Zinc for Men

Proteins, carbohydrates, and fats—these three macronutrients tend to dominate the discussion on “nutrition for male health” among men.

Consume more protein to build more muscle!

Limit your carbohydrate intake to sustain ketogenesis!

Avoid unhealthy fats to maintain a lean, cut physique!

But what’s often missing from the conversation is the importance of micronutrients, which are arguably more important than macronutrients.

Because, after all, micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, aminos, etc.) compose macronutrients (proteins, carbs, and fats).

What’s more, micronutrients set the underlying foundation and facilitate the inner workings of the body’s overall physiology and metabolic health. Of these micronutrients, zinc is a particularly important micronutrient to male health and performance.

In this article, we cover the male health benefits of supplementing zinc, including a full analysis of the best zinc-containing supplement for male health.

So, let’s get to it!

The Beginner’s Guide on Zinc for men: it's impact on Male Health

The beginners guide on zinc and male health

Globally, zinc deficiency is more common than one might believe.

Essential for healthy growth and development in adolescence, as well as for:

immunity
cognition
male virility

Zinc is certainly not a mineral you want to be deficient in...

...however, an estimated 17.3% of the world’s population is at risk of inadequate zinc intake.^[1]

For men, zinc status is male status—it’s that closely linked to healthy male function.

But, independent of male health, what exactly is zinc?

What Exactly is Zinc?

As a trace mineral, the second most abundant trace element in the body, zinc is exactly what it is: zinc.

Meaning that zinc isn’t a complex compound, like a vitamin, but just its own molecular mineral element, fitted with its own atomic number on the Periodic Table of Elements—which is the atomic number 30.

Which is all interesting stuff, if you’re into the chemistry side of vitamins and minerals. But in terms of nutrition, zinc is an antioxidant mineral that’s uniquely beneficial to male health, as suggested by zinc’s high concentration in the testes and prostate.

Much of zinc’s health potential relates to its antioxidant status, for both men and women. However, as a precursor to testosterone synthesis, zinc is also directly related to male vigor and virility.

Under conditions of zinc deficiency, testosterone status suffers, as well as spermatogenesis, sperm quality, and male fertility.^[2]

There are several key food sources you can include in your diet to improve your zinc status, but taking a multivitamin supplement may also help. And the best zinc-containing multivitamin supplement is Performance Lab® NutriGenesis® Multi for Men.

Let’s take a look:

Performance Lab® NutriGenesis® Multi for Men

NutriGenesis® Multi for Men works by:

Establishing a solid nutritional foundation with a comprehensive stack of micronutrients calibrated for men’s specific nutrient needs.
Supporting testosterone synthesis and activity with a diverse range of T-promoting vitamins and minerals, such as zinc, magnesium, and vitamin D.
Promoting daily and long-range immune function for men of all ages, old and young, and of all dietary lifestyles, vegan and non-vegan.
Enhancing micronutrient absorption and bioavailability with a complex of natural cofactors, such as probiotics, enzymes, fibers, and antioxidants.

Performance Lab® NutriGenesis® Multi for Men delivers 17+ essential micronutrients, including Vitamin A, with a special emphasis on the key vitamins and minerals for male health and performance.

Optimized with a probiotic-cultivated NutriGenesis® formula and prebiotic-infused NutriCaps® capsules, Multi for Men absorbs efficiently and completely to establish a firm, comprehensive nutritional foundation for optimal male biology.

Whether taking with other health and fitness supplements or not, NutriGenesis® Multi for Men is a must-have multi for daily health and long-range vitality.

Get the Best Deal on Performance Lab® NutriGenesis® Multi for Men

Continue reading to learn how zinc works, how zinc benefits male health and performance, and what the research has to say on this manly mineral.

How Does Zinc Work for Men?

Zinc as an element on the periodic table

Perhaps all you need to know is that zinc’s bio-activities significantly contribute to the production of testosterone, the key male sex hormone.^[3] In turn, zinc’s promotion of healthy testosterone activity improves measures of erectile function, sex drive and libido, sperm quality, sperm count, sperm motility, and anabolic muscle growth.

This in itself should help explain why men should supplement zinc. But it’s worth hitting on this point harder in the following section, if you’re still not convinced.

Why Men Should Supplement Zinc

Having a healthy zinc status strongly contributes to feeling great as a man. By that same token, poor zinc status contributes to impaired male health and performance. Low levels of zinc have been associated with:^[4,5]

Poor androgen (male sex hormone) status
Impaired testicular health and function
Low physical performance and strength
Poor anabolic muscle growth
Suboptimal immune health and function

Much depends upon zinc. Male fertility and function, as well as immune health and cognition. There simply is no way to fully function as a man without having your zinc operating a fully functional levels.

Though zinc isn’t the only mineral, let alone micronutrient, that’s important to a masculine biology, it is a centrally important one—one that you don’t want to slip through the cracks, especially as age-related decline begins to take form.^[6]

And much of this relates to zinc’s relationship to testosterone, the primary sex hormone for men.

What are the Risk Factors for Men Associated with Low Zinc Status?

No zinc? No testosterone. That’s the deal.

Ongoing low zinc levels are associated with hypogonadism, a condition marked by poor testosterone production and inefficient testicular function. This, in turn, contributes to a number of male health problems, including other sex hormone imbalances involving estrogen, prolactin, DHT, and more.

But what are the risk factors associated with zinc deficiency? Here are a few common ones:

Ultraprocessed Foods – modern food processing and food preservation technologies notoriously sap the nutrients out of today’s diets.
Coffee Consumption – excess coffee intake may interfere with zinc absorption, as well as increase zinc excretion via caffeine’s diuretic effect.
Ejaculation – is this a serious risk factor for zinc deficiency? Hard to say, but all the same: every time you ejaculate, you lose roughly 3-5 mg of zinc.
Age-Related Decline – naturally, as with many other aspects of health and nutrition, the body’s use of zinc tends to decline with age.

Are you an older, coffee-drinking man who enjoys eating cheap meals and frequently ejaculating? Well, bad news for you: you’re living a very zinc-unfriendly lifestyle. Fortunately, low zinc status associated with hypogonadism may be ameliorated by zinc supplementation.

Zinc Review: Benefits for Male Health

Letting your zinc levels and drop, and then letting your zinc levels stay dropped, is a bad idea that you should quickly combat with a good idea: taking a zinc supplement.

Zinc supplementation may benefit the following categories of male health and performance:

Sex Drive and Libido
Performance and Strength
Anabolic Muscle Growth
Cognitive Health
Immune Health and Function

And more. Especially as we age, the importance of acquiring adequate dietary zinc is only increasing, and, thus, the benefits of taking a safe, effective, and healthy zinc supplement only increase as well.

What Does the Research Say on Zinc for Men?

Scientists researching zinc

Read enough of these articles on zinc, and you’ll begin to think that zinc is the cure-all to all your problems. But let’s not get it twisted: zinc is not the cure-all to all your problems.

Having said that, there is an abundance of exciting research that suggests of the immense value of increasing your intake of this trace mineral, especially if you feel you possess an exceptional risk of zinc deficiency. With that in mind, research suggests that zinc may help:

Modulate serum testosterone levels in healthy men

Studying the relationship between cellular zinc concentrations and serum testosterone, with considerations of the hormonal effects of marginal zinc deficiency in mind, a group of researchers measured serum testosterone levels before and after zinc administration among a group of healthy, normal men aged 20 to 80 years of age.

The results showed that dietary zinc restriction in young men was associated with serum testosterone decline, whereas zinc supplementation among marginally zinc-deficient older men followed with an increase in testosterone, leading to the conclusion that “zinc may play an important role in modulating serum testosterone levels in normal men.”^[7]

Benefit athletic performance under conditions of exercise exhaustion

In a 2006 study investigating how exhaustion exercise affects thyroid hormones and testosterone levels in elite athletes, a group of researchers administered zinc supplements to licensed wrestlers to determine zinc’s efficacy in modulating the thyroid and male hormone response to exercise-induced exhaustion.

The results demonstrated that while exhaustion exercise significantly inhibited thyroid hormones and testosterone concentrations, the 4-week zinc supplementation reversed this inhibition in wresters. The researchers’ conclusion: “physiological doses of zinc administration may benefit performance.”^[8]

Promote sperm count in fertile and subfertile men

Previously, we linked zinc deficiency with poor sperm quality. In a 2002 study, a group of researchers set out to assess the effects of zinc combined with folic acid on various measures of semen quality, including sperm concentration, motility, and morphology, as according to World Health Organization guidelines.

The results showed a significant 74% increase in total normal sperm count in subfertile men, with a similar trend observed in fertile men, leading to the conclusion that “total normal sperm count increases after combined zinc sulfate and folic acid treatment in both subfertile and fertile men.”^[9] However, the researchers urged for continued research on the effects of zinc on male fertility.

Potentially improve bodyweight, energy, and bone health in athletes

The nutritional habits of elite athletes during training and competition famously differ from the nutritional habits of the average joe shmoe. Naturally, athletes require a heightened amount of nutrients, both micro and macro, to sustain their heightened amount of activity; yet, endurance athletes often adopt unusual diets that contribute to suboptimal zinc intake. As one study observed, such unusual diets may lead to suboptimal zinc intake in 90% of athletes.

As the researchers reported, mild zinc deficiency, though difficult to detect, may lead to “anorexia, significant loss in bodyweight, latent fatigue with decreased endurance and a risk of osteoporosis.”^[10] Based on these findings, it’s possible that zinc supplementation may help improve these measures among athletes who consume high-carb, low-protein, low-fat diets.

What is the Best Type of Zinc for Male Health?

Though zinc is a pure element with a listing on the Periodic Table of Elements, “zinc” actually refers to a diversity of zinc forms whose variety depends upon what’s bonded to the zinc. Altogether, the most common zinc forms include:

Picolinate – more absorbable than gluconate and citrate, but also one of the most expensive ingredient forms of zinc;
Gluconate – 14% elemental zinc, highly absorbable;
Citrate – 31% elemental zinc, highly absorbable;
Acetate – 30% elemental zinc, decently absorbable;
Sulfate – 23% elemental zinc, poorly absorbed, bad taste;
Oxide – 80% elemental zinc, poorly absorbed;
Monomethionine – an easy-to-absorb chelated zinc form;
ZMA – a combination of zinc, magnesium, and B6 designed with the intent of replenishing athletes with performance-enhancing minerals and improving sports performance.

Needless to say, nailing the best zinc form based on this list depends on several factors, namely absorption and cost. However, if you’re looking for the best type of zinc for male health of all time, look no further than NutriGenesis® Zinc+.

Look for NutriGenesis® Zinc+

A patented form of zinc, NutriGenesis® Zinc+ is included as part of a total, comprehensive mix of essential vitamins and minerals, including magnesium and vitamin B6, which work together to fulfill the ZMA angle on sports nutrition enhancement. Complexed with natural cofactors, NutriGenesis® Zinc+ is not only one of the most effective, easiest-to-absorb minerals available on the market, but it’s also one of the safest zinc forms on the gut, even for men with sensitive stomach issues.

Best Zinc Supplement Source for Men: Performance Lab® NutriGenesis® Multi for Men

Performance Lab NutriGenesis Multi for Men Bottle

Vitamins and minerals make the man.

Only one problem: modern factory farming and food processing has sucked our foods dry of all the essential micronutrients, making today’s food products much less nutrient-dense than what’s adequate to live an active, energized lifestyle.

Fortunately, this is where Performance Lab® NutriGenesis® Multi for Men comes into play.

With a rich mix of lab-cultured, nature-identical vitamins and minerals, complexed with a collection of potency-enhancing natural cofactors, NutriGenesis® Multi for Men offers a bottle full of nutrient-dense capsules to help fill the nutritional gaps in your diet.

And, best of all, NutriGenesis® Multi for Men supplies an advanced form of zinc, the manliest mineral on the market.

Get the Best Deal on Performance Lab® NutriGenesis® Multi for Men

Performance Lab® NutriGenesis® Multi for Men Formula Analysis

It’s easy for a multivitamin supplement to supply all the essential vitamins and minerals that your body requires. In fact, many, if not most, multivitamins actually come through on this end.

However, even so, many of these same multivitamins supply inferior isolated and synthetic nutraceuticals that are hard to absorb and, thus, utilize.

In other words, many multivitamin supplements for men are charging you to fill you up with cheap, ineffective gunk.

Performance Lab® NutriGenesis® Multi for Men is bucking this sad trend with patented NutriGenesis® vitamins and minerals; a micronutrient technology breakthrough that complexes nutraceuticals with natural cofactors, including probiotics, fibers, enzymes, and antioxidants, that increase the nutrients’ bioavailability and health-boosting bio-benefits.

What this means is that NutriGenesis® Multi for Men does an excellent job at overcoming the digestive barriers between you and life-essential nutrients that support virtually all health systems in your body, including:

Cardiometabolic health
Metabolic energy performance
Immune health and function
Bone and joint integrity
Healthy antioxidant activities
Brain and nervous system health
Muscle growth and function

And much, much more - again, virtually all health systems in your body.

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NutriCaps®

Additionally, Performance Lab® NutriGenesis® Multi for Men encapsulates its advanced formula in prebiotic-infused NutriCaps®, an all-natural, plant-based, patented capsule constructed out of fermented tapioca (pullulan) that’s completely devoid of artificial additives or harmful synthetics. Only clean, green, eco-friendly, vegan-friendly, non-GMO goodness.

As such, Performance Lab® NutriGenesis® Multi for Men is an excellent source of dietary zinc and the ideal multivitamin for men of all ages and dietary lifestyles.

Get the Best Deal on Performance Lab® NutriGenesis® Multi for Men

Conclusion on Zinc for Men

Though a simple supplement, zinc is one of the best testosterone-boosting supplements you can buy.

Especially if you buy this mineral as part of a comprehensive multivitamin supplement stack, such as Performance Lab® NutriGenesis® Multi for Man, the ultimate multi supplement for the ultramodern man.

Mixing zinc with all the other essential vitamins and minerals in a lab-cultured complex of probiotics, enzymes, fibers, and antioxidants, Performance Lab® NutriGenesis® Multi for Men is the ideal multivitamin stack for the man who insists on the “health” aspect promised by their health supplements.

Safe for daily, long-term use, Performance Lab® NutriGenesis® Multi for Men is the only multivitamin stack you’ll need to get all your daily vitamins and minerals for optimal male health and performance.