Zinc, an essential trace mineral, is used in the Active Formula and Men’s Formula of the CardioTrim health supplement line.

Zinc acts as an essential trace element and nutrient in human and animal health. Zinc potentiates antioxidant functions, stabilizes membrane structure and function, attenuates cell-mediated immunity and plays a key role in the activity of zinc metallo-enzymes. Zinc is a constituent of the hormone insulin and is involved in skin and connective tissue metabolism and in wound healing. High concentrations of elemental zinc are found in the prostate gland and a strong correlation exists between zinc content of seminal fluid and male fertility. Furthermore, a relationship has been demonstrated between birth weight and head circumference and placental content of zinc. Zinc is a mineral nutrient essential for normal growth, sexual development, wound healing, ability to fight infections, sense of taste, night vision, healthy epithelial tissue and other vital functions.

Prasad et al showed that dietary zinc restriction decreases serum testosterone levels, while zinc supplementation of marginally zinc-deficient otherwise healthy men doubled serum testosterone levels. Zinc deficiency may also decrease testosterone’s ability to work efficiently. Chung et al found that rats maintained in a zinc-deficient diet resulted in a 63% decrease in the number of androgen (testosterone)-binding sites in cells. Brun et al found that 11 of 20 adolescent gymnasts who had serum zinc levels of less than 0.6 mg/L also had lower insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 levels, which is an indicator of decreased growth hormone activity.

Zinc deficiency has also been linked to increases in female hormone (estrogen) receptors. Om et al found that zinc deficient rats had a 41% reduction in androgen-binding receptor sites and a 68% reduction in circulating testosterone levels. Concurrently, they found a 57% increase in the number of estrogen-binding sites. These findings indicate that zinc deficiency may significantly alter sex hormone receptor levels in the body.

Testosterone is converted in the body to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) by the enzyme 5?-reductase. DHT binds more strongly to androgen-binding receptor sites than does testosterone, thereby interfering with testosterone’s anabolic effects in the body. Zinc, and to a greater degree zinc plus vitamin B6, inhibits 5a-reductase and the production of DHT. In vitro, Stamatiadis et al showed that a combination of vitamin B6 with moderate concentrations of zinc resulted in a two-fold increase in the inhibition of 5a-reductase, for a total 90% reduction of 5a-reductase.

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