Scientists once again urged everyone – and especially vegetarians – to get enough zinc. The body’s need for zinc, of course, is not as obvious as for air, water and enough calories and vitamins throughout the day – but it is no less serious.
Sean Bauer, author of the book Food for Thought and two online health blogs, has gathered enough information on current scientific research to openly declare from the pages of the popular news site NaturalNews: friends, zinc consumption is in fact one of the most pressing problems of modern man, and especially if he is a vegetarian.
While meat eaters get their zinc from meat, vegetarians should consume adequate amounts of nuts, cheese, soy products, and/or special zinc supplements or a multivitamin. At the same time, the opinion that in order to consume a sufficient amount of zinc one must eat meat or “at least” eggs is a dangerous delusion! For reference, both yeast and pumpkin seeds contain more zinc than beef or egg yolk.
However, since zinc is found in small amounts in natural foods and is difficult to absorb, it is best to compensate for the lack of zinc by taking vitamins – which, however, does not eliminate the need for taking zinc in its natural form – from vegetarian products.
Products containing zinc:
Vegetables: beets, tomatoes, garlic. Fruits: raspberries, blueberries, oranges. Seeds: pumpkin, sunflower, sesame. Nuts: pine nuts, walnuts, coconuts. Cereals: germinated wheat, wheat bran, corn (including popcorn), in lentils and green peas – in small quantities. Spices: ginger, cocoa powder.
Zinc is found in very high amounts in baking yeast. Large amounts of zinc are also found in specially fortified zinc (“baby”) milk.
Scientists have found that zinc not only protects the body from colds, but is also responsible for fighting infections and parasites, and eliminating inflammatory processes – which is noticeable primarily in the condition of the skin (the problem of acne – pimples – is solved by simply taking a dietary supplement with zinc!) .
Another important property of zinc is its effect on the nervous system: the problems of hyperactivity in children and insomnia in hundreds of thousands of adults are also easily eliminated with a microscopic amount of this important metal.
Another useful property of zinc, which is especially important for vegetarians, is that zinc gives a person a subtle sense of taste, without which the transition to vegetarianism is difficult, and vegetarian food – without a “horse” dose of salt, sugar and pepper – will seem trite tasteless. Therefore, zinc can be called “vegetarian and vegan friend No. 1”!
How it works? Scientists have found that zinc ensures the functioning of the taste buds on the tongue, which are responsible for the sensation of taste and the feeling of fullness in food. If the food is subjectively “tasteless”, the brain does not receive a satiety signal and overeating may occur. In addition, a person with zinc deficiency “in life” gravitates towards food with heavy, strong tastes – these are primarily fast food, meat, pickled and canned, fried foods, spicy foods – practically, the hit parade of what is harmful to health! A person with a zinc deficiency is not physiologically predisposed to vegetarianism, veganism and a raw food diet!
It has also been found that people suffering from even a slight zinc deficiency tend to consume markedly more sugar, salt and other strong spices – which can lead to digestive and joint problems, high blood pressure, obesity – and of course, further dulling of taste. Doctors believe that this vicious cycle can only be interrupted by a cold or general malaise – a situation where a person can consciously or on the advice of doctors take a multivitamin supplement that contains, among other things, zinc.
Most people, even in developed and progressive countries, are not aware of the importance of zinc intake. In the relatively prosperous United States of America, millions of people suffer from a lack of zinc in the body, without knowing it. To make matters worse, a diet high in refined sugar (obviously the type of diet that the average American and Russian eats!) increases the risk of zinc deficiency.