Mineral deficiencies like that of Zinc were first seen in adolescents from developing countries more than 30 years ago. It has become a common health problem for adults and children living in both developing and developed countries even today. Zinc is an extremely important nutrient, especially for developing children because it is known to be essential for brain development. In studies that were done on adult men, where they were treated with chemicals that removed zinc from the body, they experienced more mood swings and deficits in visual perception and verbal memory. In another highly controlled, 6-month study at the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center it was found that men with low zinc intakes had faster, but less accurate performance levels on tasks measuring verbal and nonverbal memory. In animal studies when mice, rats and primates are deprived of zinc during critical periods of brain development, they exhibit many behavioral deficits, particularly in memory, activity, aggression and socialization. Severe zinc deprivation in adult animals also causes mild to severe behavior problems. Just look around at our society, at your neighbors, and others around you... and you may see what could be classified as sub-clinical mental disorders! So how can you get enough zinc in your diet and into your body? Good sources of zinc are: oysters, beef, pork, liver, dried beans and peas, whole grains, fortified cereals, nuts, milk, cocoa and poultry.

Zinc is very important in maintaining the over all health of the body, it promotes cell reproduction, tissue growth and repair, which makes it very important maintaining the body through out life. It is essential in sustaining our immune system, and it serves as a precursor to hormones (insulin), genetic material, proteins and is a part of more than 70 enzymes and their subsequent chemical reactions. Zinc also helps to transport of vitamin A, helps maintain the taste buds, it speeds wound healing and it increases sperm production.

Some of the many deficiency symptoms many include:
- Decreased appetite
- Growth and development failure in children
- Delayed development of sex organs
- Reduced immune function
- Poor wound healing
- Decrease in testosterone levels


Some recent research validates in a way, the old folk lore of eating foods high in Zinc (i.e. oysters) and their effect on sex drive. A study on elderly men, supported by US National Institutes of Health, showed that there is a relationship between serum zinc concentrations and serum testosterone. Men over 50 years old in this study who were marginally zinc deficient were supplemented with 30 mg zinc per day for six months. This resulted in a significant increase in serum testosterone. This indicates that zinc plays an important role in modulating serum testosterone levels in normal men. However, there are always two sides to the coin, when taking these kinds of products. It is good to supplement, but just because one is good doesn't mean that more is better. Taking too much zinc can actually impair immunity and can interfere with copper absorption.

You may be getting the necessary vitamins and minerals from food, if you are minimizing the intake of processed foods, which can drain much of what the micronutrients have to offer us right out of your body! We are here to ensure that a deficit doesn't occur. Taking your supplements may ensure total and complete health every single day of your long and healthy life!

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