There are so many things that people are ready to do for a healthy life and a beautiful body. This is the reason why so many men and women invest in their looks and appearance, and go for different beauty treatments and hit the gym. However, none of the exercise, medication or treatment will work nor they will have any long-lasting effects if the body does not have the proper nutrition.
In fact, most of the skin problems affecting the looks and subsequently, the self-confidence, of people are caused by nutritional deficiencies or imbalances. Therefore, the nutrition intake should always have the first priority over any other method that you invest in for your health and beauty. Once such nutrient that plays a key factor in your health and beauty, and the one that we’re going to talk about, is Zinc.
What is Zinc?
Zinc is a naturally occurring mineral and a type of metal that can be extracted from different sources. It is widely found in the earth’s crust, the seawater as well as the air. However, they’re most often found as a by-product of mining different metal ores.
As a dietary mineral, the body needs zinc for helping your immune system ward off any harmful microbes trying to affect your health. Zinc is also responsible for helping the body produce different types of proteins as well as create the genetic materials for the DNA in all the cells.
Above that, Zinc is absolutely essential for the development of a fetus, for abetting the healing functions as well as maintain the proper functioning of different senses such as taste or smell. Zinc is necessary for the production of different enzymes in the body such as carbonic anhydrase. Above all, there are several zinc benefits for skin that are absolutely essential for beautiful skin.
What this all means is that Zinc is absolutely essential for the healthy functioning of the body. Without the proper amounts of zinc in the body, you’re going to get several different types of health problems unless you start taking zinc enriched foods or dietary zinc supplements.
The Benefits of Zinc
As we have already established, zinc is an indispensable micronutrient for the body. Besides its obvious necessities and uses, taking zinc can provide a lot of health benefits for the consumer.
Zinc Benefits for Skin:
Zinc has been used as a go-to source for almost all the skincare products. Zinc can aid the body in eliminating problems with acne, reducing inflammation and compounds like Zinc Oxide can help your body to be protected from the sunlight. That’s why many sunscreens come with Zinc Oxide. Apart from that, Zinc can help make your skin glow and brighten the skin tones. Zinc is sometimes injected into the body to provide and improve the nutrition in the body to help it recover burned skin cells. Zinc benefits for skin and acne reduction are what make Zinc the most sought out product by many beauty enthusiasts.
Reproductive Health Benefits:
Many men are known to take Zinc supplements as a treatment for different sexual problems, such as enlarged prostate and erectile dysfunctions. For women, zinc helps with the treatment of problems such as ovarian cysts.
Benefits for Pregnancy:
Zinc is not only essential for the child’s growth inside the womb, but it also has some added benefits for pregnant women and their unborn child. Zinc helps the mothers cope with Postpartum depression (depression caused after pregnancy), improving their general mood and thus overall mental health.
Use as Antiseptics:
Zinc Sulphate can be used as an antiseptic to prevent infections and sterilize wounds. Zinc Sulphates are used in eye drops to help deal with problems like eye irritation. Compounds like Zinc Citrate are used in different dental hygiene products such as toothpaste and mouthwashes, to help the user in dealing with the bacteria and microbes forming in their mouths. Zinc sprays can help deal with viruses and are often used as nasal sprays for dealing with virus infections such as the common cold.
Benefits for Muscles:
Zinc has been known to help relieve pains related to muscle cramps. It has been used by athletes over the years to improve their athletic performance and boost the stamina of their muscles.
Apart from these benefits, Zinc is administered by many medical professionals as a treatment for different types of diseases such as Wilson’s Disease, Macular Degeneration, Anorexia, Diarrhea, ADHD. Zinc is often administered as a preventive measure against cancer and for stopping the growth of the cancerous cells.
How to Take Zinc?
The Recommended Daily Allowance of zinc for the body is around 11 mg a day. For the average adult male and female, the upper intake of zinc should be limited to 40 mg and 25 mg respectively. Going below or above the recommended intake levels can cause some health issues, as we’ve already mentioned earlier.
The best and the easiest way to obtain the daily recommended dosage for zinc is through a proper diet. Foods that contain high amounts of Zinc are red meat and poultry. Oysters are known to be the most zinc-rich food. It can also be obtained from different seafood like crabs and lobsters. But if you’re looking for non-vegetarian food sources, different kinds of nuts, beans, and whole grains.
If you’re having trouble getting the recommended dosage because of a problem with alcoholism or recent gastrointestinal surgery, you still have other options of taking zinc. There are several zinc supplements that can help you deal with the deficiencies. These supplements can come in a lot of different forms, starting from injections (which needs the supervision of a trained medical professional than for home use), to chewable lozenges.
Remember: taking excessive zincs and exceeded the upper limit can have side-effects like nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps etc. If you’ve already had your daily dosage of Zinc and still need a little oomph for your skin problems, you can apply lotions and creams with zinc onto your skin for a faster acting solution.
Zinc, as a dietary mineral, can have more helpful effects on the body than harmful side-effects. Even then, it’s better to stick to the recommended dosage and upper limits unless advised by a medical professional otherwise. Although zinc deficiencies are uncommon in most of the countries around the world, they still are possible and worth checking out if you’re having problems.
And if you don’t have any specific deficiencies and just want the benefits of zinc for skin, you could just go for the different lotions or creams tailored for your specific problems than try to take zinc supplements. You can get these zinc benefits for skin even from your skin absorbing the lotion into it.
