Tag: Zinc

Copper: the Great [Trace Mineral]

Posted on by Diogenes II

 

Though all trace minerals are important and incremental to health, copper is perhaps the most powerful and versatile one of them all! Copper is the spark plug of the human body that keeps the cells energized and reinvigorated. Many ailments, from amenorrhea, lethargy to Alzheimer’s,  will see improvement quickly by just adding a little bioavailable copper to the diet, daily. Yet many people associate this trace mineral with a negative connotation: copper toxicity. In this article however, you will see that when the right type and dose of copper is added, health problems of all type will see improve dramatically.

But what is copper and what makes it so important?

Copper is that metal that is used as a conductor of electricity — second in effectiveness only to silver. But copper is also used as a trace mineral to electrify the cells of the human body, of course in a more bioavailable form. If there is no copper, there is no life. Magnesium is the fire, but copper is the match that lights and guides the fire! When you awaken from sleep, don’t think cortisol did that — think, copper did that. Cortisol’s active ingredient is copper. Your will power to step out of bed literally contains copper.

But how does it work?

Copper is like a baby that needs to be carried and cared for by its mother. It needs motherly guidance,  else it may go rogue and cause chaos wherever it lay — hence the negative connotation some people associate with copper. This association can be real though.

When copper enters the body, it is first transported by a transport protein called transcuprein (a macroglobulin). This protein is involved in the initial distribution of copper entering the blood from the digestive tract. There is a balance between transcuprein and another transport protein called albumin in blood plasma, creating a proper copper ratio. An imbalance of this ratio may signal disease. There is eventually an exchange between transcuprein to albumin for the eventual carriage and storage to the liver and kidneys.

But the great execution of copper distribution to the organs and tissues throughout the body happens with a large transport protein made in the liver, called apoceruloplasmin. When up to six copper atoms fits into this transport protein for distribution, it is now called ceroluplasmin. In fact, ceroluplasmin carries arguably more than 95% of total copper in healthy human plasma. The rest may be accounted for by other proteins called macroglobulin and albumin.

So how is copper beneficial?

When copper is properly transported by its transport proteins like ceroluplasmin or macroglobulin, it emits a host of benefits:

– Helps build collagen

– Helps build melanin

– Maintains proper nerve and brain function

– Helps create and protect myelin sheath

– Maintains proper immune function

– Maintains proper blood

– Helps burn glucose efficiently and completely

– Helps create ATP (cellular energy)

– Helps dispose of cellular exhaust

– Awakens powerful enzymes

– Decreases excess cholesterol

– Turn saturated fats into monounsaturated fats

– Creates proper hormonal balance

– Helps conserve body water

So what does this all mean for our health?

– Helps build collagen: prevents bone demineralization like osteoporosis, and speeds up wound healing through connective tissues

– Helps build melanin: prevents premature hair graying, eye discoloration and skin discoloration, like vitiligo. Acts as a natural sunscreen and helps prevent sunburn 

– Maintains proper nerve and brain function: May reverse degeneration diseases like Alzheimer’s,  Parkinson’s disease, and even Epilepsy

– Helps create and protect myelin sheath: may slow or reverse multiple sclerosis or any neurological disorder 

– Maintains proper immune function: prevents infections and fights all types of diseases more efficiently

– Maintains proper blood: keeps proper blood pH, prevents BOTH iron anemia and copper anemia. Absorbs iron and prevents toxic iron buildup in tissues

– Helps burn glucose efficiently and completely: may prevent insulin resistance, pre-diabetes and diabetes

– Helps create ATP (cellular energy): energizes the heart muscle, lungs and all other organs, thus preventing lethargy 

– Helps dispose of cellular exhaust: acts as an antioxidant against free radicals and turns hydrogen peroxide back into water through SOD and other enzymatic activities 

– Awakens powerful enzymes: speeds up all cellular activity. Keeps the river of metabolism in constant flow

– Decreases high cholesterol: may reduce excess LDL particles and its cholesterol and may increase HDL particles 

– Turns saturated fats into monounsaturated fats: may reduce complicated fatty acids (stearic acid) into a more simple form (oleic acid), as found in olive oil

– Creates proper hormonal balance: beneficial for those with low testosterone, estrogen dominance, excess cortisol, menstruating and menopausal women and all other hormonal imbalances

– Helps conserve body water: may prevent dehydration and create the right environment for electrolyte balance 

Great! So where can we get copper in our diet?

Like most things in life, if we want the good stuff, we have to search out for it. What makes whole  food vitamin C so powerful? Probably because it contains a copper in enzymatic form called tyrosinase. What makes beef liver, shiitake mushrooms, amla, acerola, sesame seeds, and oysters so powerful and important? Probably because they also are all sources high in copper!

But what depletes copper in the body?

Not only must we be mindful to supply our body with proper copper level, but we must also be mindful not to be depleting our bodies of copper. High zinc intake is legendary for causing copper depletion. Both zinc and copper share the same receptor sites in the gut. Metallothionein — the protein that binds heavy metals in the intestine — binds copper 1000 times more than it does zinc, often said by health expert, Morley Robbins. This means copper can be much more easily lost than zinc can.

But there are other things that deplete copper that we may take for granted, like ascorbic acid, high fructose corn syrup,  things with excess calcium, phosphorus,  manganese, molybdenum and iron. Glyphosate is a very dangerous chelator of copper. So is certain medications,  even over the counter medications,  like antacids and histamine blockers.

If your digestive system or liver is not working properly,  copper status may be compromised. Those with leaky gut, low stomach acid, fatty liver, obstructed bile flow, celiac  disease, Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome should all keep an eye on their copper status! Copper level in the body should average 100 mg — about the size of an American penny.

Furthermore, there are inherited, genetic disorders that may cause a depletion or dysregulation of copper in the body, namely, Menkes disease and its mildest form, occipital horn syndrome. These conditions are rare, and will thus not be discussed here.

But what is this copper toxicity?

Surprisingly,  much of what we think we know about copper toxicity may not be copper toxicity at all. Yes, contaminated water sources from defected copper pipes and copper cookware may instigate what we may know as copper toxicity. But these are rare examples. The main problem with copper toxicity may come from a more sinister source: organ failure — namely, gallbladder stones and obstructed bile flow, that causes all manner of evil. Since excess copper is excreted through bile, it is this obstructed bile flow that causes a backup of excess copper in the liver that should have otherwise been excreted through the alimentary canal. So, to prevent copper toxicity from building up in the liver, do whatever it takes to maintain proper bile flow, thus adding bitters, such as kutki,  bhumi amla, artichoke extract and bitter melon. Tudca, a water soluble bile acid, may help as well.

As is with copper depletion, there is also the antithesis to that: copper overload. Wilson’s disease is perhaps the most popular genetic disorder, that causes copper toxicity to build in the liver and nervous systems. This disorder is not caused by the accumulation of copper in tissues — that is merely the result. The cause of Wilson’s disease is lack of the transport protein ceroluplasmin that holds copper, or the inability of copper to fit into ceroluplasmin. Copper toxicity is also caused, as previously mentioned, by the liver’s inability to expel excess copper into bile for excretion.

So, how should we take copper?

Mother nature knows best. The safest way to take copper is in a complex, that also contains zinc. Though zinc and copper may seem opposing to each other, they also need each other and may actually be monitoring [not opposing] each other to make biological processes work. A ratio of 10:1 or 10:2 zinc to copper may be ideal. The body is very picky about how much copper it needs, and quickly tries to get rid of the excess. Soley supplementing on copper may be risky for those with a compromised gallbladder, since an efficient gallbladder is needed to expel excess copper through bile.

Optimize Your Testosterone Levels

Posted on by Diogenes II

 

Testosterone is a hormone — not a male or female hormone — but just a hormone, that simply happens to be produced some 20 times more in men’s testes than in women’s ovaries. It is also a steroid hormone, which means that it’s fat-soluble — allowing it to penetrate and enter directly into cells, as opposed to non-steroid hormones — which sit on the outside of cells. Testosterone is also an anabolic steroid, which means it builds things and supplies things (like protein) for muscle building and (collagen) for bone building. It is also a sex hormone — which means it makes people competitive, aggressive and sometimes unreasonably sensitive. In this article, I will discuss the pathway that decreases testosterone, and the ways to optimize this hormone.

Many articles point out the analysis that testosterone is produced — or rather, manufactured — in the testes of men, and ovaries of women, and adrenal glands of both sexes. But this hormone is greatly affected by the conditions of one particular organ — the largest internal organ: i.e., the liver. Low testosterone levels do not simply indicate that you need to increase your testosterone levels — it indicates that there is some type of malfunction somewhere — highly suspectably initiated in the liver.

But how is testosterone created?

Our body metabolizes cholesterol from the food we eat and from the synthesis of cholesteryl ester that the liver produces. Cholesterol makes hormones, including the hormone pregnenolone. Metabolized pregnenolone is turned into Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and progesterone. DHEA and progesterone are converted into many other hormones, including testosterone. As previously mentioned, testosterone cannot simply be classified as a male hormone because testosterone can and often do turn into estradiol — a form of estrogen (the so called female hormone). In the bone and brain, testosterone is easily converted to estradiol, by the aromatase enzyme. In the central nervous system, it is this estradiol that serves as the most important feedback signal to the hypothalamus. In many animals, it is this estradiol that masculinizes the brain of the male fetus.

Interestingly, testosterone distribution throughout the body appears surprisingly stingy. Most scientific articles you read will say that about 98 percent of testosterone is strongly or weakly bound to proteins, and about 2 percent is free testosterone, ready for immediate use. Unfortunately, much of what they know about the binding up of testosterone by proteins is pure speculation, based off of hypotheses, and not facts. There are many proteins that are responsible for storing and carrying testosterone, the main ones being sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), human serum albumin (HSA), and to a lesser extent, corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG) and orosomucoid. And then we have after these, “free testosterone”. But the “binding up” or distribution of testosterone by protein is greatly influenced by age. If SHBG — which has a strong bind — is being bound to testosterone at a rate of 65 percent, then that person must be somewhere around 65 years old — or young and ill. If the SHBG is 49 percent, then you ought to expect that person to be somewhere around 49 years old! So SHBG percentage increases with age.

In fact, after about age 30, men naturally or unnaturally lose testosterone levels by 1 or 2 percent each year thereafter — so by the time he reaches the age of 60, that man would expect a testosterone loss anywhere from 30 to 60 percent. The increase of SHBG is an indicative sign of increased toxic heavy metals and a decrease in liver function. So protein-binding increase, like that of SHBG, should be an indicator of increased age, or increased disease! Furthermore, when there is increased heavy metals and liver dysfunction, that opens the way for testosterone to turn into estradiol. This explains why so many men experience dramatically increased estrogen levels and lowered testosterone levels after age 50.

And there is that mighty co-relation between cholesterol and testosterone. In fact, cholesterol is the raw material of testosterone; and a defect in cholesterol directly affects testosterone. If your cholesterol numbers are uncomfortably high, then your testosterone numbers may show uncomfortably low. Being that that raw material — cholesterol — is made in the liver, and testosterone is made from cholesterol — alas — a testosterone problem is most likely coming from a liver problem! And if your cholesterol numbers are, conversely, uncomfortably low, then this low may be too low for the necessary production of adequate testosterone.

Low testosterone levels may also be indicative — a sign — that the liver is storing too high amounts of free iron. This is not a good thing. The liver does not like to store high, free iron because, this damages said organ. It may surely prove wise to get [one’s] ferritin levels tested. Any level over 60 is indicative of too much free iron being stored in and dispersed by the liver. This nowadays is a major cause of decreased testosterone levels in both men and women.

Generally speaking, men between the ages of 40 to 60 should seek a total testosterone number of over 500; and optimally, over 650. Premenopausal women should aim for around 35, and postmenopausal, around 30 or higher. Testosterone increase may enhance sex-drive for both men and women. Noteworthy, the most accurate testosterone test results is obtained at around 8 am in the morning.

So to optimize your testosterone levels, consider rejuvenating the liver therefore. An ayurvedic herb called kutki will help do that. It is no coincidence that kutki also reduces high LDL and its cholesterol and that that herb reduces oxidation of LDL and cholesterol. Other herbs that may be helpful for the liver are burdock root and artichoke extract.

There are also other herbs that will optimize testosterone and the liver, namely fenugreek and ashwagandha. It is well known that both fenugreek and ashwagandha indirectly provide the raw nutrients that boost and optimize testosterone levels in both sexes — male and female. Ashwagandha, used short term, increases sperm volume in men, muscle size, bone strength and sleep quality in both sexes — critical assets needed for testosterone optimization. Fenugreek increases libido. Fenugreek may also manage glucose levels in the blood and increase insulin sensitivity. This increased insulin sensitivity works in favor with testosterone production.

And there are minerals that optimize testosterone levels — namely zinc, selenium, boron, and magnesium. For example, zinc prevents the aromatase enzyme that turns testosterone into estrogen from that process,  thereby by default, helping to accelerate testosterone and sperm production in the testes. Magnesium and boron help activate free testosterone. It is important that you obtain the right type of mineral, preferably in the natural food-base form, rather than the synthetic. For zinc, try Nutrigold Zinc Gold, for selenium, try Food Research Selenium E, for boron, try Vibrant Health Super Natural Boron, and for magnesium, try malate, taurate, glycinate and/or citrate.

And there are vitamins that optimize testosterone levels — namely vitamin D, E and K — the fat soluble vitamins. It seems as no surprise that testosterone has an affinity to fat soluble vitamins, since testosterone is a fat-soluble hormone.

Still another supplement to consider in boosting testosterone is a natural form of vitamin C. As I’ve stated, one of the binding proteins of testosterone is, corticosteroid-binding globulin. Corticosteroid is a constituent of the hormone cortisol.  An unbalanced rise in cortisol decreases testosterone production. Taking natural vitamin C reduces that rise in cortisol. There is an herb-berry called amla — very popular in ayurveda — that contains both natural vitamin C, polyphenols, and copper. These nutrients work in synergy to help build back a better liver, intestines, lymphatic system and colon — things that are all needed to optimize one’s testosterone levels.

Then we also cannot forget about the B vitamins. The [stress] hormone ADRENALINE turns [on] cortisone (inactive) into cortisol (active). But the body is suppose to turn cortisol back into cortisone to prevent long term damage, with an enzyme called 11beta-Hydroxysteroid. But for this enzyme to work, we need dietary niacin to turn the [NADP] cycle into ATP — and that’s also why so many men AND women are low on testosterone! The bottom-line here is, we need daily and adequate amount of B vitamins!

And finally, to deal with free, unbound iron building in the liver, try IP-6/Inositol (on an empty stomach) for a few months. Keep in mind that IP-6 chelates not only iron — but also other minerals (and vitamins) like calcium and zinc. So be sure to increase these with food-base supplements, or nutrition.

Though they are becoming increasingly popular, I still cannot recommend either pine pollen or the herb tribulus terrestris for testosterone issues. Pine pollen contains natural testosterone, which may — over time — atrophy the testes, ovaries and other organs from producing testosterone naturally. You do not want to add testosterone to your body — you want to harness and encourage the organs that produce it, to optimize it. Therefore, tribulus terrestris comes with too many side effects, and will not directly optimize or boost your testosterone levels; and is best to avoid, unless you are using it for specific other reasons.

So to optimize your testosterone levels, consider fixing the liver with:

  • Kutki (Burdock root or artichoke extract may work as well)

And, to nutritionally build back the body, try: 

  • Fenugreek
  • Ashwagandha
  • Zinc: Food Research Zinc Complex or Nutrigold Zinc Gold
  • Selenium: Food Research Selenium E ***
  • Boron: Vibrant Health Super Natural Boron
  • Magnesium: DaVinci Laboratories TRI-MAG 300
  • Vitamin D: Nutrigold K2+D3 Gold ***
  • Vitamin C: Amla
  • Vitamin B: Nutrigold B Complex Gold or FOOD RESEARCH B Stress Complex
  • IP-6/Inositol
  • ***Vitamin E: see above – Food Research Selenium E 
  • ***Vitamin K2: see above – Nutrigold K2+D3 Gold

Crohn’s disease: A Disease Caused by Trauma!

Posted on by Diogenes II

 

If you are reading this, you may already know that Crohn’s disease is a devastating type of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), indiscriminately causing chronic inflammatory digestive problems along the gastrointestinal tract. I have experimented with numerous natural supplements —not specifically for Crohn’s — but for similar ailments, to finally seeing very satisfactory end-results. Here I will discuss these various supplements and natural healing methods, including ayurvedic herbs that have been used to heal many digestive tract ailments, — including Crohn’s — throughout the centuries, and for me personally as a beneficiary.

The complete digestive tract shares direct relationship with the brain and the way we think. Often, people with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis have had a major traumatic experience or many traumatic experiences throughout their lives. These folks often live a life of severe depression. Just as depression stagnates the mind, it also stagnates the digestive tract. In the case of Crohn’s, the cecum, the beginning part of the large intestine that connects from the small intestine is often compromised with undigested food and bacteria, causing an inflammatory response. This inflammatory response radiates throughout the digestive tract, sporadically. Even worse, this inflammatory response will affect the entire thickness of the intestinal tract where it lays.

People with this disease often suffer from large amounts of intraheptic stones in the liver and extrahepatic stones in the gallbladder.  This thus causes a lack of bile availability to the gallbladder. This lack of bile then compromises the digestion of food — especially fats — in the small intestine and a lack of lubrication to the wall of the large intestine.

To start the healing process of Crohn’s disease, you must increase the proper formation of bile in the liver. This is done by consuming both sour and bitter foods. You may also increase the flow of bile by performing a series of coffee enemas.

Now I recommend a series of procedures,  starting with:

1. Dragon’s Blood tincture: A traditional Chinese medicine, this tree sap has had promising results alleviating many stomach issues, including Crohn’s and Ulcerative colitis.

2. DGL (Deglycyrrhizinated Licorice): chewed 15 minutes before each meal. DGL soothes and promotes mucosal coating for the stomach and intestinal tract. You will feel the soothing effect quickly.

3. Zinc has been tested and found to strengthen the gut lining in patients with Crohn’s disease. But most zinc supplements are not the right kind and are quite dangerous when taken in supplement form. If you decide to use zinc, it must only come from real food, and not synthetically (avoid zinc oxide and zinc picolinate, for example). A company called Naturelo sells Vegan Zinc stated to be made from real food, and another company called Nutrigold sells Zinc Gold — both made from real food!

4. Guduchi/Ginger/Turmeric combination:

Guduchi is an ayurvedic herb that helps fix many liver problems and causes bile to develop properly in the liver and flow properly from the gallbladder into the common bile duct, hence lubricating the intestinal tract for proper digestion of food.

Adding ginger enhances guduchi’s effectiveness also, particularly when it comes to healing Crohn’s disease.

Adding turmeric mixed with coconut oil may prove triple effective with guduchi and ginger. So, it’s a pinch of guduchi, ginger and turmeric mixed with coconut oil — this blend is a winner!

5. Wild chaga tea: there are compounds, minerals and vitamins in the chaga conk that will soothe the intestinal tract over time. For instance, magnesium reduces inflammation throughout the body; so does copper. The chaga conk contains all these, and much more. This conk works on a microscopic level, healing and reinvigorating the inner networks of a cell, including the cell’s energy house — its  mitochondria.

6. Olive leaf extract: This acts as a NATURAL antibiotic, killing some forms of bad bacteria, viruses, funguses such as mold and yeast, and parasites. Unlike synthetic drugs such as penicillin, pathogens WILL NOT/ CAN NOT build up a resistance to this herb. (There will be the Herxheimer-reaction for a short period of time while using this herb.)

7. Sunlight: most people with Crohn’s disease are low on vitamin D and a dysfunctioning of the hormone serotonin.
15 minutes of sun for light -skinned people and 25 minutes for darker skinned people, at least four (4) days per week, will provide about 10,000 IU’s of vitamin D per day. A lack of vitamin D can cause colon cancer and other cancers. (If you opt to take Vitamin D3 via supplements, make sure to take it with a whole-food multivitamin containing natural vitamins A, E, and vitamin K2 mk-7 to prevent kidney stones and arterial calcification.)
Serotonin, considered both a neurotransmitter and a hormone produced inside the body, is found mostly in the digestive system (95%) — and the brain (5%). Serotonin is said to improve mood and decreases symptoms of depression. However, it has actually been observed that too much (or a dysfunctioning of) serotonin causes more depression than low serotonin. My theory is this: Sunlight is a mega instigator/producer of serotonin. Darkness turns the serotonin into melatonin at night. If you are not sleeping at the right hours and for the right length of time, this old serotonin builds up and gets recycled and becomes toxic, since it was not timely converted to melatonin like it should have. If my theory is correct, it will not be unusual that low serotonin level will seem beneficial for some, while also causing problems for others, like depression and digestive issues. The problem is not with serotonin itself, but an interference of the process of serotonin being converted/synthesized  into melatonin at the appropriate time.

8. Leaves, stems and roots: compounds in dark leafy greens (and otherwise) such as cooked watercress, bok choy, yu choy, asparagus, red cabbage, parsley, daikon radish and kohlrabi will help alleviate the symptoms and causes of Crohn’s disease, over time.

As a bonus: I’ve heard Ayurveda tout the fruit bottle gourd — calabash — as a reliever of IBD symptoms, which may also improve symptoms  of Crohn’s disease.

9. Sour and bitter foods: Granny Smith apples and bitter melon will surely help stimulate the flow of bile, for example. This will in turn help to decrease the need for inflammation throughout the digestive tract caused by Crohn’s disease.

10. Refraining/avoiding: Avoid certain foods and products that may cause or increase inflammation. Avoid packaged foods, frozen foods, microwave foods, peanut products, nut butter, tomato or tomato sauce or any commercial sauce, eggs, garlic, onions, black pepper, cow’s milk and cheese, unripened banana, alcohol or any other product that may cause flare ups.  Focus on eating clean, fresh, organic foods.

11. Coffee enemas: Consider a series of coffee enemas — using organic,  medium roast coffee beans.  This may help stimulate bile production in the liver, and thus bile flow to the gallbladder. This procedure can be performed — occasionally — once or twice per week, sometimes more.

As a bonus, supplementing on a bile acid product called TUDCA during this time may enhance the production of bile flow.

12. Digestible oils: Certain oils may speed up the healing of Crohn’s disease, while others may aggravate the condition.  For example,  most people may find comfort in substituting coconut oil above all other oils,  being that coconut oil does not need bile to be properly digested and absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. Pure, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil may work as well. So will butter.

On the contrary,  certain other oils,  even those with omega 3 fatty acids, may not be suitable for someone with Crohn’s.  Avoid canola, soy, corn, safflower or any other “vegetable” oils, for example, which are almost always used in fastfood and other restaurants. Avoid ghee as well — very inflammatory, creating damaging end-products that are not suitable for proper digestion. Avoid margarine, butter-substitutes (imitation) and trans fats as well.

As a bonus,  I’ve heard eating an orange or drinking fresh lemon juice on an empty stomach in the mornings may help reverse some of the damages caused by unhealthy oils!

13. Shatavari: can be taken 2 hours before a meal or 2 hours after. Shatavari acts as peristalsis that pushes the entire intestinal tract, to prevent stagnation of undigested food and toxins.

Shatavari, used excessively, may increase estrogen levels in the body over time. So I recommend taking this herb only short-term, between two (2) to four (4) weeks, at a time.

***

For me personally, the combination of guduchi-ginger and chaga as a tea resolved many of my digestive ailments the way no other supplement has in the last 30 years of me trying, having failed to find something other that worked. Also DGL had a great impact in preventing me from having food allergies. However, the combination of all these recommendations, I believe, will set the path in alleviating most of the symptoms associated with Crohn’s, in my humble opinion.

Update:

I have updated this article significantly  as I learn more. If you are suffering from this disease, or whatever it is, you will most likely have to deal with bacterial overgrowth and fungal overgrowth (SIBO, SIFO, for example) as well. So consider this reality in conjunction with tackling Crohn’s disease.

Should We Be Taking Zinc Supplements?

Posted on by Diogenes II

•••

Zinc is an important trace mineral that serves both  as an antioxidant and an oxidant. It is also an essential mineral in which you can easily overdose on. If your body is having difficulty absorbing it, then it is no longer a trace mineral, but an irritant poison. Zinc is not one of those trace minerals that does wonders on its own. It serves as a structural support alongside other minerals. It is needed to help boost testosterone, sex drive, brain function; strengthen gut lining and immune system boosting. It is a helper and needs help helping.

Alas! If you have a zinc deficiency you have a mineral deficiency of every mineral in your body. Interestingly, too much zinc also depletes all minerals in your body. Zinc’s role is also a stealer of other minerals.
If you are planning on taking zinc as a supplement, beware. Those sexually active men need zinc; the standard American diet depletes zinc — but too much isolated zinc can in men cause prostate cancer. If you are taking 25 mg to 50 mg of zinc per day, beware. Copper is needed to regulate zinc and too much zinc depletes copper in the liver. This copper loss can lead to liver damage. If you have a zinc deficiency, then you have a zinc deficiency not because you need more zinc but because you need more of every single mineral that the human body requires.

Zinc is one of those mineral that is easy to lose if you are not getting enough from the diet. However, using synthetic supplement is a no no for wisdom’s sake.  I was once taking a supplement called Oysterzinc, made from real oysters obtained in the Atlantic waters on along Ireland’s coastline. But apparently, that supplement is no longer available. Now I’ve found some other zinc supplements — stated to come from real food.  One such supplement is from a company named Food Research. Their zinc product is called Zinc Complex. Another company named Nutrigold has a zinc product called Zinc Gold. Their product statement is: “Plant-based zinc from non-GMO verified, organic foods to support immune, reproductive, cognitive, gastrointestinal, and eye health.” Food Research contains 18.75 mg of zinc per capsule, while Nutrigold contains 15 mg per capsule. Since the recommended dietary intake (RDI) of zinc is only 8 mg  for women and 11 mg for men, I think the milligrams offered on these supplements are too high. So I only supplement trice per week on Food Research Zinc Complex — or the same with Nutrigold; rather than everyday. I think you should too!

So do we need to supplement on zinc? The answer is: unless it is food-based, no! This reality took months for me to personally accept. We should not be taking zinc supplements [avoid zinc oxide and picolinate especially] unless it is derived from food or whole-food supplements. It is one of those trace minerals that needs to form in the body naturally from natural things rather than be taken with artificial components. Taking high doses of isolated zinc can wreak havoc on our body’s metabolic state and deteriorate our body’s general homeostasis. Zinc is a helper trace mineral, that needs help helping!