Zinc for optimal immune function

I often talk about scientists re-inventing the wheel, but this latest research into the role of zinc in immunity is unbelievably frustrating. Have the researchers been living under a rock? I’ve been trumpeting the benefits of zinc for more than 30 years. When I wrote my first book, which will be 20 years old next year, there were already several thousand published papers on zinc and its multiple roles. The research around the effects of zinc deficiency was also very well-established, and even back then zinc deficiency was touted as the most widespread in the Western world!

Compromised zinc status has been linked to a multitude of issues, including both depression and poor taste sensation. Compromised zinc status can affect every aspect of reproduction from how fertile you are to how easily your baby will settle. It’s involved in brain formation and function and of course in immune formation and function. Zinc deficiency is linked to a multitude of chronic degenerative conditions. We’ve known these facts and much more about zinc for a long time! 

If you think you might be zinc deficient (about 2 billion individuals worldwide at recent estimates) there’s a very simple, inexpensive test for zinc status - and you'll find all the details about natural food sources (oysters are fabulous, the placenta is even better) and appropriate supplementation (if placenta stew isn't on your menu) in Healthy Parents, Healthy Baby.  Of course there's more to having a healthy baby than optimal zinc status - find out what else you need to do in the Better Babies FREE INTRODUCTORY WEBINAR

Bring on the Zinc Taste Test

I’ve been saying it for 30 years, but now it’s official - kids who prefer sweeter foods also prefer saltier foods AND the researchers say taste preferences seem to be linked to periods of increased bone growth.

But will the researchers ever connect the dots? Those kids with compromised taste sensation (i.e. zinc deficiency) will always go for the sweeter/saltier tastes, simply because the more subtle flavours of fruits and vegetables are lost on them. And no points for guessing what mineral is involved (along with calcium, magnesium and Vitamin D for bone growth) - of course it’s zinc!

Solution for those kids making the lousy food choices - get the Zinc Taste Test, confirm zinc deficiency, then supplement with a liquid zinc product. Switch to supplementing with tablets when zinc status (and optimal taste sensation) are restored. Remember to add a robust combination of other trace elements and vitamins - dose daily!

Simple, cheap and guaranteed to get kids interested in eating corn and cauliflower instead of crisps and chocolate!

Zinc ... most important trace element if you're planning pregnancy

Love it -  here’s a story reinforcing my post of yesterday. Often neglected and ignored in favour of the better known and more widely prescribed (at least by those not trained in nutritional medicine) - iron and calcium - the trace element zinc could now be set to take centre stage. 

If you want reassurance about zinc’s importance take a look at the EU’s view of it. Under it’s super strict (some say unfairly so) NHCR (Nutrition & Health Claims Regulation) that has approved about 250 claims and rejected 1500, zinc won 18 claims ranging from immunity through skin health to maintenance of healthy vision. Compare calcium and magnesium - 10 claims apiece, iron 12 and selenium 6.

Yes, a zinc rethink is under way by the medical profession, finally coming to grips with what others have been bleating about for years. But I wonder if they’ll ever admit that one of the greatest threats to adequate zinc status in the most at-risk population is ... the oral contraceptive pill?

Ironing out iron deficiency ... and more

Iron deficiency is a global problem, no doubt about it. The fall-out from gross iron deficiency (anaemia) and more subtle “insufficiencies” affects all strata of society, impacts economies and most significantly, crosses generations. Apart from the statistics revealing the extent of nutrient malnutrition (which includes iron deficiency and is estimated to affect at least one third of the world’s population) a recent report also refers to the influential Cochrane review. Recommending against ‘established knowledge’ which has led to routine supplementation with iron during pregnancy, Cochrane suggests supplementing with iron on 3 days per week might be sufficient. 

With due respects to Cochrane, I’d go a step further and suggest that establishing iron status prior to conception is the only safe way to go. Optimal serum ferritin levels in the preconception period will ensure iron status is maintained during pregnancy and will also ensure that those daily, inorganic iron supplements, so beloved of the medical profession do not interfere with all important zinc status. 

Which brings me to the fact that zinc insufficiency is also a global problem affecting billions. It also has massive and far-reaching consequences given that zinc is widely considered the most important trace element for the woman about to become pregnant, but is destroyed or depleted by everything from non-sustainable farming and refining of grains, to alcohol, stress and growth. There’s an easy way to check your zinc status and set it right - click here.

2000 year old food supplements!

"Italian researchers have uncovered zinc food supplements aimed to treat eye problems from a shipwreck off the coast of Tuscany."

Wow, what an astounding finding...and even more interesting, the zinc carbonate was blended with animal and plant lipids and pine resin, and sealed in an oxygen-free container. The researchers know the reason for the supplement because of its shape, which corresponded with writings of the time and that additives and sealants were designed to improve efficacy and stability. Interesting that the tradition of zinc for ophthalmic and dermatological conditions is very old as well as knowledge of how to make it work better and last longer!

Zinc’s long been a favourite supplement of mine. Considered the most important trace element for the woman about to become pregnant, zinc is involved in every aspect of reproduction. Ensuring optimal zinc status before conception and maintaining it throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding will pay big dividends - from improving fertility, through preventing stretch marks and post-natal depression to optimal immunity, brain and eye function and skin integrity in your baby. But zinc deficiency is also the most widespread in the Western world, luckily there’s a cheap and simple test that you can do yourself and you can read all about it in Healthy Parents, Healthy Baby. 

Wonder if the Tuscan’s had a way to suss out zinc deficiency?

Which brings me to deficiency of another sort... George The Airedale has done it again. He's in disgrace! Alerted by his consumption of items (see post January 02), I moved all apparel to the second bedroom and closed the door. Undeterred, he wormed his way through the 10 cm opening from the balcony and jumped up on the bed. I reckon this is the desperate act of a nutrient deficient dog. Given that his usual demeanour is totally indolent, undemonstrative, horizontal and non-athletic, but also given that his most recent appetite took the crutch out of my brand new swimsuit, destroyed a sports bra and another pair of knickers I am convinced he needs fresh meat! Noting that only intimate items, those in close contact with flesh, or that once were part of something living, in the case of shoes and sandals, have been to his taste. 

No doubt in my mind that a dog eating nothing but canned food is just as deficient as the humans who eat only processed and refined and the Tuscans knew it too!  Whole, fresh, grown on healthy soil and boosted by probiotics and robust nutritional support. Yep, I know it’s my soapbox again, and yep found a way to insert my message into the most esoteric and the most prosaic...sigh