Zinc supplements

Zinc has a reputation as an immune booster and certainly the mineral zinc does have a range of functions in the immune system. Previous research has shown for instance that around 30 per cent of nursing home residents have low levels of zinc in their blood and that this correlates with a significantly higher incidence of pneumonia and even death rates as a result. The question that researchers wanted to answer in a new study is whether taking zinc supplements will actually raise zinc levels in the body and have a beneficial effect on immunity as a result.

To test this they enrolled into their study adults aged 65 or over who were in nursing homes. The subjects had zinc levels at the beginning of the study that ranged from moderately deficient to highly deficient. A blood level of 70 micrograms of zinc per decilitre of blood was used as the cut-off line for “adequate” zinc levels.

For three months the subjects were split into two groups; one group received a daily multivitamin with 30mg of zinc while the other group received a “placebo” in the form of a daily multivitamin with 5mg of zinc.

By the end of the trial blood zinc levels rose by 16 per cent in the zinc group compared to only 0.7 per cent in the placebo group. By the end of the study those in the zinc group who were only moderately zinc deficient had adequate zinc levels. This indicates that supplemental zinc is being absorbed into the body.

Additionally, the zinc group showed improved immune function in that T-cells were better able to multiply in response to a stimulus that mimicked an infection.

All of that adds up to the fact that if your zinc levels are low then you can stop them zincing further by a taking a decent quality supplement.