Zinc is the 2nd most
abundant trace element in the human body. It reduces stress, improves
the quality of your sleep, and regrows your thymus to its original size.
Further,
in this same period, the thymuses of these mice had quadrupled in size and exhibited a greatly enlarged cortex repopulated with immature thymocytes
For years, I was under
the impression that magnesium was the go-to mineral for the biological ravages
of stress. And I am sure that magnesium is still good for treating
that. But more recently, in the last couple of years, I've learned first-hand
that zinc is even better. After a simple Google search of "stress and zinc,"
the first entry produced this,
Zinc plays
a significant role with respect to the stress response. Proper
maintenance of zinc status can help to stabilize serum
cortisol levels over time,1 and zinc intake
has been shown to temporarily inhibit cortisol secretions. However, in turn,
prolonged stress will deplete zinc concentrations
in the blood.
That article goes
on to say that
Zinc is required for the
catalytic activity of approximately 100 enzymes.
Magnesium is involved in
even more--over 300 chemical interactions in your body.
Zinc plays a role in immune
function, protein synthesis, wound healing, DNA
synthesis, and cell division. Zinc supports normal growth and
development during pregnancy, childhood, and adolescence, and zinc is
necessary for proper sense of taste and smell.
So if you find that your
sense of taste and smell diminishing, reach for the supplemental zinc.
Given that the body has no
specialized zinc storage system, regular daily zinc intake is required to
maintain a steady state and to prevent deficiency.
That was
interesting because I think that homeostasis leaves us with the impression that
we're all doing okay; meaning, that it's hard to tell, hard to know if we're
deficient. And you're never going to have a doctor tell you that you're
deficient in zinc. Ever.
I remember the first time
that I ever took supplemental zinc how it completely relaxed me and put me in a
great mood for a good night's sleep. This was about 3 years ago. In
fact, now I prefer to take zinc rather than melatonin for sleep. Note
well, that
Sleeplessness has a huge
impact on the human physiology and is commonly associated with metabolic
disorders (obesity and diabetes), cardiovascular diseases (hypertension) and
mental disorders (anxiety and depression).
So if you're
looking for quality hours of sleep, reach for the . . . well, you know what to
reach for--the zinc, of course.
The first paragraph in
this article states that
Recent research has
concluded that zinc serum concentration varies with the amount of sleep, while
orally administered zinc increases the amount and the quality of sleep in mice
and humans.
Melatonin is a decent
sleep-aid and has excellent anti-oxidant properties to boot, but so does
zinc. Melatonin does lower your blood pressure. If you have high
blood pressure like I have had a few times, then melatonin would be a good
choice. But zinc relaxes more functions in your body, I
believe.
Important to know [in the Introduction] is that
Zinc is the second most
abundant trace metal in the human body and is essential for many biological
processes.
WHAT TYPE OF ZINC IS
BEST?
That depends.
Zinc lozenges are
made with zinc acetate, so if you've got a cold then you'll want zinc lozenges.
[I tend to trust Bill Sardi's recommendations, so I buy his zinc lozenges product.] Zinc
lozenges are what you should be giving your children, er,
grandchildren when they have a cough, not a cough drop which is
mainly sugar and provides only a short-lived placebo effect. Know, too,
that zinc regrows your thymus gland back to its original size, which I find
absolutely miraculous. The thymus gland has a tendency to shrink through
the years. Read this,
After the deficient mice
had been fed a zinc-adequate diet for 1 week, their response was nearly normal,
except that the indirect response was 68% of controls; in this same period, the
thymuses of these mice had quadrupled in size and exhibited a greatly enlarged
cortex repopulated with immature thymocytes [my emphasis as if you couldn't
tell]. By 2 weeks, the thymuses of the previously zinc-deficient mice
were normal in size and appearance; however, there was a slight increase in the numbers of
indirect plaque-forming cells. By 4 weeks, the thymus weights, direct and
indirect plaque-forming cell counts, and the secondary response of the previously
deficient mice were normal. Mice that were nearly athymic after 45 days of
dietary zinc deficiency were also able to fully reconstruct the thymus and
regenerate T-cell helper function.
It's been argued that the
brand name Optizinc is the most absorbable. May be true. If you're
deficient in zinc and have never supplemented with it, then the Optizinc will
surely improve your sense of well-being. Keep a bottle of zinc lozenges
around the house in case of a cold or any lung issues. Lately, I've
really appreciated Bill Sardi's zinc product, called T-Cell Zinc. If you accidentally overeat
at a party (remember those?), reach for the zinc. We overeat in response
to stress, and then overeating causes our bodies stress. So any
stressful event, reach for the zinc.
