Chocolate, wine, tea with zinc may work as anti-ageing: Study
New Delhi : If you are looking for an anti-ageing solution then your search may end here. A new study claims that Zinc when taken together with a tea and chocolate, may protect from oxidative stress which leads to ageing and low lifetime.
Researchers from the University of Erlangen, Nuremberg in Germany states that ageing and low life expectancy is caused by oxiditive stress. The study, published in the journal Nature Chemistry, discovered that zinc can activate an organic molecule that helps to protect us against oxidative stress.
"It is certainly possible that wine, coffee, tea or chocolate may well be available in the future with added zinc, "said Ivana Ivanovi-Burmazov from University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.
"However, any alcohol content whatsoever would destroy the positive effects of this combination," said Ivanovi-Burmazovi.
Health experts say that zinc is a trace mineral humans need so as to remain healthy.
Researchers from Auburn University in the US, found that Zinc can protect against the superoxide responsible for oxidative stress when taken together with a component found in foodstuffs such as wine, coffee, tea and chocolate.
Zinc is a hydroquinone group found in polyphenols, the plant substance responsible for smell and taste, researchers said.
Zinc activates the hydroquinone groups, producing natural protection against superoxide, a by-product of human cell respiration that damages the body's own biomolecules, for example, proteins or lipids, as well as the human genome.
It is believed that superoxide is thought to have great role to play in the ageing process and a number of illnesses such as inflammation, cancer or neurodegenerative diseases.
Hydroquinone alone is not capable of breaking down superoxide. If zinc and hydroquinone combine, however, a mental complex is created which imitates a superoxide dismutase enzyme (SOD).
These enzymes protect the body from the degradation processes caused by oxidation and have an anti-oxidative effect.
