I was watching some TV today and a Brit show came on: You Are What You Eat. The host of the show made the point twice that low zinc levels could lead to lack of sexual desire for the female [del]victim[/del] guest. The couple highlighted on this particular episode were obese with horrid eating habits (they deep fat fried their eggs for one). She suffered from severe “PMT” (their way of saying PMS) as well.
Thing is, after the 8 weeks of health(ier) eating and they had (between the 2 of them) lost 5 stone(70 pounds), no mention was then made of any increased sex drive for her. I found that suspect, simply because the host had no problem discussing in depth the qualities of the guests’ poop, so why shy away from this?
My question is this: are low zinc levels linked to low sex drive, and if so, how does one know if one is getting enough zinc? I thought there were no standards for trace minerals, but it’s been 20+ years since I took a nutrition class.
I knew exactly what you were talking about. I am now an addict to that show. I actually tried to find something on quackwatch about the link, but was unable to. Also, she states that lines and cracks on your tongue are related to a B vitamin deficiency. I have no idea if this stuff is crazy, out-there types of things or if it is based in reality. I’d love ot know however.
And my husband is so close to me doing this to him he has no idea. But since watching this show, I have taken steps to increase the quality of our diets.
Well, I’ll take that on face value and say thanks for the info, but that has nothing whatever to do with the female.
I am not sure I’ll get addicted to that show (I have no idea when it’s on, for one), but it was extremely gross, seeing their week’s worth of intake on one table like that. 6 liters of oil? Not a green veggie in sight. I also made a quasi-promise to myself to clean up my act re eating, but compared to them–I’m the original health food nut!
I couldn’t get over the eggs–eggs should not sink and then be covered by oil in order to have fried eggs. <shudders>
I checked my One a Day multivitamin–it has 15mg of zinc, which according to the label is 100% of the RDA. It says nothing about sex, sadly enough.
Am also now wondering what are good sources of zinc (besides the vitamin tabs).
I just want to point out that “Dr” Gillian McKeith, the show’s presenter, is a charlatan (and makes me hurl things at the TV every time I see her hateful face). Most of what she says is utter bullshit. Take anything she says with a HUGE pinch of [low-sodium] salt.
I kind of figured that out, what with her instant diagnoses and all, but the diets so far have been disgusting, and her changes have been good.
If I had stopped to think about it, there would be zinc supplements advertised all over if what she said is true. One less thing to worry about. Thanks!
In taking a nutrition class at UC Davis with Dr. Applegate, I recall her linking zinc to sexual development… but the closest thing I can find is an old study of Egyptian boys who were underdeveloped; it seems they had low zinc levels, but supplements didn’t seem to help.
But since watching this show, I have taken steps to increase the quality of our diets.