Nutrition Corner
Enrich your diet with essential zinc
Banana, a very good source of dietary zinc
Zinc is an essential mineral required by the body for maintaining a sense of smell, keeping a healthy immune system, building proteins, triggering enzymes, and creating DNA. Zinc also helps the cells in your body communicate by functioning as a neurotransmitter. A deficiency in zinc can lead to stunted growth, diarrhoea, impotence, hair loss, eye and skin lesions, impaired appetite, and depressed immunity. Conversely, consuming too much zinc can disrupt absorption of copper and iron, as well as create large amounts of toxic free radicals. The current recommended daily allowance (RDA) for zinc is 15 mg. The foods that are rich in zinc and fulfill your requirement include bananas, dried, watermelon seeds, roasted pumpkin and squash seeds, low fat roast beef, blackberries, raspberries, dates, dark chocolate and cocoa powder, peanuts, dried apricots, oysters, dried peaches, toasted wheat germ, dried plums, veal liver, avocados, sesame seeds, dried grapes etc. But getting too much zinc in your diet can actually weaken the strength of your immune system. Taking more than 45 mg of zinc per day can lead to a copper deficiency. 80 mg of zinc per day over the long term can lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease via a decrease in blood levels of HDL. Greater than 150 mg of zinc per day can weaken your immune system. Nausea, an upset stomach, and vomitting are strong signs of zinc toxicity if you are taking a zinc supplement. For these reasons, many experts recommend that people should obtain zinc from a variety of whole, minimally processed foods.
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