Zinc plays a crucial role in so many metabolic functions and acts as a cofactor for various enzymes. Therefore, the symptoms of zinc deficiency can vary depending on the enzymes and metabolic functions affected. Mild zinc deficiency is quite common but if left unaddressed can lead to chronic or severe deficiency, which can be fatal. Understanding zinc health benefits and dosages will help you avoid this potentially serious deficiency and reverse it if needed.
One of the most obvious symptoms of mild zinc deficiency is lowered immunity. This makes you more susceptible to colds, flu, infections, and overall poor health. Chronic fatigue is another common symptom.
Now, the good news. Most cases of zinc deficiency are caused by poor diet, which can be easily remedied with proper nutrition and a short period of supplementation if needed. The zinc health benefits you get by eating the right foods can be immense, including relief from mild symptoms, restored immunity, and a general improvement in your health.
Severe or chronic zinc deficiency is usually caused by more serious underlying factors, such as sickle cell disease, liver or kidney diseases, overconsumption of alcohol, taking drugs that contain sulfhydryl, malabsorption, enteral alimentation (receiving food through a tube in the nose, stomach, or intestine), or parenteral alimentation (receiving nutrition intravenously). Symptoms of more advanced zinc deficiency include
In severe cases, getting zinc health benefits through proper nutrition or supplements may relieve your symptoms to some degree, however, the root cause must be addressed to fully recover.
At this point, it’s important to mention that children are most at risk of severe zinc deficiency, especially those with acrodermatitis enteropathica, a genetic autosomal-recessive disorder. In children without this rare condition, mild zinc deficiency manifests as difficulty focusing, impaired memory, emotional disturbances, acne, and poor vision. All of these factors can affect a child’s performance at school but can be improved by simply eating a nutritious diet that includes all the zinc health benefits necessary for growth and development.
Here, we’ll focus on mild zinc deficiency in adults and how it can affect your body, the NeuroEndoMetabolic (NEM) Stress Response, and Adrenal Fatigue recovery.
The NEM Stress Response—made up of various organs working together as your body’s global response to stress—is comprised of six circuits: Hormone, Bioenergetic, Cardionomic, Neuroaffect, Inflammation, and Detoxification.
Your body is capable of handling stress and returns to homeostasis once the stress has passed. But the human body was not designed to deal with chronic stress. Chronic stress can be caused by physical issues, such as an illness or an unhealthy lifestyle, or psychological issues, for example, work pressure or relationship problems. Both types of stress can put a lot of strain on your NEM Stress Response and your adrenal glands.
Your adrenals are part of the Hormone circuit and are your first line of defense against stress. They produce cortisol, your body’s main anti-stress hormone, which is responsible for vital functions like controlling blood pressure and blood sugar levels, maintaining heart and blood vessel function, suppressing your immune system, and neutralizing inflammation.
In the first stages of AFS, your adrenals begin to produce more cortisol than usual, which brings about certain symptoms. If the adrenals are overworked for a long time, they become exhausted and your cortisol output drops, resulting in more severe symptoms. Symptoms of AFS include fatigue, weight gain, sleep disturbances, anxiety, mild depression, hair loss, loss of libido, hypoglycemia, heart palpitations, lowered immunity, an inability to handle stress, and brain fog.
It’s interesting to note that vitamin and mineral deficiencies can also cause Adrenal Fatigue because when your body is missing a vital nutrient like zinc, it is invariably being put under a lot of stress as it attempts to compensate for what is lacking. Plus, the symptoms of zinc deficiency are stressors of their own.
In the case of zinc, we need to look specifically at the Inflammation circuit since they are intimately linked. In fact, one of the zinc health benefits we’re most interested in is its anti-inflammatory action. This is significant because chronic inflammation is a root cause of many chronic diseases and AFS.
The Inflammation circuit comprises the immune system, the gut, and the microbiome. Inflammation is a natural part of the immune response and helps your body get rid of pathogens, toxins, and other harmful substances, as well as dead and damaged cells. However, chronic inflammation not a natural and is strongly associated with imbalances in gut flora—a condition called dysbiosis. Causes of dysbiosis include an unhealthy diet, overconsumption of alcohol, overconsumption of sugar, use of antibiotics, exposure to toxins, and stress.
Dysbiosis can lead to a leaky gut, allowing unwanted substances into the bloodstream that can trigger an immune response and inflammation all over the body. Until this imbalance is addressed, the cycle will continue and inflammation will spread.
Eating a healthy diet rich in anti-inflammatory foods and doesn’t contain inflammatory foods is the first step in dealing with this issue. Fighting inflammation is one of the zinc health benefits you can take advantage of, so as part of your recovery, try to regularly eat the following zinc-rich foods:
If you’re vegan or vegetarian, or your diet consists of a lot of grains, you’re at a much higher risk of zinc deficiency, therefore, you need to ensure you’re incorporating at least some of these foods in your diet.
Along with its anti-inflammatory properties, one of the best-known zinc health benefits is immune system support. In fact, your white blood cells require zinc to function. It’s also important for the production of antibodies and cytokines, the function of natural killer cells and neutrophils, phagocytosis, and lymphocyte regulation.
In some studies, zinc was shown to cut down the duration of the common cold by almost half. Zinc salts seem to have the ability to kill some pathogens and zinc ions have antimicrobial effects. Moreover, its antiviral properties in the gastrointestinal tract can directly influence viral infections in the gut.
The antioxidant properties of zinc make it the perfect ally for fighting oxidative stress, another big stressor on the body and the root cause of many health problems, such as various cancers and neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, AFS is linked to oxidative stress, which can be the cause or a symptom of Adrenal Fatigue. So, as you can see, the combined anti-inflammatory, immune supportive, and antioxidant properties are why it is worth ensuring you’re getting enough of this crucial mineral.
But there’s more… other zinc health benefits include:
Finally, a very important—yet often overlooked—function of zinc is that it helps the body use vitamin B6, essential for good sleep, mood regulation, and AFS recovery.
To get all the zinc health benefits mentioned above, you can either alter your diet to include zinc-rich foods or consider taking a supplement. With zinc supplements, it’s important to remember that your body will not absorb zinc unless it’s attached to another substance. This means you need to take a chelated form of zinc, which makes it more bioavailable.
A good supplement option to consider is Pyro Zinc which contains zinc picolinate. Your body easily absorbs this form of zinc. This makes it easier for those with a zinc deficiency to address this issue.
For adult males, the typical dosage is 10–30 mg per day.
One thing you should be aware of is that taking a zinc supplement, or any supplement for that matter, can be riskier if you are in the advanced stages of AFS-Stage 3 and beyond. Also, if you have a weak thyroid, zinc can stimulate thyroid function which may sound like a good thing, but it could be too much for your adrenals to handle. In this case, long-term zinc replacement is not recommended, but short-term use can be beneficial if properly supervised. In the later stages of AFS, your body’s detoxification processes are slower, and substances stay in the system for longer than they should. The liver is already sluggish and congested, so this situation can cause paradoxical reactions that could worsen your Adrenal Fatigue.
So, if you truly feel you need more zinc and you’re not sure how your body will react, it’s best to speak to a qualified medical professional who has experience dealing with Adrenal Fatigue.
Zinc health benefits include helping with sleep, mood, memory, immunity, eye health, and Adrenal Fatigue recovery. But does that mean you should take a zinc supplement? Find out about the signs, symptoms, and risk factors so you can decide whether to include more zinc in your diet.
