Below are some of the most important benefits of zinc and reasons to make sure you get enough of it:
1. Supports Immune Function and May Help Fight Infections/Colds
As the National Institutes of Health explains, “Severe zinc deficiency depresses immune function, and even mild to moderate degrees of zinc deficiency can impair macrophage and neutrophil functions, natural killer cell activity, and complement activity.”
This mineral is an essential component of pathogen-eliminating signal transduction pathways. It helps control inflammation and prevent elevated inflammatory responses, including release of cytokines, as well as damage to tissues.
It has an intricate function during an immune response because it helps the body return to homeostasis.
It is often taken as a natural over-the-counter remedy for fighting the common cold, flu symptoms, etc. When taken for at least five months, it may reduce your risk of becoming sick with the common cold — plus supplementing once you already feel sick may speed up the healing process.
Research shows that this essential mineral can help with development of immune cells and interfere with the molecular process that causes mucus and bacteria to build within the nasal passages. Ionic zinc, based on its electrical charge, has the ability to exert an antiviral effect by attaching to receptors in nasal epithelial cells and blocking their effects.
One 2020 review of clinical trials found that when zinc supplements are administered to otherwise healthy adults with cold symptoms, the duration of symptoms tends to be significantly reduced. Zinc supplementation was observed to potentially reduce cold duration by 2.25 days on average.
Among people who are sick, even those fighting cancer, it may also reduce symptoms such as fatigue.
2. Acts as a Powerful Antioxidant
This mineral has been shown to be an effective anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agent, helping fight oxidative stress and decrease the chance for disease development. Especially in elderly patients, zinc benefits include the ability to support healthy cell division, potentially preventing cancerous cell mutation and stunting tumor growth.
When researchers from the School of Medicine at the University of Michigan studied potential benefits from zinc supplements among 50 adults, they uncovered that levels of oxidative stress markers were significantly lower in the supplemented group than in the placebo group.
Those with lower levels who didn’t take zinc supplements had higher levels of inflammatory cytokines, higher plasma oxidative stress markers and endothelial cell adhesion molecules.
After supplementation, the incidence of illness-related side effects and infections was also significantly lower in the supplemented group.
3. Can Help Balance Hormones
Because zinc supports normal hormone production, including by increasing testosterone naturally, it can promote reproductive health in both men and women.
This mineral also impacts female sex hormones and is even involved in the creation and release of eggs within and from the ovaries.
Additionally, it’s needed for the production of reproductive hormones, including estrogen and progesterone in women, which both support reproductive health. You can reduce your risk for experiencing problems with menstruation, mood swings, early menopause, infertility and possibly even certain cancers (such as ovarian, cervical and endometrium cancers) by avoiding having either too high or too low levels.
4. Helps Fight Diabetes
This essential mineral is needed to balance most hormones, including insulin, the main hormone involved in the regulation of blood sugar. It positively affects blood sugar levels because it binds to insulin, so insulin is adequately stored in the pancreas and released when glucose enters the bloodstream.
It also allows for proper utilization of digestive enzymes that are necessary for insulin to bind to cells — this way glucose is used as fuel for the body, instead of stored as fat.
As one 2020 abstract explains, zinc “regulates insulin receptors, prolongs the action of insulin and promotes healthy lipid profiles … Abnormal zinc and copper metabolism appears to accompany and may also cause diabetes complications.” It’s now thought that zinc supplementation may have clinical potential as an adjunct therapy for preventing or managing diabetes.
5. Helps Maintain Heart Health by Supporting Blood Vessels
Zinc is needed to maintain the health of cells within the cardiovascular system, while also lowering inflammation and oxidative stress. The endothelium, the thin layer of cells that lines the blood vessels, partially relies on adequate levels of this mineral.
It also assists in heart health by supporting healthy circulation, since it helps with high blood pressure and cholesterol levels from clogged or damaged arteries. This explains why one meta-analysis found that adults with heart failure tended to have lower levels of zinc compared to those with healthier hearts.
6. Can Help Prevent Diarrhea
Zinc deficiency is related to chronic digestive problems and diarrheal diseases. This has been shown in several clinical trails.
Researchers have found that supplementation can be effective in both prophylaxis and as an acute diarrhea remedy.
7. Supports Fertility
Studies show that zinc plays an important role in fertility, especially modulating serum testosterone levels in men and improving sperm quality and motility.
What does zinc do for you sexually? It can potentially improve low sex drive by increasing testosterone levels.
Dietary zinc restriction and deficiency in normal young men are associated with a significant decrease in serum testosterone concentrations, which can negatively impact fertility and lower libido.
In one study by the Department of Internal Medicine at Wayne University, after 20 weeks of zinc restriction, giving patients zinc supplements effectively increased serum testosterone in the majority of men.
This mineral also impacts women’s fertility, since adequate levels are needed during the growth process of a female’s eggs, otherwise eggs cannot properly mature and ovulation suffer.
Other ways that it supports reproductive health are by protecting against infections of the urea system and promoting epithelial integrity by maintaining the lining of the reproductive organs.
8. Aids in Nutrient Absorption and Digestion
This essential mineral affects protein synthesis and is required by the body to use amino acids from foods. It’s also involved in the breakdown of carbohydrates from foods, which are one of the main sources of energy for the body.
For this reason, you can reduce your risk of experiencing low energy levels and adrenal or chronic fatigue by avoiding deficiency.
9. Supports Liver Health
Supplementing with this mineral is shown to reduce the incidence of infection and correlated with lower levels of liver damage. It can promote liver health by reducing inflammation in the liver, decreasing free radical damage, helping with nutrient absorption and allowing for proper waste elimination.
10. Helps with Muscle Growth and Repair
This particular mineral is involved in normal cell division and cell growth, meaning it assists in muscle repair and growth by making it possible for the body to heal itself and maintain strength in the muscular and skeletal systems.
It also helps with the release of testosterone, growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), all of which build muscle mass and a healthy metabolism.
It can help promote growth of muscle mass because it helps increase the amount of testosterone the body is able to produce following exercise — especially weight training and high intensity interval training.
11. Supports Vision and Eye Health
A high intake of zinc may help reduce the risk for advanced stage age-related macular degeneration and vision loss.
One review of clinical trials found that supplementation alone may not be sufficient to produce clinically meaningful changes in visual acuity, however it seems to help slow down the rate that macular degeneration progresses.
12. Can Help Decrease Acne and Promote Wound Healing
Some of the zinc stored in your body is actually held within your skin, so it’s involved in the development, differentiation and growth of various human tissues. According to a 2019 report, “Disturbances in zinc metabolism may give rise to disorders that typically manifest themselves on the skin.”
Because it supports production of collagen, the most abundant protein in the human body that forms connective tissue, this mineral is sometimes used to help people recovering from burns, ulcers, slow-healing wounds, and other types of skin damage or injuries. It can also support the immune system in a way that may limit skin’s susceptibility to infections while healing.
Additionally, this mineral is used to help naturally decrease acne breakouts due to its anti-inflammatory properties. It’s considered by some experts to be “a promising alternative to other acne treatments owing to its low cost, efficacy, and lack of systemic side effects.”
Some studies suggest that higher levels of zinc in one’s diet may lead to less severe acne breakouts.
A 2020 review of clinical trials also concluded that in addition to treating acne, zinc may be of some benefit in the treatment plan for atopic dermatitis and diaper dermatitis.