Can Zinc Reduce Inflammation From Ulcerative Colitis?
What Is Ulcerative Colitis and How Does It Affect the Body?
Ulcerative colitis is a long-term bowel problem. It mainly affects the large intestine, which is called the colon, and the rectum. The body’s immune system can become overactive and wrongly attack the lining of the colon. This leads to swelling, redness, and small open sores, called ulcers. The swelling usually starts in the rectum and can move through the colon. Sometimes, it reaches the whole large intestine.
Common symptoms are diarrhea, often with blood or pus. There can also be stomach cramps, bleeding from the rectum, a strong need to have a bowel movement, tiredness, and weight loss. The disease goes through times when symptoms get worse and come back. After that, there are times when symptoms get better or even go away.
What Causes Ulcerative Colitis?
The exact reason for ulcerative colitis is not known. But research shows that it comes from a mix of things. These include the body’s own system that fights illness, your family’s genes, and things in the world around us.
Usually, the body's defense system helps keep out bad germs and viruses. But in ulcerative colitis, the defense system becomes too strong and starts to attack the cells that line the colon by mistake. This over-reaction leads to long-lasting swelling in the colon and the start of open sores in the walls of the intestine.
Genetics matter in ulcerative colitis. If you have family members with inflammatory bowel disease, your own risk is higher. This shows that the condition can be passed down in families. Things in the world such as food, stress, pollution, and changes in gut bacteria can also lead to flare-ups. These are linked to the problem but are not seen as main causes. For some people, infections can trigger the illness by changing how the body fights sickness.
Can Zinc Help Reduce Inflammation in Ulcerative Colitis?
Most of the time, ulcerative colitis is treated with medicine, but there is research that shows taking zinc supplements might help lower swelling for people who have this condition.
Zinc is an important mineral. The body needs it to help fight infections, heal cuts, and keep the body’s tissues healthy. This includes the lining of the gut. People who have ulcerative colitis often have low zinc levels. This can happen because they have long-lasting diarrhea, the colon is swollen, and the body loses more nutrients during flare-ups. The colon in ulcerative colitis may not take in zinc well from food.
This lack of zinc can make symptoms worse. It can also make the gut wall weaker. As a result, this can keep problems going and cause the body to feel sore or unwell. Eating foods with zinc or taking zinc supplements may help. This may make ulcerative colitis feel less severe.
How Does Zinc Support the Gut Barrier and Prevent “Leaky Gut”?
Zinc helps people with ulcerative colitis in a big way. It gives support to the gut lining, which is the barrier in your stomach. This barrier is important for your health.
When you have ulcerative colitis, the colon gets hurt. A weak barrier makes it easy for things like bacteria and toxins to get in. This can make your body react more. Zinc helps the colon keep its barrier strong. It helps keep the cells close together to stop “leaky gut” and helps end this harmful cycle.
Zinc makes the wall of the colon stronger. This helps keep the immune system from coming into contact with things that are bad for the body. Zinc also helps the colon heal when there are sores or damage.
What Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Benefits Does Zinc Provide?
Zinc has strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. It helps control the way some cells in the body work, so they do not become too active. This stops them from releasing too many things that cause swelling, called cytokines.
High cytokine levels are a sign when ulcerative colitis gets worse. These levels lead to pain, bleeding, and damage to body tissue in the disease. Zinc works by calming the body's defense system. This action can help lower the long-lasting swelling in the colon.
In addition, zinc helps lower stress in the body by working against free radicals. These are unstable molecules that harm cells and make swelling worse. Zinc's ability to do this is key. Oxidative stress is known to make ulcerative colitis get worse over time.
What Does the Research Say About Zinc and Ulcerative Colitis?
Research shows that people with ulcerative colitis who do not have enough zinc can have worse flare-ups. They may heal slower, and face a higher chance of other problems.
Taking zinc has been linked to better gut health. It can help make the walls of the gut stronger. It may also help with less swelling in the body and lower the chances of getting sick again. Some studies say that zinc can help the body fight illness in a better way by making it heal and feel good instead of always trying to fix problems. This is good for your health and can help you feel better over time.
How Does Zinc Promote Tissue Repair and Recovery?
Another important thing about zinc in ulcerative colitis is how it helps tissues heal and recover.
Zinc is important for cell growth and for healing wounds. These are both needed to fix ulcers and sore spots in the colon. If you get enough zinc, it can help you get better faster when your body is in a break from illness. Zinc also helps make the wall of the gut stronger, so it can handle new problems better in the future.
This helps make life better. It can also lower the chances of long-term problems. Some of these problems are not getting enough nutrition or a higher risk of colon cancer. People who have had ulcerative colitis for a long time can get these issues.
How Can You Check Zinc Levels and Choose the Best Supplement?
Overall, zinc has many jobs in the body that can help people who have ulcerative colitis feel better. Zinc makes the gut barrier stronger. It helps control how the body reacts to sickness. Zinc helps cut down on stress in the body and helps fix damaged tissue, too. This means zinc may help lower swelling and help the gut heal.
If you have problems with your stomach or feel that your zinc levels are low, the best way to see your mineral balance is with a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA). This test can show you if you be low in zinc or have toxic heavy metals in your body, which may make things like swelling or pain worse.
For getting more zinc in your body, you can use a nano mineral supplement like Upgraded Zinc. This is one of the best zinc supplements out there. It helps to bring back zinc levels the right way. It also works well to keep your gut healthy for a long time.
You can try our Upgraded Zinc today if you feel ulcerative colitis pain and want to help your gut feel better with something that works with your body.