We need your help to establish nutritional needs for a healthy heart. We'll pay you $30 per day for a 200-day live-in study if you are:






Call Cody for details: Or Write: Or Email:
Dear Prospective Volunteer

The benefits of taking zinc supplements are being advertised in many magazines and newspapers. Little, however, is known about how zinc supplements might affect other elements, especially copper. My colleagues and I at the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center are interested in doing a study to examine if zinc supplements interfere with iron and copper absorption and if copper supplements change zinc metabolism. To accomplish this important research which may benefit everyone who is taking supplements, we are looking for women who want to advance scientific knowledge.

Successful completion of a study this size requires a large effort on both your part and ours. You will be living at Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center from January 5 to July 25. You will eat a three day menu designed by our registered dietitians. Calories will be adjusted as needed to keep your weight the same throughout the study. The food is ordinary American food and comes from a local grocery store, but it has been carefully selected to meet the Recommended Daily Allowances except for zinc and copper. By analyzing the stools and urine you collect, we will look at how much zinc and copper are excreted and how the amounts change when you take different supplements. Your blood will be drawn to monitor biochemical changes. The most unusual test you will do is an ethanol tolerance test to see if zinc affects your ability to metabolize alcohol. Three different times, you would drink alcohol in orange juice equal to 3-4 drinks of 86 proof liquor and have blood draws to measure how quickly the alcohol leaves your blood.

We expect the results from this study will help answer the concerns about zinc supplementation, and provide information to establish the safe and adequate ranges for zinc and copper as well as develop useful clinical tests for assessing zinc and copper nutritional status. The results of this study will be used to improve the well-being of humankind.

You will get a more direct benefit. You will receive $30 for each day in the study. You need to consider carefully whether you can make this 200 day commitment. If you want to be considered for the study, return the application as quickly as possible. The application is lengthy as we consider many factors in selecting participants. After we review your application which can take as long as four weeks depending on the number of applicants, you will receive a letter or phone call. Upon satisfactory completion of the telephone interviews and blood tests at your local clinic, you may be invited for an on-site visit at our expense for a personal interview sometime in April or May.

Cody Jensen, our recruiter, will be your main contact person if you decide to apply for this study. You can reach her at 1-800-562-4032 from 8 to 4:30, Central Standard Time, if you have questions.

Thank you for your interest in becoming a volunteer at the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center. If selected I believe you will find the experience enjoyable, exciting, and rewarding.