Calcium, the most abundant mineral in the body, is found in some foods, added to others, available as a dietary supplement, and present in some medicines (such as antacids). Calcium is required for muscle contraction, blood vessel expansion and contraction, secretion of hormones and enzymes, and transmitting impulses throughout the nervous system. The body strives to maintain constant concentrations of calcium in blood, muscle, and intercellular fluids, though less than <1% of total body calcium is needed to support these functions.
The remaining 99% of the body's calcium supply is stored in the bones and teeth where it supports their structure. Bone itself undergoes continuous remodeling, with constant resorption and deposition of calcium into new bone. The balance between bone resorption and deposition changes with age. Bone formation exceeds resorption in growing children, whereas in early and middle adulthood both processes are relatively equal. In aging adults, particularly among postmenopausal women, bone breakdown exceeds formation, resulting in bone loss that increases the risk of osteoporosis over time.
Adults who skip breakfast are likely to miss out on key nutrients that are most abundant in the foods that make up morning meals, a new study suggests.
As meat consumption grows throughout the world, food scientists are working to develop better-tasting, more sustainable, and healthier plant-based protein products that replicate cheese, fish, eggs, milk, and meat.
All fish are not created equal, at least when it comes to nutritional benefits. This truth has important implications for how declining fish biodiversity can affect human nutrition, according to a computer modeling study led by Cornell and Columbia University researchers.
What keeps consumers hooked on high sugar soft drink? Advertising, of course. But why are some consumers more adept at ignoring these cues than others?
A new study of dozens of wild fish species commonly consumed in the Peruvian Amazon says that people there could suffer major nutritional shortages if ongoing losses in fish biodiversity continue. Furthermore, the increasing use of aquaculture and other substitutes may not compensate.
The amount of nutrients people get from the crops that they eat is a type of 'postcode lottery', according to new research that has analyzed thousands of cereal grains and soils as part of a project to tackle hidden hunger in Malawi and Ethiopia.
Disease resistance proteins function as main immune receptors in plants, detecting pests and pathogens and initiating robust defense responses.
New research on the growth rates of coral reefs shows there is still a window of opportunity to save the world's coral reefs--but time is running out. The international study was initiated at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE), which is headquartered at James Cook University (JCU).
Cerebral aneurysms are malformations caused by abnormalities on the walls of blood vessels in the brain. When these blood vessels rupture, about 30% of the sufferers die on the spot, giving these the rightful label of 'ticking bombs in the head'.
Inclusion of soybean and linseed oils in the diet of dairy cows made the fatty acid content of their milk even healthier for human nutrition. It also increased the proportions of omega-6 and omega-3, which in the right balance play a key role in preventing cardiovascular diseases, for example, as well as chronic inflammation and some kinds of cancer.
A team of researchers has created the world’s first atlas of all the different types of cells in a reef-building stony coral that inhabits the Indo-Pacific oceans.
A recent study shows that a critical intermediate in normal cellular metabolism is also a cause for cell death in the right sense.
Scientists have found that botulinum toxin—commonly known as Botox—can expose the inner workings of the brain, in addition to smoothing out wrinkles.
Seafood is a pillar of global food security--long recognized for its protein content. But research is highlighting a critical new link between the biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems and the micronutrient-rich seafood diets that help combat micronutrient deficiencies, or 'hidden hunger', in vulnerable populations.
Researchers from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities College of Science and Engineering and Medical School have developed a unique head-mounted mini-microscope device that allows them to image complex brain functions of freely moving mice in real time over a period of more than 300 days.
During drought conditions, plants utilize a signaling molecule known from animals to reduce their water loss.
Microscopic fossilized shells are helping geologists reconstruct Earth's climate during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), a period of abrupt global warming and ocean acidification that occurred 56 million years ago.
The vegan diet is on-trend. How this type of diet affects health is the subject of scientific studies. In a new study from the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), the bone health of 36 vegans, as well as 36 people following a mixed-food diet, was determined with an ultrasound measurement of the heel bone.
Tohoku University scientists have shown that neuronal and glial circuits form a loosely coupled super-network within the brain.
In a study conducted at the University of Helsinki, Finland, 136 adults adhered to one of three study diets for 12 weeks. One of them corresponded to the average Finnish diet, containing roughly 70% animal-derived protein of total protein, while most of the plant-based protein originated from cereal products.
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