Every so often I put a day's diet into fitday.com just to check I'm doing alright with nutrients and haven't slipped too much. I don't have trouble getting enough of anything, except for zinc. I hit 65-70% of the RDA consistently and I'm not sure how I can change my diet to make up the shortfall. Sources of zinc are nuts, whole grains, legumes, leafy greens, seeds, but I eat lots of those. I used to be slightly low on iron too, but a teaspoon of blackstrap molasses on my breakfast seems to do the trick.

The reason for this could be that I eat quite a low-calorie diet (1400-1700. I don't count but it works out that way). Perhaps I simply need to eat more.

Any ideas of something I can add to my diet to top it up? Or simply eat more of the above?

I've heard wheat-germ is a good source - any ideas for how to use it?

Or, am I stressing over nothing? :p

Yep, wheat germ is great source of zinc. If you make your own bread you can put it in that. I put 1/4 cup (20 g) in pizza dough for a 14 inch pizza. I also put some in spaghetti sauce.

I think that adzuki beans are higher in zinc than most other beans.

In case you don't already know about it, here is a link to the UDSA nutrient database that you can use to look up zinc contents of foods.

USDA Nutrient Database (http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl)

Your calorie intake is quite low. If you are trying to lose weight and restricting calories that will make it harder to reach the RDAs, like you said.

Or, am I stressing over nothing?

Probably, because the RDAs have slack in them. But, maybe there is something you can easilly do to improve your zinc status.

Wheat germ is an excellent source of zinc, other sources include wheat bran, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, cashews, pecans , oatbran, miso and tofu :)

Wheat germ is an excellent source of zinc, other sources include wheat bran, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, cashews, pecans , oatbran, miso and tofu :)


Mmm :lick: any reason to eat cashews is good with me :D

Thanks guys!