A possible mechanism for malnutrition = susceptibility to infections: zinc status and Thymus

[Not dead yet!]

[article=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5290673/]Zinc deficiency, for example, results in thymic atrophy in malnourished children who also show an increased susceptibility to infections [30]. In individuals of advanced age, the reduction of the zinc level in the body directly correlates with thymic involution and consequent immunological dysfunction [31].[/article]

I mentioned before I went through a period of malnutrition as a child. You read such awful stories about "emerging data says you're screwed for life if you had trauma or illness as a child." Or some such. It doesn't usually say anything helpful, like... so if you think you may be affected, take some zinc until we figure out some thing better.

See, if they can just tell you to see your doctor then it's not an endorsement. This is how people get hurt. There's no neutral way to say... take this supplement. Maybe we need to say something like "see a naturopath" or "herbalist" and ask about zinc supplements. But for generations we've been trained to think they are somehow not good enough. I bet this info got to someone in the 1990s when zinc gluconate for "the flu" came out and became a hot news topic. By now, it's been discredited by time, and is a matter of opinion.

Interesting how that happens.