In studies of mouse cells, Johns Hopkins researchers have found that low levels of cellular copper appear to make fat cells fatter by altering how cells process their main metabolic fuels, such as fat and sugar.
The discovery, they say, adds to evidence that copper homeostasis could one day be a therapeutic target for metabolic disorders, including obesity. The researchers caution that although links between copper and obesity in humans have been reported, more work needs to be done to better understand the connection. In the western world, dietary copper deficiency is not common, except in pregnancy, and the main health risks are associated with genetic disorders of copper misbalance.
A diet incorporating vegetables, nuts and even chocolate usually contains enough copper to maintain healthy copper levels.
Copper is essential to human biology and helps to facilitate many processes, from the formation of pigments in hair and eye color to new blood vessels. The mineral is also important to cognition. Copper imbalances have been associated with several neurological disorders, and altered copper levels were linked to depression and changes in sleep pattern, according to Svetlana Lutsenko, Ph.D., professor of physiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a senior researcher on the study.
Comment: Glyphosate continues to be a mounting concern. As the world becomes more and more saturated, and people become sicker and sicker, the ability to avoid exposure gets more and more difficult. Having a test to measure exposure accurately could be a way to assess odd symptoms that have evaded diagnosis.
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