Research
Micronutrients & recovery
Dietary phytate is a potent inhibitor of zinc absorption, significantly reducing fractional zinc absorption when the phytate:zinc molar ratio exceeds 15.
If your diet is plant-based, high phytate content (found in grains and legumes) can block up to 45% of zinc absorption if the phytate:zinc ratio is high. To improve zinc status, consider soaking, fermenting, or sprouting grains/legumes to reduce phytate, or include animal products which have higher zinc bioavailability.
StrongSupportsHIGH confidence
Phytate is accepted as the most potent inhibitor of zinc absorption and a meta-analysis of 30 studies by Bel-Serrat et al. (23) revealed an overall lowering of fractional zinc absorption by 45% of the control values when the phytate: zinc molar ratio of the test meal or diet was greater than 15.
Why this rating
Based on a meta-analysis of 30 studies.
Source
Zinc deficiency in low‐ and middle‐income countries: prevalence and approaches for mitigation
Swarnim Gupta et al. · Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics · 2020
DOI 10.1111/jhn.12791
narrative_reviewCited 273×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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