[Effects of Zinc] 3 Reasons Why Zinc is Essential for Immunity

Hello, I am Jinny, a pharmacist.

What comes to mind when you think of ‘immunity nutrients’? Many people probably think of ‘zinc’. Zinc is also an ingredient recognized by Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety as necessary for normal immune function and cell division.

Today, we will find out why zinc is good for immunity and how it helps immunity.

First, zinc plays a very important role in basic cellular functions, such as DNA replication and RNA transcription.

Therefore, it is essential for the proper functioning of immune cells, the cells that mediate innate and adaptive immunity.

Representative macrophages, which carry out sterilizing action by eating bacteria that invade our bodies, and NK cells, which destroy virus-infected cells or cancer cells, cannot function properly when zinc is deficient.

Second, immunity and antioxidants are closely related because when oxidative stress accumulates, it damages cells and weakens the immune system. Zinc is also known as an ‘antioxidant.’

Zinc plays a role in increasing the synthesis of glutathione, an antioxidant that plays an important role in redox reactions in the body.

Third, it also controls excessive inflammatory responses. Inflammation is part of the immune response and occurs to protect our bodies from pathogens such as bacteria and viruses. However, if inflammation appears excessively or persists, it can be harmful to our body and must be carefully controlled.

Zinc can prevent the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines that cause inflammation by controlling a transcription factor called NF-κB, which acts as a master switch for inflammation.

Today we learned why zinc is important for immune function. Since zinc is not stored in the body, it is recommended to frequently eat foods rich in zinc, such as oysters, peas, and brown rice.

I hope you have a healthy day both physically and mentally. This was Jinny.