?Zinc, one of the antioxidant minerals, is important for hundreds of body processes, including maintaining normal taste and smell, regulating growth, and promoting wound healing. research has revealed that female bodybuilders, in particular, don’t get enough zinc in their diets. Zinc is an important mineral for people who work out. As you exercise, zinc helps clear lactic acid buildup in the blood. In addition, zinc supplementation (25 mg a day) has been shown to protect immunity during periods of intense training. There is not much research on zinc supplementation and exercise performance. Interestingly, though, one study shows that if you’re an endurance athlete who follows a diet that is rich in carbohydrate but low in protein and fat, you could be setting yourself up for a zinc deficiency, resulting in a loss of too much body weight, greater fatigue, and poor endurance. Too much zinc might be a bad thing, however. It has been associated with lower levels of good cholesterol (HDL) and thus may increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. What’s more, excess zinc over time may create mineral imbalances and produce undesirable changes in two substances involved in calcium metabolism: calcitonin, a hormone that boosts calcium in bones by drawing it from soft tissue, and osteocalcin, the key noncollagen protein needed to help harden bone. By eating zinc-rich foods, you can get just the right amount, which is 8 milligrams a day for women and 11 milligrams a day for men. The best sources of zinc are meat, eggs, seafood (especially oysters), and whole grains. If you restrict your intake of meat, taking a multivitamin-multimineral each day will help fill in the nutritional blanks.