Supports immune function, taste, and wound healing. Found in oysters, meat, and legumes. FDA Daily Value: 11mg.
1–30 of 7,642 foods
Zinc is required by hundreds of enzymes and is central to immune function, wound healing, protein synthesis, DNA synthesis, taste perception, and growth. The body has no meaningful storage pool, so intake needs to be regular.
Oysters own this ranking outright — canned eastern oysters at 91.0mg per 100g, cooked at 61–79mg. No other whole food comes close; a single serving can exceed the Daily Value several times over.
Behind oysters, the practical sources are red meat, crab, poultry, pumpkin seeds, cashews, chickpeas, and lentils. Plant zinc is less available than animal zinc because of phytate.
Daily intake reference (FDA Daily Value)
FDA Daily Value: 11mg per day. Absorption sits around 30% and falls further in high-phytate diets, so vegetarians are often advised to aim higher than the headline figure.
Oysters are in a category of their own
At 61–91mg per 100g, oysters deliver more zinc than any other food by a wide margin. Even an occasional serving substantially changes weekly intake.
Phytate lowers plant zinc availability
Whole grains, legumes, and seeds contain both zinc and phytate, which binds it. Soaking, sprouting, and fermenting — including sourdough — release a meaningful share of it.
Loss of taste is a recognized signal
Zinc is required for taste perception, and diminished taste or smell is a classic early indicator of deficiency, alongside slow wound healing and frequent infections.
Q. Why are oysters so high in zinc?
A. Oysters are filter feeders that concentrate trace minerals from large volumes of seawater. This makes them the single richest natural zinc source known, at 61–91mg per 100g depending on preparation.
Q. What are good zinc sources without shellfish?
A. Beef and lamb, crab, poultry dark meat, pumpkin seeds, cashews, chickpeas, lentils, and fortified cereals. Plant sources need larger portions to compensate for lower absorption.
Q. Can zinc supplements cause problems?
A. Yes. Sustained high intake interferes with copper absorption and can cause deficiency of it, and acute high doses cause nausea. A tolerable upper intake level exists for this reason.
Related Products & Books
These are unpaid product suggestions. NutriDB is not an affiliate of these retailers and receives no commission from these links.
Data source: USDA FoodData Central (Public Domain) — fdc.nal.usda.gov