risk in the highest intake group.

An essential mineral, zinc has been linked to maintaining a healthy immune system, healing wounds, helping with growth, supporting the reproductive system, better eye health, and mood improvement in women.

Zinc can be found in many foods, including oysters, beef, crab, fortified cereals, lobster, beans, yogurt, nuts, milk, chicken, cheese, and oatmeal. You can also consume zinc in a supplement form but be careful not to take too much. Intakes of greater than 150 mg per day have been associated with negative side effects, such as a weakened immune system.

Scott Greenberg, NatureCity author & contributor

There’s no cure for the common cold but a recent analysis of multiple clinical trials suggests that zinc lozenges may noticeably reduce the duration of cold symptoms.

The study was published in The Open Respiratory Medicine Journal on May 19, 2011.

The researchers, based out of the University of Helsinki, Finland, examined 13 placebo-controlled clinical trials which tested the findings of a 1984 study that found that dissolving 23mg of zinc in the mouth every other hour resulted in a seven day reduction in symptom duration.

Five of the trials examined showed no effect from zinc lozenges, but the researchers noted that all of these trials tested less than 75mg of zinc per day. Of the remaining 10 trials, 5 used daily doses of over 75mg of zinc acetate and 5 used the same dosage of other types of zinc salts.

The zinc acetate trials showed a 42% reduction in cold symptom duration and the trials using other zinc salts showed a reduction of 20%. The researchers stated that these trials suggest that the composition and dosage of zinc lozenges are important for shortening cold duration.

Zinc is present in every cell in our body and is essential for immune system function, memory, and maintaining normal blood sugar levels. It has also been linked to better eye health (especially as we get older) and lower levels of anger and depression in women.

If you’re looking to increase zinc in your diet, try adding some lean beef, beans, or pumpkin seeds. Zinc supplements have also been shown to be a safe and effective way to increase your zinc levels.

Sarah McGowan-Freije, NatureCity author & contributor

Zinc can be effective at reducing the severity of a cold, according to researchers at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education in India. Their findings were published in the February 2011 edition of The Cochrane Collaboration.

The researchers reviewed fifteen clinical trials that consisted of approximately 1,500 participants altogether. Thirteen of the trials were therapeutic and two were preventative. The participants were given zinc syrup, lozenges or tablets.

In the therapeutic trials, participants were given zinc for at least five consecutive days to treat a cold. In the preventative trials, participants were given zinc for at least five months to prevent the common cold.

A review of the studies’ results showed that the duration and severity of the common cold was reduced for the participants in therapeutic trials. Specifically, after seven days, more participants who took the zinc had relieved their symptoms compared to those who took the placebo.

When taken as a preventative measure, zinc reduced the incidence of the common cold as well as the need to use antibiotics.

The common cold is one of the most prevalent illnesses worldwide. It is estimated that adults suffer from the common cold 2 to 4 times annually, and that children may suffer up to 12 times annually. According to the researchers, cold-related work loss accounts for over $20 billion of economic loss per year.

There is no proven treatment for the common cold, but it appears that zinc can at least alleviate the symptoms, and possibly even prevent the onset. In-vitro tests have shown that zinc has antiviral properties, which would explain its effectiveness in combating the common cold.

Sarah McGowan-Freije, NatureCity author & contributor

Zinc deficiency is present in approximately 30% of the world’s population. Studies have shown mood swings and depression to be common symptoms for women who have even mild zinc deficiency.

Researchers at Seitoku University in Japan recently conducted a study to see if zinc supplements can reduce those symptoms.

The study was published in the April 2010 issue of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The researchers randomly recruited 30 young women for the study. At the start of the study the women were randomly assigned to receive either multivitamins or multivitamins plus 7mg of zinc for 10 weeks.

At the end of the 10 weeks the researchers observed reductions in levels of anger and depression among the zinc group only. These findings support previous studies conducted using lab animals.

While the anger reducing effect of zinc supplementation only applies to women, zinc has a number of other health benefits for both men and women.

Zinc is present in every cell in our body and is essential for immune system function, memory, maintaining normal blood sugar levels and may even protect you from blindness due to age related macular degeneration.

Zinc deficiency can lead to a number of health complications ranging from chronic fatigue to infertility among men.

Supplements appear to be a safe and effective way to increase your zinc intake. A large number of foods also contain zinc such as beef, beans and even pumpkin seeds