Take your zinc with a wink!
Readership: Men
Theme: Overcoming Obstacles
Length: 1,600 words
Reading Time: 5 minutes
Introduction
A younger reader told us about how frequent fapping dampened his noetic discernment, whereas abstaining from solo sex reduced the intensity of his sex drive, which in turn, made it easier for him to resist lustful temptations. He writes,
“Frank personal observations incoming:
I found, to my great surprise, that when I abstained from p0rn and fapping for an extended period of time (2 weeks to a couple months or more) that my libido did indeed drop off. So I suspect that what I imagined as libido is simply habit and the pleasure-reward system seeking for another “hit”. Logically, I don’t see how it would be different in marriage but at least there is a productive use for it and a real woman involved.
Very subjectively, I’ve also found that my noetic sense seems heightened when abstaining as described. At some point I realized that even one return to viewing p0rn accompanied by jerking off meant my noetic senses were blunted by the next day. I didn’t want to think about God, spirituality, or long-game thinking. OTOH, infrequent jerkin’ of the gherkin (without p0rn) does NOT seem to have the same effect.”
His experience is far from unique. A few other readers have mentioned similar effects.
Nutting is the wrong kind of zinc. In a reply, Jorgen brought our attention to a link between zinc and depression.
“At some point I realized that even one return to viewing porn accompanied by jerking off meant my noetic senses were blunted by the next day.”
“This is true. But the more zinc in your diet, the faster you recover.
Jerking + not enough zinc = long term depression = jerking more to try and feel happy = losing more zinc and it being harder to catch up = jerking off even more to try and feel happy = whole thing over again.
If you do screw up and jerk one day, take a zinc supplement that night so it will only take 1 day to recover rather than 3 or 4.”
Jorgen’s comment sparked my curiosity about the effects of zinc. After doing some research on this, I found that zinc is extremely important for one’s health [emphasis mine].
“Playing a determinant role in over 300 biological processes, zinc is required for proper cellular function, including DNA replication, transcription, protein synthesis, maintenance of cell membranes, cellular transport, as well as endocrine, immunological and neuronal systems (Prasad, 1995; Nowak et al., 2003b). Dysregulation of zinc is associated with reduced immunological functioning, stunted tissue regeneration, growth retardation, gastrointestinal complaints, and ocular and sensory disturbances. Zinc insufficiency is also associated with neuropsychiatric manifestations that can present as altered behavior and cognition, reduced ability to learn, and depression (Nowak, 2001; Nowak et al., 2003a; Howland and Wang, 2008).” [1]
Of note to men, there are noteworthy correlations showing that Zinc is important for both reproductive health and psychological health.
This kind of zinc is better. The Role of Zinc in Reproductive Health
Zhao et al. [2] and Fallah et al. [3] conducted a literature review and found a significant correlation between zinc and reproductive health. Excerpts follow.
- Zinc acts as a hormone balancer (e.g. testosterone), and improves prostate and sexual health. [3]
- Zinc plays an important role in spermatogenesis. [2]
- Zn deficiency impedes spermatogenesis and is a reason for sperm abnormalities and has a negative effect on testosterone concentration. [3]
- Zinc levels in sperm are proportional to sperm volume. [2]
- The concentration of zinc in human seminal plasma is higher than that in other tissues, and is nearly 100 times more concentrated than in blood serum. [2]
- Zinc functions as an antibacterial agent in men’s urinary system. [3]
- Zn acts as a toxic repercussion against heavy metals and cigarette inflammatory agents. [3]
- Zinc displaces the concentration of harmful elements, such as cadmium. [3]
- Smoking reduces zinc content in seminal fluid. [3]
- Zinc levels in the seminal plasma of smokers and infertile males were significantly lower than that of normal males. [2]
- Ejaculation reduces the zinc concentration in the prostate, which then affects levels of zinc in the body overall. [2]
- Zinc supplementation can significantly improve sperm quality by increasing the percentage of normal sperm morphology, sperm motility, and semen volume. [2]
- However, there are no significant effects of zinc supplementation on the sperm viability, sperm concentration, sperm count or percentage of abnormal sperm morphology. [2]
As you can see, zinc is essential to male health. Also, it appears that zinc may be a link between smoking and reduced fertility.
Now this is good zinc! The Role of Zinc in Mental Health
Through a literature review, Petrilli et al. [1] showed that zinc is related to one’s psychological well being, i.e. mood, depression. Excerpts follow.
- Patients suffering from depression have abnormally low levels of zinc in their bodies.
- Clinical studies show lower serum zinc levels in groups of cases with major depression (McLoughlin and Hodge, 1990; Maes et al., 1994; Siwek et al., 2010; Swardfager et al., 2013).
- Recent meta-analyses demonstrated lower serum zinc levels in groups of cases with depression compared to controls, with significant inverse associations between depression severity scores and serum zinc levels.
- Consistent with dose effects and causality, an inverse relationship was observed between lower zinc levels and higher Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores (Maes et al., 1994; Liuzzi and Cousins, 2004).
- Studies of patients suffering from psychoses (e.g. schizophrenia), and those who have committed suicide consistently show abnormally low zinc. (See original paper for tables of these studies.)
- Several randomized controlled trials support the effectiveness of zinc as adjunctive therapy for improving mood in both depressed and healthy individuals (Nowak et al., 2003a; Siwek et al., 2009; Sawada and Yokoi, 2010; Lai et al., 2012; Ranjbar et al., 2014; Solati et al., 2015).
- Zinc supplementation also improved mood in cases with treatment-resistant depression in several studies (Nowak et al., 2003a; Siwek et al., 2009).
Other Benefits and Risks of Zinc
In another study, Jarrard [4] reported other benefits and risks of zinc and offered a precaution against taking excessive amounts of zinc.
- 80 mg/day of zinc, either alone, as zinc oxide, or as antioxidants and zinc, significantly reduced the risk of progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). [4]
- Zinc appeared to have a synergistic effect in combination with antioxidants. [4]
- Zinc has been found to inhibit prostate cancer cell line growth and invasion. [4]
- Low serum levels of zinc are associated with an increased incidence of prostate cancer. [4]
- An increased risk of prostate cancer was identified in patients with a supplemental intake of more than 100 mg/day. However, only 10 of 2127 patients diagnosed as having prostate cancer during the study had advanced cancer and a zinc intake of greater than 100 mg/d. The correlation to zinc was only found in patients with advanced cancer. In sum, the health professionals data suggest that high levels of supplemental zinc may contribute to prostate cancer promotion in a small minority of patients. [4]
- No increase in prostate cancer was noted in the patients receiving zinc supplementation in the former study. [4]
- At extremely high levels, more than 150 mg/d, zinc may cause immune dysfunction. [4]
Jarrard recommended 80 mg/day, and no more than 100 mg/day of zinc supplements. Moderation, as with anything.
Even better! Conclusions
Zinc is a plentiful microelement found in many foods, such as fortified cereals, legumes (e.g. beans), mushrooms, nuts, seafood (e.g. oysters), and animal proteins, such as meat, fish and milk (e.g. cheese, yogurt). [2]
A zinc deficiency is a known cofactor of low semen volume, poor semen quality, infertility, prostatitis, depression, psychosis, and poor mood in general.
Sperm has a much higher concentration of zinc compared to other body tissues, so it stands to reason that ejaculation, whether by coitus or cranking lefty, would significantly reduce the body’s overall zinc content.
So it seems that Jorgen’s claims are more or less accurate. Frequent ejaculation (via. copulation or choking the bird) and/or a zinc deficient diet may contribute towards moodiness and/or depression. So men may want to consider these factors as a possible explanation for anhedonia and/or a means of improving/controlling/maintaining/regulating both fertility and mood. This might even help some men kick the habit of playing individual sports like fly fishing and pocket pool, and get past the blinding obsession.
But any way you look at it, zinc is all good! Take your zinc with a wink!
Update: There is a simple taste test using a zinc sulfate solution that gauges the level of zinc in the body. I’ve added a link to this information below. H/T: Joe2.
Sources
- M. A. Petrilli, T. M. Kranz, K. Kleinhaus, P. Joe, M. Getz, P. Johnson, M. V. Chao, D. Malaspina, “The Emerging Role for Zinc in Depression and Psychosis”, Frontiers in Pharmacology 8:414 (2017). doi: 10.3389/fphar.2017.00414
- J. Zhao, X. Y. Dong, X. Y. Hu, Z. Long, L. Wang, Q. Liu, B. S. Sun, Q. Q. Wang, Q. J. Wu, L. K. Lia, “Zinc levels in seminal plasma and their correlation with male infertility: A systematic review and meta-analysis”, Scientific Reports 6:22386 (2016). PMCID: PMC4773819; doi: 10.1038/srep22386
- Fallah, A. Mohammad-Hasani, A. H. Colagar, “Zinc is an Essential Element for Male Fertility: A Review of Zn Roles in Men’s Health, Germination, Sperm Quality, and Fertilization”, Journal of Reproductive Infertility 19:2 (2018) 69–81. PMCID: PMC6010824
- D. F. Jarrard, “Does Zinc Supplementation Increase the Risk of Prostate Cancer?” Archives of Ophthalmology 2005;123(1):102-103. doi:10.1001/archopht.123.1.102
Related
- The Thinking Housewife: More on Health, Culture, and Artificial Birth Control (2012-2-12)
- Mattern Chiropractic: Zinc Taste Test: Simple Test, Big Implications (2013-4-2)
- Lepivits Laboratoire: 7 Signs That You Are Zinc Deficient (2019-12-12)
- Σ Frame (Jack): A blinding obsession (2022-4-15)
- Σ Frame (Jack): The intermediate goal is to get past the blinding obsession (2022-4-25)
