Our bodies require a number of different vitamins and minerals in order to function at optimal levels, and one of those minerals is zinc as it can have a number of negative effects if you don’t get enough in your daily diet, causing a deficiency. What specific effects?
For starters, not enough zinc in your diet can lower your immunity. This places you at a higher risk of catching whatever cold or flu is being spread around, but it also means that you’re more likely to find yourself diagnosed with various health conditions as a result of your compromised immunity. According to the National Institutes of Health, the best zinc-increasing remedy when it comes to curing the common cold is zinc-containing lozenges.
Having ultra-low levels of zinc can also affect your brain function, as was found in a study conducted on 740 Chinese children. In this particular piece of research, the children who received zinc with other micronutrients had better neuropsychological performance and growth than the kids who received the micronutrients alone.
When your body isn’t getting enough zinc, you may also notice that you have a harder time dealing with allergies. This is because research has found that zinc helps regulate the amount of histamines your body stores, so lower zinc levels mean higher histamines and more allergy-related symptoms like runny nose and sneezing.
People low in zinc also tend to have more bouts of diarrhea. That is why the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends zinc supplementation as a way of easing this type of physical ailment which is currently one of the top killers of children under the age of five worldwide.
Some people suffer from hair loss as a result of not enough zinc in their diets. One study published in the International Journal of Trichology reported that too-low levels of zinc can result in hypothyroidism, which means loss or thinning of your hair.
For these reasons, you want to make sure you get enough zinc in your diet by eating foods like pumpkin seeds, grass-fed beef, lamb, mushrooms, and spinach. And if you’re considering zinc supplements, check with your doctor first to make sure they are right for you.
