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Zinc
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Zinc is an essential mineral involved in many processes throughout the body. It supports normal cell growth and repair, immune function, and wound healing, as well as helping maintain healthy skin, hair, and nails. Zinc also plays an important role in reproductive health, including sperm production and function.
A zinc blood test can help identify a possible deficiency, but it doesn’t provide a complete measure of all the zinc stored in your body. Blood zinc levels can change with the time of day and may be affected by recent food intake, infection, inflammation, pregnancy, and some medicines.
An abnormal result doesn’t identify the underlying cause. Further assessment may be needed if your result is low or unexpected.
This test doesn’t assess fertility directly and can’t diagnose the cause of fertility problems. A semen analysis is the main test used to assess male fertility, while female fertility may require hormone testing, scans, and clinical review.
Zinc is an essential mineral, meaning your body can’t produce it, so you need to get it from food or supplements.
Zinc helps your immune system work normally and is needed for wound healing, protein production, and DNA production. It also supports normal growth and development during pregnancy, as well as normal sperm production.
A blood test is commonly used to assess zinc status, but it’s not a perfect measure of your total body zinc stores. Only a small proportion of the body’s zinc circulates in the blood, and the result can be influenced by inflammation, infection, pregnancy, meals, and the time of collection.
Zinc is involved in cell division and DNA production. In men, it’s one of several nutrients involved in the production and development of sperm.
Having enough zinc is important for your reproductive health, but zinc is only one part of fertility. A low result doesn’t necessarily explain fertility difficulties, and taking extra zinc hasn’t been proven to improve fertility in everyone.
No. A zinc test measures the amount of zinc in your blood. It doesn’t measure sperm count, movement, shape, or quality.
A semen analysis is needed to assess sperm health directly. Zinc testing may be a useful nutritional add-on, particularly if you think you might be deficient.
Zinc supports normal reproductive health, and requirements increase during pregnancy. However, a zinc blood test doesn’t measure egg quality, ovarian reserve, ovulation or the likelihood of becoming pregnant.
Possible symptoms of zinc deficiency include reduced appetite, changes in taste or smell, slow wound healing, hair loss, skin changes, frequent infections, and diarrhoea.
Low zinc is more likely in people who follow vegan or vegetarian diets, people with inflammatory bowel disease or persistent diarrhoea, and people who have undergone bariatric or intestinal surgery. Pregnancy can also increase zinc requirements.
Good sources include meat, shellfish, fish, dairy products, and eggs. Plant sources include beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and fortified cereals.
If you take an over-the-counter zinc supplement and would like a clearer picture of your usual zinc level, you may wish to pause it for three days before your test, where it’s safe to do so. This can help reduce the effect of recent supplementation. Don’t stop prescribed supplements or medicines unless a healthcare professional has advised you to do so.
Please record any zinc-containing supplements you take in the additional information section so your result can be interpreted appropriately.
