Zinc benefits
I’m going to talk about the seven unexpected amazing benefits of the trace mineral zinc. Now, I would say out of all the health topics, making this minor tweak in your diet will probably resolve in one of the major improvements in your health, because zinc is involved in more enzyme systems. Then all of the other trace minerals combined, and over 2 billion people are deficient in zinc. And one of the big problems with zinc is that there’s no functional storage of zinc in your body. So as soon as you stop getting zinc from the diet, you’re going to be deficient. And you might think that you can just determine as a deficiency by a blood test, but most of the zinc is not in the blood it’s in the cells. And so we’re going to talk about that.
1 Maintaining testosterone
So let’s dive into the first point. The most concentrated amount of zinc is located in the prostate gland, okay? Because it’s involvement with, sperm and testosterone, et cetera. And so zinc helps someone maintain their testosterone levels. And if they’re deficient, they’re definitely going to experience problems with low testosterone, low libido, and even something called hypogonadism in which the testicle actually atrophies. So many people don’t realize the importance of getting enough zinc to maintain the testosterone levels.
2 Stabilizing insulin
All right, number two. And this one is a really, really interesting one. zinc has a major role in maintaining your insulin levels, okay. As well as the insulin binding to your liver cells. So the second most concentrated area for zinc in your body is in the pancreas. Specifically, the cells that produce insulin in the pancreas are called the beta cells. And so when we’re dealing with diabetes, for example, zinc becomes very, very important.
Before you get diabetes, you’ll get pre-diabetes before you get pre-diabetes. You have insulin resistance, pretty much all diabetics have insulin resistance. In fact, the majority of the population on planet earth has insulin resistance. I’ve talked extensively about this topic, but the importance of zinc in avoiding or preventing and some resistance is, is not really well known.
So you may already know that if someone has insulin resistance, you’re very susceptible to getting a fatty liver cirrhosis of the liver. increasing your risk of getting a stroke, heart attack, obesity, high blood pressure. But if you don’t have enough zinc, your beta cells, the cells that make insulin become fatigued. just think about this. What determines someone going into a pre-diabetic and then a diabetic situation. when someone has diabetes, insulin is no longer working or it’s becoming less and less in the body. And then the blood sugars start to go out of control.
They start increasing because insulin kind of keeps the blood sugar in check. So when someone eats lettuce, sugar, normally you have insulin that comes in there and it keeps the sugar down. So your blood sugars don’t build up and they can be maintained. You can do that for a period of time, but eventually over the years, maybe I don’t know, 10, 15, 20 years it’s that beta cell starts to become fatigued. Well, what I believe that’s happening deep in the cells is that somehow a person loses the amount of zinc that’s in that pancreas. Then the beta cells starts burning out.
That’s when you start having diabetes and more complications, because zinc is a very powerful antioxidant. And the fact that someone’s consuming a lot of carbohydrates and the insulin is high, that right there will deplete your zinc even more. So it’s kind of like, is it the chicken or the egg? Well, I think deficiency can set you up for weakness with having a problem with the beta cell, but then the diet of consuming, all those carbs are going to deplete you and zinc. So then the fact that the person now has diabetes creates more of a zinc deficiency. So what you need to know is that zinc is really, really, really important in helping someone overcome pre-diabetes and diabetes. So zinc will help lower your blood sugars and make insulin more sensitive.
3 Muscle repair
All right, number three. And this is also very interesting. The third most concentrated tissue with zinc in the body is your muscles. And so zinc is needed for muscle repair and regeneration. But even if someone is deficient in zinc, apparently the muscles can still function fine except one muscle. And that muscle is the soleus muscle.
What is the soleus muscle? That is the muscle in your calf, just underneath another calf muscle called the gastrocnemius muscle. So the soleus is a deeper calf muscle that attaches to your Achilles tendon. It can withstand a tremendous amount of load and out of all the muscles in the body, the soleus has the highest concentration of zinc.
And so the soleus is very, very important in, endurance. So a long distance runner needs a very healthy soleus. Someone that is a basketball player that uses explosive movements needs a very healthy soleus muscle. And when you’re deficient in zinc, the soleus can actually atrophy. It can have a dysfunction in contraction and relaxation making you more susceptible to getting an injury with the knee, as well as the calf, as well as the Achilles tendon.
If you’re trying to build a calf muscle and you don’t have enough zinc, you may find that you never develop your muscles. as a side note, there’s four times more zinc in red meat and white meat. Now a lot of people that are working out consume, like chicken breast, broccoli, rice grains, And what they don’t know is because they’re not consuming of red meat. They’re probably not going to get as much zinc not to mention when you consume grains that have this chemical called fight a gas, which is a naturally occurring chemical that locks up zinc and other minerals.
That could be one reason why they’re deficient. In fact, a good portion of the population on planet earth is deficient in zinc because they consume cereals, which are brains, which block the absorption of zinc. Zinc is very important to the soleus muscle in protecting the knee and the ankle and your ability to perform sports.
4 Decreasing the risk of thymus atrophy
Number four, your thymus plan, the main plan that is involved in your immune system. It’s right on top of the heart. It’s different than the thyroid. It’s called the thymus. Okay. And if you’re deficient in zinc, one big problem that you may experience is find this atrophy. Okay. And then what can result from that is low T-cells and low antibodies. And think about your immune system. If you have low antibodies and low T-cells, you can’t fight as long. So if someone is you can’t fight, you can’t fight infections. So what happens to the duration of infections are a lot longer. If you are zinc deficient.
5 Better night vision
now, number five, you may know if you’re deficient about M and a, you might have problems seeing at night, but sync is just as important as vitamin a, in making the active form of vitamin a activated. Okay. So if you’re deficient in zinc, yet, you’re still consuming enough. Vitamin a, you might still have a problem seeing in the dark. So in other words, vitamin a needs, zinc to work.
6 Decreasing dry flaky skin
or number six, your skin needs zinc without enough zinc, you’re going to notice you’ll get dry flaky skin. Your skin will become rough, and it won’t be nice and smooth.
7 Decreasing intestinal inflammation
number seven, intestinal inflammation, a lot of remedies for either an ulcer in your small intestine or your stomach become greatly improved with zinc. If you’re deficient in zinc, your risk for getting inflammatory conditions goes way up. And then when you have inflammation in your intestine, that can block your ability to absorb zinc. So this is why so many people with gut issues have skin issues because of this lack of absorption of zinc. Now, how do we become deficient in zinc? There are several key things I’m just going to run through them.
Birth control pills can cause a zinc deficiency, consuming a lot of refined carbs or sugar crate, a deficiency of zinc. phytic acid in grains will block zinc, stress cortisol, and even the medication called prednisone, which is a synthetic version of cortisol can deplete your zinc. Having low hydrochloric acid can prevent your ability to absorb zinc, which is very common. If you’re over the age of 45 and alcohol can create a zinc deficiency.
