The question sits in my health screening form and states, ‘Do you feel frequently tired?’ – nearly every single response out of the thousands of screening forms that women have filled in for me over the past decade, says ‘yes’.
This intrigues me and I always wonder two things:
- If they are vegetarian or vegan (nothing wrong with this) and,
- If they have gut health problems that have arrived in menopause.
Then I wonder if they know about the marvelous mineral that declines during menopause and ageing, called zinc.
For those women also experiencing frequent hormonal headaches and migraines, or if they are doing heavy weight training, this is a nutrient that must be on their radar – adequate zinc foods and/ or zinc supplementation is increasingly recognised as having a beneficial effect on the frequency of migraine attacks in women (Ahmadi, Hedieh et al. 2020) and on recovery from heavy exercise (Hernández-Camacho et al., 2020).
Zinc cannot be synthesized within the human body, so external intake is essential to maintain adequate levels in the body. It is the second most abundant trace element in the body, after iron and in the circulation, 70% of zinc is bound to albumin (a protein), and the majority in the body is found in skeletal muscle and bone. (Stiles et al., 2023).
It’s very hard to know if we are deficient in zinc, but if your client’s hair is falling out, or they’ve lost their libido or their energy is at rock-bottom, or they have cracks around their lips or they feel depressed or are experiencing gut health concerns, or they have bad period cramps, or hormonal headaches and migraines, then they may might want to give this mighty mineral a thought.
Especially if they are also doing heavy weight training and have also come off meat, dairy and seafood, or are undertaking strict fasting regimes.
Many different foods contain zinc, (adult women need around 8mg daily, but more if they are weight training), but those of animal-origin (organs and flesh of mammals, fish, eggs and dairy products) are the richest source of well absorbable zinc.
Plant-based foods, such as cereals, grains, nuts and legumes contain smaller and less efficiently absorbed amounts of this element, so with the turn towards plant based diets that are higher in phytates which reduce zinc absorption or a high fat diet that can overwork your liver, then zinc bio-absorption may be a problem for women needing their energy and optimal hormonal balance as they navigate mid-life.
However, there’s more to my concern about zinc intake and absorption for women in menopause and post-menopause, and that is the relationship with hormonal balance in the body.
Zinc is an essential micro-element that plays many important functions in the body. It is crucial for the regulation of cell growth, hormone release, immunological response and reproduction.
It is also well that a person’s nutritional state of zinc can influence their response to vaccination (Cabrera, 2015), and this was something that was learn during the recent pandemic.
In older people (which believe it or not, includes women over the age of 50 yrs), changes to the immune system may mean that zinc is needed in fighting infections, especially respiratory infections. If you’ve ever taken throat lozenges you will already know that many have high levels of zinc added to them. So too do many of those menopause supplements you might be taking.
When I did my doctoral studies on women’s health and ageing, the role of inflammation as the main determinant of our menopause symptoms was obvious.
As women move into their menopause transition and oestrogen and progesterone levels are declining naturally, and they they move into post-menopause whereby periods have stopped for a year or more, their muscles, organs and blood vessels are ageing and changing. I talk about this in the MyMT™ Education Courses.
For women, these changes due to ageing differ from men. Especially in the heart, liver, gut and blood vessels – all organs that have in the past, relied on the role of oestrogen to help maintain optimal health.
Several studies now show evidence that as women move into post-menopause, there is a systemic (all over the body) low-grade inflammation characterized with normal biological ageing.
I’ve written about this in numerous articles and introduce you to the new term to describe this inflammation due to ageing, which is called ‘Inflammaging’. It’s often the underlying cause of many of women’s health changes as they transition through menopause, which of course, is the biological gateway to the next phase of our life – our ageing.
With ‘inflammaging’ changes, there is oxidative stress that builds up in tissues in such a way that proteins are altered. This is especially relevant in the cells of the regulatory systems – the nervous, endocrine (hormone), musculo-skeletal and immune systems. (Cabrera, 2015).
Zinc is one of the main minerals that helps these regulatory systems. Without adequate intake of zinc, women may experience more inflammation as they age.
If you have encountered your clients mentioning, tingling nerves, changes to night vision, muscle weakness (sarcopenia), fatigue, declining libido, and/or frequent colds, then they may need to consider adding more zinc to their diet, or supplementation.
But a word of caution – zinc is a mineral and your clients can have too much of a good thing. Over-supplementation can contribute to toxicity, symptoms of which include stomach upsets and diarrhea and vomiting.
Without adequate zinc in the diet, or if we aren’t having the correct diet for menopause and post-menopause, then we just feel like we aren’t firing on all cylinders. It’s that important to our health and energy in mid-life.
For your clients struggling with brain-fog and memory problems as well as depression, then yes, they need to get their checked out with their Doctor, but they may also need to look at their zinc intake, especially if they are on anti-depressants.
In addition, zinc reduces fatigue, mood swings and psychomotor hyperactivity. It is also known that zinc is crucial in aiding in the production of immune system cells and in increasing cell sensitivity to insulin.
Zinc is also needed for the growth of your skin, hair and nails, as it is involved in the proper formation of connective tissues and collagen production. Because of the role of zinc in so many actions and reactions in the body, zinc deficiency may lead to severe changes in the functioning of the body, including the reproductive system. [Nasiadek, et al., 2020]
Despite the need for adequate zinc as women age, the very first zinc deficiency was actually recognised in a male in 1958. He had stunted growth as well as poor eyesight.
If you feel that your eyesight is failing, it might not be all that computer or phone use, it might be that you are low in zinc. The highest concentrations are in your eyes and for those blokes in your life, the highest concentrations for them are in their prostate gland and semen.
If they are low in zinc, then they won’t be firing on all cylinders either. It’s why I also encourage women on the MyMT™ programmes to try to get any middle aged males in their life, on the Mediterranean diet that I have for them in my food-guide too.
Zinc Storage in Humans
Most of the zinc that we do have in our diet is stored in muscles and bones and with the changes that arrive in menopause to both these structures, there are no surprises that zinc intake may be compromised.
Many women experience muscle loss, or they may be undertaking heavy weight training or other exercise, in order to preserve muscle. Both situations require adequate zinc intake. Strong bones and muscles need zinc!
But zinc is also needed for our energy levels, which brings me back to why I have the question about energy levels in my own health screening forms.
Low energy, fatigue from not sleeping and changing hormone status, means that women must concentrate on how well they are absorbing nutrients in their diet.
It’s why, in the MyMT™ Certified Practitioner Course, (on sale on December 1st, if you have pre-registered with me) I also include a GUT health module.
If your client’s gut and liver health isn’t optimal, then nutrient absorption can be compromised, especially zinc. And because this powerful mineral is a constituent of a large number of over 150 enzymes, (the role of enzymes in the body are to help with chemical reactions, especially in the production of energy), women need zinc in their diet and they need to sort out the health of their gut and liver too.
If your clients are experiencing brain-fog, or their muscles are sorer than usual after exercise, now that they are in menopause, then check their zinc intake.
Adult women need around 8mg daily. For those women who are vegetarian and not eating shellfish or other meats, then you can add foods to your diet such as:
- Cereals fortified with zinc
- Yeast fermented breads (these reduce the effect of phytates)
- Wheatgerm
- Pumpkin seeds
- Beans such as chickpeas
- Yoghurt
- Cheese
- Nuts such as almonds and walnuts (100 gms of walnuts provides around 3mg of zinc).
Studies out of the University of Tasmania (Norouzi et al, 2018), have linked dysfunctional zinc signaling with several disease states including cancer, obesity, cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes. All of these conditions are genuine health concerns for women as move into post-menopause.
Diet is established among the most important influences on health in modern societies, but as many women who join my own programmes discover, there is so much confusion about nutrition for women as they reach their menopause and post-menopause years.
And yes, I found it confusing too, despite lecturing in sport and exercise nutrition at university level.
But it was doing this lecturing that made me realise that much of ‘what we know about food’ is situated in male and athlete research and not in women’s health research.
When I made this connection, everything changed! And whilst the food conundrum is only one part of the MyMT™ Practitioner Course and the MyMT™ Menopause Weight Loss Coach Course , we must understand that food genuinely is your client’s medicine when it comes to their menopause symptoms and weight.
That’s why, I hope you can encourage your clients to add some foods that are high in zinc into their day and restore their zest for life.
I hope you can join me sometime. You can read about the MyMT™ online education courses for Health and Exercise Practitioners, including Health Coaches, here or get in touch with the Course Convenor, Georgia, on georgia@mymenopausetransformation.com.
Dr Wendy Sweet (PhD)/ MyMT™ Founder/ Member: Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine.
References
Ahmadi, H., Mazloumi-Kiapey, S. S., Sadeghi, O., Nasiri, M., Khorvash, F., Mottaghi, T., & Askari, G. (2020). Zinc supplementation affects favorably the frequency of migraine attacks: a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial. Nutrition journal, 19(1), 101. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-020-00618-9
Agrawal S, Chakole S, Shetty N, Prasad R, Lohakare T, Wanjari M. Exploring the Role of Oxidative Stress in Skeletal Muscle Atrophy: Mechanisms and Implications. Cureus. 2023 Jul 20;15(7):e42178. doi: 10.7759/cureus.42178.
Hernández-Camacho JD, Vicente-García C, Parsons DS, Navas-Enamorado I. Zinc at the crossroads of exercise and proteostasis. Redox Biol. 2020 Aug;35:101529. doi: 10.1016/j.redox.2020.101529.
Katz, D. & Mellor, S. (2014). Can we say what diet is best for health? Annual Review of Public Health, 35:1, 83-103
Mann, J. & Trusswell, S. (2007). Essentials of human nutrition. (3rd Ed). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Maares M, Haase H. A Guide to Human Zinc Absorption: General Overview and Recent Advances of In Vitro Intestinal Models. Nutrients. 2020 Mar 13;12(3):762. doi: 10.3390/nu12030762.
Norouzi S., Adulcikas J., Sohal S., & Myers S. (2018). Zinc stimulates glucose oxidation and glycemic control by modulating the insulin signaling pathway in human and mouse skeletal muscle cell lines. PLoS ONE 13(1): e0191727. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0191727
Nasiadek, M., Stragierowicz, J., Klimczak, M., & Kilanowicz, A. (2020). The role of zinc in selected female reproductive system disorders. Nutrients, 12(8), 2464. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12082464
Preedy, V. & Watson, R. (2020). The Mediterranean Diet: An evidenced-based approach. London, UK: Academic Press.
Stiles LI, Ferrao K, Mehta KJ. Role of zinc in health and disease. Clin Exp Med. 2024 Feb 17;24(1):38. doi: 10.1007/s10238-024-01302-6.
