hmm i had posted something earlier today but it's gone. must have timed out. anyway i was hoping to clarify if you mean you have diarrhea.. zinc deficiency can cause that and what with the cold and so on, i thought you might want a little more reading.. if you eat wheat, dairy, sugar, or high-phytate foods often, it can deplete zinc. also modern diets contain fewer zinc-rich foods so societally our levels are down.
Zinc supplementation in the management of diarrhoea
http://www.who.int/elena/titles/bbc/zinc_diarrhoea/en/Quote:
Zinc deficiency is associated with an increased risk of gastrointestinal infections, adverse effects on the structure and function of the gastrointestinal tract, and impaired immune function21, 27–30
21 Shankar AH, Prasad AS. Zinc and immune function: the biological basis of altered resistance to infection. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1998
27 Lukacik M, Thomas RL, Aranda JV. A meta-analysis of the effects of oral zinc in the treatment of acute and persistent diarrhea. Pediatrics, 2008
28 Gebhard RL et al. The effect of severe zinc deficiency on activity of intestinal disaccharidases and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase in the rat. Journal of Nutrition, 1983
29 Bhan MK, Bhandari N. The role of zinc and vitamin A in persistent diarrhea among infants and young children. Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 1998
30 Prasad AS. Discovery of human zinc deficiency and studies in an experimental human model. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1991
also:
Are changes in food consumption patterns associated with lower biochemical zinc status among women from Dunedin, New Zealand?
full text URL:
http://journals.cambridge.org/download. ... 49a2a202a6(short answer, YES)
Quote:
Reductions in red meat and increases in cereals in the diet may compromise the intake and bioavailability of Zn. In this cross-sectional study of 330 premenopausal New Zealand women aged 18--40 years, we have assessed the inter-relationships among dietary intakes (via computer-administered food-frequency questionnaire), biochemical Zn status, and anthropometric indices, and compared our results with earlier data. Fasting serum (12.00 (sd 1.36) micromol/l) and hair Zn (2.71 (sd 0.36) micromol/g) were lower than those for young Dunedin, New Zealand, women in 1973 (non-fasting serum Zn 18.6 (sd 4.6) micromol/l, hair Zn 2.99 (sd 0.35) micromol/g). Further, our mean serum Zn was at the 25th percentile of the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (1976--1980) reference sample for women aged 20--44 years. Meat-poultry-fish contributed only 28 % total Zn in the present study, a level comparable with that from cereals-nuts-legumes (27 %), compared to about 40 % in 1989. Significant negative correlations existed between serum Zn and dietary [phytate]:[Zn] molar ratios (r -0.163, 35 % had diets with [phytate]:[Zn] >15, a level said to compromise Zn status...
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