7 Benefits Of Zinc For Women
Zinc is an essential trace mineral in our body that we need in order to carry out many essential functions in the body to keep chemical systems operating. It helps to grow and repair tissues, supports the immune system, and is required for the function of enzymes. Fortunately, zinc does a lot more than just keep our body function, it can be supplemented opportunistically to help with additional health issues.
Zinc-rich food sources include:
oysters
shrimp
seafood
meat
yogurt
pumpkin seeds
chickpeas
hemp seeds
spinach
nuts
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You may be wondering: “are there specific benefits of zinc for women ?”
The answer is YES - there are many benefits of zinc for women.
This important question we need to be asking is: do I need to support zinc levels in my body?
This is taking a root cause approach when it comes to understanding our health and hormones. When we answer this question, we are understanding what is driving the imbalance (which is showing up as symptoms in the body).
By addressing the root cause, not simply just the symptom (or the hormone imbalance for that matter), we can find long-term, sustained healing.
I’m here to help you have better periods, symptomless cycles, and optimize fertility (whether that’s now or in the future) all through simple nutrition and lifestyle shifts that feel simple, doable, and empowering (not overwhelming).
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As always, I’m giving away my best hormone tips here, answering your burning questions, and letting you in on the what the science says.
This is the kind of insider info I share with all of my 1:1 coaching clients and students in my signature course, Heal Your Period.
I’m so passionate about sharing this info with anyone on a hormone healing journey, so I’m letting you in with all the info here!
So, let’s dive in into it!
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What are the benefits of zinc for women?
Here are 7 benefits of zinc for women:
1. Improving PCOS outcomes
Reducing PCOS is one of the benefits of zinc for women. PCOS or polycystic ovarian syndrome occurs when someone has 2 out of 3 diagnostic criteria: anovulatory periods/irregular periods, polycystic ovaries on ultrasound, elevated androgen levels. Some of the side effects of PCOS are facial hair growth, unexplained weight gain, hair loss, blood sugar imbalance, and acne. Androgens are the male-dominant hormones testosterone and DHEA, though women need a small quantity of them both to be healthy. When these levels become too high this is when irregular periods occur because the female reproductive hormones estrogen and progesterone will naturally decrease. Zinc can rebalance these hormone levels through its antiandrogenic activity which will raise estrogen and progesterone back to baseline. Acne production is also a common side effect for those with PCOS because of the high androgen levels that cause excess oil production in the skin glands. Zinc can counteract acne by reducing androgen levels. Blood sugar imbalances can become a problem in those with PCOS resulting in high lipid blood profiles and high fasting blood sugar, and zinc can help with reducing both.
2. Reducing Acne
Reducing acne is another one of the benefits of zinc for women. As mentioned, zinc can enhance the reduction of acne in those with PCOS. A mechanism for this is that zinc has anti-inflammatory properties and it also can effectively reduce cutibacterium acnes which is a type of bacteria linked to acne production in the skin. Furthermore, zinc can inhibit sebum secretion and production by its antiandrogenic property.
Source: 25120566
3. Reducing PMS
Reducing PMS is another one of the benefits of zinc for women. PMS stands for premenstrual syndrome and includes symptoms like menstrual cramps, sore breasts, headaches, mood swings, bloating, and fatigue. Most of these symptoms are a sign of elevated estrogen levels called estrogen dominance. Though we need plenty of estrogen, too much can irritate our system and result in heavier PMS. Zinc is an important mineral used to help promote the reproductive system’s balance in this case. A study found that zinc is able to increase the number of binding sites on a progesterone receptor which will increase total progesterone levels. By increasing progesterone levels you can balance out estrogen which will reduce PMS symptoms.
Source: 7386123
4. Reducing Anxiety
Reducing anxiety is another one of the benefits of zinc for women. Anxiety is a feeling of fear, worry, or unease. Some physical symptoms associated with anxiety are increased heartbeat, sweating, shaking, and shortness of breath. Anxiety can be tied to something specific like something stressing us out, or we can feel generalized feelings of anxiety.
If we are deficient in an essential nutrient like zinc, our body will send us signals, as symptoms, that something is wrong, one of these signals can be anxiety. GABA and glutamate are two main neurotransmitters that zinc has been shown to regulate. Glutamate controls the connection and signaling between nerve cells, which has effects on the nervous system and anxiety. Zinc also has anti-inflammatory properties that aid the body needs for reducing oxidative stress from inflammation.
Source: 23946656
5. Egg Quality and fertility
Another one of the benefits of zinc for women is promoting egg quality and fertility. Since zinc can decrease androgens and promote progesterone, both of these things help with fertility and egg quality maturation. Progesterone is very important for fertility because it helps prepare the body for pregnancy by ensuring egg quality among other things. Zinc also aids in egg quality because it promotes ovulation and cell division in females. Zinc deficiency can be very harmful as it causes the risk of miscarriage, preterm delivery, placental inflammation, neural tube defects.
6. Gut Health
Gut health is another one of the benefits of zinc for women. Zinc Carnosine (ZnC) is a supplement product that is an artificially produced substance of 1:1 ratio of zinc to carnosine. Zinc is an essential mineral that aids in many of our necessary chemical reactions in the body, and carnosine is a dipeptide molecule composed of beta-alanine and histidine both are amino acids. Carnosine is highly concentrated in the brain and muscle tissues. Research has found that ZnC improves gut integrity and permeability by stimulating cell proliferation in the small intestine. This reduces gastric and small intestinal injury by preventing toxins and pathogens from passing through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream.
Source: 16777920
7. Blood Sugar Balance
Lastly, blood sugar balance is another one of the benefits of zinc for women. Unfortunately, those with PCOS likely will have imbalanced blood sugar. Usually, this is the culprit of unexplained weight gain. If your blood sugar is imbalanced you will end up storing more sugar as fat as default instead of for energy. The cause is not well studied, but imbalanced blood sugar does lead to high insulin levels which send a signal to the ovaries to produce more testosterone which increases PCOS severity. Complications of imbalanced blood sugar lead to increased lipid levels and zinc supplementation has been shown to aid in reducing lipid levels and blood sugar levels.
FINAL THOUGHTS
There are many benefits of zinc for hormone balance.
While we chatted through lots of different benefits, remember that every body is unique and it’s about determining what works best for your body.
The main benefits when it comes to zinc for hormone balance are supporting gut health, blood sugar levels, egg quality, and reducing PMS symptoms (to name a few).
-Krista
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KRISTA KING, MS, RDN, LDN, IFNCP
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