Photo by Paula Borowska
For years, we’ve been told to take vitamin C to prevent or recover from colds. So we’ve all been glugging down orange juice or taking those horrible tasting vitamin C tablets in the hopes or speeding away our colds.
It seems that we have a new contender for being a cold supermineral. New research has been published that demonstrates that zinc is much more effective for healing and recovery during colds and flu than vitamin C. Additionally, when taken within 24 hours of getting sick, zinc is associated with a shorter duration of the common cold.
What is zinc?
Zinc is a mineral that is found throughout the body and helps the immune system to heal wounds and fight the viruses and bacteria that cause cold and flu. Zinc is very important for cell reproduction in the body and for babies and children to grow.
How much zinc do you need?
Age Daily Zinc Requirement
| Birth to 6 months | 2mg |
| 7 months to 3 years | 3mg |
| 4 to 8 years | 5mg |
| 9 to 13 years | 8mg |
| 14 years to adult (men) | 11mg |
| 14 years to adult (women) | 8mg |
| Breastfeeding women | 12mg |
However – taking zinc tablets within 24 hours of getting sick can help tremendously. If supplementary zinc is taken, the UK Food Standards Agency and the UK Department of Health recommend that no more than 25mg a day is taken, as too much may cause anaemia and weakening of the bones. Wild Nutrition’s immune support tablets are excellent as they are as close to food state as possible, which makes it much easier for your body to absorb the minerals and vitamins they contain.
Okay, so what does this actually mean in terms of real food?
Fruits and vegetables are not good sources of zinc, because the zinc in plant proteins is not as bioavailable for use by the body as the zinc from animal proteins. Therefore, low-protein diets and vegetarian diets tend to be low in zinc.
Oysters, red meat, poultry and crab are good sources of zinc, with beef, lamb, pork, chicken and turkey having the highest concentration of this mineral.
Food Zinc Content
| A piece of cooked beef the size of deck of playing cards (100g) | 12.3mg |
| A piece of cooked pork the size of deck of playing cards (100g) | 5mg |
| 6 oysters | 76mg |
| A small bag of cashews (100g) | 5.6mg |
| 3-4 medium mushrooms (1 cup) | 1.4mg |
| 2-3 handfuls of pumpkin / squash seeds (100g) | 10.3mg |
As ever, it’s important to look at your weekly rather that daily intake of food to get the true picture of what vitamins and minerals you need to increase / decrease / maintain.