Zinc is an amazing nutrient because it plays such a critical role in keeping us healthy. It is technically classified as a “micronutrient” since we need so very little of it. Many older women, for example, only need about 8 milligrams a day. Our bodies cannot produce zinc, so we need to get it from our food.

What Does Zinc Do for Us?

This nutrient, which is found throughout our bodies, has many important functions. Of special relevance to boomer women is evidence that getting enough zinc may help prevent osteoporosis. It seems to do this by promoting bone regeneration.

It may even slow down age-related macular degeneration (which can cause irreversible blindness and affects some 11 million people in the U.S.). It also may help prevent lung and esophageal cancer.

As if that were not enough, zinc can also help boomers better manage high blood pressure as well as prevent or speed up recovery from urinary tract infections.

It has been reported that over the course of a year in a skilled nursing facility, people with lower levels of zinc had twice as many cases of pneumonia and some 50 percent more prescriptions for antibiotics than those with normal zinc levels. Those people with normal zinc levels had a lower mortality rate from all causes than those who were deficient in this mineral.

Too Little and Too Much

In the same way that having adequate zinc levels has health benefits, not having enough creates health risks. These include scaly red skin, loss of appetite, anorexia, diarrhea, not healing quickly and problems with taste and smell. Zinc deficiency can also increase our risk for getting any number of viral, bacterial, and fungal infections, as well as parasites.

And in keeping with the “too much of a good thing is not good either,” having too much zinc in our bodies carries various health risks. These include, for example, headaches, nausea, and diarrhea. Over time, an excess of zinc can also lead to a lower immune response, low copper levels and our bodies not using iron as they should.

The Zinc Goldilocks Zone

Despite the importance of zinc for good health, especially as we age, zinc deficiency is often either overlooked or not noticed. In fact, 35 to 45 percent of women over the age of 60 may have inadequate zinc intake.

Chronic conditions such as diabetes and kidney disease can cause zinc deficiency. And we also may not be able to efficiently absorb zinc from the foods we do eat due to age and/or medications. Another factor is that our bodies absorb zinc better from animal foods than they do plant foods.

Given that meat may be difficult for many seniors to eat, not having enough of it in our diet may also impact our zinc levels. Last, but not least, you should know that caffeine-containing beverages, such as tea and coffee, can decrease our bodies’ ability to absorb zinc.

Combine these with lower zinc levels in a variety of foods due to soil depletion and environmental factors, and you have the perfect storm for not having enough zinc for optimum health.

While making dietary changes may help address this deficiency, the solution for those who are not getting enough zinc from our diets often is to take supplements. While the appropriate amount of zinc supplementation will depend on an individual’s needs, health and physical make-up, it is usually suggested that upwards of 30 mg per day may be the ideal amount.

While this is readily achievable, it comes close to the upper limit of 40 mg per day of zinc recommended by health professionals. I like to call this range – between 8 mg and 40 mg – the “Zinc Goldilocks Zone,” since staying in it is just what your body needs. Go above or below it and you run health risks.

Beware of Hidden Zinc

The challenge to staying in this zone is that there is “hidden zinc” in many products or materials that we encounter every day. If you combine that with what we get through supplementation it becomes easy to overshoot the 40 mg daily upper limit.

For example, denture adhesives sometimes contain zinc as an ingredient. Many people use far more of the product than they really need to help keep their dentures in place. The result is they ingest more zinc than they should, and this, especially if they are taking zinc supplements, can result in what is known as zinc toxicity.

According to the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there are reported cases in the medical literature linking such ailments as nerve damage, numbness, or tingling to the use of these zinc-containing adhesives.

Some oral over-the-counter medications also contain zinc, such as cold lozenges, nasal sprays, and gels for treating the common cold. It can also be found in some mouthwashes, toothpastes, and sunscreens. Other products that can expose us to zinc are pesticides; compounds used to manufacture paints and dyes; jewelry; cosmetics; and even anti-dandruff shampoo and calamine lotion.

How to be Proactive with Zinc

Start out by talking with your doctor about getting a nutrient test to see if you have adequate levels of zinc in your body. While not as accurate as a nutrient test, you can also do a little experiment at home to see if you may be zinc deficient.

To do this, get some liquid zinc from a health store and swish a tablespoon or so around your mouth. If you get a metallic or unpleasant taste in your mouth, you probably have good zinc levels. If it tastes like water, or is even sweet, then you may be deficient.

If you have some level of zinc deficiency, perhaps try to include more zinc-containing foods in your diet. These include oysters, red meat, beans, broccoli, oatmeal, poultry, spinach, nuts such as almonds and walnuts, and tofu.

If you need to take supplements, take only those that your doctor or another competent healthcare provider recommends. Confirm that the manufacturers have the quality, purity, and amount of zinc in their supplements tested and certified by an outside lab. Be wary of products that include “proprietary blend” since you really will have no idea what this blend contains.

Another thing to do is to look at products you use that may have “hidden zinc” and take steps to ensure they do not put you over the “Zinc Goldilocks Zone.” If you use denture adhesive cream, for example, talk with your dentist and let her know that you are having problems with how your dentures fit.

Perhaps something can be done to improve their fit without having to resort to using more denture adhesive cream. You also can look for a brand that is zinc-free. But if you decide to use a cream with zinc, be sure to follow the instructions carefully and use only the indicated amounts.

Also keep in mind that there may be interactions between your medications and zinc. For example, thiazide diuretics can increase the amount of zinc your body loses in urine. On the other hand, another type of diuretic, amiloride, can block your body’s ability to remove zinc. So, the former can cause zinc deficiency and the latter zinc toxicity.

Zinc can also impact how some medications work. Your best course is to make sure to be honest with your doctor about all the medications – both prescription and over the counter – that you take. This will allow her to determine the ideal amount of zinc for you.

Have you ever been told you may be zinc deficient? If so, what do you do about it? Do you regularly eat foods that are good sources of zinc? Do you currently take zinc supplements? Have you ever had your zinc levels tested? Please join the conversation.

Eboni K. Williams’ Gold Bodysuit Lion Belt in Harlem

Real Housewives of New York Season 13 Episode 8 Fashion

The lion queen! On this week’s episode of RHONY Eboni K. Williams introduces the ladies to her favourite part of the concrete jungle, Harlem, and does so in style with this fierce lion head belt paired with a gold metallic bodysuit. Both of which may be sold out, however we’ve included some Style Stealers down below that are still totally ready to enter their natural habitat of your closet.

Fashionably,

Faryn

Click Here to See Her Gucci Bodysuit

Click Here to See Her Gucci Belt

Photo #1: @EboniKWilliams

Originally posted at: Eboni K. Williams’ Gold Bodysuit and Lion Belt

When texting was still pretty new, I had this text exchange with a friend about my missing cloth tote branded with a local grocery chain logo:

Me: I think I left my Dominick’s bag at your house last night. I brought the ice cream in it but must have left the bag. Can I come pick it up?

Friend: I didn’t notice, but I’ll look for it.

[Days pass.]

Me: Just wondering whether you ever found my Dominick’s bag.

[No reply. Very uncharacteristic of her.]

Me later that day: Never mind about the bag. It was in the back of my car.

Soon afterward when the friend and I were chatting by phone, I apologized for making her search for something that was in my car all along and was just an inexpensive cloth bag to begin with, not worth a lot of trouble.

“A cloth bag!” my friend exclaimed, having thought I’d meant an ordinary plastic bag from the grocery store. “That makes a lot more sense. I kept looking under the sink and asking my husband, ‘Do you know which of these bags Rosanne brought over?’ We couldn’t figure out why you wanted it back.”

I have been laughing about this ever since. I picture my friend kneeling under the sink, trying to figure out which brown bag was different from the others. I guess that’s why misunderstanding is a common ploy for sitcoms – but you probably don’t want it to play a major role in your real life.

When Knowledge Is a Bad Thing

In hindsight, it’s easy for me to see how this fiasco came about. I didn’t have a name for it until I did a little research, but I know now that I was demonstrating one of many “cognitive biases” that trip us up in communicating effectively.

Specifically, I was demonstrating the very common “curse of knowledge.” I knew exactly the bag I was looking for, but my friend knew nothing about that bag. How could I expect her to see it through my mind’s eye when I didn’t even provide a description?

Reach Out and Call Someone

Texting is a much-appreciated option for communicating all sorts of quick messages. But for a deep conversation, I think it falls short.

To avoid misunderstandings, it helps to have one of those telephone conversations we used to rely upon. It certainly cleared things up with my friend.

Phone conversations enable you to detect nuances of expression, plus you can exchange an occasional ‘uh huh” to indicate comprehension or agreement, or you can ask the person to clarify a point. The communication just has a better chance of conveying the intended meaning.

Do you ever just call someone out of the blue? More likely, you text at least a day ahead to make a “date” to talk. Our generation didn’t come up with this protocol, but we seem to be following suit. I’m rebelling!

One evening after dinner, in the middle of both a TV show and a Scrabble game with my visiting daughter, my phone rang. Recognizing the caller as a friend and occasional client, I took the call. No sooner had I greeted my caller with a friendly “hello” than I heard my daughter admonishing me: “Why in the world would you answer a phone call?”

I continued my phone conversation, caught up with my friend and got hired for a little editing work all in a quick 20 minutes. For me, interrupting my evening was more expedient than setting up a future time to talk.

More Options, More Problems

Even when all we need to do is send a quick message and texting is appropriate, we all know how auto-correct and “fat fingers syndrome” mess with us. Recently, my husband texted my daughter that we’d be arriving on July 39. At least that error was obvious.

Texting isn’t the only landmine for misconstrued messages. Despite the advances in communication tools and methods, it seems we’ve only added confusion to actual conversation.

We might deal with an important email hiding in the junk mail folder or a voicemail that escaped our notice. Maybe we forget that a particular work associate communicates only through Slack, or we fail to check the inbox of our LinkedIn account.

Cognitive Biases Influence Even Face-to-Face

Technology isn’t always the culprit. Here are just a few of the many cognitive biases that, even with in-person communication, work against us when we depend on our own observations to try to figure out people’s intentions:

Control Blindness

Control blindness refers to our tendency to overestimate people’s ability to control events. We then attribute intention to others’ actions where there may be none. For example, if a friend doesn’t “like” our Facebook post, we may think she wasn’t happy about what we wrote when what may have happened was that she didn’t see the post at all.

Confirmation Bias

Confirmation bias gets a lot of press because of our current political climate. It’s human nature to seek out information and data that confirm our pre-existing beliefs and to ignore or dismiss information that contradicts those beliefs.

Spotlight Effect

Spotlight Effect happens when we overestimate how much attention people pay to our behavior and appearance. It’s easy to think someone else is reacting to something about us when the reaction can have nothing to do with us. Sometimes I have to remind myself that what I wear matters a lot more to me than to anyone else.

Naïve Cynicism

Naive Cynicism occurs when we believe that everyone has self-interest at heart. When people are nice to us, it’s easy to think there must be something in it for them.

Think It Through

Often, if someone’s behavior doesn’t make sense, it’s because we’re missing the explanation. Rather than assuming something and possibly never finding out that we’ve misjudged someone, we probably should ask for clarity. We’re all just trying to communicate the best we can. In 2021, that’s a challenge.

How would you rate yourself in the communication department? What is your favorite communication medium? Do you prefer to text or do you like old-fashioned phone calls? What is your latest – or biggest! – communication mishap you’d like to share with the community?

Ramona Singer’s Black Glitter Dress in Harlem

Real Housewives of New York Season 13 Episode 8 Fashion

We’re not on the Upper East Side anymore! On this week’s episode of RHONY Eboni brings the ladies on a little trip down the street to Harlem. And if there’s one thing that makes us dizzier than Ramona Singer while there (due to a bout of vertigo), it’s trying to visualize at once all of the celebs we’ve seen wearing this black glitter dress.  

Fashionably,

Faryn

Also Seen on Tinsley Mortimer:

And Adrienne Maloof:

Click Here to See Her Sold Out Jonathan Simkhai Dress

Photo #4: @RamonaSinger

Originally posted at: Ramona Singer’s Black Glitter Dress

Does anything say “summer” quite like wearing white? It has several traits in common with its absolute opposite on the color spectrum, black: it’s chic, it’s easy to accessorize, it can be worn as a monochromatic outfit, and it always looks great!

For this season, there are plenty of options for updating your white wardrobe. You may own some of these pieces but be sure you examine your white garments carefully before you use them again this year.

White wears quickly so be sure it hasn’t yellowed or become gray after numerous trips to the laundry. The last thing you want is to look worn!

That said, here are the essential pieces that will have your friends calling you a fashionista and your admirers calling you fabulous!

The Simple T-Shirt

Your t-shirt can be a v-neck, crewneck, or U-neck, whatever is most flattering for your chest type. Hopefully, you know what looks best on you by now. I personally lean towards a v-neck because it looks better with my ample bosom.

The best thing about a white T-shirt is that you can dress it up or dress it down. Paired with jeans, layered under a blazer, or tied in a knot in the front or on the side, it looks good as part of any outfit. It is casual and neat, and its clean lines make it perfect as part of your summer wardrobe.

The White Linen Shirt

Nothing says classic quite like a linen shirt. I’m not talking about your mother’s linen, which wrinkled quickly and was brutal to iron. Fast-forward into this century, and marvel at the new wrinkle-free linen.

It’s true! You can run it through the washer and dryer, then hang it right up on a hanger. Surprise! It will retain that linen look and feel, but it won’t be a mess five minutes after you wear it.

So, what kind of a linen shirt is this year’s best seller? Look for one that has a three-quarter sleeve that rolls up with a tab and button. The shirt itself should button up the front, have a medium collar, and be a length that suits you.

Most have shirttails, and they can be worn tucked in, outside and belted, tied in the front, or loose. They look amazing with a brightly-colored sash, and they also can be worn unbuttoned as part of a layered look.

Touch of Lace

Lace is any summer, and can be showing up as insets in the bodice, decoration on sleeve hems, and along the edge of necklines.

It adds a feminine touch to the simplest of garments, making them suitable for work but sweet and sexy on the weekends. Look for pieces where the lace is subtle, soft, and understated.

Square Neck or Boat Neck

Audrey Hepburn rocked the boat neck, and so can you! This is another classic that can be dressed up or down, depending on the occasion. Look for a neckline that is flattering and that covers your undergarment straps. In fact, you may need a special bra, but it is worth it.

A square neck is another option. Again, keep those pesky straps out of sight. Look for fabric that is slightly heavy and less opaque than simple t-shirt jersey.

A boxy cut is also an option, especially if you have a bit of an apple figure. The shirt will be square cut across the bottom, and it can be worn inside or outside depending on your outfit.

Tank

Not everyone has killer arms, it’s true, and a tank surely will put those on display. Still, a tank is versatile and can be worn under a jacket or blazer for a great layered look.

Find one that is a bit dressy, maybe with a small v-front or reverse binding around the neckline. It can be sheer if you are willing to wear a camisole underneath.

Tunic

A final must-have for your summer white collection is a tunic. These are great on any figure and cover a multitude of body imperfections. The choices of styles and fabrics are wide and varying.

What you are going for here is a top that can be paired with leggings or capris for a totally casual yet elegant look. Again, dress it up or down, as suits the occasion.

Wonderful Whites

Don’t underestimate the importance of each of these as part of your wardrobe this summer. White is cool in all senses, and it will have you looking good and feeling confident.

Your outfit will appear to be effortless and stylish, whether you accessorize with bright colors or beautiful jewelry. You can’t go wrong with white!

What are your favorite summer white clothes? Do you have a white outfit that you accessorize with bright colored shoes, jewelry or scarf? Let’s chat and discuss our favorite white clothes!