How does zinc help?
Zinc helps the immune system to function in a balanced way. When there is enough zinc in the body, it assists the main immune cells in doing their job. Zinc also has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. Both of these affect how our bodies recover from, and respond to illness.
The immune system's first line of defence is made up of our skin, mucous membranes, nasal hairs and stomach acid. Think of it like the defensive wall around a castle. If a pathogen breaches our first line of defence and enters the body, responsibility passes to our immune cells. (By the way, a pathogen is a microorganism that causes disease, like a virus or bacterium.) It is the immune cell's job now to respond efficiently so the pathogen can be killed. Think of these cells like the faithful soldiers on the battlements. If they are not functioning well, it's easier for a pathogen to take over the castle and spread infection. Zinc supports your immune cells in mounting an effective defence against attack.
One of our body's responses to infection is the good old 'smoke them out' trick! The body's core temperature rises so the pathogen can't survive in such an uncomfortable environment. You experience this as a high temperature, aches and pains and general malaise. This doesn't feel good but it is a necessary immune response, as long as it is balanced and not drawn out too long. As an anti-oxidant, zinc can modulate this response to keep inflammation under control. It also ensures that, after the pathogen is destroyed, the immune system returns to normal surveillance duties. In this way, zinc helps to reduce symptoms and speed recovery from illness.
Studies confirm this, and have shown that zinc works as a preventative against colds and flu too. A 2011 therapeutic trial showed that children who supplemented with zinc had fewer incidences of illness compared to the placebo group.
How do I know if I have enough zinc?
Zinc is not made in the body, so we need to get it from our diet. A survey published in 2018, looked at the diets of UK adults. It highlighted potential deficiencies in both zinc and potassium. So, it's important that we eat lots of lovely zinc-rich foods:
- Wholemeal and wholegrains
- Meat, dairy and shellfish
- Nuts and seeds
- Eggs
Even if your diet contains plenty of zinc-rich foods, you could still be mildly deficient. Unfortunately, agriculture has emphasised crop quantity over soil quality for a long time. This has left our soil and, consequently, our food deficient in minerals like zinc.
Including a zinc supplement alongside zinc rich foods means you are better prepared when bugs come knocking on your door. A.Vogel's Immune Support is perfect for this job.
A.Vogel Immune Support Tablets with Vitamin D, Vitamin C and Zinc, 30 tablets
What you said!
We recently ran a poll to find out which zinc-rich food is your favourite. We've crunched the numbers and here are the results.
Results: Which zinc-rich food is your favourite?
It's great to see that 37.1% of you love eating nuts and seeds! They are an excellent source of zinc, and provide many health benefits when consumed as part of a healthy, varied diet.
References:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9701160/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2277319/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3273967/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1568997214002808 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130207131344.htm https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2018.00055/full
Looking to support your immune system? Well, look no further!
