Why You Need Zinc For a Good Sex Life!

By Sheryl Polomka

Zinc is one of the most important and essential minerals our body needs. It performs many functions such as being used in the body to synthesize 100 enzymes, building our immune system, and helping to maintain our sense of smell and taste. It is also called the sex mineral because it is essential to our libido, as well as producing and maintaining testosterone.

There are many natural food sources that zinc can be derived from. Zince is associated with protein foods and can generally be found in things like chicken, lamb, pork, salmon, beef, turkey, lobster, crabmeat, liver, and clams.

If you are a vegetarian, you can get zinc from foods like cereals, whole grains, brown rice, potatoes, beans, milk and cheese, and peanuts. Pumpkin seeds offer a higher concentration of zinc, but overall, the meats listed above offer four times more bioavailability when it comes to zinc absorption by the body.

Taking some vitamins such as E, C, and B6, plus the mineral magnesium can also help to increase zinc absorption by the body. The recommended daily allowance (RDA) for adults is around 11 milligrams for men and 8 milligrams for women. Taking more than 40 milligrams per day can cause health problems.

Zinc content in sperm and the prostrate gland is higher than in any other body tissue. A deficiency of zinc can cause problems in both of these areas.

In general, zinc in plant proteins are not as easily absorbed by the body as zinc in meat proteins. Due to dietary fibers and phytic acid, which bond to the zinc and create non-soluble compounds, only 15-40% of the zinc actually gets absorbed by the body.

Taking too much zinc can cause reduction of good cholesterol, lowered immune function, and can adversely affect iron and copper metabolism.

There are many foods, herbs, vitamins and minerals that enhance a person's libido. Fortunately, these foods are a good source for many of the nutrients we need for good health. Zinc is only one of them, albeit, an important one, but eating healthy along with lowered stress and good exercise will have a synergistic effect that will positively impact every aspect of our lives, including the libido.

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