Most people stock their medicine cabinets with vitamin C and B-complex, but minerals like calcium and magnesium deserve equal attention—especially since three-quarters of Americans fail to meet minimum magnesium requirements. The shortfall matters: magnesium deficiency drives hypertension and other cardiovascular problems, the nation's leading killer.
Calcium gets more press, mainly because its deficiency effects are dramatic. Without adequate dietary calcium—found primarily in dairy products like milk and cheese—the body cannibalizes its own skeleton, leaching calcium from bones to fuel essential functions like muscle contraction. Over time, this bone-raiding leads to osteoporosis.
Magnesium presents a different problem. The mineral concentrates almost exclusively in plant foods, which means vegetarians rarely run short. However, Americans who eat heavy animal-protein diets or follow carbohydrate-restricted plans, such as keto, often consume almost no magnesium-rich foods. The result: widespread deficiency that manifests as elevated blood pressure and increased cardiovascular risk.
Zinc matters more to athletes than most minerals. This trace element—you need only 11 milligrams daily if you're male, 8 if you're female—regulates testosterone production, protein synthesis, and immune function. Miss your zinc requirements consistently, and you'll notice: slower recovery, compromised strength gains, and increased susceptibility to training-related illness.
Most athletes get adequate zinc effortlessly. Red meat alone provides 20% of daily needs, while three ounces of oysters delivers nearly 300% (though few people eat oysters regularly). The challenge emerges for plant-based athletes, since zinc concentrates primarily in animal proteins.
Vegan zinc sources—beans, nuts, whole grains—contain a complication: phytates. These plant compounds bind zinc in the digestive tract, blocking absorption. Worse, the fruits and vegetables that dominate vegan plates contain virtually no zinc at all. However, there's a simple solution: cooking destroys or deactivates most phytates, thereby dramatically improving zinc bioavailability. Plant-based athletes who rely on cooked legumes and properly prepared whole grains rarely develop deficiencies.
Most minerals work by activating enzymes in the body. Zinc is no exception, as it activates over 300 enzymes. Zinc regulates gene expression and is vital for synthesizing DNA, RNA, and protein. However, from a bodybuilding perspective, the most significant aspect of zinc is its role in helping synthesize every primary anabolic hormone in the body, including testosterone, growth hormone, and insulin. A complete lack of zinc results in a deficiency of testosterone. That explains why zinc is often included in various "testosterone boosting supplements." Another supplement popular about 40 years ago called ZMA focused on zinc and magnesium and was touted as a testosterone booster. Does this mean . . .
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