We all know about the benefits of eating a varied, healthy diet to keep our bodies strong. But we don’t often think about exactly what is in which foods, and the role vitamins and minerals play in the healthy growth of the food we eat. 

Never before have so many people around the world bulk-bought foods with immune-boosting properties. Try to find fresh garlic in the supermarkets, it’s not easy to come by these days. While the World Health Organisation (WHO) has publicly dispelled the myth that eating garlic or any other specific food can prevent or cure Covid-19 (sadly, there is no miracle cure yet), there are always benefits to maintaining good health and a strong immune system. 

The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) reported in their most recent annual Consumer Survey on Dietary Supplements that 77% of adults surveyed in the United States take some form of supplement regularly. The top reasons given by those surveyed for their consumption of supplements was for the overall health benefits, for increased energy and for the immune-boosting properties. 

You might have heard that Vitamins A through D naturally found in food are immune boosters, but what about health-heavyweight mineral zinc? Primarily, a balanced diet is the best source of zinc for your body. You’ll find it in red meat, seafood, milk, cheese, dark chocolate, legumes, seeds and nuts, and listed on the back of your supplementary pack of multivitamins (in a larger dose in pregnancy vitamins as it is vital for generating cells). 

Zinc is known to not just strengthen the body’s immune system, but to also promote healthy growth and brain development, to help fight infection, to reduce fatigue and mood swings and it is important for taste and smell, the renewal of skin cells and for keeping hair and nails healthy. 

According to the International Zinc Association (IZA), zinc is a natural part of our environment and is required by all living things for survival. In fact, Simon Norton of the IZA says that zinc is essential for human health and for food security. He explains that zinc is in our organs, tissues, bones, fluids, and cells. 

“All living things – including people, animals and plants – require zinc to function properly. And yet over 1.2 billion people are not getting enough zinc in their diets. This is a huge concern, especially in developing countries and even more so now with the threat of Covid-19 and the stress it places on the immune system,” Norton stresses. 

“This is especially important for children (from infants through to teenagers) not only because zinc is crucial for growth, but because a deficiency weakens their still-developing immune systems and makes them more vulnerable to diseases.”  

Beyond our bodies, Norton says that zinc is also essential to agriculture and zinc deficiency is as serious for agricultural crop productivity as it is for human health. Zinc is a fairly abundant metal –  the 24th-most abundant on the planet – and is mined and refined into its purest form for use in dietary supplements. It is also interesting to note that this metal is mined from the earth, and then added to soil as a necessary plant supplement that will confer the added benefit of providing elemental zinc as a supplement for people and livestock. The IZA notes that adding zinc fertilizer to soils can significantly increase crop yield, boost nutritional value, and ultimately improve farmers incomes.

“Just like humans, zinc is essential for growth in plants. And yet zinc has been found to be the most common micronutrient deficiency in the world, affecting more than 50% of agricultural soils globally,” says Norton. 

“Zinc is vital for good health from food production to consumption. Using zinc fertilizer produces larger, stronger crops of food that will boost zinc nutrition in our diets. Lack of zinc in soil, on the other hand, makes plants more susceptible to environmental stresses and diseases and can significantly stunt the growth of crops.” 

While its role as an essential part of food production and nutrition is evident, zinc has a host of other benefits and use. It is used to protect steel and other metals against corrosion (in fact this is the biggest market for zinc), and is used in some types of plastics, paints, sunblock, batteries and fluorescent lighting, among many other things. 

Fortunately, zinc is not a resource that can easily be depleted. According to Norton, “there is enough zinc naturally available in the world to provide for many future generations to come, provided it is mined correctly and sustainably, but it can also be recycled and will maintain its physical properties”.