So I’ve seen the absorption rates of Zinc from supplements; e.g. Picolinate is about 20%, Citrate is about 30% etc.
But I was wondering what the bioavailability of Zinc from food is, and how this differs between different foods? I would imagine that the bioavailability of plant sources of Zinc (e.g. pumpkin seeds) would be lower but what about non-plant foods?
e.g. 20g of canned oysters equates to approximately 20mg of Zinc, but how much of the 20mg is actually used by the body?
If the bioavailability from food is less than 100%, should you only count the (approximate) absorbed part towards your daily Zinc count? e.g. if you use a Zinc Picolinate 50 mg tablet, your body may only get about 20% of that zinc for use by your cells and so would only count for approx 10mg?
Zinc glycinate I believe is the most bioavailable from personal experience, probably because intake of a protein or in this case glycine helps with the absorption. Zinc from seeds or grains for example may not be absorbed that well due to either phytates, presence of other minerals eg. magnesium calcium iron.. and the buffering effect of fiber correct me if I’m wrong.