Find Out Why Getting Enough Zinc In Your Diet Is One Of The Best Ways To Increase Testosterone Naturally
Why Zinc?
Zinc is a key mineral that the body utilises to metabolize nutrients. Your immunity system, DNA production, protein production & cell division are all related to your bodies zinc levels.
The correlation between Zinc and testosterone still needs further research; but what has become clear is that having a deficit in zinc levels leads to severly lowered testosterone production.
There have been many studies conducted in to the link between low zinc and lowered testosterone production, one of which you can check out here Many people have a deficit of zinc levels, hence why making sure you get enough zinc is one of the easier ways to increase testosterone naturally. With a few diet changes or supplementation, you can easily makes sure your body gets enough zinc.
Now it’s yet to be discovered if having super high levels of zinc further increase testosterone production but what we do know is that you need to make sure you don’t have a deficit.
It is possible to have too much zinc in your system and suffer from zinc toxicity, this tends to occur when levels in the body reach over 225 mg. So the key thing to focus on is making sure that your zinc levels are within the healthy range.
Zinc is also considered an anti-aging mineral, as you age lowering testosterone levels is a big issue and for men in particular, so getting enough Zinc becomes of increased importance as you age.
For more advice on increasing testosterone as you age and the supplements needed by senior men, check out Elder Strength a great resource for keeping men healthy as they age.
Healthy Zinc Amounts
Your body can’t store Zinc so you need to get adequate intake daily. For men the reccomended daily intake is 11 mg & women 8mg, if a woman is pregnant or lactating, daily amount should be increased to 11/12 mg.
As you can see there is a lot of “wiggle room” between the recommended daily amounts & the 225 mg that puts you in the toxic levels, so you shouldn’t worry about going a bit over your daily recommended amounts.
Good Sources Of Zinc Included & Excluded From This List
For the purpose of this article we’re going to base the daily amounts on males, as they require slightly more Zinc. The other things to note are ideally you want to opt for organic options where possible. There are some sources of Zinc which have been left out of this list, like lentils & beans.
This is due to other parts of their nutritional profile leading to lowered testosterone production. The different foods sourcs listed here won’t lower T & have nutritional profiles that further help increase testosterone production. So lets now look at the main sources of Zinc.
Oysters
Six oysters provide over 300% of your recomended daily amounts. That is approximately 36 mg per serving of six oysters.They are also a good source of magnesium and vitamin B 12.
Beef/ Steak
Now red meat as a whole is a good source of zinc & beef in particular. In fact an average size ribeye steak provides over 120% of your recommended daily zinc intake and is a good source of testosterone increasing saturated fats.
Chicken
Chicken as a whole is a good source of Zinc, your average thigh and leg combined provices just under 50% of your daily amounts at approximately 5mg. Chicken is also a good source of selenium, niacin and B 6 which further helps increase testosterone production.
Pork Chops
Pork chops dependant on how fatty they are (the more fat the better) can provide in the region of 30% – 60% of your required zinc daily intake, spare ribs are also a fairly good source at about 36%. They are also a good source of monounsaturated and saturated fats.
Organic Cacao
100 grams of organic cacao nibs provides between 6 – 7 mg of Zinc. So for the average serving of approximately 35 grams that is 20% of your daily amount. While cacao is found in chocoloate, I advise consuming in its raw organic form as it’s wider nutritional profile makes it great for your testosterone production & your wider health.
Spinach
One serving of spinach is provides about 5% of your required daily zinc. It has made the list as the wider nutritional profile of spinach makes it a great testosterone booster. Spinach is also high in Vitamin C, K, B, magnesium & iron.
Pumpkins Seeds
Half a cup of pumpkin Seeds provides about 22% of your daily zinc requirement, they are also a great source of magnesium, saturated and monounsaturated fats. You do need to be a bit cautious about your pumpkin seed intake, as they are fairly high in Omega 6, which is pretty inflammatory.
Lamb
A 3 ounce serving of lamb provides about 45% of your daily zinc requirement. Lamb is also a good source of selenium, vitmain B, Iron, niacin & phosphorous which aid your testosterone production and broader health.
Beef Liver
A single serving of beef liver is approximately 38% of your daily zinc requirement. It is also a good of iron, selenium & vitamin B & D which further aids testosterone production. In fact offal or organ meat as a whole, tends to be a good source of zinc and nutrients that increase testosterone production.
There are lots of other foods that are effective for increasing T for different reasons. You can check out my big list of these foods here: Foods That Boost Testosterone Production – The Big List
Supplements
I would recommend trying to get your daily zinc intake from your diet but living in the real world, I appreciate that sometims that isn’t always possible and that is when Zinc supplements become useful! What I do reccomend is that you opt for purely zinc supplements as supposed to blended ones (zinc & Magnesium etc.).
To Find Out More About Zinc Supplements & Some Of My Other Recommended Testosterone Boosting Supplements Check Out This Article!
Final Thoughts & Future Articles
I hope you have found this article useful and can see how getting enough Zinc in your diet is important & one of the most effective ways to increase testosterone naturally.
There are actually multiple nutrients that aid with increased testosterone production. I’ve created articles about these, which you can check out below:
Ways To Increase Testosterone Naturally
If you have any questions with regards to this article just drop me a comment below and I’ll get back to you. Please share this article with anyone else you think may find it useful. You can also follow me on my social media where I cover all the different ways to increase testosterone naturally.
