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.
oxygen transport the carrying of oxygen through the bloodstream bound to hemoglobin (see oxyhemoglobin). passive transport the movement of materials, usually across cell membranes, by processes not requiring expenditure of metabolic energy. See also active transport.