Zinc deficiency is more common than most people think and some say zinc is the most important mineral in male sexual health which includes prostate enlargement, impotence and low sperm count.
Hair loss, poor wound healing, frequent colds or flu, being overly sensitive to sunlight or easily getting sunburned, and brittle, dry hair at the ends are some of the other symptoms of zinc deficiency.
ZINC TEST
There is a simple test to find out what your zinc levels are and it is called the “Zinc Tally” test. It’s one of the easiest and most accurate ways to determine a zinc deficiency.
If you answer yes to any of these questions, you may have some degree of zinc deficiency:
– Have you lost some of your sense of taste and smell?
– Do you suffer with adult acne, even if you didn’t have it as a teenager?
– Do you get frequent colds and flu, usually with an ear infection?
– Is your hair dry or brittle at the ends? Or are you going prematurely gray? Does your hair grow slowly?
– Do you have white spots in your nails? Do they peel and fray easily? Do they grow abnormally slowly?
– Do you have prostatitis or (HBP)?
– Is your skin dry and cracked? Do you get fungal skin infections? Do cuts or rashes heal slowly? Do you sunburn easily?
– Have you been diagnosed with macular degeneration? Are your eyes hypersensitive to sunlight?
– Do you have diabetes or hypoglycemia? Blood sugar imbalances?
– Do you have a history of low sperm counts? Have you ever suffered from impotence or erection problems?
– Do you get often get herpes-type mouth sores? Are your lips regularly dry, cracked or chapped?
One easily recognized sign of zinc deficiency is white spots, bands, and lines on finger nails. An occasional white spot is usually not a negative sign. Some women will have multiple parallel white bands or lines on their fingernails marking menstrual cycles in marginal zinc deficiency or an occasional mark could be that you overcame a viral infection.
Zinc deficiency may be corrected by taking 100 to 150 mg zinc per day taken orally for a few months. Significantly exceeding 150 mg per day often causes nausea and vomiting, and may have other deleterious effects on health, primarily through depletion of serum copper. Some say adding trace amounts of copper and vitamin B-6 while supplementing with therapeutic doses of zinc helps reestablish proper zinc serum levels.”
The best way to get more zinc is to add foods containing zinc to your diet. Almonds, beef, Brazil nuts, buckwheat, eggs, ginger, green peas, hazel nuts, herring, lamb, lima beans, liver, oats, oysters, parsley, pecans, poultry, potatoes, pumpkin seeds, sardines, seafood, shellfish, sunflower seeds, turnips, walnuts are some of the foods that contain zinc.
If you suffer from any of the conditions listed above, or think you might be zinc deficient, call me for an appointment and I can give you the zinc tally test and supply you with the proper zinc sulphate supplement.