If I haven't been getting enough zinc, are there other problems I should watch for?

November 5, 2011 9:58 AM

If I've been lacking zinc in my diet, what else might I have been missing? I recently started taking zinc supplements, and within two days my erectile issues are gone (I'm a youngish guy, so it's a real relief). I thought I ate a balanced, healthy diet, so I'm surprised that I must have been lacking zinc. I am a vegetarian. If I was lacking zinc, are there other things I may have overlooked? Are there lifestyle/dietary choices that are associated with lack of zinc?

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posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (12 answers total)

It seems like the new trendy supplement recommendation (by doctors to me and many of my friends) is Vitamin D. I haven't noticed any changes since I've started taking it, though.
posted by i_am_a_fiesta at 10:07 AM on November 5, 2011

Wikipedia says that zinc deficiency can be secondary to a vitamin A or D deficiency. Like i_am_a_fiesta said, Vitamin D is popular right now because some research suggests that alot of people are deficient. You could get tested for Vitamin D levels or just start taking supplements, but don't go overboard on the Vitamin D. For that matter, don't go overboard on Vitamin A either.

I don't necessarily vouch for the Vitamin D link above, it was just the first one I found that seemed to have links to the research.
posted by cabingirl at 10:16 AM on November 5, 2011

Vitamin D requirements depends on where you are - its recommended at two or three times the usual stated doses in Finland from November to March and it makes a difference whereas, if you were in Florida or some other sunshine state you may not require it.
posted by infini at 10:33 AM on November 5, 2011

Just be careful. You can consume too much zinc, and its effects are not negligible, especially if your urinary/reproductive system is your concern.
posted by yellowcandy at 10:46 AM on November 5, 2011

B12 is available in many non-animal sources, but you may not be eating those things. Review your diet and see is that's something you might be missing- or possibly not absorbing.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 10:46 AM on November 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

If you are eating a vegetarian diet, you ought to take a multi-vitamin supplement. One of the vitamins you may be lacking is vitamin B12. Luckily, you are a man and it won't affect you like it does me. I am slightly anemic and I take vitamin B complex supplements during the inconvenient times of the month to help me not fall over.

The problem with taking one vitamin is you throw your body chemistry out of wack. If you take vitamin A (selecting it at random as an example), then your body thinks that you are deficient in other vitamins and may try to balance that which may cause you to have other vitamin deficiency related symptoms.

Take a vegetarian formula multi-vitamin every day and be sure you are taking in foods that provide you with protein. This way, you will give your body all of the vitamins so that you don't mess with your body chemistry. Keep in mind that your body only absorbs approximately 30 percent of the vitamins you take.

It is better to research and eat as balanced a diet as possible since you will absorb more vitamins from the foods you eat than pills or liquid vitamins. This is also true for the carnivores in the world too, so it isn't that being vegetarian makes you have a vitamin deficiency.
posted by Yellow at 10:49 AM on November 5, 2011

Just throwing this out there: are you sure it wasn't just placebo effect? That particular problem can be mightily influenced by psychological state.
posted by empath at 11:55 AM on November 5, 2011

Do you eat nuts? If memory serves, there are some nutrients that are found in fish and meat (vitamin E, omega 3s) that can also be gotten from tree nuts, such as walnuts.

Taking a multivitamin is inexpensive diet insurance, I think. I usually wait for these folks to have a sale, then stock up.
posted by WorkingMyWayHome at 11:59 AM on November 5, 2011

Sorry to be contrary, but for young men, erectile issues are often psychological. You may have yourself some zinc-rich placebo pills there.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:22 PM on November 5, 2011

Magnesium and chromium seem to be common ones.
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 2:29 PM on November 5, 2011

Is the zinc something a blood test showed you needed? Zinc is common in vegetarian diets, so unless you eat complete crap, you should be getting enough. High levels of zinc supplementation are associated with lowering calcium and copper absorption. The best thing you can do for yourself is eat whole foods, lots of vegetables, whole grains, beans, and nuts. So essentially, what you should watch for are: having a crappy diet, experiencing the placebo effect, and decreasing your intake of calcium and copper by taking zinc supplements.

And on the same note: don't take a multi-vitamin. Eat good food. Many synthetic vitamins are not absorbed well (or at all ) by your body, and some commonly taken vitamins may be causing people health problems. Unless you are a known population that needs specific supplementation (pregnant women, for example), you're just throwing good money away. Food is better and cheaper than vitamins.


The problem with taking one vitamin is you throw your body chemistry out of wack. If you take vitamin A (selecting it at random as an example), then your body thinks that you are deficient in other vitamins and may try to balance that which may cause you to have other vitamin deficiency related symptoms.

I've never heard of this, and honestly it doesn't make much sense. Do you have a cite that explains this?
posted by oneirodynia at 6:10 PM on November 5, 2011

Veggie diet (unless for moral reasons) sends up red flags for me in general. I'm wondering if that's at the root of your erectile issue rather than just a simple zinc deficiency. I know you said the problem went away after the supplements, but that could just be coincidental. Erectile issues at a youngish age, if nutrition-based in origin, seems to me to point to some seriously fundamental problems in the diet that a single nutrient tweaked here or there wouldn't be the sole contributor to. The human body and it's various functions, thankfully, aren't that delicate, because if they were, we'd all be in a lot of trouble if we were deficient on single nutrients.
posted by flamk at 2:05 AM on November 7, 2011