# Zinc Intake and Risk of Prostate Cancer: Case-Control Study and Meta-Analysis
Canonical: https://nutritionizm.com/research/10-1371-journal-pone-0165956/
Last verified: 2026-10-26
Source: PLoS ONE (2016), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0165956
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 large analysis suggests that dietary zinc intake is not linked to the overall risk of developing prostate cancer.

## What they did

Researchers studied 127 African American men with prostate cancer and 81 men without cancer at a clinic in Washington, DC. They asked the participants to report their daily zinc intake. They also combined data from 17 previous studies covering 111,199 participants.

## What they found

Men without cancer consumed an average of 14 mg/day of zinc compared to 11 mg/day for men with cancer. Across 17 studies with 11,689 cancer cases, the pooled risk estimate was 1.07. Overall, the larger analysis showed no evidence of a link between zinc intake and prostate cancer.

## Why it matters

Zinc is a common nutrient found in many everyday foods. Current studies suggest that varying amounts of zinc intake may not raise or lower prostate cancer risk. Eating a balanced diet can help meet daily nutrition needs.

## Limits

The abstract mentions that zinc intake was self-reported, but it does not discuss other specific study limits. This is general education, not medical advice.

## Jargon explained

- **Meta-analysis**: A research project that combines and analyzes data from several separate studies.
- **Case-control study**: A study that compares people who have a disease to similar people who do not.
- **Tertiles**: Three equal groups used to compare low, medium, and high intake levels.

## Full citation

Abeer Mostafa Mahmoud, Umaima Al‐Alem, Firas Dabbous, Mohamed M. Ali, Ken Batai, Ebony Shah‐Williams, Rick A. Kittles (2016). Zinc Intake and Risk of Prostate Cancer: Case-Control Study and Meta-Analysis. *PLoS ONE*. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0165956