Zinc Absorption and Dosage Tips

By Samuel Ken, Guest Writer

While you may think that zinc is a metallic chemical element therefore holds no importance in your body think again. Zinc ranks as one of the most essential elements required by your cells. It plays an integral role in boosting your immune system and also provides help in the process of protein synthesis as well as wound healing and cell reproduction. Most important of all, zinc is an important component that is necessary in fertility as well as conception.

Zinc, In All It's Versatility
Contrary to how it may sound and look like, zinc is not found in metals. It is virtually and naturally available in different types of food, its primary sources being poultry, beans, whole grains, barks, meat and dairy products. But no matter how abundant the supply, the body can only absorb around 30% of the zinc that we consume, this is really how it works. A person's capacity for zinc absorption, however, weakens as he or she ages, people whose age are beyond 65 only absorb half as much zinc as those whose age ranges from 25 to 30.

How Much? How Many?
Normally adult males require about 11 mg. of zinc on a daily basis, in the case of females about 8 mg. of zinc is required every day. Since the body does not absorb all the zinc that is consumed in every meal, it is important to have an idea of how much or how less zinc there is in your food. If you feel that the kind of food that you consume is less than the standard, go for supplements but be careful in choosing because some may have zinc side effects, you may also opt to consume 50 mg. or less of zinc per day.

The number of zinc rich foods are widely available in daily market. Oysters, for one are very rich in zinc as well as other shellfish in the likes of crab, lobsters and shrimps. Varieties of red meat also make abundant sources of zinc; lamb and pork for example. Dark meat like poultry are better sources compared to fish, however fish in itself are still exemplary sources of zinc. If you feel like going for plant sources, you can never go wrong with pumpkin seeds, legumes, beans and barks.

However, the amount of zinc that you can absorb needs to be limited, otherwise it will result to zinc toxicity. Consuming more than 150 mg. of zinc on a daily basis for a long period of time (say, 6 to 8 weeks) can be really dangerous. Zinc toxicity keeps the body from benefiting from other types of minerals and vitamins that your body consume, thus it leaves your immune system weak and it raises your cholesterol. It may also cause copper deficiency.

Meanwhile, even with the abundance of zinc in our day-to-day food, cases of zinc deficiency still occurs. While the symptoms vary from one person to another, it is generally characterized by different kinds of skin lesions like psoriasis, eczema and acne, loss of sex drive, loss of appetite, reduced fertility, skin dryness and rashes to name a few.

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