Millions of individuals around the world suffer from a zinc deficiency without even knowing.  In fact, being deficient in zinc can cause several unwanted symptoms in the human body and can lead to long term health effects.  Unfortunately, many are unknowingly suffering from this mineral deficiency and are most likely being misdiagnosed.

With that being said, high carbohydrate and sugar rich diets are a recipe for disaster and can significantly lower zinc levels in the body.  This is because the body will use minerals such as zinc in order to cope with the toxic effects of sugar rich diets.  It’s for this reason, that diets high in sugar often cause mineral deficiencies in the body over time.

Also, fungal overgrowth’s such as candida can contribute to zinc deficiencies as well.  Those on a high sugar, high carbohydrate diet are more prone to developing a candida overgrowth in the gut.  In fact, candida can destroy the integrity and health of the gut lining and can cause vitamin and mineral absorption issues.  When this occurs, getting adequate levels of zinc and other trace minerals can be extremely difficult.

How Does Zinc Help Your Body?

Zinc is one of the most important minerals when it comes to maintaining healthy gut function and balancing the immune system.  Zinc helps protect the body against various pathogens and is perfect for strengthening the immune system.  However, this mineral also helps assist in several different biological functions in the body.  Interestingly, research has shown that zinc can help in a wide range of gastrointestinal disease(s) in the body such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and ulcerative colitis.

Zinc and the Immune System

Zinc plays an extremely important role in the health and maintenance of the immune system.  In fact, it’s been well documented that those with weakened immune systems are often deficient in zinc.

As well as being extremely nourishing for the immune system, zinc also helps protect against oxidative stress which is a contributing factor in several chronic human diseases (1).  Unfortunately, when the gut microbiome is in a state of dsybosis and overrun with candida, absorbing zinc can become extremely difficult.

Also, it’s well known that those suffering from a candida overgrowth in the body will already be faced with a weakened immune system.  This is because the body’s immune system becomes overwhelmed with the toxic byproducts released by candida.  These toxic byproducts can severely compromise several different elimination pathways in the body which can naturally disrupt the balance of the immune system.

Zinc and Intestinal Health

As mentioned before, those suffering from digestive disorders are almost always deficient in zinc.  Zinc plays an extremely important role in the epithelial tight junctions and epithelial barrier of the gut.  When these barriers become damaged, food particles are able to pass easily through the intestines and into the bloodstream.  This typically overwhelms the immune system and causes some type of negative symptom in the body such as fatigue, rash, or brain fog.

Ensuring that the gut is not “leaky” is mandatory for optimal health.  One of zinc’s main roles in the body is to make sure the gut lining stays unharmed and assists in the rebuilding of the protective mucosal layer.  However, as already stated, fungal overgrowth’s such as candida can severely comprise the uptake and utilization of zinc from the diet.

Ways to Improve Zinc Absorption

There is various ways in which you can improve your ability to absorb zinc and utilize it more effectively.  However, before you use these strategies below, it’s important that you are following a correct candida inhibiting diet.  Our candida diet protocol can be perfect for anyone dealing with zinc deficiency and a candida overgrowth.

1. Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

Raw apple cider vinegar can be excellent for anyone dealing with a zinc deficiency in the body due to a fungal overgrowth.  This is because raw ACV naturally contains anti-fungal properties which can inhibit the growth of candida in the body.

Also, ACV is naturally acidic and can help in the formation of healthy stomach acid.  Having strong stomach acid levels in the body not only increases your nutrient absorption, but it also naturally neutralizes pathogenic fungus and bacteria in the gut.

For best results, mix 2 tablespoons of organic raw ACV in a liter of spring water and drink this solution throughout the day.  ACV can also be taken after meals in order to increase absorption of nutrients and facilitate in digestion.

2. High Quality Animal Protein

Animal protein is critical for anyone dealing with a zinc deficiency in the body.  This is because meat is extremely high in the mineral zinc.  It also contains no anti-nutrients (more on this below) that will hinder absorption of nutrients or cause inflammation in the intestines.

Red meat is by far the best source of natural zinc in the world.  However, all animal foods are beneficial and should not be shunned.  It’s critical that all animal foods be grass-fed, wild caught, and organic.  If well tolerated, consuming a few pastured eggs a week is a quick and easy snack that can boost zinc levels and other minerals in the body naturally.

3. Sea Salt

This may seem basic, but getting more sea salt in your diet can do wonders for digestive health and absorption of nutrients.  This is because all sea salts naturally contain an element called chloride which is needed in the formation of stomach acid.

By consuming more sea salt such as Celtic or Pink Himalayan, you are naturally increasing your body’s ability to produce more stomach acid.  This increase in stomach acid can help increase nutrient absorption and inhibit the growth of candida in the body.  Naturally sea salts also contain 84 minerals that are needed by the body for optimal health.

Anti-Nutrients and Intestinal Health

Those with a zinc deficiency should consider looking into various types of anti-nutrients that may be entering into the diet.  Many so called “healthy foods” are full of anti-nutrients such as oxalates, phytates, and lectins.

These anti-nutrients can cause severe digestive distress and can cause intestinal inflammation in the gut.  In fact, the body uses minerals such a calcium, magnesium, and zinc in order to bind to these anti-nutrients and carry them safely out of the body.  Research has shown that anti-nutrients such as phytates can cause inflammation in the gut and have a binding effect on key minerals in the body (2).

This binding effect can cause long term mineral deficiencies in the body if the problematic foods are not removed from the diet. It’s important to understand that all plant foods contain anti-nutrients.  Fruits contain little to no anti-nutrients but most modern fruit contains high amounts of sugar which can be used by candida.

Cooking significantly reduces the anti-nutrient content found in all grains, nuts, seeds, tubers, and vegetables.  However, it’s highly recommend that those suffering from a zinc deficiency focus heavily on high quality animal foods.

As mentioned before, animal foods contain ZERO anti-nutrients and will not cause inflammation in the gut or rob minerals from the body.  Also, animal foods are typically rich in zinc that is in an unbound form and completely usable by the body.

Correct Zinc Deficiency through Diet

The best way to correct a zinc deficiency is through diet.  We highly advise against isolated zinc supplements.  Although they may be useful short term, isolated supplements tend to cause mineral imbalances in the body when used long term.  For this reason, it’s best to obtain all your zinc from animal foods.  Animal foods also contain a wide array of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that bring balance to the body.

It’s highly advised that you do all your cooking at home.  This way you know exactly what is going into your food and you will be better equipped to rid the body of candida.  As mentioned before, our candida diet protocol can be great for anyone with zinc deficiency and suffering from a candida overgrowth.

Also, we know that changing diet can be extremely stressful and hard with a busy life.  It’s for this reason that we created the crush candida recipe cook book.  This recipe books lays out over 20 different delicious recipes that you can use in order to inhibit the growth of candida. 

In fact, you will be amazed at how delicious some these meals truly are.  All the meals included in the recipe cook book are low carbohydrate and low sugar.  It’s perfect for anyone wishing to cook healthy and delicious meals while also stopping the growth of candida in the body.