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What does zinc have to do with anxiety? Turns out… quite a lot.

Most of us think of zinc as the thing you reach for when you feel a cold coming on, but this little mineral has its hands in a surprising number of jobs throughout the body.

In this episode of The Anxiety Compass, Sammy and Nat head East to the Chemical/Nutritional point of the Compass to unpack zinc and its role in brain and nervous-system function, taste and smell, appetite, growth and repair, immune health and digestion.

We also explore something particularly relevant for anxious humans: what happens to our nutrition when anxiety changes the way we eat? If nausea, butterflies, food aversions or a disappearing appetite leave you eating less or relying on the same handful of “safe” foods are you still getting what your body needs?

We chat about signs that may warrant looking at zinc status, why fussy eaters and restricted diets deserve a little more nutritional curiosity, zinc-rich foods, absorption, blood testing, and why simply taking a supplement isn't always the answer.

Plus: which forms of zinc are commonly used, what “elemental zinc” actually means, why men need more zinc than women, and what copper has to do with all of this.

And because this is The Anxiety Compass, the message isn't:

“You're anxious. Go take zinc.”

It's about asking better questions, looking at the whole picture and remembering that symptoms are clues, not diagnoses.

Because anxiety affects appetite, appetite affects nutrition, digestion affects absorption and your body doesn't operate in separate little boxes.

You are what you absorb.

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