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Zinc is the second most common nutritional deficiency in the world and yet wasn\u2019t appreciated as a relevant nutrient deficiency until 1961.\u00a0 Zinc deficiency is known to be more common in areas where people consume higher amounts of cereal and lower amounts of animal foods (ref<\/a>).<\/p>\nEven if one\u2019s diet is not necessarily low in zinc, one may still be at risk for zinc deficiency due to issues with bioavailability<\/a>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s critical for survival to maintain a constant level of zinc in the body.\u00a0 Due to its many functions within the human body, the findings associated with zinc deficiency are myriad, including impaired growth and development, increased risk of infections, cognitive impairment, behavioral problems, impaired memory, hair loss,<\/p>\n Zinc is absorbed in the small intestine, at an average efficiency of 33% — up to 70% from aqueous solutions and lower from solid sources.\u00a0 The body adjusts its efficiency of absorption based on an individual\u2019s zinc status and the total amount of zinc in the diet.\u00a0 The absorption of zinc is also affected by dietary factors. (ref<\/a>)<\/p>\n The most significant inhibitor of zinc absorption is phytic acid.\u00a0 Phytic acid essentially means \u201cplant acid\u201d because it is not found in animal foods.\u00a0 It is located primarily in bran and the outer coating of seeds.\u00a0 It inhibits zinc absorption by tightly binding zinc in the gut and preventing absorption into the intestine.\u00a0 The staple foods (e.g. cereals, corn, rice, legumes) in much of the world contain phytates, which likely accounts for the prevalence of zinc deficiency in developing countries.\u00a0 The inhibitory effect of phytate on zinc absorption may not be as relevant in young children (ref<\/a>).<\/p>\n It appears that any reduction in phytate content results in improved zinc absorption.\u00a0 Techniques that reduce phytate load include: leavening of bread, fermentation, germination, milling, addition of phytase (enzyme that degrades phytates), plant breeding, and genetic engineering.<\/p>\n Zinc absorption is increased proportional to the amount of protein in a meal.\u00a0 Also, protein is a major source of zinc, and thus higher protein intake is associated with higher intake of zinc.\u00a0 Animal protein (e.g. beef, eggs, cheese) increases zinc absorption by counteracting the inhibitory effect of phytates.<\/p>\n The richest known animal source of zinc is oysters.\u00a0 When oysters are eaten alone, there is a significant rise in the level of zinc as can be measured in the blood, indicating excellent absorption of the mineral.\u00a0 When the same amount of oysters is consumed with black beans, only about half of the zinc is absorbed.\u00a0 When the same oysters are consumed with corn tortillas, virtually none of the zinc is absorbed. (ref<\/a>)<\/p>\n Despite the meals containing the same amount of zinc, the phytate-containing plant foods (beans or tortillas) inhibited absorption of zinc from other foods.<\/p>\n Animal foods are certainly preferred as a dietary source of zinc.\u00a0 A problem with a vegan\/vegetarian diet is that the plant foods that contain the most zinc (oatmeal, soy, nuts, legumes) also contain the factors that prevent it from being absorbed.\u00a0 It\u2019s no surprise then that vegetarians have significantly lower dietary zinc intake and zinc levels compared to non-vegetarians (ref<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Zinc Zinc is the second most common nutritional deficiency in the world and yet wasn\u2019t appreciated as a relevant nutrient deficiency until 1961.\u00a0 Zinc deficiency is known to be more common in areas where people consume higher amounts of cereal and lower amounts of animal foods (ref). Even if one\u2019s diet is not necessarily low in zinc, one may still be at risk for zinc deficiency due to issues with bioavailability. Zinc Deficiency It\u2019s critical for survival to maintain a constant level of zinc in the body.\u00a0 Due to its many functions within the human body, the findings associated with\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,28,1],"tags":[164,29,157],"blocksy_meta":"","aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revitalizemetabolichealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1781"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revitalizemetabolichealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revitalizemetabolichealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revitalizemetabolichealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revitalizemetabolichealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1781"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/revitalizemetabolichealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1790,"href":"https:\/\/revitalizemetabolichealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1781\/revisions\/1790"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revitalizemetabolichealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revitalizemetabolichealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revitalizemetabolichealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revitalizemetabolichealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Zinc Deficiency<\/h3>\n
Absorption of Zinc
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<\/h3>\nPhytates \u2013 The Mineral Thiefs<\/h4>\n
Protein<\/h4>\n
The Oyster Study
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<\/h4>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/revitalizemetabolichealth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/anti-nutrients-interfere-with-mineral-absorption-Zinc-and-oysters.png\")
<\/p>\nZinc in Plant-Based Diets<\/h3>\n