# U-shaped Association Between Dietary Zinc Intake and New-onset Diabetes: A Nationwide Cohort Study in China
Canonical: https://nutritionizm.com/research/10-1210-clinem-dgab636/
Last verified: 2026-10-26
Source: The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (2021), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgab636
License: USDA FoodData Central values are public domain (CC0 1.0); Nutritionizm compilation and plain-language text are licensed under CC BY 4.0 (attribution: link to Canonical URL).

## TL;DR

A study suggests that both very low and very high daily zinc intake are linked to a higher risk of developing diabetes.

## What they did

Researchers tracked 16 257 adults in China who did not have diabetes at the start. They recorded what people ate using three-day food logs and home food checks. They followed the participants for a median time of 9.0 years.

## What they found

Over time, 1097 people developed diabetes. Risk of diabetes dropped as zinc intake rose toward 9.1 mg/day, but risk increased above 9.1 mg/day. People eating under 8.9 mg/day or 12.2 mg/day or more had higher risk than those eating between 8.9 and under 12.2 mg/day.

## Why it matters

Zinc is an essential mineral found in many everyday foods. These findings suggest that getting a moderate amount of zinc may support health better than getting too little or too much.

## Limits

The abstract does not list study limitations. This is general education, not medical advice.

## Jargon explained

- **U-shaped association**: A pattern where both the lowest and highest levels show higher risk, while middle levels show the lowest risk.
- **Glycated hemoglobin**: A common blood test that shows average blood sugar levels over the past few months.
- **Hazard ratio**: A number used to compare how often an event happens in one group versus another over time.

## Full citation

Panpan He, Huan Li, Mengyi Liu, Zhuxian Zhang, Yuanyuan Zhang, Chun Zhou, Qinqin Li, Chengzhang Liu, Xianhui Qin (2021). U-shaped Association Between Dietary Zinc Intake and New-onset Diabetes: A Nationwide Cohort Study in China. *The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism*. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgab636