As two-times Nobel prize winner Dr Linus Pauling said: “You could
trace every disease and every ailment to a mineral deficiency.”  If that’s the case then Zinc would be the crucial mineral to supplement, in my opinion. My lovely kinesiology teacher, Rosie Dowbekin, describes Zinc as ‘the polite mineral’. Zinc says to calcium and magnesium: “no, you go first – you’re so important”. Yet Zinc is found in every tissue of our body and is required for 2,000 of our bodies’ vital processes including protein and carbohydrate metabolism, normal immune function, healthy hair, skin and nails and brain function.

A report was published in the USA in 1936 which showed that soil was becoming depleted of minerals as a result of increasingly intensive farming. (If soil is depleted then the vegetables and fruits grown in it are, and so is the grass and silage eaten by livestock.) Imagine what has happened to the soil in the last 80 years! We have had to resort to massive quantities of chemicals and genetic modification to produce our food. So, not only do we not eat enough natural foods, but they’re lacking minerals anyway.

Most people rely on refined and processed foods as the staples of their diet – bread, pasta, pizza, biscuits, cakes, etc. Refined (white) flour has had a large percentage of its mineral content removed – up to 77% of Zinc. We are simply not eating anywhere near five a day of vegetables – it’s more like 2 on average (and for some kids, scarily – none). Stress, pollution, food additives, alcohol and smoking all deplete minerals or prevent their absorption.

How do you increase your Zinc levels?

I recommend this food-state supplement from Cytoplan – I take one a day. If you suspect you have been depleted for a long time, it could take six or even 12 months of supplementation. If you want to keep topped up by eating better, then buy organic vegetables and fruit – they not only have less chemicals on them but they are grown in a natural way that respects and maintains soil health, which in turn grows more nutritional food. I get a weekly box delivery from Goldhill Organics – I love the freshness, quality and taste. Oysters and other fresh seafood are very high in Zinc but so are green vegetables, nuts and seeds, as well as meat.