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You may have heard of zinc as an important nutrient that helps us fight colds. Or maybe you heard that it is a key nutrient for prostate health. Yes, zinc is very important for both male and female reproductive health, and for our immune system, but it has a big role in many other functions too.

Zinc is a key nutrient that helps our cells grow and multiply, which is why our little ones need it during pregnancy, infancy and childhood for proper growth and development. 

We also use zinc to make DNA and proteins, in fact, 1 in every 10 proteins in our body are zinc proteins. Our neurons use zinc to release neurotransmitters, including those that impact our mood. We also use zinc for wound healing, to have a proper sense of taste and smell, and to package and secrete insulin when we need it. 

57% of the zinc in our body is in our muscles, and one of its important functions is to help us build and maintain skeletal muscles, including muscle regeneration after exercise. And 29% is in our bones, where it appears to support bone regeneration by promoting the multiplication of our bone-building cells, the osteoblasts.

When it comes to our immune system, zinc is essential for cell proliferation, helping our immune cells grow and divide, thus allowing us to have a stronger army of natural killer cells, T cells and B cells. Plus, zinc is also an antioxidant, so it protects the cells in our body from the damage caused by free radicals.

Our body can’t store zinc, so we need to ingest it daily. The good news is that zinc is present in legumes, whole grains, and different seeds and nuts. Check out some of these sources below and try our personalized calculator to see how much zinc you and your loved ones need.

Top Whole-Food, Plant-Based Sources

Hover over each food below to see how much zinc you can get with one serving. Click on each food’s picture to visit its interactive page with a personalized calculator of all the nutrition you can get from one serving, more information about how it supports our body, tips to choose and prepare it, interesting facts, and more!

Oats

Oats

1 cup dry = 26% DV

Link
Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin Seeds

1/4 c dried kernels = 23% DV

Link
Lentils

Lentils

1 cup cooked = 23% DV

Link
Chickpeas

Chickpeas

1 c cooked = 23% DV

Link
White Beans

White Beans

1 cup cooked = 21% DV

Link
Quinoa

Quinoa

1 cup cooked = 18% DV

Link
Soybeans

Soybeans

Edamame 1 c = 19% DV | Mature 1 c cooked = 18% DV

Link

Zinc Personalized Calculator

See how much zinc you and your family members need, according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025.

Terminology:

  • Daily Value (DV): The recommended amount of nutrients to consume each day for individuals who are 4 years old or older.
  • Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA): The recommended amount of nutrients to consume each day according to the individual’s age, gender, and whether a woman is pregnant or breastfeeding.
  • Upper Intake Level (UL): The highest amount of nutrient intake that will not pose adverse health effects on most individuals.

Important Things to Know

Hover over each of the interesting facts below to flip the tiles and learn more details.

Check out the interesting facts below! Tap on the red triangles to flip the tiles and learn more details.

Zinc can reduce the duration and severity of the common cold.

According to multiple studies, lozenges containing 10 to 15 mg of zinc can shorten colds by three days, as long as they don’t include binders like citric acid. We do need to take them every 2 waking hours starting within the first 24 hours since the onset of symptoms. Learn more.

Copper and zinc compete for absorption in our body.

Copper and zinc use the same binding proteins in our cells for absorption, which means that they compete against each other.

A plant-based diet tips the scales towards copper, because it is more prevalent in foods rich in both nutrients. This makes the case for supplementing some of our zinc. If you do, limit the amount to 40 mg/day (the UL established by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025) to avoid getting too much zinc which could in turn result in a copper deficiency. For men, this study recommends not exceeding 25 mg/day.

Iron and calcium supplements could cause a zinc deficiency. 

Calcium and iron also compete with zinc for absorption. This means that taking high amounts of calcium or iron supplements could lead to a zinc deficiency. Talk to your doctor if you need to take supplements for medical reasons.

The more phytates we eat, the more zinc we may be able to absorb from plants.

This is because a diet rich in phytates is also a diet rich in fiber, and fiber helps us grow good bacteria in our gut. The good bacteria are then able to break down the phytates allowing us to absorb more minerals that had bound to these phytates, including zinc.

Less than 50% of the elderly population is getting enough zinc.

Zinc deficiency is more common in the elderly population, typically because they are not getting enough zinc through their diet. They may also have some zinc absorption problems due to interactions with supplements and medications, or due to health problems.

Zinc deficiency may be related to a decline in their immune functions. There is also a correlation between zinc deficiency and cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. In men, it may also be related to prostate health issues. See next tile.

Prostate enlargement and cancer may be caused by zinc deficiency.

Over 50% of men 60+ years old and about 90% of men between 70 and 80 years old suffer from prostate enlargement, which is a risk factor for developing prostate cancer, the second most common type of cancer in men.

Both have been linked to zinc deficiency that could be caused by dietary deficiencies or by zinc absorption decline. Learn more.

While zinc supplementation may seem like a good idea, this 30-year follow-up study showed that taking 75 mg/day or taking supplements for over 15 years was linked to the development of lethal or aggressive prostate cancer. The same study notes that taking supplements of less than 25 mg/day may be relatively safe.

So, deficiency is bad, and taking too much through supplementation seems to be a risk as well. Talk to your doctor about your prostate health, your zinc levels, and how you can maintain proper levels through a balanced diet.

Zinc can reduce the duration and severity of the common cold.

According to multiple studies, lozenges containing 10 to 15 mg of zinc can shorten colds by three days, as long as they don’t include binders like citric acid. We do need to take them every 2 waking hours starting within the first 24 hours since the onset of symptoms. Learn more.

Copper and zinc compete for absorption in our body.

Copper and zinc use the same binding proteins in our cells for absorption, which means that they compete against each other.

A plant-based diet tips the scales towards copper, because it is more prevalent in foods rich in both nutrients. This makes the case for supplementing some of our zinc. If you do, limit the amount to 40 mg/day (the UL established by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025) to avoid getting too much zinc which could in turn result in a copper deficiency. For men, this study recommends not exceeding 25 mg/day.

Iron and calcium supplements could cause a zinc deficiency. 

Calcium and iron also compete with zinc for absorption. This means that taking high amounts of calcium or iron supplements could lead to a zinc deficiency. Talk to your doctor if you need to take supplements for medical reasons.

The more phytates we eat, the more zinc we may be able to absorb from plants.

This is because a diet rich in phytates is also a diet rich in fiber, and fiber helps us grow good bacteria in our gut. The good bacteria are then able to break down the phytates allowing us to absorb more minerals that had bound to these phytates, including zinc.

Less than 50% of the elderly population is getting enough zinc.

Zinc deficiency is more common in the elderly population, typically because they are not getting enough zinc through their diet. They may also have some zinc absorption problems due to interactions with supplements and medications, or due to health problems.

Zinc deficiency may be related to a decline in their immune functions. There is also a correlation between zinc deficiency and cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. In men, it may also be related to prostate health issues. See next tile.

Prostate enlargement and cancer may be caused by zinc deficiency.

Over 50% of men 60+ years old and about 90% of men between 70 and 80 years old suffer from prostate enlargement, which is a risk factor for developing prostate cancer, the second most common type of cancer in men.

Both have been linked to zinc deficiency that could be caused by dietary deficiencies or by zinc absorption decline. Learn more.

While zinc supplementation may seem like a good idea, this 30-year follow-up study showed that taking 75 mg/day or taking supplements for over 15 years was linked to the development of lethal or aggressive prostate cancer. The same study notes that taking supplements of less than 25 mg/day may be relatively safe.

So, deficiency is bad, and taking too much through supplementation seems to be a risk as well. Talk to your doctor about your prostate health, your zinc levels, and how you can maintain proper levels through a balanced diet.

Comparison of Zinc Sources

You may be wondering about other potential sources of zinc, such as supplements and meat. Below we make a quick and simple comparison between the three options.

Best source!
Plant-Based
For those not following a whole-foods, plant-based (WFPB) diet, zinc absorption from plants could be limited to 20% due to phytates binding to zinc. This is because you may not have the right bacteria to break down the phytates yet. The more phytate-rich foods we eat, the more we develop the right gut bacteria to break down phytates so that we can absorb more minerals bound to them.
Still, the recommendation is to aim at 50% more than the RDA to make up for any zinc that we may not be able to absorb, especially when we first transition into a WFPB diet.
Soaking and sprouting beans and grains helps with absorption.
Onions and garlic have been found to help us absorb up to 50% more zinc from legumes and up to 160% in grains!
Supplements
Zinc supplementation may be recommended to treat a deficiency. While the uptake limit is set at 40 mg/day, studies have found that staying under 25/mg a day is relatively safe.
Zinc and copper compete for binding proteins in our body cells. For this reason, taking supplements high in zinc may inhibit copper absorption in our bodies, and may lead to copper deficiency and anemia.
Zinc supplementation over 75 mg/day is linked to the development of aggressive and lethal prostate cancer.
Zinc supplements may cause nausea when taken on an empty stomach.
Intranasal gels, sprays and swabs have been linked to the potential permanent loss of the sense of smell.
Animal-based
Zinc is present in high amounts in many animal-based foods, especially in shellfish and beef, however, we typically only absorb about 30% of it.
Shellfish is also very high in microplastics, and regular consumption of beef has been associated with a higher risk of cancer and heart disease.

References