Zinc
Requirements:
- RDA:
15 mg. adults
5 mg. infants
10 mg. up to 10 years
20 mg. pregnant and lactation
- Daily Optimal Intake:
Supplement Forms:
- Individual or multivitamin or mineral
- Zinc picolinate - very absorbable but very expensive
- Zinc mono - methionine
- Zinc aspartate
- Zinc citrate - better than gluconate, sulfate, oratate
- Zinc sulfate - least expensive but very irritating to the
stomach
- Zinc oratate - absorbable but very expensive
Labs:
- WBC - best indicator of tissue stores but requires lots of
blood to run the test
- Sweat zinc - good indicator of tissue stores
- Zinc taste test - moderate test
Food Sources:
- Oysters
- Meats
- Eggs (mostly in the yolk)
- Seafood
- Grains: soy meal, wheat bran, buckwheat groats, millet rice
bran, whole wheat flour, oatmeal, brown rice, corn meal
- Legumes: black-eyed peas, green peas, garbonzos, lentils,
limas
- Seeds: pumpkin and peanuts
- Spinach
- Sweet corn
- Onions
Signs and Symptoms of Deficiency:
- Poor smell and taste
- Growth retardation in children
- Hypogonadism in males - testicular atrophy, decreased sperm
count
- Dermatitis
- Diarrhea
- CNS problems:
Depression and weight loss
Lethargy
Irritability
Apathy
- Increased risk of infection:
Lymphopenia
Thymic atrophy
Lymphoid tissue atrophy
- Poor wound healing
Causes of Deficiency:
- Decreased intake
- Pica in young children
- Diabetes
- Sickle cell anemia
- Elderly due to poor diet or medications or poor
absorption
- Chronic liver disease
- Chronic kidney disease
- Crohn's disease
- Celiac disease
- Cystic fibrosis
- Alcoholism
- Acrodermatitis enteropathica (especially in infants of
Italian, Iranian or Armenian decent)
- Post traumatic patients - surgery, major fractures, or
burns
- Atopic dermatitis children
- Pregnancy or lactation may require more zinc
- B6 deficiency (B6 is needed for zinc absorption)
Adverse Effects and Toxicity:
- Some symptoms have been noted with dosages of > 150 mg. per
day but other studies show dosages > 660 mg. per day for weeks
have had no adverse effects
- Cardiac arrhythmias (if zinc is taken without copper
supplementation)
- Impaired immunity (if zinc is taken without copper
supplementation)
- Anemia (if zinc is taken without copper supplementation)
- Low HDL (if zinc is taken without copper supplementation)
- Nausea
- Skin rashes
- Increased depression
- Alcohol intolerance
Contraindications:
- Do not supplement zinc without supplementing copper (ratio of
8:1)
- Epilepsy (zinc may decrease manganese)
Drug/Nutrient Interactions:
- Cadmium displaces zinc
- Zinc and iron taken together decreases each others
absorption
- Zinc and copper compete for
absorption
- IV EDTA may lead to significant urinary loss of zinc
- Estrogen drugs (BCP, ERT, etc.) require more zinc
- Corticosteroids require more zinc
- Chemotherapy agents require more zinc
- Diuretics require more zinc due to loss in urine
- Penicillamine can cause zinc deficiency
- Ethambutol chelates zinc
- Ciprofloxacin taken with zinc decreases drug therapeutic action
- Rantidine decreases zinc absorption
Biochemical Functions:
- Accelerated insulin degradation with zinc deficiency
- Cofactor for alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme which can convert
retinol to retinal
- Cofactor for alkaline phosphatase
- Cofactor for DNA and RNA polymerase, protein synthesis so
needed for growth and repair
- Cofactor for over 70 separate enzymes
- Cofactor for super oxide desmutase
- Decreases histamine release
- Enhances immune function in cancer patients
- Modulates inflammatory response
- Part of metallothionein which scavenges hydroxyl free
radicals
- Promotes conversion of thyroxine to triiodothyronine
- Required for NK cell activity
- Required for normal lymphocyte function
- Required for progesterone and endorphin secretion
- Required for prolactin
- Required for prostaglandin-mediated processes
- Required for sense of taste, smell, appetite
- Required for testosterone
- Required for thymus hormones
- Stabilizes membranes
- Works with vitamin A
Clinical Indications:
Copyright 1998 - 2008 by L. Vicky Crouse, ND and James S. Reiley, ND. All rights reserved (ISSN 1527-0661).