Zinc Health Benefits, Properties, and Uses
Properties: Antioxidant, Anti-ageing, Anti-inflammatory, Digestive aid
What is Zinc?
Zinc is a mineral naturally present in some foods that is essential to your health.1 It’s important for catalyzing around 100 enzymes, and it plays a role in DNA synthesis, protein synthesis, wound healing, immune function, and cell division.1 Zinc is also important for normal growth from pregnancy through adolescence. Since your body doesn’t store zinc, it’s important to take it in daily. You can find zinc in foods like beef, pork, peanuts, shellfish, and legumes.2 If you aren’t getting enough zinc through your diet, zinc supplement tablets are available as well. Due to zinc benefits, it is also present in many over-the-counter drugs, such as throat lozenges and cold medications.1 Zinc deficiencies--or not getting enough zinc--cause many side effects that aren’t always easy to spot. This may include loss of appetite, weight loss, loss of hair, and loss of senses like taste and smell.2
Zinc Uses and Health Benefits
Zinc benefits are vast. From taking zinc for colds to taking zinc for acne, it can help improve your health. For one, it’s an immune booster, which makes zinc for colds a great solution.3 It also acts as an antioxidant to help fight cancer. You can even take zinc for hair loss if the cause is a zinc deficiency. By balancing hormones, it can improve sexual health as well as makes zinc for acne beneficial. It also helps fight diabetes, supports blood vessels, prevents diarrhea, aids in nutrient absorption, and helps with muscle growth and repair.3 The many zinc benefits make it great for treating the following conditions:
- Canker Sores - Canker sores are open sores in the mouth. Placing zinc tablets directly on the canker sore or sucking on zinc lozenges can help combat the infection.
- Macular Degeneration - Macular degeneration causes vision loss, usually in older adults, and zinc can help prevent it.
- Gynecomastia - Gynecomastia is a non-cancerous increase in the size of a male’s breast tissue. It can occur due to hormonal changes, and since zinc helps regulate hormones, it can help with this condition.
- Common Cold - Taking zinc for colds, such as lozenges or nasal sprays, at the first signs of a cold can help reduce the severity and duration of symptoms.4
Zinc Side Effects and Precautions
Taking too much of a zinc supplement can make certain conditions you’re trying to cure worse. Side effects may include:
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Loss of appetite
- Abdominal cramps
- Headaches
- Diarrhea1
Chronic effects may include low copper status, reduced immune function, reduced levels of high-density lipoproteins, and altered iron function when taken in doses of 150-450 mg per day.1 Zinc may also interact with medications like antibiotics, penicillamine, and diuretics.1 Both sides of the spectrum can be dangerous--either getting too little or too much zinc. That’s why it’s important that you’re getting a balanced amount through your diet or through zinc supplements daily. Zinc is generally safe when taken orally in levels naturally occurring in foods.5 Talk to your doctor about taking a zinc supplement, especially if you’re at risk of issues like blood disorders, cancer, heart disease, immune disorders, and similar conditions.5