MegaFood | Sept. 2019

When it comes to supporting winter wellness, or immune-health regardless of season, you’re probably familiar with vitamin C, elderberry, echinacea, and maybe even vitamin D3. Not surprising, as these botanicals and vitamins are well known for the role they play in supporting a healthy immune system.* We don’t often look towards minerals, however, when we’re thinking about supporting our body’s defenses, though we should. Enter, Zinc.

Zinc happens to be one of the most-plentiful trace minerals in the body, second only to iron. Unlike iron, however, we don’t have a great storage mechanism for zinc, so we need to ensure we get it daily in the diet, because it has a lot of jobs to do.

Zinc plays a role in:

• Numerous enzymatic reactions in the body*
• Healthy prostate function*
• Wound healing*
• Healthy tissue development*
• AND Promoting immune health*

In fact, there is good scientific evidence that underscores the role zinc plays in the immune system. A review by the international Cochrane Group¹ found zinc to be helpful in immune wellness associated with seasonal immune challenges, even more so than vitamin C, which has been a long-standing go-to to support just that!

The reason zinc works in this way is that it activates the immune cells responsible for tackling infected cells that want to make us unwell (Fortify Your Life, 191) - our own little fighter squad! When zinc levels are low, or not regularly replenished, it can be hard to mount the needed attacks to keep us feeling our best.

The good news is that it’s easy to get this mini-but-mighty mineral into our everyday diet. Zinc is concentrated in oysters, red meat, and chicken, as well as plant-based goodies like spinach, asparagus, mushrooms, and more.

When winter hits and you need a bit more support than what diet can offer, supplements can help bridge the gap. If you’ve tried zinc in the past and have a bad history - that aftertaste on the back of your tongue and an upset stomach - I’m with you. Fortunately, our FoodState Zinc can be taken any time of day, even on an empty stomach! Wondering how that works? Each FoodState mineral we make at MegaFood is paired with wholesome nutritional yeast using a unique process to deliver guaranteed potency and the benefit of health-promoting compounds present in the whole food itself!* Learn more about MegaFood Zinc.

If standalone zinc isn’t your thing, and you’d like a more comprehensive approach to immune wellness, we have a range of immune health vitamins for the whole family you can check out so that you can get back out there and live your healthiest life!

¹ https://www.cochrane.org/CD012808/ARI_zinc-preventing-and-treating-common-cold