Le virtù dello zinco !
... e perchè nella mia prossima dieta per la massa spesso ci saranno i crostacei ;-) ...
iugi
ps. appena ho un attimo commento l' articolo!
Zinc Status and Serum Testosterone
Levels of Healthy Adults
This article, co-authored by a team of five researchers headed by Ananda S.
Prasad, M.D., Ph.D., has enormous implications for all bodybuilders,
especially those who are "natural." It was originally published in the
peer-reviewed medical journal Nutrition, Volume 12, No.5, 1996, pp. 344-348.
Dr. Prasad is considered to be the world expert on the trace mineral zinc
and its metabolic effects on human beings. He has somewhere between 200 and
300 peer-reviewed publications to his credit and knows very well how to
design a research project. He notes at the beginning of the research
report's abstract that "Zinc deficiency is prevalent throughout the world,
including the USA."
In this article, Dr. Prasad discusses an investigatioin of the effect of
"mild zinc deficiency" on the serum testosterone levels of men.
BACKGROUND:
Testosterone, as the reader may know, is the male sex hormone that many
steroids are formulated to mimic. It is produced naturally in men and
signals the body to develop male characteristics, including increased muscle
mass.
Certain background information here is very important. At BALCO
Laboratories, Inc., of Burlingame, California, where the trace mineral
levels of more than 200,000 people, including thousands of athletes, have
been measured, a test called multi-element analysis has shown that
approximately 70% of all athletes tested have been shown to have either a
depletion (which is what Prasad calls a "mild deficiency") or an outright
deficiency. In either case, in one or more ways health and performance may
be impaired. In the case of a deficiency, the individual will have one or
more overt symptoms identifiable by any knowledgable physician.
Let us emphasize this point more strongly. Over 70% of the serious athletes
BALCO has tested have proven depleted or deficient in zinc. This includes
entire professional football and basketball teams, many amateur and
professional bodybuilders, hundreds of Olympic athletes scattered among many
different events, karate champions, and even elite tennis players.
By and large, these athletes are people who pay careful attention to their
diet, yet the majority are still they are depleted or deficient in zinc.
According to a conversation we have had with Dr. Prasad, bodybuilders are
prone to zinc depletion or deficiency for a number of reasons. First, one of
the best sources of zinc is red meat. Many bodybuilders eat a reduced amount
of meat, concentrating instead on chicken and fish as their main protein
sources.
Second, bodybuilders lose more zinc than do non-exercisers. Zinc exits the
body in a number of ways, including through sweat. On an exercise day, an
athlete will lose 50% more zinc through sweat than on a non-exercise day.
Third, bodybuilders require significantly more zinc than do non-exercisers.
In fact, because bodybuilding involves the infliction of a great deal of
micro-damage to cells and tissues that must be repaired, and because the
muscle are stimulated through exercise to grow, the director of BALCO Labs
estimates that bodybuilders may require up to twice as much zinc as do
non-exercisers.
This means that if you are a bodybuilder, you are very likely to have either
a zinc depletion or deficiency. And if you are using steroids, which depress
the body's zinc, magnesium and copper levels, you are even more likely to be
zinc deficient.
PRASAD'S METHODS AND FINDINGS:
Dr. Prasad's study involved several different populations.
The most important for bodybuilders is the group of four normal adult men
approximately 27 years old. He measured their serum testosterone levels,
then fed them a diet low in zinc for six months, thus inducing a "mild zinc
deficiency" in them. As they progressed through the diet, he measured their
serum testosterone levels two more times, once after eight weeks and once
again after 20 weeks. As these men became progressively zinc depleted, their
serum testosterone concentrations dropped. The chart Dr. Prasad has included
on page 347 of the study indicates that by the end of the 20 weeks they had
approximately ¼ the testosterone that they had had at the study's beginning.
The implictions of this for bodybuilders and other athletes is clear. If you
are depleted or deficient in zinc-and BALCO's clinical experience indicates
that you probably are-you can significantly increase your testosterone level
through zinc supplementation.
In another group of nine older men 55 to 73 years old, Prasad and his fellow
researchers measured serum testosterone levels. These men, he notes, were
"marginally zinc deficient" (what BALCO calls "depleted") at the time of the
first measurement. After three to six months of zinc supplementation, he
measured their serum testosterone levels again. Their testosterone levels
had approximately doubled.
For many bodybuilders, this also has important implications. As you get
older, your testosterone levels decline. That's one reason why older
bodybuilders have more difficulty adding muscle mass than the younger men in
the gym. Many bodybuilders begin to sense at the age of 35 or 40 that adding
muscle has become more difficult. For someone around this age who is zinc
depleted or zinc deficient, supplementation with a highly absorbable form of
zinc (monomethionine or asparate or a combination of the two) can make a
noticeable difference.
Warning: Do not buy an ineffective zinc supplement. Do not buy tablets.
Capsules are more absorbable. Do not buy zinc oxide. This is not a very
absorbable form of zinc. Do not buy any zinc supplement that lists any
calcium compound in the ingredients because the presence of calcium will
reduce your absorption of zinc.
If the capsule contains a filler, it is probably a calcium compound, which
will reduce your absorption of the zinc. Fillers are often not mentioned on
the list of ingredients. If you are buying a supplement from a health food
store and the clerk doesn't know what the filler of a product is, ask him or
her to call the company to find out.
iugi
ps. appena ho un attimo commento l' articolo!
Zinc Status and Serum Testosterone
Levels of Healthy Adults
This article, co-authored by a team of five researchers headed by Ananda S.
Prasad, M.D., Ph.D., has enormous implications for all bodybuilders,
especially those who are "natural." It was originally published in the
peer-reviewed medical journal Nutrition, Volume 12, No.5, 1996, pp. 344-348.
Dr. Prasad is considered to be the world expert on the trace mineral zinc
and its metabolic effects on human beings. He has somewhere between 200 and
300 peer-reviewed publications to his credit and knows very well how to
design a research project. He notes at the beginning of the research
report's abstract that "Zinc deficiency is prevalent throughout the world,
including the USA."
In this article, Dr. Prasad discusses an investigatioin of the effect of
"mild zinc deficiency" on the serum testosterone levels of men.
BACKGROUND:
Testosterone, as the reader may know, is the male sex hormone that many
steroids are formulated to mimic. It is produced naturally in men and
signals the body to develop male characteristics, including increased muscle
mass.
Certain background information here is very important. At BALCO
Laboratories, Inc., of Burlingame, California, where the trace mineral
levels of more than 200,000 people, including thousands of athletes, have
been measured, a test called multi-element analysis has shown that
approximately 70% of all athletes tested have been shown to have either a
depletion (which is what Prasad calls a "mild deficiency") or an outright
deficiency. In either case, in one or more ways health and performance may
be impaired. In the case of a deficiency, the individual will have one or
more overt symptoms identifiable by any knowledgable physician.
Let us emphasize this point more strongly. Over 70% of the serious athletes
BALCO has tested have proven depleted or deficient in zinc. This includes
entire professional football and basketball teams, many amateur and
professional bodybuilders, hundreds of Olympic athletes scattered among many
different events, karate champions, and even elite tennis players.
By and large, these athletes are people who pay careful attention to their
diet, yet the majority are still they are depleted or deficient in zinc.
According to a conversation we have had with Dr. Prasad, bodybuilders are
prone to zinc depletion or deficiency for a number of reasons. First, one of
the best sources of zinc is red meat. Many bodybuilders eat a reduced amount
of meat, concentrating instead on chicken and fish as their main protein
sources.
Second, bodybuilders lose more zinc than do non-exercisers. Zinc exits the
body in a number of ways, including through sweat. On an exercise day, an
athlete will lose 50% more zinc through sweat than on a non-exercise day.
Third, bodybuilders require significantly more zinc than do non-exercisers.
In fact, because bodybuilding involves the infliction of a great deal of
micro-damage to cells and tissues that must be repaired, and because the
muscle are stimulated through exercise to grow, the director of BALCO Labs
estimates that bodybuilders may require up to twice as much zinc as do
non-exercisers.
This means that if you are a bodybuilder, you are very likely to have either
a zinc depletion or deficiency. And if you are using steroids, which depress
the body's zinc, magnesium and copper levels, you are even more likely to be
zinc deficient.
PRASAD'S METHODS AND FINDINGS:
Dr. Prasad's study involved several different populations.
The most important for bodybuilders is the group of four normal adult men
approximately 27 years old. He measured their serum testosterone levels,
then fed them a diet low in zinc for six months, thus inducing a "mild zinc
deficiency" in them. As they progressed through the diet, he measured their
serum testosterone levels two more times, once after eight weeks and once
again after 20 weeks. As these men became progressively zinc depleted, their
serum testosterone concentrations dropped. The chart Dr. Prasad has included
on page 347 of the study indicates that by the end of the 20 weeks they had
approximately ¼ the testosterone that they had had at the study's beginning.
The implictions of this for bodybuilders and other athletes is clear. If you
are depleted or deficient in zinc-and BALCO's clinical experience indicates
that you probably are-you can significantly increase your testosterone level
through zinc supplementation.
In another group of nine older men 55 to 73 years old, Prasad and his fellow
researchers measured serum testosterone levels. These men, he notes, were
"marginally zinc deficient" (what BALCO calls "depleted") at the time of the
first measurement. After three to six months of zinc supplementation, he
measured their serum testosterone levels again. Their testosterone levels
had approximately doubled.
For many bodybuilders, this also has important implications. As you get
older, your testosterone levels decline. That's one reason why older
bodybuilders have more difficulty adding muscle mass than the younger men in
the gym. Many bodybuilders begin to sense at the age of 35 or 40 that adding
muscle has become more difficult. For someone around this age who is zinc
depleted or zinc deficient, supplementation with a highly absorbable form of
zinc (monomethionine or asparate or a combination of the two) can make a
noticeable difference.
Warning: Do not buy an ineffective zinc supplement. Do not buy tablets.
Capsules are more absorbable. Do not buy zinc oxide. This is not a very
absorbable form of zinc. Do not buy any zinc supplement that lists any
calcium compound in the ingredients because the presence of calcium will
reduce your absorption of zinc.
If the capsule contains a filler, it is probably a calcium compound, which
will reduce your absorption of the zinc. Fillers are often not mentioned on
the list of ingredients. If you are buying a supplement from a health food
store and the clerk doesn't know what the filler of a product is, ask him or
her to call the company to find out.
... Per adesso sono in definizione, e prima di settembre la mia vita era esclusivamente sedentaria! Insomma la strada è lunga, però stai sicuro che, in massa, privilegerò una alimentazione con sufficienti quantità di Zinco! Ciao, 
). Molti atleti (il 70% degli atleti BALCO) hanno evidenziato carenza di Zinco, e non stiamo parlando dell' impiegato alla Fantozzi che sta 24/7 davanti a un computer a scrivere contabilità (con tutto il rispetto per i contabili), ma di atleti professionisti che pagano fior di dietologi !! Tra gli atleti che mostrano carenze di zinco, ci sono anche i BBers, che prediligono una alimentazione piena di pollo e scarsa di bistecche "fiorentine" 
. E sempre da ricerche la quantità di Zinco nei BBers dovrebbe essere 2 volte quella dei sedentari!! il Dr. Prasad ha tenuto un gruppo di BBers per 6 mesi a scarso regime di zinco, e man mano che il tempo passava il livello di T scendeva ... Dopo i sei mesi avevano 1/4 del testosterone che avevano all' inizio... Al contrario in un gruppo di uomini da 55 a 73 anni dopo 6 mesi a buon regime di zinco, il T era raddoppiato. Un altro consiglio, non associare zinco al calcio, che ne limita l' assorbimento ! Ho cercato di essere il più sintetico possibile 
). Di certo per cominciare ad integrarli non comincerei dalle compresse, ma prima migliorando l' alimentazione a modello di zinco (vedi consigli sopra citati) . Dopo, allo stallo dei risultati, si passa alla integrazione! ciao, 
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