Why take a Zinc test?

These days zinc deficiency is almost endemic in our society. Its depletion is associated with diabetes, eating disorders, food sensitivities & allergies, recurrent infections, delayed wound healing, arthritis, hair loss, skin disorders like eczema, infertility, depression insomnia, learning and behavioural disorders.

Zinc is important for so many enzyme systems ranging from liver function to DNA synthesis, serotonin production, sex hormone production, insulin production, stabilization of the histamine response, immune cell production and those that prevent free radical overload in your body. Zinc is required for the production of tummy acid (hydrochloric acid) that is essential to break down your food and extract all the goodness from it. Thus zinc depletion is the cornerstone of many nutritional deficiencies.

How does the test work?

• You must not eat, drink, or smoke less than one hour before the test. In the practice the equivalent of a liqueur glass of the test fluid will be given to rinse your mouth with for 5-10 seconds, after which you can either swallow or spit it out. Four different flavours now may appear:

 

 

• 1. No flavour or "like water" = typical zinc deficiency

  
  2. No flavour to begin with, but later a reaction occurs described as either "dry", "fluffy","mineral", "like baking powder" or "sweet" = zinc deficiency

  
  3. A strong but not necessarily unpleasant flavour is registered immediately and builds up little by little = no zinc deficiency.

  
  4. An unpleasant flavour is registered immediately. The test person makes a wry face and wants to rinse his mouth with water = no zinc deficiency, good zinc status.

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