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Taurine is one of those perhaps lesser known amino acids which are
known to medicine as "non-essential". But "non-essential" in this
context simply means that it is not essential to ensure a daily
intake from diet, because the compound can be manufactured by the
body, albeit in fairly small quantities. It should not be taken as
lessening the importance of taurine or the other non-essential
amino acids in any way.
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Manganese is one of those elements commonly referred to as "trace"
minerals within the human body, because they're found and required
only in relatively tiny quantities. But that description should not
be taken as reducing the importance of manganese in any way. Indeed
the very name is derived from the Ancient Greek word for magic;
evidencing the special powers which they attributed to it. Modern
science is probably too cautious to go as far as that, but there's
no doubt that manganese has a number of vital functions within the
body.
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The subject of a great deal of intense research by conventional
medicine, nutritional therapists and sports scientists for at least
fifty years, arginine is now regarded as one of the most important
and potentially beneficial amino acids. Technically it's known as
one of the "non-essential" amino acids, but the term in this sense
means only that it can be manufactured within the body and
therefore need not necessarily be obtained from the daily diet.
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Methionine is one of the 10 essential amino acids which cannot be
manufactured in the body, and must therefore be obtained from the
diet. Like other amino acids, methionine is vital for the formation
of the countless proteins which make up not only the body's dry
tissue, but many of its vital enzymes. Logically enough, as it is
an essential component of protein, it is protein foods which are
the best source of dietary methionine. Meat, poultry, fish and
dairy products are known as first class proteins because they
contain all of the essential amino acids. A diet containing a good
supply of each of these food groups should normally provide
sufficient amino acids, including methionine, for most purposes,
but vegetarians can also achieve satisfactory intakes through
careful food combining.
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Zinc is one of the many trace minerals required by the body, but
the fact that it's required in relatively small amounts should not
be allowed to obscure its significance. It's required by the body
for the production of more than 200 essential enzymes, one of the
most crucial of these being superoxide dismutase, a vital
anti-oxidant.
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It's now several centuries since fresh fruit and vegetables were
discovered to be effective in preventing and curing scurvy, and
such acute nutritional deficiency diseases are thankfully now
extremely rare in affluent Western societies. But freedom from the
overt symptoms of disease is not at all the same thing as the
optimal state of health to which everyone fortunate enough to live
in such a society can and should reasonably aspire.
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Many benefits of vitamin C have been identified since the
consumption of citrus fruit was first recognised as the immediately
effective cure and preventative for the scurvy which so dreadfully
afflicted the long distance sailors of a few centuries ago.
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Did you hear about the curious little book, first published in
1892, that predicted bullet trains, digital watches, television and
women's liberation and other wonders decades before they came to
pass?
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Wimbledon. It's a word that stands for tennis at its best.
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How would you like to start playing vastly better tennis ...
today?
