Calcium, the most abundant mineral in the body, is found in some foods, added to others, available as a dietary supplement, and present in some medicines (such as antacids). Calcium is required for muscle contraction, blood vessel expansion and contraction, secretion of hormones and enzymes, and transmitting impulses throughout the nervous system. The body strives to maintain constant concentrations of calcium in blood, muscle, and intercellular fluids, though less than <1% of total body calcium is needed to support these functions.
The remaining 99% of the body's calcium supply is stored in the bones and teeth where it supports their structure. Bone itself undergoes continuous remodeling, with constant resorption and deposition of calcium into new bone. The balance between bone resorption and deposition changes with age. Bone formation exceeds resorption in growing children, whereas in early and middle adulthood both processes are relatively equal. In aging adults, particularly among postmenopausal women, bone breakdown exceeds formation, resulting in bone loss that increases the risk of osteoporosis over time.
The perfect cup of morning coffee. Before you even purchase the beans at the store, many things must go right before that great-tasting coffee can be poured into your favorite mug. It starts in the soil where farmers grow the beans.
According to scientists, people tend to prioritize food over sex after being deprived of both. The researchers examined this behavioral conflict in fruit flies.
Recent research identified that a protein involved in regulating calcium signaling within heart cells can play a vital role in the prevention of chronic heart failure.
For dairy cows, the transition period--the time between a cow giving birth and beginning to produce milk--brings the greatest possibility of health problems.
Stomata, the small microscopic pores present on leaves in plants, aids in regulating the influx of carbon dioxide for photosynthesis.
For many years, computer models have been standard tools in fundamental biomedical research.
Interluekin-1α (IL-1α) is an important part of the immune response, but until now it has been unclear how this molecule is processed from its precursor, pro-IL-1α, and exits the cell during inflammasome activation.
Adults who skip breakfast are likely to miss out on key nutrients that are most abundant in the foods that make up morning meals, a new study suggests.
As meat consumption grows throughout the world, food scientists are working to develop better-tasting, more sustainable, and healthier plant-based protein products that replicate cheese, fish, eggs, milk, and meat.
All fish are not created equal, at least when it comes to nutritional benefits. This truth has important implications for how declining fish biodiversity can affect human nutrition, according to a computer modeling study led by Cornell and Columbia University researchers.
What keeps consumers hooked on high sugar soft drink? Advertising, of course. But why are some consumers more adept at ignoring these cues than others?
A new study of dozens of wild fish species commonly consumed in the Peruvian Amazon says that people there could suffer major nutritional shortages if ongoing losses in fish biodiversity continue. Furthermore, the increasing use of aquaculture and other substitutes may not compensate.
The amount of nutrients people get from the crops that they eat is a type of 'postcode lottery', according to new research that has analyzed thousands of cereal grains and soils as part of a project to tackle hidden hunger in Malawi and Ethiopia.
Disease resistance proteins function as main immune receptors in plants, detecting pests and pathogens and initiating robust defense responses.
New research on the growth rates of coral reefs shows there is still a window of opportunity to save the world's coral reefs--but time is running out. The international study was initiated at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE), which is headquartered at James Cook University (JCU).
Cerebral aneurysms are malformations caused by abnormalities on the walls of blood vessels in the brain. When these blood vessels rupture, about 30% of the sufferers die on the spot, giving these the rightful label of 'ticking bombs in the head'.
Inclusion of soybean and linseed oils in the diet of dairy cows made the fatty acid content of their milk even healthier for human nutrition. It also increased the proportions of omega-6 and omega-3, which in the right balance play a key role in preventing cardiovascular diseases, for example, as well as chronic inflammation and some kinds of cancer.
A team of researchers has created the world’s first atlas of all the different types of cells in a reef-building stony coral that inhabits the Indo-Pacific oceans.
A recent study shows that a critical intermediate in normal cellular metabolism is also a cause for cell death in the right sense.
Scientists have found that botulinum toxin—commonly known as Botox—can expose the inner workings of the brain, in addition to smoothing out wrinkles.
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