Thinking About Zinc
Please note: The following information is not a substitute for medical advice. My intention is to help inform and empower readers in the face of an inadequate health care system during a world wide pandemic. Please do your own research and check in with your health care provider.
As I hunker down for the tidal wave of Omicron Covid to hit the RubinRodeo, I’ve been thinking a lot about zinc lately. We are vaccinated and we are healthy, but the numbers and level of contagiousness makes this wave feel inevitable. So I’m going to do all I can to make sure that I optimize my defenses in light of what is headed our way.
We don’t store zinc in our bodies, so we need to make sure we are eating foods with zinc every day. Because I am an omnivore who enjoys eggs and good quality grass fed red meat, I’m betting I get enough. Its also available in nuts, seeds and even dark chocolate. Go ahead, do a search on zinc rich foods! I strongly encourage you to do all you can to build your Food IQ. Here’s a zinc food list from the NIH
Stress and sugar will deplete your zinc. Now that is something to think about right now. This time of year is a high sugar one for many. And stress? We all need to figure that one out. But thats another story for another time. Back to thinking about the zinc.
If you are older or if you have any inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, you are at risk for zinc deficiency. Its not just here in the USA, the World Health Organization estimates that at least one third of the world population is affected by zinc deficiency.
Zinc is a big player in our immune system. If you’re deficient, your neutrophils, natural killer cells, macrophages and B and T lymphocytes will not function optimally. Don’t you want all those white blood cells at the top of their game? Zinc is an important ally.
You’ve probably seen zinc lozenges for sale at your local drug store. We’ve known for quite some time that zinc can help shorten duration of colds and flu. Its mainstream news, check out this article from WedMD that has links to plenty of research that supports zinc supplementation.
Does this make a difference with Covid infections? Yeah, I would think so. Here’s an NIH paper demonstrating poor outcomes in Covid patients with zinc deficiency. The study demonstrated that zinc deficient patients developed more complications, and the deficiency was associated with a prolonged hospital stay and increased mortality. I sure wish our public health community would add zinc and Vitamin D to their recommendations. We must go beyond vaxxing, masking and hand washing. How is this so controversial or complicated?
So, in my humble opinion, adding more zinc in your life could help and sure as heck can’t hurt. My first source of nutrients is always food. Let’s start there. And if and when Omicron comes to your home, consider supplementing to optimize your zinc levels.
Check out this little video from Dr. Berg as he explains issues with zinc.
