By Dr. Michael Basso

 

The human body is comprised of a variety interrelated system. In some cases, a nutritional need in one system may throw other systems in the body out of balance. First off, we need to understand what a system is.

 

A system can be defined as a process that has inputs, much like a computer keyboard; a processing section, like the CPU chip in a modern car; and outputs, akin to the flame at the burner of a stove.

 

A biological system as involved as the human body often as multiple systems at a variety of interrelated levels. For instance, the human digestive system is designed to digest food and eliminate waste products associated with those digestive processes associated with a variety of smaller systems. Easier said than done.

 

Food is chewed in the mouth and mixed with saliva from the salivary glands, swallowed through the esophagus into the stomach, pass along the small intestine along with bile from the liver and secretions from the pancreas. Water and other nutrients are eliminated in the large intestine and the rest is well known.

 

What might be less known is that when most of the other organs are at rest, the parasympathetic part of the overall nervous system turns on the digestive system to store nutrients for replenishment of the rest of the body. When we are active, such as preparing to fight a battle, or flee one, the sympathetic part of the nervous system is activated to give energy to the rest of the body. The eyes are dilated, the heart pumps blood faster and breathing may be accelerated. These examples of gross systems working together may also be considered from a much more detailed perspective.

 

At this more detailed level, we may find there are common themes that are applicable to many of the larger systems throughout the body.

 

For instance, zinc is associated with the retina at the back of the eye, the hippocampus associated with memory deep within the brain, the integrity of the skin and blood vessels and even the prostate gland in men; all at the same time.

 

Some think that as men get older, zinc may be routed to the pancreas to keep it healthy. What happens then to the other ‘zinc users’ within the body? Well, it is quite possible that the zinc may be borrowed from Peter to pay Paul, so to speak.

  

Is the macular degeneration associated with the eyes of some elderly men as well as some of their cardiovascular decline and skin problems in some way connected with the increased need for zinc in the prostate? While there may be a host of other factors involved, the zinc system throughout the body may indeed be borrowing zinc as the lesser of two evils.

 

Hey, bet I made you think this time!