Zinc is an essential mineral that plays an important role in maintaining the immune system, accelerating wound healing, and supporting cell growth and development.
To meet your daily needs, you can eat foods rich in zinc, such as red meat, poultry, seafood, and other high-zinc foods.
Several fruits also contain zinc, such as avocados and kiwis, and can complement your diet. Knowing which foods are rich in zinc and what foods contain it is important so you can maintain optimal nutritional balance.
Find the complete list of zinc foods and other healthy tips in this article!
What Is Zinc?
Before exploring foods rich in zinc, you need to understand what zinc is. So, what is zinc?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), zinc is an essential mineral that has a crucial role in supporting human health.
WHO states that zinc has a vital role in various physiological functions. Zinc is a mineral involved in enzymatic reactions that support immune function and wound healing.
This mineral also supports cell growth and development in the human body. This is why you should regularly monitor your daily zinc intake.
Benefits of Zinc for the Body
As explained previously, zinc indeed offers many benefits for human health. In general, regularly eating foods containing zinc can help boost immunity and support development.
Zinc helps boost body immunity, support growth, and support eye health.
1. Boost Immune System
Zinc can support the development and activity of immune cells, as well as the production of antibodies and cytokines that fight infection.
This mineral content is also required for the formation and activation of T lymphocytes. T lymphocytes are white blood cells crucial for maintaining immune balance.
In addition, routinely consuming foods containing zinc can also help your body neutralize pathogens such as harmful fungi, viruses, and bacteria.
Read also: 7 Essential Minerals in Water and Their Health Benefits
2. Support Body Growth and Development
The next benefit of zinc is supporting physical development, such as ideal height and weight. Zinc is essential for DNA synthesis, cell division, and tissue development.
Zinc also supports brain development, the nervous system, and hormonal function.
This is why children are advised to routinely consume foods containing zinc. Because a lack of zinc can cause cognitive delays, as well as delays in physical and motor growth.
3. Accelerate Wound Healing
One of zinc's main benefits is helping accelerate wound healing.
Zinc plays an active role in collagen production, the protein that supports skin and tissue structure.
It can also speed up new tissue formation, increase angiogenesis (growth of new blood vessels), and support the proliferation of cells needed for wound healing.
4. Benefits of Zinc for Eye Health
Zinc is also beneficial for supporting eye health. This is because the retina's high zinc content can play a role in melanin synthesis. This condition can then help protect eye tissue from sunlight and free radicals.
12 Recommendations for Zinc-Rich Foods
Here are recommendations for zinc-rich foods to support your daily needs. No need to worry: besides being delicious, these foods are also easy to find; here is a list of fruits and vegetables containing zinc.
1. Legumes and Nuts
Legumes and nuts, such as peas, black beans, kidney beans, chickpeas, and lentils, can also be made into zinc-rich options.
Besides being practical, this food menu will also be very suitable if you are a vegetarian
2. Shellfish and Oysters
If you are looking for foods high in zinc but low in calories, then oysters and shellfish are the answer.
You don't need large ones, because even small shellfish still offer promising zinc content.
Besides zinc, oysters also provide other important nutrients, such as vitamin C, vitamin B6, and calcium.
Consuming oysters and shellfish can also help significantly increase protein and antioxidants.
However, you are not advised to consume oysters excessively because they can reduce iron and sulfate mineral levels in the body.
Excessive zinc intake can also interfere with the absorption of both micronutrients.
3. Salmon
Besides shellfish, other seafood such as salmon is also a good option for a zinc-rich menu.
The estimated zinc content in 100 grams of salmon ranges between 0.5–0.6 mg.
4. Chocolate
Did you know that dark chocolate, which is often used in various types of cakes, is rich in zinc? You can obtain around 3.3 mg of zinc from 100 grams of dark chocolate.
Besides being a zinc-rich food, dark chocolate is also rich in flavonols (antioxidant compounds) that may help lower blood pressure, prevent blood clots, and increase blood flow to the brain and heart.
You are advised to consume 30–40 grams of dark chocolate to keep calorie intake controlled. In fact, excessive chocolate consumption can cause obesity.
5. Red Meat
Another zinc-rich food is meat. According to Amy Richter, RD. As cited from Healthline, red meat is the best source of zinc from animal products.
You can obtain high zinc content in beef and lamb.
Every 100 grams of beef contains 4.79 mg of zinc, which is equivalent to 43.5% of the Daily Value (DV) for men and 59.9% of the DV for women.
Meat is also a good source of other essential nutrients, such as iron, B vitamins, and creatine.
Even so, you are still advised to regulate your daily meat consumption to avoid the risk of heart disease. Also, complete your diet by eating other fruits and vegetables to meet your nutritional needs in a balanced way.
6. Seeds
You can also support zinc intake with seeds by consuming flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds, or sesame seeds.
Despite their small size, 3 tablespoons of flaxseeds in fact contain up to 31% and 43% of the Daily Value (DV), the percentage of recommended daily intake.
To eat them, add the seeds to a bowl of soup, yogurt, or salad.
7. Milk and Dairy
You surely know that milk is one of the best beverages for maintaining bone health, right? This is because milk is rich in calcium, vitamin D, and, of course, zinc.
According to FoodData Central U.S., a cup of milk contains 1.17 mg of zinc. Besides milk, you can also obtain zinc from its processed products such as yogurt and cheese.
8. Water Spinach
Besides animal products like meat and milk, foods containing zinc can also come from vegetables.
Water spinach is one example of a vegetable that contains zinc. Zinc levels in water spinach can vary depending on factors such as soil type, farming methods, and level of maturity.
However, several references report zinc levels in water spinach as less than 0.5 mg per 100 grams.
You can consume water spinach as a side dish to help meet daily zinc needs.
9. Asparagus
The next vegetable that contains zinc is asparagus. In fact, asparagus is believed to help meet daily zinc intake.
Asparagus is included in the row of foods containing zinc because you can obtain around 0.2–0.4 mg per 100 grams of asparagus.
Besides zinc, asparagus is also rich in fiber, vitamin K, vitamin C, vitamin E, iron, and antioxidants.
10. Avocado
Besides vegetables, several fruits also contain zinc, including avocado.
According to the Indonesian Food Composition Data, every 100 grams of avocado contains 0.4 mg of zinc.
You can eat avocados directly, make them into juice, or add them to a salad. Either way, this zinc-rich fruit will always be delicious!
11. Banana
Bananas are also a zinc-rich fruit and are good for daily consumption. The zinc content in bananas also varies depending on the banana's size and maturity. You can obtain around 0.1 to 0.2 mg per 100 grams of banana.
Bananas themselves are a popular fruit and have many health benefits. Although bananas don't contain as much zinc as the foods above, you can still use them to meet your daily zinc needs.
Not only rich in zinc, but bananas are also rich in potassium, vitamin C, vitamin B6, fiber, and antioxidants.
12. Guava
Guava is another option for foods containing zinc, especially if you enjoy eating fruit.
100 grams of guava is believed to contain around 0.23 mg of zinc (2% DV). These numbers and percentages tend to be low compared with animal products.
However, you can still consume this fruit as a daily nutritional supplement. Aside from its zinc content, guava is also rich in fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Calcium, and Phosphorus.
Daily Zinc Intake
After learning the benefits and foods that contain zinc, you might wonder how much zinc you need each day.
Daily zinc needs vary by age, gender, and individual health condition.
Here are the recommended daily zinc intake guidelines:
Children:
- 7 months - 3 years: 2-3 mg
- 4-8 years: 5 mg
- 9-13 years: 8 mg
Teens and Adults:
- Male 14 years and above: 11 mg
- Female 14-18 years: 9 mg
- Female 19 years and above: 8 mg
- Pregnant Women: 11-12 mg
- Breastfeeding Women: 12-13 mg
Well, those are several recommendations for foods containing zinc that you can obtain easily around you.
To get those benefits, make sure you meet your daily zinc needs and maintain them well, okay!
Besides the mineral zinc, you also need to meet the needs for other important minerals such as calcium, sodium, potassium, silica, and selenium.
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