Pause Before Supplementing Zinc
I feel like I’m going to lose friends over this comment: we shouldn’t be supplementing with zinc every day. I’ve become very passionate about this subject (almost weirdly) over the last few years because it’s so misunderstood and as a result, people are supplementing incorrectly. Zinc has gained a lot of popularity in the last few years because studies revealed that it can help with the common cold, flu and possibly even the C word (for adults).
BUT BUT BUT, this is ONLY for when you have onset of symptoms. Zinc supplementation has been shown to shorten the life of the cold/flu and hopefully make it less severe. Which is great! Supplementing can be a great remedy when you start to feel the flu aches, but is not something that should be taken daily unless it’s been determined that you are in fact low in zinc. This does happen so I’m not saying low zinc isn’t a reality for some people. Plus, zinc is important for immunity, hormone balance, thyroid function and can even help reduce acne so you do want to make sure you are getting enough, but look to food sources first. If you’re considering supplementing or have symptoms of low zinc, I highly recommend testing. Keep reading to learn why.
Giving the body plenty of zinc from food sources and/or testing before supplementing is so important because nutrients are connected. Zinc is connected to copper and copper is connected to iron. The three really do a delicate dance in the body, and we can throw off the rhythm if we blindly supplement. So, when someone supplements with too much zinc it can DEPLETE available copper in the body. Low levels of available copper can affect mood, energy, metabolism and more. It can also negatively impact your iron status. This is because we need available copper to be able to use iron properly in the body. If the body doesn’t have enough available copper, iron can be stored in the tissues. Accumulation of iron in the tissues can create inflammation, infections, more hormone imbalances and increase your risk for cardiovascular disease. Do you see the domino effect it can have?
This is where things can get really tricky because as you can see we need to see ALL the labs to get the full picture. So just know
1) Supplementing with zinc every day can cause problems
2) We need available copper even though it’s not a nutrient that is talked about very often so eat things like citrus fruit
3) Just because iron is low in the blood it does not mean you should start supplementing to fix it.
A good rule of thumb is to balance these nutrients by eating meat, seafood and citrus fruit. These foods have all 3 of these nutrients and can help keep a balanced ratio. It’s kind of crazy that nature has created food that has the exact nutrients we need to balance things out. I don’t even mean that sarcastically. It actually blows my mind. So that is a pretty short version on the subject of zinc supplementation, but hopefully you find it helpful in understanding how you can truly support your body and immune system.
High Zinc foods
Oysters
Beef
Blue crab
pork
Cooked chickpeas
Turkey
Chicken
Eggs
Shrimp
Cooked Lentils
Greek Yogurt
Milk
If you would like more help on what to eat and how to supplement for YOUR body, apply for my introductory package! It’s called METABOLISM STARTER PACK and you can apply here. You can also visit the MSP home page at the top of the screen!
