Zinc in cereals and other foods. Zinc role in teens growth

Question
How would i know which is a fortified cereals that contain lots of zinc and which isnt? Pls introduce a few fortified cereals to me. i have difficulty with buying cereals since i dont know which is fortified and which isnt. thanks.

which fruits and vegetables contain 1mg of zinc per serving?
Is it true that if teens stretch their bodies everyday, they can grow tall?
are there any pills that can help teens to grow tall? Is Appeton TeenGrow a scam? The promoters of this product claimed that this pill can help teen to grow tall.

Answer
Dear Amethyst,

Please find answers to your questions plus some additional reading resources.

EXERCISE

Stretching indeed seems to be able to stimulate grown, sometimes even after puberty. Interestingly, mechanical stretching of even a single cell helped to activate the growth of muscle cells in culture (Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 278,H521-H529). Any exercise can facilitate growth and in fact is necessary for secretion of growth hormone  and other body's own anabolic hormones. Another strong growth hormone stimulator is sleep: this is why teens are usually advised to have enough quality sleep. Read growth hormone FAQ:
http://bestofweightloss.com/FAQ/2006/10/growth-hormone-qa.htmlExercise intensity and duration also determines the rate of growth hormone secretion: 3 sets of 8 repetitions of exercise involving 12 muscle groups (using Nautilus equipment) resulted in greater growth hormone concentration in the blood than only 1 set.

As to the stretching, all anecdotal evidence indicates that you need to stretch A LOT for successful growth stimalation. Exercises include monkey bar hanging, basketball jumps, swimming, and the like. However, nobody knows for sure what's A LOT though there are quite a few eBooks and print books over there claiming guaranteed success.

ZINC

Zinc influences hormonal regulation of body growth but it also affects individual cell multiplying. It's linked to the structure and action of many enzymes involved in many different metabolic processes that more or less directly participates in body growth regulation.

Keep it in your mind that minerals and micro-elements work best when taken in sets, synegristiclaly. So, you'll also need to have enough protein, iron, calcium, Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, and Linolenic acid e.g., from  fish, eggs walnuts, canola oil, soybean oil, soybeans, and tofu.

_Fruit and Vegetable sources of zinc_

The zinc from  fruits and vegetables sources is not absorbed well. A rule of thumb is to eat a variety of zinc-dense foods like whole grains, nuts, peas, and pinto beans.

Appeton Teengrow

Appeton Teengrow contains calcium, vitamin D, copper, manganese, zinc, potassium, magnesium and vitamin C - the vitamins and minerals known to be important in bone development thus supporting the "bone" part of teen's body growth.

Here are examples of cereals with announced zinc content:

- Wild Puffs Organic: most of the flavors contain around 25% recommended dialy values for zinc

- Toasted O's Honey Nut Organic: Zinc 25%

- ShopNatural: Zinc 10%

Zinc content of some fruit and vegetables:
(more can be found at http://bestofweightloss.com/recipes/2006/10/nutrients-in-fruits-apples.html)

Avocados, in 100 grams: 0.64 mg
Apricots 0.20 mg
Apples: 0.04 mgCabbage: 0.18 mg
Carrots: 0.17 mg
Kidney beans: 0.60 mg

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