Can zinc help prevent aging?

Put the brakes on the ravages of time with a hearty and delicious bowl of chili. You'll get plenty of zinc, thanks to the rich red kidney beans in the stew. And a new small study showed that zinc may help both prevent and reverse age-inducing damage to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).

Zinc intake is so important to staying young that when middle-aged men in a study went from adequate zinc intake to zinc deficiency, they showed more breaks in certain DNA strands. And guess what happened when they were placed back on a zinc-rich diet? You got it -- damage to DNA strands decreased significantly, suggesting that injured strands were repaired.

You want healthy DNA, because damaged DNA can speed the aging process and increase your risk for conditions like cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Zinc isn't necessarily a fountain of youth, but the study results suggest that nearly 12 percent of Americans with a zinc deficiency may be doing their bodies a disservice. So how about that bowl of chili?

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