Vegetarians and zinc requirement:
Vegetarians may require 50% more zinc than non-vegetarians based on research in phytate-zinc molar ratios. Phytate is a nondigestible salt responsible for the storage of phosphorus. Phytate in plant tissues reduces the bioavailability of zinc and iron in humans. Therefore, the higher the amount of phytate consumed, the higher the ratio of phytate will be to zinc and iron resulting in less absorption. Compared to non-vegetarian diets, lacto-ovo-vegetarian diets (which includes consumption of eggs and dairy products, but not meat) were associated with a reduced zinc absorption of about 35%. Meat was replaced by legumes, whole grains, seeds, and nuts, resulting in phytate-zinc molar ratios of 14 and 5 for the lacto-ovo-vegetarian and non-vegetarian diets, respectively. After 4 weeks, women on the vegetarian diet absorbed less zinc (2.4 mg Zn/d) than their non-vegetarian counterparts 3.7 mg Zn/d (26% vs 33%). After about 8 weeks, this difference was associated with a 5% reduction in zinc in the blood. The information in this study supports that vegetarians would benefit from zinc supplementation. (18)