What is Zinc?
Zinc is a vital nutrient or more precisely a micro-nutrient for optimum health. Like many other supplements it supports the immune system and accelerates healing wounds, stabilize blood sugar levels. But what’s most important and interesting for us fitness enthusiasts is that Zinc is needed to make protein! and protein is the foundation of muscle build. The body doesn’t produce zinc naturally. So the required amount must be taken in with food and other dietary supplements. Hence in this post we will talk about Zinc Supplement Benefits for fitness.
A healthy man needs about 11 mg and a woman requires 8 mg. Although this sounds like a very minute amount chances are that you aren’t even getting half of it.According to National institute of health there are a few not so pretty consequences for Zinc deficiency. Weight loss,lethargy, malfunctions in immune system and loss of appetite are a few.
General Zinc Supplement Benefits
Athletes and gym rats aren’t the only people to experience Zinc Supplement Benefits. It has so many other advantages than just acting as a muscle tissue recovery agent.
Improve the immune system
Many tests and experiments have revealed that Zinc has the ability to fight inflammation because it acts an antioxidant. Also it reduces risk of developing diabetes,cancer or high blood pressure.
Healing wounds
Because this plays an important role in reducing inflammation and improving immune function, it is needed for proper healing. The skin holds almost 5% of total Zinc capacity in the body. Therefore Zinc is mostly used to treat burns,ulcers and other skin conditions.
Cardiovascular health
We know that cholesterol is a major contributor of heart disease. Adequate Zinc consumption helps control these risk factors. For example it lowers triglyceride and bad LDL levels.Also a study has shown among a certain number of women who consumed higher amounts of Zinc had lower systolic blood pressure.
Diarrhea and common cold
WHO and UNICEF recommends that children suffering with diarrhea should supplement Zinc for at least 2 weeks straight. Research shows that good intake of Zinc helps reduce the symptoms and duration of diarrhea.
Age-related macular degeneration
This is a condition that causes loss in sight eventually,is what is meant by degeneration.Research has shown that adequate Zinc supplementation has helped slow down the disease progression. In a study done among a large number of elderly people, ones who supplemented Zinc with other essential vitamins showed less vision loss and progression of the disease.
Fitness and Zinc supplements
Now let’s jump into the real deal! How does Zinc help the fitness freaks and the gym rats? Zinc plays an important part in muscle tissue repair and testosterone production. It was in the stone age that we believed more workouts= more gains. But the muscle only grows with the proper rest and nutrients after the workout. Therefore having enough nutrients flowing to the muscle combined with good rest is essential is vital. So Zinc supplements is of particular importance to men over women.
We already know that Zinc helps the immune system and hence helps quick recovery in between strenuous workouts.Zinc also helps enzymes such as carboxypeptidase which removes carbon dioxide in the metabolic process. Additionally involved in the formation of new nerve cells and synapses. So you can imagine the amount of damage done when the body of athletes are Zinc deficient.
Zinc containing foods and supplements
- Oysters- This is the king of all things Zinc.
- Crab,lobsters,clams
- Red meat and poultry
- Flounders,sardines and salmon
- Lentils,chick peas, black beans
- Yogurt,cheese and all dairy products
- Whole grains like oats,quinoa
- Mushrooms
- Kale,asparagus
- Brown rice
And again the usual complications for vegetarians arise.Because oysters,crab and lobsters, overall shell fish are the best sources of Zinc.But there are options for vegetarians as you have already seen.Pumpkin seeds,lentils,chick peas,mushrooms etc. However there is a slight downside as the plant compounds inhibit absorption,efficiency in body absorption is less compared to non-vegan sources.
Best Zinc Supplement
If you doubt that your Zinc intake is not adding up to the required numbers,fortunately there are a few supplements to help.
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These are some of the best zinc supplements for athletes and fitness enthusiasts. The garden of life vitamin code is a well recommended vegan zinc supplement. Provides whole food nutrition with 30mg of RAW Zinc plus 60mg of RAW Vitamin C, both in a Whole Food form for optimal nutrient absorption and utilization.
Raw Organic fruits & vegetables, alkalizing trace minerals and probiotics & enzymes add additional antioxidants, vitamins and cofactors to Vitamin Code Vegan Zinc pills.
Zinc Supplement Dosage
As we mentioned earlier professional recommendation for adult men is 11 mg per day and for women it’s 8 mg per day. The situation of course is different for pregnant and breast feeding women. And definitely consult your personal physician before consumption.
The best advice is necessary on how to incorporate zinc supplements with your current diet. Tolerable maximum amount is 40 mg per day, but it might be higher for those who are zinc-deficient. For supplements zinc citrate or zinc gluconate is the best. Zinc oxide is less absorbed.
Zinc Supplement Side effects
The side effects include nausea and vomiting given that you have consumed more than the recommended. Also zinc competes with iron and copper for absorbing into the blood. This may reduce absorption of other vital minerals and vitamins to the body. Best way to avoid this is not to consume too much of everything at the same time.
When to take
Now the million dollar question, zinc before or after workout? I guess the answer is obvious by now. It is best consumed post-workout shortly after your meal because it helps in muscle tissue repair.Consuming pre workout isn’t really beneficial as this supplement unlike the pre workout supplements doesn’t help during workouts.
Conclusion
Zinc is an ultimate tool for metabolism,cellular growth and immune system functionality. And as gym rats it is even more important for muscular growth.But please do stick do the recommended dosage and never go above.Now that you are clear about Zinc Supplement Benefits,needless to say none of these work unless a nutritious unless a healthy meal plan is followed while working out.
