Blood tests showed that the low-zinc diet lowered the men's stores of the mineral, and diminished the activity of the carbonic anhydrase enzymes in their red blood cells.
Iron is required for the production of red blood cells (a process known as haematopoiesis), but it's also part of haemoglobin (that is the pigment of the red blood cells) binding to the oxygen and thus facilitating its transport from the lungs via the arteries to all cells throughout the body.ron is required for the production of red blood cells (a process known as haematopoiesis), but it's also part of haemoglobin (that is the pigment of the red blood cells) binding to the oxygen and thus facilitating its transport from the lungs via the arteries to all cells throughout the body.
Red blood cell: The blood cell that carries oxygen. Red cells contain hemoglobin and it is the hemoglobin which permits them to transport oxygen (and carbon dioxide). Hemoglobin, aside from being a transport molecule, is a pigment. It gives the cell its red color (and name).