Trace elements: contribution to the efficacy of nutritional support.

Abstract

Efficacy of nutritional support can be defined in two main ways: the first relates to the production of new body tissue or the prevention of loss of existing tissue, this could either be growth in a child or repair or maintenance in an adult, and the second relates to how well the various body tissues are functioning. So the issue raised in the title of this chapter can be crystallized into ‘How do trace elements affect the amount and function of body tissues?’