Zinc, skin care & skin healing

Zinc is critical to the entire body’s immune and repair processes. Studies show that a skin injury site becomes saturated with zinc within 90 minutes of the injury. Zinc levels increase to a peak on approximately the 7th day following the injury and return to normal at about the 14th day. Other studies show that as we age, zinc saturation of an injury does not achieve the same levels as younger skin and overall systemic (bodily) zinc levels decline. The inability of elderly people to heal quickly or heal completely is most frequently related to inadequate zinc-injury response and low systemic zinc levels.

Zinc is required for collagen production, elastin synthesis and for DNA repair. Zinc is required for DNA duplication, which is required for cell division. It is required for the production of superoxide dismutase, a powerful skin antioxidant. Zinc is a co-factor in the skin’s production of certain metalloproteinases that remove damaged or mutated tissue. It is a co-factor in the production of adenosine deaminase, which signals T-cells as one of our body's immune processes. Zinc is critically important to the skin and body.

Each of these processes is involved in healing and repair and without adequate zinc levels, the process of skin rejuvenation is slow or simply does not happen. Additionally, mature patients may not have adequate zinc levels in the skin. Therefore zinc levels may need to be increased by topical application.

Zinc has rapidly growing applications to medical science and some of these uses are becoming quite sophisticated. For example, zinc is applied to the lesion site after biopsy of high-risk melanomas to enhance anti-tumor immunity, reduce metastases and increase cancer-specific survival. Systemic zinc integrity (as measured from blood) is becoming a means of measuring the body’s progress in fighting diseases, such as cancer.

Our body contains about 2-3g of zinc. There are no specific storage sites known for zinc and so a regular supply in the diet is required. Zinc is found in all parts of our body, 60% is found in muscle, 30% in bone and about 5% in our skin. Particularly high concentrations are in the prostate gland and semen. Men need more zinc than women because male semen contains 100 times more zinc than is found in the blood. The more sexually active a man the more zinc he will require. The recommended amounts of zinc for adult men are 1/3 higher than those for women.

The first signs of zinc deficiency are impairment of taste, a poor immune response and skin problems. Other symptoms of zinc deficiency can include hair loss, diarrhoea, fatigue, delayed wound healing, and decreased growth rate and mental development in infants. It is thought that zinc supplementation can help skin conditions such as acne and eczema, prostate problems, anorexia nervosa, alcoholics and those suffering from trauma or post-surgery. It is always better to seek the advice of an expert before dosing yourself with supplements. If you choose to take a zinc supplement you should not need more than the daily recommended amount unless medical advice says otherwise.

Dietary Sources

Zinc is present in a wide variety of foods, particularly in association with protein foods. A vegetarian diet often contains less zinc than a meat based diet and so it is important for vegetarians to eat plenty of foods that are rich in this vital mineral.

Good sources for vegetarians include dairy products, beans and lentils, yeast, nuts, seeds and wholegrain cereals. Pumpkin seeds provide one of the most concentrated vegetarian food sources of zinc.

Only 20% of the zinc present in the diet is actually absorbed by the body. Dietary fibre and phytic acid, found in bran, wholegrain cereals, pulses and nuts, inhibit zinc absorption. Phytic acid forms a highly insoluble complex with zinc which the body cannot absorb. Cooking processes can reduce the adverse effects of both phytic acid and dietary fibre on zinc absorption. Baking can destroy over half the phytic acid in wholemeal bread. Zinc deficiency occurs where a large part of the diet consists of unleavened bread, such as Iran and other Middle East countries. High levels of the toxic mineral cadmium can also prevent zinc absorption because these two minerals compete for absorption. Conversely high levels of zinc in the diet can prevent the absorption of cadmium. Various chemicals added to many processed foods can also reduce zinc absorption eg phosphates, EDTA. A deficiency of zinc in the diet means zinc absorption is improved.

Zinc is lost via the faeces, urine, hair, skin, sweat, semen and also menstruation.

Sources of zinc (single servings)
Good sources		Fair sources		Poor sources
Chickpeas (200g or 7oz)	2.8mg	Peanut butter (20g or 2/3oz)	0.6mg	Dried dates (15g or 1/2oz)	0.04mg
Baked beans (225g or 8oz)	1.6mg	Peas, frozen/canned (80g or 2.5oz)	0.6mg	Butter (7g or 1/4oz)	0.01mg
1 Vegeburger (100g or 3.5oz)	1.6mg	3 Dried figs (60g or 2oz )	0.5mg	Raisins & Sultanas (15g or 1/2oz)	0.01mg
Pumpkin seeds (20g or 2/3oz)	1.3mg	3 Brazil nuts (10g or 1/3oz)	0.4mg	.	.
Muesli (60g or 2.25oz)	1.3mg	Potatoes, boiled (200g or 7oz)	0.4mg	.	.
Cheddar cheese (30g or 1oz)	1.2mg	1 Orange (140g or 5oz)	0.3mg	.	.
Tahini paste (20g or 2/3oz)	1.1mg	6 Almonds (10g or 1/3oz)	0.3mg	.	.
1 Fruit yoghurt (150g or 5.25oz)	0.9mg	.	.	.	.
Dried yeast (10g or 1/3oz)	0.8mg	.	.	.	.
Wholemeal bread (40g or 1.5oz)	0.8mg	.	.	.	.

Required Intakes The old Recommended Daily Amounts (RDAs) have now been replaced by the term Reference Nutrient Intake (RNI). The RNI is the amount of nutrient which is enough for at least 97% of the population.

Reference Nutrient Intakes for Zinc, mg/day.

Age	RNI	.	Age	RNI
0 to 6 months	4.0mg	.	Adult men	9.5mg
7 months to 3 yrs	5.0mg	.	Adult women	7.0mg
4 to 6 yrs	6.5mg	.	.	.
7 to 10 yrs	7.0mg	.	Pregnant women	7..0mg
11 to 14 yrs	9.0mg	.	Breast feeding women	9.5 to 13mg

Pregnant women do need extra zinc, but it is thought that demands are met by increased absorption from the gut. Breast feeding mothers need extra zinc in their diet. Breast milk contains over 2mg of zinc in the first four months and women need an extra 6mg a day to cover these demands. Breast feeding women must include a generous serving of at least one good source of zinc in their diet each day. The iron supplements routinely prescribed for pregnant women when there is no sign of anaemia may compromise zinc status. This is because the interactions between essential minerals are complex and too much of one may cause an imbalance of another. Excess zinc is toxic. Too much zinc will interfere with the metabolism of other minerals in the body, particularly iron and copper. Symptoms of zinc toxicity occur after ingestion of 2g of or more and include nausea, vomiting and fever.

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