Zinc has been known for its medicinal qualities over the ages, as ancient Greek medical texts mentioned that zinc oxide was used in ointments to heal wounds. Zinc oxide is still today a common over-the-counter skin treatment. Historically, it was reported in 1869 that zinc was essential for the growth
“Life is like an onion. You peel it off one layer at a time. And sometimes you weep.” This piece of wisdom comes from the American poet Carl Sandburg. There is however much more to an onion than having layers and bringing tears to your eyes. Apart from adding abundant
The idea of showing food groups in the form of a pyramid paints a clear picture – eat more of the foods listed at the widest part at the bottom of the pyramid and eat less of the foods listed at the narrow top apex. The food pyramid is a
Water is our most important nutrient and the only one whose absence will be lethal within days. Getting enough water every day is important for your health and keeping fluid in the body at an optimum level is an intricate balancing act, which forms part of the body’s self-regulating processes
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the devastating effect a virus can have on the world’s population. Other familiar viruses that affect people are the influenza virus, the Ebola virus, and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The human body is no stranger to viruses and there is indeed a viper’s nest
Cardiovascular disease remains the leading global cause of death. Controversy has surrounded the role that the consumption of alcohol plays in the risk for cardiovascular disease. Previous studies have indicated that excess alcohol consumption increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, but low alcohol intake is regarded as beneficial to cardiovascular
Hearing that your illness cannot be cured is a devastating experience. Rather than using the dreaded words “terminally ill”, the Koreans describe it in a more compassionate way, namely as “running out of time”. As a matter of fact, all of us are all running out of time, and we
Flavor of the month diets seems to come and go, with social media trending specific foods to eat, or avoid altogether. Lately claims have been doing the rounds that vegetables in the nightshade family, such as tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and potatoes, are bad for you and should be avoided. From
Trending diets seem to come and go, with the latest fad diet becoming flavour of the month. One of these trending diets is the carnivore diet, also known as the all-meat diet. True to its name, the carnivore diet implies that you only eat meat and other animal products for
Vitamins play a crucial role in the human body’s metabolism and these exotic molecules are essential for the proper functioning of cells in the body. Vitamins are organic chemicals that must be obtained from dietary sources, as the body does not make vitamins. Theory has it that somewhere along the
