Zinc is an essential mineral that is required for various bodily functions. Zinc plays a role in cellular metabolism and catalytic activity of various enzymes. It also supports the immune system, wound healing, protein and DNA synthesis, and cell division. Zinc has other benefits such as: 1 Improving hair, nail, skin health 2 Increasing bone mineral density 3 Showing antioxidant activity 4 Supporting eye disease treatment 5 Reducing inflammation in the body 6 Accelerating acne treatment 7 Speeding up wound healing process.
Zinc cannot be produced by the body, so it needs to be obtained from external sources. Zinc can be found in foods such as red meat, seafood, nuts, spinach, okra, mushroom, and lentil. Zinc can also be taken as a supplement in the form of zinc tablet, zinc capsule, or zinc pill. In this blog post, we will explore what is zinc and what are its benefits.
What Does Zinc Do for the Body?
Zinc is involved in many reactions in the body that produce harmful antioxidant substances. Especially smoking and other health-damaging substances increase the production of antioxidants. These substances need to be removed or neutralized from the body. Antioxidants are removed by using certain enzymes and molecules. The enzyme called superoxide dismutase is the body’s natural antioxidant. This natural antioxidant needs zinc to function properly.
In cases of zinc deficiency, this enzyme does not work well and the body’s antioxidant capacity decreases. Therefore, it is recommended to use zinc supplements to increase and protect the body’s antioxidant capacity. Zinc also protects the immune system cells by its antioxidant effect and helps them to perform their activities. Thus, the risk of getting sick decreases. Apart from its antioxidant effect, zinc is also needed for the maturation process of T lymphocytes, which are an important group of the immune system.
Zinc is also important for bone health. Especially when calcium, zinc and magnesium are used together regularly, they support increasing bone mineral density. Studies on child development have shown that children who have zinc deficiency are shorter than their peers. Zinc supports bone development in childhood and adolescence, general bone health in adults and athletes, and osteoporosis treatment in elderly people. Vitamin C is necessary for collagen production. Collagen production is an important step in bone development.
Summary and Conclusion
In this blog post, we have learned that:
- Zinc is an essential mineral that is required for various bodily functions.
- Zinc plays a role in cellular metabolism and catalytic activity of various enzymes.
- Zinc also supports the immune system, wound healing, protein and DNA synthesis, and cell division.
- Zinc has other benefits such as improving hair, nail, skin health, increasing bone mineral density, showing antioxidant activity, supporting eye disease treatment, reducing inflammation in the body, accelerating acne treatment, speeding up wound healing process.
- Zinc cannot be produced by the body, so it needs to be obtained from external sources.
- Zinc can be found in foods such as red meat, seafood, nuts, spinach, okra, mushroom, and lentil.
- Zinc can also be taken as a supplement in the form of zinc tablet, zinc capsule, or zinc pill.
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