The BIG Zinc Mistake

Taking too much zinc or too little can lead to unwanted side effects. Discover 4 common zinc mistakes people make that can interfere with its effectiveness. Avoid zinc dosage mistakes when taking supplements to maximize the amazing health benefits of zinc!

Hey, Dr. Burke here. In this video, we’re going to talk about the big zinc mistake. I should put an S after that because there’s four big mistakes. Why am I even talking about zinc?

Because without zinc, you will die. Zinc is so important for so much of your biochemistry because literally 200 to 300 different enzymes require zinc. Let’s dive into the first mistake. And number one is taking too much zinc. On several videos, I recommend taking a lot of zinc.

between 150 to sometimes 200 mg of zinc. Zinc and copper work together. In fact, they compete with each other in absorption. When someone’s taking too much zinc, they’re actually depleting copper. There’s a really simple solution.

Just take copper with your zinc. The ratios of zinc to copper is like 10:1. So, let’s say you’re taking 30 mg of zinc. you would take 3 milligrams of copper. There’s something else really interesting about this.

There’s a paradox related to the immune system. When you take a lot of zinc, it can help your immune system. When you take a lot of zinc, it can hurt your immune system. And it’s simply certain parts of the immune system are benefited from a lot of zinc, but other parts are benefited just with the right amount of zinc, not too much. If you have an inflammatory infection of any kind, I would definitely want to take at least 100 to 150 to 200 milligrams of zinc for 3 days.

Only if you’re taking high amounts for weeks and weeks and weeks or months, then you’re going to find part of your immune system might be suppressed. Anytime you’re getting zinc from foods, you do not have to worry about what I just talked about. I’m only talking about taking zinc supplements in higher amounts. Let’s move to number two. There’s no co-actors taken with zinc.

Co-actors are nutrients, vitamins, and minerals to allow for our biochemistry to work. This is why when someone’s deficient in zinc, they lose their hair. They lose their sense of smell and taste. They can no longer make testosterone. they no longer have libido.

Their immune system can no longer function. When it comes down to zinc, there’s some really key nutrients that you need in order for zinc to actually work. The first nutrient is magnesium. If you’re deficient in magnesium, zinc is not going to work for you. This is another reason why I am really against just taking one nutrient in high amounts for a long period of time.

You want connected nutrients to allow it to work and not to create problems. Another really important co-actor for zinc is B6. It is the activator for magnesium for the neurotransmitters that affect your mood. It’s involved in the menstrual cycle. So if you’re deficient in B6, you may have PMS even in the carpal tunnel right here.

This is why one of the remedies for carpal tunnel syndrome is vitamin B6. Why? Because it gets rid of fluid retention and inflammation. Also folate. Folate is involved in making red blood cells, making DNA, preventing inflammation in your arteries.

You need some folate for zinc to work. Let’s move on to number three. Not knowing when you are deficient. Yes, you can look on your nails and occasionally you’ll get those little white specks that mean that you’re deficient in zinc, but there’s a much better way and it’s basically called the zinc test. You can buy these little bottles of zinc and you put some in a teaspoon and you put it in your mouth and you swish it around.

You don’t swallow it. What you’re doing is you’re just seeing if you can taste it. It’s kind of a metallic strong taste. If you are deficient in zinc, it will not taste like anything. It’ll just taste like water.

That brings up the question, what foods are high in zinc and trace minerals? A lot of these trace minerals are in the sea. So anything seafood, shellfish, seaweed is all high in zinc and trace minerals. When you get your zinc from shellfish or oysters or even red meat or liver, it is much better than plant-based trace minerals. Number four, taking too little zinc.

Okay, well that’s just as bad as taking too much. When you consume grains, you get phytic acid. Phytic acid blocks zinc. This is one reason why a lot of children are deficient in zinc because they consume a lot of cereal with grains. Next thing is diarrhea.

If you have diarrhea, you’re going to lose a lot of zinc because you start losing not just zinc but also sodium and other minerals as well. Not having enough stomach acid is very bad for absorbing minerals because you can’t absorb minerals if your stomach acid is not strong enough. We need stomach acid to break down protein, but we also need the stomach acid to absorb minerals. As we age, our stomach acid goes down, down, down, down. We can’t digest protein and we can’t get these key nutrients that we need.

Drinking alcohol depletes you of zinc. Being pregnant or having too much estrogen when you’re on birth control pills increases the need for zinc. This is why like diabetics, for example, are nearly always deficient in zinc because they have high levels of sugar in their blood. Let’s say, for example, someone’s addicted to pornography. there’s a big chance they will become zinc deficient because semen has a lot of zinc contained in it.

The average person needs a lot more because of all these other factors that increase the demand for that key trace mineral to create a therapeutic effect. You need at least 30 to 40 milligrams per day. That’s what I recommend because there’s so many things that increase the demand for zinc. The more exercise you do, the more zinc you’re going to need. The more muscles you have, the more zinc you’re going to need.

Zinc is also needed to heal wounds. This is why zinc carnosine is the best remedy for ulcers. Even like diabetic ulcers can be remedied by zinc. Where should you get your zinc? Well, I think you should start eating foods high in zinc.

Red meat, shellfish, liver, oysters. There’s a lot of different types of zinc, but there’s one type that I like more than others, and that would be a zinc amino acid chelated remedy, like a zinc glycinate. You get more absorption. Should you take zinc with your meals or an empty stomach? Ideally, take it when you eat.

However, you can still take it on an empty stomach. It will still work. I take mine on an empty stomach because I do a lot of fasting, but you’ll get just a little bit more absorption if you consume it with your meal. Now that you know the zinc mistakes, there’s some amazing additional benefits of zinc that you’ve never heard of. And for that information, check out this video right now.

It’s right there.