Zinc Benefits for Young Adult Women

You may be saying: Don’t give me another thing to think about. I get zinc in my multivitamins and fortified breakfast cereal. And, besides that, I don’t have the symptoms of zinc deficiency I see on line (like dermatitis and night blindness).  Well, here’s the deal:

  • Many symptoms of severe zinc deficiency may not apply to you, but subtle ones may
  • The zinc put in multis and cereal is usually zinc oxide, which has only fair absorption (1)
  • Health conscious women often avoid the best zinc food sources due to fat content (2-5)
  • A lot of “healthy foods” have fiber & phytate, which can block zinc absorption (1,4,6)
  • Many experts think the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for zinc is set too low (7)
  • Iron supplements can negatively impact zinc status (8)
  • Exercise training may raise zinc needs (ie 2,3,9)
  • My lab found that in 98 young adult women, only 8 had max readings for a sensitive marker of zinc function (unpublished data)
  • In 2 studies from my lab, zinc supplements raise values for blood markers of zinc function in young adult women (10,11); this indicates that these women’s typical zinc intake did not max out their zinc functions
  • Anti-fatigue effects of zinc during exercise may not peak unless one eats above the minimal amount to keep basic zinc functions running (12,13)

How can I check on my zinc status? Unfortunately, no easy answer exists. Plasma zinc can diagnose severe deficiency, but doesn’t always indicate “suboptimal” states (1). Specialized research labs like mine run other tests, but these aren’t done by clinical units. A clinical unit could tell you if measures of alkaline phosphatase (AP), a zinc enzyme, increase after a few weeks of zinc supplementation. An answer of yes suggests you haven’t maxed out zinc functions. Your pre-supplement reading by itself won’t work.  Unfortunately, insurance probably won’t cover these tests.  You could get readings from LabCorp, but you will pay about $50/reading. If you don’t want to do that, the best bet is to analyze your diet (see below). Find out if you hit 15 mg zinc/day (with most of the zinc coming from foods with good zinc absorption).  The 15 mg exceeds the RDA, but accounts for:

  • The RDA maybe being set too low
  • Needs that might go up due to exercise and other factors (ie high phytate intake)
  • Maximizing zinc effects during exercise, which may require intakes beyond those that just meet basic needs

How do I get my zinc? The contents of zinc and other nutrients in foods can be found online.  Also, a very good discussion of zinc food sources appears here.  Spoiler alert:

  • Among commonly eaten foods, beef is the best zinc source
  • It’s hard to get enough zinc just from plant sources

Some data suggests that vegans adapt to low zinc intake (14).  However, this is based only on comparing zinc going into the body vs zinc leaving (not based on measures of zinc function).

If you want to do zinc supplements, go for zinc glycinate.  You could also use zinc gluconate, which has done fine in some research.  However, in 4 studies (2 of them mine), this form hasn’t shined (15-18). Also, skip real high doses because they can produce copper deficiency (1).

Bottom line: what good will optimal zinc intake do for me? It could do any of the list below.  However, keep in mind that each of these health concerns are influenced by many factors:

  • Help maintain a strong immune system (19)
  • Work against oxidant stress and inflammation (the kind you can feel as well as the silent kind that can lead to diseases later in life)(20,21)
  • Contribute to strong bones (22)
  • Stabilize mood (23,24, online review)
  • Produce good taste sensitivity to foods (24,25)
  • Promote good sleep quality (26)
  • Aid in exercise performance (2,9,12,13)
  • Lower risk of delivering a preterm infant (27.28)
  1. DiSilvestro RA (2005) Handbook of Minerals as Nutritional Supplements, CRC Press
  2. Micheletti A, Rossi R, Rufini S (2001) Zinc status in athletes, relation to diet and exercise. Sports Med 31:577-582
  3. Singh A, Deuster P, Moser P (1990) Zinc and copper status in women by physical activity and menstrual status. Journal of Sports Medicine & Physical Fitness. 30:29-36
  4. Sandstead H, Freeland-Graves J (2014) Dietary phytate, zinc and hidden zinc deficiency. Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine & Biology 28:414-417
  5. Fayet F, Flood V, Petocz P, Samman S (2014) Avoidance of meat and poultry decreases intakes of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12, selenium and zinc in young women. J Hum Nutr Diet 27S2:135–142
  6. Foster M, Karra M, Picone T, et al (2012) Dietary fiber intake increases the risk of zinc deficiency in healthy and diabetic women. Biol Trace Elem Res149:135-142
  7. Armah SM (2016) Fractional zinc absorption for men, women, and adolescents is overestimated in the current dietary reference intakes. J Nutr146:1276-1280
  8. Prosser NR, Heath A-LM, Williams SM, Gibson RS (2010) Influence of an iron intervention on the zinc status of young adult New Zealand women with mild iron deficiency. Br J Nutr 104:742-750
  9. Lukaski HC (2005) Low dietary zinc decreases erythrocyte carbonic anhydrase activities and impairs cardiorespiratory function in men during exercise. Am J Clin Nutr 81:1045-1051
  10. DiSilvestro RA, Koch E, Rakes L (2015) Moderately high dose zinc gluconate or zinc glycinate: effects on plasma zinc and erythrocyte superoxide dismutase activities in young adult women. Biol Trace Elem Res 168:11-14.
  11. DiSilvestro RA, Zhang W (2019) Different Zinc Supplementation Protocol Effects on Plasma Zinc Related Measures. Cur Develop Nutr 3S:24–017–19.
  12. Ozturk A, Baltaci AK, Mogulkoc R, Oztekin E, Sivrikaya A, Kurtoglu E, Kul A (2003) Effects of zinc deficiency and supplementation on malondialdehyde and glutathione levels in blood and tissues of rats performing swimming exercise. Biol Trace Elem Res 94:157-166
  13. Baltaci A, Ozyurek K, Mogulkoc R, Kurtoglu E, Ozkan Y, Celik I (2003) Effects of zinc deficiency and supplementation on the glycogen contents of liver and plasma lactate and leptin levels of rats performing acute exercise. Biol Trace Elem Res 96:227-36
  14. Hunt JR (2003) Bioavailability of iron, zinc, and other trace minerals from vegetarian diets. Am J Clin Nutr 78S:633S-639S
  15. DiSilvestro RA, Koch E, Rakes L (2015) Moderately high dose zinc gluconate or zinc glycinate: effects on plasma zinc and erythrocyte superoxide dismutase activities in young adult women. Biol Trace Elem Res 168:11-14
  16. Swan M, DiSilvestro RA (2008) Comparison of four commercially available zinc supplements for performance in a zinc tolerance test. 2008 Experimental Biology meeting abstracts, Abstract # 8597
  17. Black M,MedeirosD, Brunett E,Welke R (1988) Zinc supplements and serum lipids in young adult white males. Am J Clin Nutr 47:970–975
  18. Tompkins T, Renard N, Kiuchi A (2007) Clinical evaluation of the bioavailability of zinc-enriched yeast and zinc gluconate in healthy volunteers. Biol Trace Elem Res 120:28–35
  19. Prasad, A. S. (1995). Zinc: an overview. Nutrition 11S:93–99
  20. Kamp F, Donangelo CM (2008) Supplementing young women with both zinc and iron protects zinc-related antioxidant indicators previously impaired by iron supplementation. J Nutr 138:2186-2189
  21. Prasad AS, Bao B, Beck FW, Kucuk O, Sarkar FH (2004) Antioxidant effect of zinc in humans. Free Radic Biol Med 37:1182–1190
  22. Simões TMR, Zapata CLV, Donangelo CM (2015) Influence of hormonal contraceptives on indices of zinc homeostasis and bone remodeling in young adult women. Rev Bras Ginecol Obstet 37:402-410
  23. Sawada T, Yokoi K (2010) Effect of zinc supplementation on mood states in young women: a pilot study. Eur J Clin Nutr 64:331-333
  24. Okayama T, Watanabe H (2019) Association between taste perception, nutrient intake, and mental health in young Japanese women. Nutr Res Prac 13:41-46
  25. Noh H, Paik H-Y, Kim J, Chung J (2013) Salty taste acuity is affected by the joint action of αENaC A663T gene polymorphism and available zinc intake in young women. Nutrients 5:4950–4963
  26. Song C-H, Kim Y-H, Jung K-I (2012) Associations of zinc and copper levels in serum and hair with sleep duration in adult women. Biol Trace Elem Res 149:16-21
  27. Nossier SA, Naeim NE, El-Sayed NA, Abu Zeid AA (2015) The effect of zinc supplementation on pregnancy outcomes: a double-blind, randomised controlled trial, Egypt. Br J Nutr 114:274-285.
  28. Terrin G, Berni Canani R, Di Chiara M, et al (2015) Zinc in Early Life: A Key Element in the Fetus and Preterm Neonate. Nutrients 7:10427-10446