{"id":3452,"date":"2022-09-29T14:17:34","date_gmt":"2022-09-29T08:47:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.myhealthvectors.com\/?p=3452"},"modified":"2025-03-21T16:50:33","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T11:20:33","slug":"all-you-need-to-know-zinc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthvectors.ai\/blog\/all-you-need-to-know-zinc\/","title":{"rendered":"All you need to know - Zinc"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

What is Zinc? What role does it play? <\/strong>
Zinc is a trace mineral, meaning that the body only needs small\u00a0amounts.\u00a0Zinc is needed for many of the chemical reactions\u00a0which are going on inside us all the time at micro-level.\u00a0
Zinc\u00a0is also needed for:
*Our immune systems to work well to fight off infection.
*Healing of wounds.
*Growing.
*Building the proteins and molecules which are the basis of all our cells.
*Taste, smell and good vision.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Sources of Zinc <\/strong>
Zinc is readily available in many foods including:
*Red meat.
*Chicken and other poultry.
*Seafood, particularly oysters (which are loaded with zinc), crab and lobster.
*Nuts.
*Grains, beans, lentils and split peas.
*Spinach.
*Dairy products - milk, yoghurt, cheese.
*Fortified breakfast cereal.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Recommended Dietary Allowance<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"A<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"A<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Zinc Deficiency\u00a0Symptoms <\/strong>
Zinc is used by your body in cell production and immune\u00a0functions.\u00a0 Zinc\u00a0is an essential part of growth, sexual\u00a0development, and reproduction.
Symptoms of zinc deficiency tend to be linked to the\u00a0roles that zinc performs in the body. Some of the most\u00a0common zinc deficiency symptoms include:
*appetite loss
*slower than expected growth
*poor immune system function<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"Vector<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Zinc Deficiency Symptoms <\/strong>
Severe zinc deficiency can cause even more concerning symptoms. Examples include:\u200b
*delayed sexual maturity
*diarrhoea
*eye and skin lesions
*feeling lethargic
*funny-taste sensations
*hair loss
*poor wound healing
*unexplained weight loss
Men and boys can also experience impotence and hypogonadism, which is when a male\u2019s body does not produce enough testosterone.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Screening for zinc deficiency<\/strong>
Zinc is distributed in trace amounts among the\u00a0cells in your body, making it difficult to detect zinc\u00a0deficiency through a simple blood test.\u00a0
In diagnosing a zinc deficiency, a doctor will need\u00a0to take a full health history.\u00a0
They will ask questions about your dietary intake.
If you do not take in enough\u00a0calories\u00a0daily or eat\u00a0enough of a variety of foods, it is possible a zinc\u00a0deficiency could be an underlying cause.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Causes of zinc deficiency<\/strong>
The chief causes for zinc deficiency include;
*Not consuming a diet rich in zinc.
*Having a chronic health condition like kidney or liver disease, chronic diarrhoea etc.
*Losing excess amounts of zinc from the body, due to poor absorption.
Other causes of zinc deficiency can include medical\u00a0conditions like cancer, diabetes, pancreatic disease\u00a0etc.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"A<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Risk Factors for Zinc Deficiency <\/strong>
The following individuals are at risk of developing zinc\u00a0deficiency;
*People with gastrointestinal diseases that causes malabsorption of zinc from the diet.
*Vegetarians are at risk as the bioavailability of zinc from vegetarian diets is lower than from non-vegetarian diets.
*Pregnant women are at risk partly due to high fetal requirement of zinc.
*Alcoholics have low zinc status because ethanol consumption decreases intestinal absorption of zinc and increases urinary zinc excretion.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Treatment of zinc deficiency <\/strong>
You may need to increase your intake of zinc by\u00a0getting more of it in your diet.\u00a0\u00a0Include in your diet\u00a0zinc rich foods like red meat, chicken, shellfish like\u00a0crabs, beans,\u00a0 dairy products, nuts etc.
If you have a condition that interferes with your\u00a0ability to absorb zinc from foods, you may need to\u00a0take supplements. Be sure to discuss these with\u00a0your doctor and take them as recommended.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"A<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Excess zinc <\/strong>
The most common cause of zinc excess is taking too many zinc supplements. It is\u00a0important not to take more than the advised dose.\u00a0A number of different\u00a0symptoms can occur if you have too much zinc in your system. For example:
*Tummy (abdominal) pains
*Diarrhoea
*Feeling sick (nausea)
*Being sick (vomiting)
*Headaches
*Tiredness
*Dizziness
The treatment for zinc excess, poisoning or toxicity mostly involves removing the\u00a0source of zinc excess and then treating the symptoms until the zinc level settles\u00a0back down.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Disclaimer:<\/strong> The advice provided is intended for informational purpose only and does not substitute for professional medical advice.\u00a0\u00a0Consult with your doctor if you\u2019re seeking medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment.\u200b<\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is Zinc? What role does it play? Zinc is a trace mineral, meaning that the body only needs small\u00a0amounts.\u00a0Zinc is needed for many of the chemical reactions\u00a0which are going on inside us all the time at micro-level.\u00a0 Zinc\u00a0is also needed for: *Our immune systems to work well to fight off infection. *Healing of wounds. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":4796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthvectors.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthvectors.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthvectors.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthvectors.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthvectors.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthvectors.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthvectors.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthvectors.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthvectors.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthvectors.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}