Most of us get many colds during our lifetime and don’t think anything of it. But growing research is showing that every infection you catch – even a seemingly mild infection like a cold – causes you to age.
You see, every infection you catch is an assault on your body. Some cause mild damage. Others cause significant damage. But each infection causes damage that results in aging.
The common cold, for instance, is known to cause serious age-related issues. Studies show that a cold can cause:
• Eye problems
• Hearing problems
• Nerve problems
• Muscle weakness
• Memory issues
And another study from the National Institutes of Health found that infections can even turn your hair gray.
All of these are clear signs of aging.
Here’s the worst part: The older you are, the more each infection causes you to age. And the faster the aging accelerates.
But here’s the good news: You can avoid colds and infections. And you can slow the aging process at the same time. Here’s where you start:
The Key to Staying Infection-Free
The key to never getting a cold or any infection is obviously a strong immune system. And one of the most important parts of your immune system are your T-cells.
T-cells are the part of your immune system that creates antibodies. But they do a lot more than that. They directly kill infected host cells, activate other immune cells, and regulate the immune response.
But here’s the rub: The older you get, the fewer T-cells your body makes. The fewer T-cells you have, the more infections you get. The more infections you get, the faster you age. And the more you age, the fewer T-cells your body makes. It’s a vicious cycle!
Well, here’s great news. You can stop and even reverse this cycle by taking an ordinary mineral. The mineral is zinc.
In a landmark study, researchers found that zinc causes your body to produce more T-cells. And it can do it no matter how old you are.
In this study, the researchers gave 70-year-old men 220 mg of zinc sulfate (which is about 50 mg of elemental zinc) twice daily for one month. They compared them to a control group that didn’t take any zinc. They found that the zinc group had a significant increase in the number of T-cells produced.
More T-cells means you can fight infections more effectively. And it means you can avoid the rapid aging these infections cause.
Here’s How to Get More Zinc
You can start by adding more zinc-rich foods to your diet. These include oysters, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, crab, lamb, and dark chocolate. But you’ll likely have to take a supplement as well.
The usual daily dose of zinc is 15 mg. That’s the amount you’ll get in a good quality multivitamin/mineral. But you could need more.
If you’re severely deficient, you may need 20 mg up to four times daily for a few weeks. But if you’re taking zinc long-term, don’t take more than 40 mg daily. Higher amounts may block the absorption of other nutrients like copper and iron.
Here’s More Proof You Need to Take Zinc
By the way, T-cells are produced by a small gland in your chest called the thymus. As you age, this gland shrinks, and it doesn’t produce as many T-cells.
I recently saw a study about the thymus that blew my socks off. In this study, researchers wanted to find out if zinc reverses this shrinkage and restores T-cell function. To find out, they took a group of zinc-deficient mice and gave them zinc for 31 days.
In just one week, the researchers saw the thymus gland in the mice quadruple in size! That’s amazing! But it gets better.
After two weeks, the thymus of every single zinc-deficient mouse was normal size. And by the fourth week, their thymus was functioning completely normal. And the T-cells were functioning normally as well.
This is a phenomenal study that shows how zinc addresses the underlying cause of a weak immune system. So no matter your age, start taking zinc today!