Zinc is one of the most important minerals we require to function normally and healthily. This impressive trace mineral cannot be naturally produced or stored by the body, which makes it all-the-more important to obtain it from our dietary intake.
While we can achieve much of our daily recommended intake of zinc through diet alone, supplementation can sometimes be necessary, and even provide additional benefits in some cases.
Though, as with many dietary supplements, is there one best way to take it? Can you take zinc and night? Are there any benefits to supplementing before bedtime?
All will be explored in this article!
The Role of Zinc
Zinc is an essential trace mineral that is responsible for many important processes in the body. Our body cannot produce or store zinc, so it’s vital to consume it through diet and supplementation to avoid possible deficiencies.
Some of the key roles of zinc include:
- Immune function
- Gene expression
- DNA synthesis
- Wound healing
- Protein synthesis
- Growth and development
- Enzyme activity, responsible for metabolism, digestion, and nerve function
Zinc is abundant in food sources such as oysters, red meat, beans, pulses, nuts, and whole grains fortified with zinc.
A deficiency in zinc may result in loss of taste, smell, appetite, and impaired immune function.
The Health Benefits of Zinc
As we have established, zinc has many important functions in the body and provides numerous health benefits, including:
- Boosting the immune system
Zinc, alongside several other nutrients, is largely responsible for our immune system function. Zinc plays a big role in immune cell function and cell signaling, and low levels can lead to an impaired immune system.
This is often why zinc is recommended for boosting immunity, specifically for the benefit of reducing the duration of a common cold.
- Wound healing
Zinc is commonly used as a treatment for skin conditions and injuries such as burns, ulcers, and acne.
As zinc plays an important role in collagen synthesis and the inflammatory response, it is one of the necessary minerals for proper wound healing and may even speed up the recovery of wounds.
- Anti-inflammatory properties
Zinc decreases oxidative stress and reduces levels of inflammatory proteins found in the body.
Oxidative stress is one of the leading causes of chronic inflammation, which can in-turn result in several chronic conditions, such as cancer and heart disease.
Can You Take Zinc at Night?
Ultimately, when it comes to vitamins and minerals specifically, there are rarely any additional benefits to the time of day you take them. It is often advised to take vitamins and minerals at a time of day when you best remember to take them, as consistency is king!
However, some vitamins and minerals can provide some additional advantages based on timing strategies.
In this case, zinc may be more beneficial to take in the evening times before bed due to the benefits it has on sleep quality.
Some studies have suggested that zinc can help improve sleep quality, as shown in ICU nurses who suffer with bad sleep and low zinc levels—a potential correlation between low zinc and poor sleep.1
Additionally, zinc is thought to potentially provide some benefits to keeping your circadian rhythm in check. Our circadian rhythm, otherwise known as our internal body clock, is essentially what controls our sleep-wake cycle.
During the evenings when light is dim, our brain signals to our body that it’s sleep time. When daytime comes along, we feel more awake in response to natural light. This is, in the simplest of terms, how our body clock works.
Zinc is thought to be a kind of circadian rhythm regulator, helping to adjust our body clock when it’s telling the wrong time. Studies have actually found that those who sleep less than five hours a night typically have lower zinc levels than those who sleep for longer durations.2
Other studies have even shown the effectiveness of taking zinc alongside magnesium and melatonin before bed to achieve a better night’s sleep. The combination of these supplements may help improve the quality of sleep in any individual, particularly those suffering with insomnia.
So, what we can take away from these findings is that zinc may be beneficial for sleep, meaning it may be more advantageous and effective to take it at night-time—even more so if you were to take it alongside magnesium and melatonin—two other effective sleep aids!
Take-Home Message
Zinc is an essential nutrient for our overall health and wellbeing. It plays a role in many key bodily functions, such as immunity, growth and development, and wound healing.
However, research is emerging on the potential benefits of zinc for improving sleep quality. What this means that while the differences may be marginal, it may be more beneficial to take zinc shortly before bedtime to reap these specific benefits.
Additionally, taking zinc alongside other effective sleep aids, such as magnesium and melatonin, may provide a wider range of benefits for improving sleeping patterns and sleep quality.
Our top pick is Performance Lab NutriGenesis Multi and Performance Lab Sleep, which would provide all three of these substances—zinc, magnesium, and melatonin - in the most effective forms!
References
- Gholipour Baradari, A., Alipour, A., Mahdavi, A., Sharifi, H., Nouraei, S.M. and Emami Zeydi, A., 2018. The effect of zinc supplementation on sleep quality of ICU nurses: a double blinded randomized controlled trial. Workplace health & safety, 66(4), pp.191-200.
- Cherasse, Y., & Urade, Y. (2017). Dietary Zinc Acts as a Sleep Modulator. International journal of molecular sciences, 18(11), 2334.
