Research has demonstrated that Zinc is one of the best minerals for extending your life, repair your DNA and reduce oxidative stress.
Unfortunately, two billion people are still living in daily Zinc deficiency and most of this is due to lack of food access or lack of knowledge.
Only 4 milligrams of zinc intake per day can cause dramatic improvements in your life. If you do eat 4 mg of this mineral a day, then you’ll reduce DNA strand breaks, which will improve your levels of proteins to repair your DNA.
At the same time, such intake will reduce substantially your oxidative stress. As if this was not enough, you’ll also reduce inflammation.
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has published an article demonstrating that if you increase your zinc diet, you are most likely to reduce damage to your DNA.
By reducing DNA damage, you are simply extending your life.
Other health benefits of Zinc mineral
If you are a victim of any of the below disorder, then a Zinc treatment:
- Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder also known as ADHD
- Acne – As published in the JAMA scientific journal, Zinc sulfate has shown great results in the treatment of acne
- Osteoporosis is a difficult disorder and zinc can help in reducing its effects
- Treating pneumonia, but much better than this, zinc has properties that help in preventing pneumonia.
The study showed that if you have a shortage of zink intake, then you are at risk of not optimizing your immune system. It adds that near a third of the world’s population is lacking this mineral as well as other important minerals.
Many universities including a team at the Oregon State University have now raised concerns about health implications of lacking zinc.
Their concerns are related to the increasing risks people may have when not having the appropriate zinc mineral diet. This leads to a much higher potential for infectious disease, lower immune function, higher DNA damage and worse higher potential for cancer.
Dr. Janet King, who is the Senior Scientist at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) and is also the lead researcher in the published study said: “We were pleasantly surprised to see that just a small increase in dietary zinc can have such a significant impact on how metabolism is carried out throughout the body”.
She added: “These results present a new strategy for measuring the impact of zinc on health and reinforce the evidence that food-based interventions can improve micronutrient deficiencies worldwide.”
Minimum and Maximum quantities of Zinc
There are a number of guidelines that you must follow to keep within the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of zinc. Anything below or above and you are at risk.
The daily allowance is 08 milligrams a day for women. On the contrary, this is increased to 11 mg for men.
Be careful not to exceed the 50 milligrams limit a day as this may lead to other unwanted side effects.
Natural sources of zinc
They are many different sources of natural zinc. Many can be found in our current daily diet. A better understanding of where to find zinc can help you increase your immune system.
In essence, the best sources are:
- Beans
- Animal meats
- Nuts
- Fish
- Seafood such as shellfish (the best is the oyster)
- Whole grain cereals
- Dairy products.
There are a number of ways that you can decrease your zinc absorption. Knowing these allows you to prepare the appropriate food and lower your risk for contracting diseases.
Phytates can be found in a number of our daily food such as whole-grain bread, cereals and even in some legumes.
Copper, calcium and folic acid are also among the different ingredients that can reduce zinc absorption.
So lowering your intake of these food/ingredients can help you increase your zinc intake and in turn enhance your DNA and immune system.
On the other hand, you can increase your zinc absorption by consuming glucose, lactose and soy protein.
Special note for vegetarians
If you are a vegetarian, then you may want to increase your daily intake of zinc. In fact, it is best that you increase it by up to 50% more than the daily recommended allowance.
This is due to the low bio-availability of zinc in a vegetarian diet; as plants based foods do not hold much of this human precious mineral.
Best zinc food
Below I provide a good selection of ingredients that can help you diversifying your diet to enrich it in zinc mineral. I also add how much intake you need to reach your daily allowance of zinc.
- Beef, lean chuck roast, braised, 3 oz: 7.0 mg
- Ground beef, lean, 3 oz: 5.3 mg
- Raw oysters (Pacific), 3 oz: 14.1 mg
- Baked beans, canned, ½ cup: 6.9 mg
- Crab, King Alaskan, cooked, 3 oz: 6.5 mg
- Lobster, cooked, 3 oz: 3.4 mg
- Peanuts, dry roasted, 1 oz: 0.9 mg.
- Wild rice, cooked, ½ cup: 2.2 mg
- Yogurt, plain, 8 oz: 1.3 mg
- Pecans, 1 oz: 1.3 mg
I am not a fan of Zinc supplements. So I’d stick to the above dietary. However, if you are not a person who likes cooking đ then they are a number of capsules and tablets that you can use.
Do not forget not to take over 50mg per day of zinc. I would even add that I’d recommend a maximum of 30 mg to stay safe. As we say, better be safe than sorry.
Determine zinc deficiency
This is obvious, but I better spell it out. You can only have zinc deficiency if you do not have the appropriate zinc mineral dietary intake.
But there are times where this deficiency occurs to malabsorption. Similarly, chronic illnesses such as diabetes, malignancy (cancer), liver disease, sickle cell disease can lead to this mineral deficiency.
How do I know if I have a zinc deficiency?
- If you suddenly lose appetite
- Anemia – in this case, try to complement your food with capsules or tablets
- Abnormal mouth taste
- Slow wound healing
- Depressed growth – please don’t be shy to take capsules and see a professional
- Altered cognition
- Diarrhea
- Hair loss – Men needs to investigate if their hair loss is not due to zinc factors.
Not that scientists are adamant; about 40 percent of elderly Americans lack zinc. I’d like to repeat myself, but up to two billion people around the globe have a zinc mineral diet that is deficient.
I hope that you’ll start taking some zinc-rich dietary measures and build up your DNA, immune system and lower risks of anemia, diarrhea etc. Please share this article with your friend to help them enhance their immune system and do not be shy to leave a comment below.