sinc deficiency is vanishingly rare in this country, so much so that is is case reportable
“sinc deficiency is vanishingly rare in this country, so much so that is is case reportable”
Is it really? I found this in my reading. The study cited is from 1993, so maybe there’s more zinc fortification in food nowadays. Here’s the paper that cited the study. I thought the sections on mild zinc deficiency (page 179), the therapeutic impact of zinc (page 180), and zinc supplementation in the elderly (page 183) were particularly interesting. It seems to me that zinc supplementation might be useful in boosting the immune system and lessening inflammation at little risk, but I’m no doctor.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3649098/pdf/176.pdf
“The daily intake of zinc in elderly subjects in the Western world including the United States is only w8–10 mg, whereas the RDA is 15 mg. The elderly frequently do not eat the usual 3 meals a day and skip either breakfast or lunch. Many live alone and do not cook a proper meal for themselves. Our study in the Detroit area showed that 35% of the well-off ambulatory elderly subjects may have a deficiency of zinc based on their plasma zinc levels. Zinc deficiency and susceptibility to infections due to cell- mediated immune dysfunction have been reported to occur in the elderly (75,76). The third NHANES (1988–1914) also found that elderly persons (older than 71 y) were at the greatest risk of inadequate zinc intake (77).”