Other good food sources include beans, nuts, certain types of seafood (such as crab and lobster), whole grains, fortified breakfast cereals, and dairy products. Oysters contain more zinc per serving than any other food, but red meat and poultry provide the majority of zinc in the American diet. * Adequate Intake (AI) Sources of Zinc FoodĪ wide variety of foods contain zinc (Table 2). Table 1: Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for Zinc Age For infants aged 0 to 6 months, the FNB established an AI for zinc that is equivalent to the mean intake of zinc in healthy, breastfed infants. The current RDAs for zinc are listed in Table 1.
Zinc also supports normal growth and development during pregnancy, childhood, and adolescence and is required for proper sense of taste and smell. It is required for the catalytic activity of approximately 100 enzymes and it plays a role in immune function, protein synthesis, wound healing, DNA synthesis, and cell division.
Zinc is involved in numerous aspects of cellular metabolism. Zinc is also found in many cold lozenges and some over-the-counter drugs sold as cold remedies. Zinc is an essential mineral that is naturally present in some foods, added to others, and available as a dietary supplement. For a reader-friendly overview of Zinc, see our consumer fact sheet on Zinc.įor information on zinc and COVID-19, see Dietary Supplements in the Time of COVID-19. This is a fact sheet intended for health professionals.