An Unknown Connection between Zinc and Your Health Exists

Saturday, October 09, 2010 by: Shawn Bauer
Tags: zinc, health, health news

(NewsTarget) Zinc isn't just for colds. For years reports about zinc's benefits in the early stages of a cold has been known. But did you know that zinc has so many functions including determining how healthy you eat? Its role in mental health is being reviewed and in many circles is now being accepted as a "must have" in nutritional support for ADHD, depression and bi-polar.

So many Americans are deficient in zinc and do not even know it. The truth is, when you eat a diet high in refined sugar, you run the risk of a zinc deficiency. If you have copper pipes in your home, you may need extra zinc to counter the added copper. The ideal zinc/copper ratio is 8:1. Anything less than 6:1 can cause symptoms as well as some frightening illnesses.

Suppose your teen's acne is as simple as adding zinc to his/her diet? Maybe your child's hyperactivity doesn't need powerful stimulants to calm him/her down? What if your insomnia can be as simple as a 10mg zinc supplement? These are just a few examples that link zinc to a variety of common complaints. How does this happen? How is sugar linked to low zinc? What foods can you eat to add zinc in your diet?

Your taste buds are vital to your overall health. They communicate with you and tell you what tastes good and what doesn't. When your taste buds are working less than ideal, your body and your taste buds ask for more flavors. Low levels of zinc can leave your taste buds looking for more flavor, so you pile on more sugar in the morning to your cereal or you add more salt to your dinner. Zinc is vital to how we taste our foods so in a nut shell, it can determine how healthy you eat. Sugar consumption lowers zinc levels, which lowers taste ability, so you add more sugar which lowers zinc levels and the cycle continues. Once the cycle leads to enough of a drop that you end up sick, you take your zinc to fight the cold and you recover.

Finding zinc in nature isn't as easy as it may seem. Its sources are limited but its need by our bodies is very high. Beef has the highest levels of zinc but you can also find it in many nuts and eggs. In cases of vegetarianism, supplementation may be necessary.

http://www.arltma.com/CuIntroDoc.htm
http://www.nutritional-supplements-health-gu...
http://www.drbenkim.com/nutrient-zinc.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19176735

About the author

Shawn Bauer is the creator and editor of two online blogs. Look for the soon to be released book "Food for Thought" due out later this fall.