meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Sigma Nutrition Radio

#565: How Zinc Insufficiency Impacts Inflammation, Immunity & Aging – Prof. Emily Ho

Sigma Nutrition Radio

Danny Lennon

Nutrition, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 633 Ratings

🗓️ 3 June 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Zinc is an essential micronutrient that often flies under the radar, despite being vital for hundreds of enzymes and transcription factors involved in immunity, antioxidant defense, and DNA repair.

A surprisingly large segment of the population may not get enough – an estimated 10% of U.S. individuals consume less than half the recommended zinc intake, putting them at risk of deficiency.

In this episode, Prof. Emily Ho discusses how even mild zinc insufficiency can impair immune function, promote chronic inflammation, and accelerate aspects of aging. She delves into the concept of "inflammaging" – the chronic, low-grade inflammation that develops with age – and explains how inadequate zinc status can aggravate this process.

The conversation also highlights emerging research on zinc's role in DNA integrity and how restoring zinc levels can reverse certain damage, underscoring zinc's broader significance in healthy aging and disease prevention.

Overall, this episode provides a deep scientific look at why maintaining adequate zinc status is crucial for immune resilience and mitigating age-related inflammatory and oxidative damage.

About the Guest

Emily Ho, PhD is the Director of the Linus Pauling Institute and professor in the College of Health at Oregon State University. Her research focuses on understanding the mechanisms by which nutrient status and healthy foods affect the initiation and/or progression of chronic diseases such as cancer.

Her work has helped drive dietary requirements and recommendations for micronutrients such as zinc for communities with susceptibility to poor nutrition.

Timestamps

  • [02:10] Interview begins
  • [03:58] The roles of zinc
  • [06:31] Zinc deficiency and insufficiency
  • [14:26] Prevalence and risk factors of zinc deficiency
  • [21:12] Zinc and age-related inflammation
  • [29:39] Zinc's impact on chronic diseases
  • [31:20] Practical advice on zinc supplementation
  • [41:14] Final thoughts

Related Resources

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hello and welcome to Sigma Nutrition Radio. This is episode 565 of the podcast. My name is Danny Lennon and you are very welcome to the show.

0:10.1

Today I have the pleasure of talking to Professor Emily Ho, who is the director of the Linus Pauling Institute and Professor of the College of Health at Oregon State University.

0:19.9

Her research focuses on understanding the mechanisms by which nutrient status can affect

0:24.6

the initiation and progression of various chronic diseases.

0:28.7

And indeed, her work has helped drive dietary requirements and recommendations for micronutrients,

0:33.7

such as zinc, which will be the focus of our conversation today. Much of her work has been really

0:38.6

important in looking at the mechanistic basis for how zinc status can play a role in a variety of

0:46.0

different pathways, from immune pathways, looking at inflammation, DNA integrity, and so on.

0:52.0

Through a variety of different models, which we'll probably mention

0:54.7

in this particular conversation. We're going to discuss all things related to zinc status,

0:59.8

looking at insufficiency, deficiency, some of the challenges with actually measuring zinc status,

1:05.6

and then actually getting diagnosis for whether someone has an adequate status or not and determining if that

1:12.3

is something that is causing symptoms and so on. If you are a Sigma Nutrition Premium

1:16.4

subscriber, then of course you will get a set of detailed study notes to accompany this episode.

1:21.6

You'll also get an episode transcript. If you're listening over on the free public feed of the

1:26.2

podcast and you're interested in getting these detailed study notes or getting the key idea segment after this episode concludes, as well as for our previous episodes of the podcast, in addition to the other benefits you get as a premium subscriber.

1:41.3

You can learn more about our premium subscription at the link in the description box

1:45.8

where you're currently listening

1:46.8

or just over on sigmautrition.com

1:49.7

slash premium.

1:51.2

So that is it.

1:52.9

I do hope you enjoy this conversation

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Danny Lennon, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Danny Lennon and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.