As an athlete, you should constantly keep an eye on your zinc needs. Here you can find out what you need zinc for, which foods contain it, and how to recognize a deficiency.
Have you ever noticed that many endurance athletes take zinc in the form of capsules? There is a good reason for this. If you do a lot of endurance sports, you need a lot of zinc for your muscles.
But let's start from the beginning.
Table of contents
What is zinc and why do athletes need it?
Zinc is one of the essential trace elements in the body. Zinc has an important function in energy metabolism.
We athletes should take very good care of our zinc balance. Fitness is healthy, but also always a burden and stress for the body.
When we work out and sweat a lot, zinc is lost through sweat. The higher your training level, the more zinc you need.
We female athletes need zinc
- for cell growth
- for muscle building
- For regeneration
- for wound healing
Too little of it in the muscles can cause a drop in performance.
Should it happen that we injure ourselves during sports, zinc ensures that we are back on our feet faster. It plays a major role in wound healing after injuries.
Zinc supports cell division and thus promotes the supply of energy and oxygen to the muscles. It therefore helps the muscles to become fit again more quickly.
In addition, the micronutrient ensures a healthy immune system. And that is very important, especially now in autumn and winter, to prevent infections.
What is the daily requirement for us women?
As recreational athletes, we need about 10 to 15 mg of zinc per day. Very active sportswomen should take about 25 mg daily.
And if you are sick at the moment, it is said to help to take up to 100 mg of zinc for a short period of time.
Zinc and nutrition
If you eat a healthy and balanced diet, you don't have to. You can also cover your zinc needs with food.
Incidentally, animal foods contain more zinc than vegetable foods. The trace element is also found in cereals, nuts and the like - but it is more difficult for our bodies to absorb.
Delicious foods rich in zinc are
- Oysters
- Fish
- Cheese
- Cereals
- Legumes
- Nuts
- Mushrooms
- green tea
Zinc deficiency
Our body cannot produce zinc itself. We have to take it in regularly with food. Despite a healthy diet, zinc deficiency is not that rare in Germany.
Particularly at risk are infants, adolescents, women, seniors, but also vegetarians and athletes. If several of these things apply to you, you should have your zinc level checked by a doctor once a year.
For example, I am an amateur athlete and a woman. For me, it is therefore a matter of course to have my values checked regularly.
You can tell that you are suffering from zinc deficiency by these symptoms:
- constant fatigue
- Listlessness
- Concentration problems
- Bad mood
- Weight loss
- brittle nails and hair
- Pale skin
If you want to deal with this topic even more intensively, you should have a look at stop by Vitamindoctor. On the expert portal there is a very long article about zinc that goes into great detail.
You will learn what zinc has to do with allergies, pimples, diabetes and medications.
What surprised me most in the zinc article was that the birth control pill lowers the level of zinc in the blood. So if you take the pill for a long time, you can get a micronutrient deficiency. I am quite surprised that this is not only the case with special pills, but actually with all common preparations.
The same is true if you need to take cortisone, blood pressure medications, or drainage medications.
On the portal you can read everything about vitamins, nutrients and micronutrient therapy. And what is especially important to me: I can 100%ig rely on the information. They are backed up with studies and written by experts.
Our conclusion
Zinc is very important for us athletes. We need it for the muscles, our health and faster regeneration. Have your zinc level checked regularly!
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