ZINC DEFICIENCY, the IMMUNE and THYROID CONNECTION

Learning about the mineral ZINC in the body can be a help for those struggling with Thyroid imbalances.  Zinc is required for building and repair in the body.  It is important for healthy hair, nails and skin growth.   When there is lack of zinc there is poor wound healing, mouth ulcers and spots on the nails.  It is also important for bone formation and is used to make the hormone called calcitonin that breaks bone down.  What I used to remember zinc's uses when studying nutrition was "FEET STINK, THINK ZINC"!  It's true ... people with stinky feet are usually zinc deficient.

Zinc is very important for the immune system and people who are deficient often seem to catch one thing after another.  There are studies that show taking zinc can reduce the duration and severity of ills and chills by 50%.  Zinc is an antiviral agent, which is released into the saliva providing a first line of defence against any ingested bugs.  It is depleted rapidly in viral infections as the body uses it quickly to inhibit virus replication, as well as for many other immune defense functions

Signs of Zinc deficiency are white spots on fingernails, hypoglycemia, food and environmental allergies, joint pains (especially knee pain), fatigue, headaches (especially migraine headaches), bowel dysfunction (such as irritable bowel syndrome), easy bruising, dizziness, insomnia, poor memory and difficulty concentrating.  Poor stress control, nervousness, anxiety, mood swings, severe inner tension, episodic anger, poor short-term memory and depression are other common symptoms.

It is well recognized that anxious or angry people have high pyrroles and low zinc.  People with violent behaviors usually have ZINC DEFICIENCY. 

Zinc is essential for hundreds of processes in the body and is particularly important for healing, immune function, digestion, neurotransmitter activation, physical growth, memory, insulin balance and control of blood sugars, DNA replication and more.

Zinc is naturally present in food such as oysters, meat, poultry, dairy products, eggs, fish, beans, whole grains and nuts.  Other good sources are pumpkin and sunflower seeds which are great toasted and are cheap and tasty to throw on your salads.  For vegetarians kelp and spirulina would be great sources.

Zinc is important for the thyroid in creating thyroxin and converting T4 to T3. 

Zinc and B6 are essential for production of neurotransmitters such as serotonin (our happy hormone), melatonin (our sleep hormone), GABA (our relaxation hormone), and acetyl choline (important for memory). They are also involved in production of our steroid hormones such as cortisol (our anti-inflammatory, anti-allergy hormone and stress hormone) and the conversion of oils in the body (fat metabolism, liver and gall bladder issues and weight control). The oils EPA/DHA but mostly GLA are found to be low in those with Pyrrole disorder and are damaged by oxidative stress/free radicals/toxins created by pyrroles. 

Pyrroles are classed as 'nerve poisons' and as such can cause damage to your nerves, nerve cells and tissue, your brain and they can interrupt messages being sent along your nerves especially within your brain.

Pyrrole disorder, also known as pyroluria, kryptopyroluria, kryptopyrole or Mauve disorder is a biochemical imbalance involving an abnormality in hemoglobin synthesis that can be genetic or acquired through environmental and emotional stress and especially from ‘leaky gut syndrome’ (also known as intestinal permeability, a condition whereby microscopic holes occur in your intestinal wall and allow undigested food, bacterial by-products, poisons and toxins to pass into your blood) and the over-use of antibiotics.

Stress of any kind will increases production of pyrroles/HPL which in turn decreases zinc and B6.

Unfortunately Pyroluria is not understood or treated in mainstream medicine - due to the fact that the only way to rectify the problem is by improving the sufferer’s nutritional status, diet, digestion and reducing stress levels.  Allopathic (western) medicine relies on drugs to suppress a symptom or relieve suffering and this form of treatment will not work for a person who has a Pyrrole disorder so most sufferers of Pyroluria fall through the cracks and are often misdiagnosed and given medication or drugs that do nothing to rectify the underlying problem. 

Herbs that contain high Zinc:

Parsley

Parsley is a common herb used both as a garnish and a flavoring for food. One tbsp. of dried parsley introduces 0.09 mg of zinc into your diet. Because you need 8 to 11 mg of this mineral each day, pair parsley with other zinc-rich foods, including beef shanks, pork shoulder or tenderloin, chicken legs and chickpeas. Zinc positively influences your body's ability to heal after you sustain an injury, so make sure you get the full amount of zinc you need each day for this purpose.

Rosemary

Eat a 1-tbsp. serving of fresh rosemary and you consume 0.02 mg of zinc. Supplement your zinc intake by adding rosemary to pork, chicken breast and fish such as flounder or sole, all of which also provide zinc. Consuming enough zinc is not only linked to good health for you, but is particularly important during pregnancy as it helps support fetal growth. During pregnancy, a woman needs an intake of 11 mg of zinc daily.

For a nutritional bio scan email me at mywellnessaz@gmail.com .