Vitamin D and Zinc (What You Need to Know)
Fondly referred to as the "sunshine vitamin," vitamin D is an essential nutrient needed for optimal health. As you might guess from its nickname, the body produces vitamin D naturally when exposed to direct sunlight, and it can also be procured through certain foods and vitamin D-containing supplements.
Vitamin D is important for many reasons, some more well-known than others. For example, it plays an essential role in maintaining and strengthening the bones and teeth, supporting the immune system, regulating insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetes, and decreasing the risk for mood disorders, anxiety, and depression. One of vitamin D's most important functions is its role in regulating the absorption of important minerals like calcium, phosphorus, as well as systemic levels of minerals like zinc and manganese.
In this article, we'll look more closely at the connection between vitamin D and zinc, how adequate amounts of each are essential for overall health, and how to boost your intake if you feel you might be lacking.
The Vitamin D and Zinc Connection
When most of us think of minerals related to vitamin D, zinc usually doesn't come to mind. Instead, vitamin D's bone-strengthening interactions with minerals like calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium tend to receive the most attention. And although these are extremely important, we can't afford to miss the vitamin D and zinc connection.
Zinc is the second most abundant trace mineral in the human body (behind iron) and has many vital functions. Zinc is involved in regulating insulin levels, boosting the immune system, gene expression, protein synthesis, enzymatic reactions, wound healing, fetal growth and development, skin health, eye health, and DNA synthesis.
Specific populations, like pregnant women and those who follow a plant-based diet, are especially at risk for zinc deficiency, and research has found that supplementation with vitamin D3 increases the expression of genes involved in the homeostasis of minerals like zinc, manganese, and iron. Furthermore, these genes are highly expressed in the small intestine, which potentially explains why a poorly functioning digestive system negatively impacts the absorption of both vitamin D and zinc, leading to subsequent low levels and potential deficiencies.
Zinc is involved in regulating insulin levels, boosting the immune system, gene expression, protein synthesis, enzymatic reactions, wound healing, fetal growth and development, skin health, eye health, and DNA synthesis.
Vitamin D and zinc both function to support a healthy immune system, and are two of the best nutrients for strengthening our immune response against illness. Considering the current pandemic, many people are searching for answers on how to best boost their immune system to stay as healthy as possible, while decreasing their risk of contracting an unwanted illness. Although there are no nutrients that have proven to prevent infection from the pandemic, the immune-boosting qualities of zinc and vitamin D are currently being studied as a potential way to build and strengthen COVID-19 resistance. Zinc and vitamin D are both involved in maintaining the structure of mucous membranes and skin, two of the immune system's physical barriers used to fend off unwanted pathogens. A deficiency in either of these important nutrients may decrease the immune system's effectiveness, consequently increasing the risk for viral and bacterial infections. Thus, adequate levels of these two nutrients are important components of maintaining a robust immune system and warding off potential disease. Let's dive deeper into how you can increase your intake of both of these important nutrients.
How to Increase Your Vitamin D Intake
We've discussed how vital vitamin D is for your health, and it's important to know that many factors may inhibit your ability to adequately absorb vitamin D. These include lack of exposure to sunlight, gut conditions like Crohn's disease, colitis, liver disease, and celiac disease, and a low-fat diet. Thankfully, many dietary, supplement, and lifestyle factors can increase absorption and vitamin D levels. Keep reading to learn more.
Get Outside in the Sun Daily
Exposing your body to direct sunlight is one of the best ways to naturally increase your vitamin D levels, as the sun is one of the best sources of this important nutrient. When your skin is exposed to the sun's UV-B rays, 7-dehydrocholesterol (the precursor to vitamin D and type of cholesterol housed in your skin) begins the process of vitamin D production throughout the body. It is worth noting that many variables can impact the amount of vitamin D the body can produce. These include skin tone, geographical location, age, sunscreen use, and amount of clothing.
Exposing your body to direct sunlight is one of the best ways to naturally increase your vitamin D levels.
Enjoy Plenty of Seafood
Seafood is one of the richest dietary sources of vitamin D available, though amounts vary based on the type and species of fish consumed. Some of the most vitamin D-rich types of seafood include:
- Canned wild-caught salmon
- Tuna
- Mackerel
- Sardines
- Anchovies
- Oysters
- Shrimp
If your budget allows, it would be wise to consider buying wild-caught fish over farm-raised fish for both your health and vitamin D intake. When compared, wild-caught fish tend to have higher amounts of vitamin D versus their farm-raised counterparts, often making them a better option.
Don't Skip the Egg Yolks
If you're looking to get plenty of vitamin D, make sure you don't ditch the egg yolks and eat the entire egg! Vitamin D is found in the yolk of the egg, not the whites, which makes them a great vitamin D-boosting food. This is especially true for eggs from free-range or pasture-raised chickens, as they may contain up to six times more vitamin D than eggs from conventionally raised chickens. As a bonus, when you eat the whole egg, you're also getting plenty of other important nutrients, including choline, healthy fats, and essential amino acids. Here's a great egg salad recipe to get inspired!
Supplement Smartly
In addition to consuming vitamin D-rich foods and getting plenty of sunlight, many people would likely benefit from taking a good quality vitamin D supplement as well. This is especially true for those that live in northern climates, have more melanin in their skin, or are older as vitamin D production becomes less efficient as we age.
Two forms of vitamin D are available in supplement form—vitamin D2 and vitamin D3. The difference between them is that the D2 form comes from plants and the D3 form comes from animal sources.
When comparing the two, vitamin D3 is often the better choice for most people as it is more readily absorbed and effective in raising vitamin D levels. To get even more bang for your buck, consider pairing a vitamin K2 with your vitamin D3 supplement to support calcium balance in the body.
Because vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, it is possible to have too much of this important nutrient. Before supplementing, you should always have your doctor test your levels to make sure you would actually benefit from a vitamin D supplement.
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Looking for extra support with choosing the right supplements? Click here to discover our curated plans and get started with one of our practitioners.
How to Increase Your Zinc Intake
Like vitamin D, many factors impact the absorption of zinc and increase your risk for deficiency, for example, things like excessive consumption of alcohol, dietary consumption of phytates, following a vegan or vegetarian diet, excess copper, excess iron, and gut health conditions like ulcerative colitis, celiac disease, and Crohn's disease. Knowing your individual risk factors for zinc deficiency is the first step in boosting your zinc intake. Keep reading to learn just how easy it is.
Eat Plenty of Shellfish
Shellfish are one of the best dietary sources of zinc available. Oysters are especially fantastic as a 3-ounce serving contains over 300% of the recommended daily value of zinc. Other common types of shellfish that are excellent sources of zinc, though significantly less so than oysters, include:
- Mussels
- Alaskan king crab
- Shrimp
- Lobster
Don't Forget About Meat
Unprocessed, good-quality meat (especially red meat) can be another great source of zinc. In fact, two of the largest sources of zinc in the American diet are red meat and poultry. Although most people would benefit from increasing their consumption of seafood and shellfish, choosing organic, grass-fed meat is an equally great way to increase your zinc levels without breaking the bank. High-quality sources of zinc include:
Love Your Legumes
Although less bioavailable than the zinc present in shellfish and meat, legumes can also be good sources of zinc. Increasing your consumption of legumes like lentils, beans, and chickpeas is an easy and delicious way to boost your zinc levels, and is especially helpful for plant-based eaters who limit their animal protein intake.
However, if you choose to get a majority of your zinc from legume-based sources, there are some necessary preparation steps you should take to increase zinc's bioavailability. Legumes, like other plant foods, contain phytates. These are anti-nutrients that inhibit the absorption of many minerals, like zinc, and often make their nutrients less bioavailable than their animal counterparts. To counter this, consider using cooking practices like sprouting, soaking, and fermenting to decrease phytate levels and increase zinc's bioavailability.
Supplement Smartly
In addition to dietary changes, supplementing with a good quality zinc product can be an easy and effective way to boost zinc levels. Because of zinc's immune-boosting properties, it is an especially common supplement choice during winter seasons to ward off colds and flu. But this doesn't mean you need to wait until you've come down with a cold to supplement with this mineral. In fact, including a good quality zinc supplement into your supplement rotation would likely be a beneficial choice for many people due to its essential role in keeping your eyes, heart, and skin healthy.
In fact, including a good quality zinc supplement into your supplement rotation would likely be a beneficial choice for many people due to its essential role in keeping your eyes, heart, and skin healthy.
Zinc supplements come in many different forms, which can make choosing the best supplement for you. Each form has its unique benefits, but zinc glycinate or zinc picolinate are two of the best options for optimal absorption. Research suggests that both of these forms are best absorbed by the body compared to other forms and are well tolerated by most people.
Think you might benefit from adding a zinc supplement to your supplement routine? We recommend .
As you can see, having optimal levels of both vitamin D and zinc is essential for many functions throughout the body, and optimizing both of these nutrients may be the missing component in many individuals' health journeys. Not sure whether your vitamin and mineral levels are optimized and confused where to start? Our team of holistic nutritionists is trained and ready to give you customized supplement recommendations, specifically targeting your body's needs.
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About the Author
Emily Alexander, M.Ed, FNTP—Emily is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner with Curated Wellness. She is passionate about supporting others in their journey to improve their relationship with food and their body through gentle nutrition, and is a firm believer that understanding the bio-individual components of nutrition is one of the best ways to do so. Emily completed her Master's of education in health education and promotion with a concentration in eating disorders, and draws from both her educational background and life experience to help her clients improve their energy, understand their bodies, boost their athletic potential, and break down diet myths one at a time. Read more about Emily.
The information presented on this website is intended for educational purposes only. Statements within this site have not been evaluated or approved by the Food and Drug Administration. This content is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any specific condition or disease, nor is it medical advice and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical expertise. Readers of this content are advised to consult their doctors or qualified health professionals regarding specific health conditions or concerns. One should always consult a qualified medical professional before engaging in any dietary and/or lifestyle change or new health program. Curated Wellness does not take responsibility for any health consequences of any person or persons following the information in this educational content.
