Zinc and Vitamin D

Some hints that Zinc is important

• The base of the fingers of Vitamin D Receptors contain a zinc molecule
  Deficiencies of Vitamin D, Iron, Magnesium, and Zinc all associated with ADHD – Sept 2014
  Zinc is needed to use Omega-3
• Hypothesis – Fatigue the day after sex is due to deficiency of vitamin D or Magnesium or Zinc

See also Zinc in Vitamin D Life

• Infant wheezing 40 percent less likely if mother supplemented with vitamin D, vitamin E, or Zinc – meta-analysis Aug 2015
• Vitamin and Mineral deficiencies – Ames Triage Theory Sept 2012
  U.S. population below EAR: magnesium 56%;zinc 12%
• Zinc helps pregnancies – 14 percent fewer preterm births, etc. – Cochrane RCT Feb 2015
• Headache has the following on Zinc
  

  Metal	Migraine	No Migraine	Ratio
  +Zinc	0.24 ug	5.77 ug	24X LESS if increase

• Zinc and Vitamin D category has 51 items

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Dr. Rhonda Patrick on Zinc - July 2020

https://www.foundmyfitness.com/topics/zinc
1 Background
2 Dietary sources
3 Recommended dietary allowances for zinc
4 Zinc deficiency
  4.1Populations at risk for zinc deficiency
5 Measurement of zinc status
6 Zinc transport and absorption
7 Zinc homeostasis and bioavailability
  7.1Zinc and nutrient interactions
8 Zinc and DNA damage
9 Zinc and immune function
10 Zinc and age-related immune dysregulation
11 Zinc and pneumonia
12 Zinc and the common cold
13 Zinc and sepsis
  13.1Zinc and nutritional immunity
  13.2Zinc supplementation for the treatment of sepsis
14 Zinc and HIV
15 Zinc and the treatment of acne
16 Zinc and its role in childhood development, disease, and death
17 Zinc and the brain
  17.1Zinc and Alzheimer’s disease
  17.2Zinc and brain injury
  17.3Zinc and depression
18 Zinc and age-related macular degeneration
19 Zinc and metabolic regulation
  19.1Zinc and diabetes mellitus
  19.2Zinc and lipoprotein metabolism
20 Zinc safety
  20.1Zinc supplementation and copper deficiency
  20.2Zinc supplementation and drug interactions
21 Zinc supplementation
213 references

See also web

• Zinc Top Ten Home Remedies 2017

• 2019 Overview of Zinc by Stat Pearls - need about 3 mg of Zinc for health, can take loading dose, avoid getting too much in long term
  •  Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life
• Linus Pauling Institute
  • Lots of information, such as "zinc deficiency has been estimated to cause more than 450,000 deaths in children under the age of 5 annually"
• Vitamin D and other vitamins and minerals VitaminD Council
  • Nice section on ZINC
• Zinc Deficiency taste test
• Quackery or Solid Science: The Zinc Tally Test - Does it Work? How Does It Work? And How Reliable is It? Suppversity Jan 2014
  Many reviews conclude the Zinc taste test does not work (but low Zinc does make for poorer taste)
• https://examine.com/supplements/zinc/ excellent with lots of links to clinical research
  • "Superloading zinc by taking up to 100mg zinc a day is confirmed to be safe in the short term (2-4 months), but because this dose is higher than the 40mg Tolerable Upper Limit (TUL) of zinc, prolonged superloading is not advised. Zinc’s intestinal uptake is hindered by other minerals, including Calcium, Magnesium, and Iron, since they all use the same transporter. If the transporter’s uptake limit (800mg) is exceeding between these four minerals, absorption rates will fall. Taking less than 800mg of these four minerals at the same time is fine."
• ConsumerLabs on Zinc updated Oct 2017
  • No consistant differerences in bio-availability of the different Zinc compounds
  • They have excellent supplementation information on virtually all supplements $42/year - but has a 5 day free trial
• Behavioral impairments in animal models for zinc deficiency - Jan 2015
  •  Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life
  
  has the following pentagon

+  Download the Jan 2015 PDF from Vitamin D Life

• GLYPHOSATE IT BINDS MINERALS AND CUTS OFF THE PRODUCTION OF NEUROTRANSMITTERS AND HORMONES....A VISUAL CONNECTION OF THE ROUTES OF DISEASES AND CANCER
  BINDS, CHELATES, ZINC, MANGANESE, SELENIUM, CHROMIUM, COBALT
  Click here for PDF on Vitamin D Life
• Dietary calcium and zinc deficiency risks are decreasing but remain prevalent 2015

• Estimating the Global Prevalence of Zinc Deficiency PLOS ONE Nov 2012
  
   Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life
• Zinc Deficiency chapter WHO, date unknown
   Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life
• Zinc Deficiency Wikipedia
  "Central Anatolia, in Turkey, was a region with zinc-deficient soils and widespread zinc deficiency in humans. In 1993, a research project found that yields could be increased by 6 to 8-fold and child nutrition dramatically increased through zinc fertilization."
• http://www.zinc.org/crops/
  "A study for the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) by Sillanpää found that zinc was the most commonly deficient micronutrient in the world. The study, which examined 190 field trials in fifteen countries, found that zinc deficiency occurred in one out of every two trials."
  

Note: Taking Zinc acetate every 2 hours with vitamin C stops most colds

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Mercola on Zinc

• Zinc Is Crucial for Heart Health Mercola Jan 2016
  "Zinc May Help Regulate Your Heartbeat"
  "Your Body Contains More Than 300 Zinc-Dependent Enzymes"
  "How Much Zinc Do You Need?" RDA is 11 mg/day (men) 8 mg/day (women)
  Deficient due to lack of Zinc in fertilizers, glyphosate which binds to Zinc
  ACE inhibitors and thiazide diuretics consume Zinc
• Zinc decreases potency of some antibiotics if taken concurrently
  • No problem with potency if take antibiotics 2 hour before or 4 hours after the Zinc
• Zinc Mercola Feb 2018 -"While zinc and selenium deficiencies can occur at any age, by the time you reach 60, your risk can soar as high as 40 percent."
  signs of zinc deficiency:If food doesn't taste or smell as good as it used to, Brain fog and decreased alertness. Frequent respiratory illnesses. Difficulty sleeping. Slow wound healing, Lack of appetite, Leaky gut and gastrointestinal complaints, Occasional moodiness and feeling blue. Impaired hearing, Reduced libido, Occasional loose stools, Increased food and environmental allergies, Hair loss, rashes and other skin issues
  "The fact that these signs mimic other conditions is one of the reasons many people never suspect a zinc deficiency. None of these stand out as a “zinc” red flag all by itself!"
• Mercola Dec 2018
  "Second after iron, zinc is the most common mineral found in your body"
  "Also, if you’re dealing with any type of chronic illness, ask your health practitioner about zinc."
  "Emotional stress is one of the biggest factors behind zinc deficiency."
• Mercola April 2019
• Mercola July 2020
• Zinc Is Key for COVID-19 Treatment and Prevention Mercola Oct 23, 2020
  • "Having a plasma zinc level lower than 50 mcg/dl at admission was associated with a 2.3 times increased risk of in-hospital death..."
  • "Amongst the COVID-19 patients, 27 (57.4%) were found to be zinc deficient. These patients were found to have higher rates of complications, acute respiratory distress syndrome (18.5% vs 0%), corticosteroid therapy, prolonged hospital stay, and increased mortality (18.5% vs 0%). The odds ratio (OR) of developing complications was 5.54 for zinc deficient COVID-19 patients."
  • Has link to video by Dr. John Campbell on Zinc and COVID-19

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Zinc and the immune system - 2000

Proc Nutr Soc. 2000 Nov;59(4):541-52.
Rink L1, Gabriel P.
1Institute of Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, University of Lübeck School of Medicine, Ratzeburger Allee 160, D-23538 Lübeck, Germany. rink at immu.mu-luebeck.de

Zn is an essential trace element for all organisms. In human subjects body growth and development is strictly dependent on Zn. The nervous, reproductive and immune systems are particularly influenced by Zn deficiency, as well as by increased levels of Zn. The relationship between Zn and the immune system is complex, since there are four different types of influence associated with Zn.

• (1) The dietary intake and the resorption of Zn depends on the composition of the diet and also on age and disease status.
• (2) Zn is a cofactor in more than 300 enzymes influencing various organ functions having a secondary effect on the immune system.
• (3) Direct effects of Zn on the production, maturation and function of leucocytes.
• (4) Zn influences the function of immunostimulants used in the experimental systems.

Here we summarize all four types of influence on the immune function. Nutritional aspects of Zn, the physiology of Zn, the influence of Zn on enzymes and cellular functions, direct effects of Zn on leucocytes at the cellular and molecular level, Zn-altered function of immunostimulants and the therapeutic use of Zn will be discussed in detail.
PMID: 11115789
 Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life

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Zinc National Institute of Health (US)

https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Zinc-HealthProfessional/
has the following Zinc AI and RDA

Age	Male	Female	Pregnancy	Lactation
0–6 months	2 mg*	2 mg*
7–12 months	3 mg	3 mg
1–3 years	3 mg	3 mg
4–8 years	5 mg	5 mg
9–13 years	8 mg	8 mg
14–18 years	11 mg	9 mg	12 mg	13 mg
19+ years	11 mg	8 mg	11 mg	12 mg

* Adequate Intake (AI)
 Download the NIH PDF from Vitamin D Life

• "In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, 50 subjects (within 24 hours of developing the common cold) took a zinc acetate lozenge (13.3 mg zinc) or placebo every 2–3 wakeful hours. Compared with placebo, the zinc lozenges significantly reduced the duration of cold symptoms (cough, nasal discharge, and muscle aches) [67]."

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Zinc half life in the body - a day or 4 months?

• http://garthkroeker.blogspot.com/2009/07/zinc-eating-disorders.html 4 months
• others indicate take Zinc several times per day to stop a cold
• Long-term moderate zinc supplementation increases exchangeable zinc pool masses in late-middle-aged men: the Zenith Study 2005
  trial of Zinc injection after 15 or 30 mg of Zinc taken daily for 6 months. Free PDF online

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8 major uses of Zinc in the body

Science Daily reporting on a 2014 study

• Brain: The blood zinc level is less in patients with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease (Brewer, and others 2010).In a rodent study, it was observed that zinc behaves like an antidepressant (Nowak and others, 2005).
• Cardiovascular System: Zinc performs a noteworthy role in the regulation of arterial blood pressure. Males and females were reported to metabolize zinc differently when suffering from hypertension (Tubek, 2007).
• Liver: Zinc deficiency in the liver occurs not only in those with liver cirrhosis, but also in less advanced alcoholic and nonalcoholic liver disease (Bode and others, 1998).
• Pregnancy: A mild deficiency of zinc during a pregnancy can cause increased maternal morbidity, abnormal taste sensation, prolonged gestation, inefficient labor, atonic bleeding, and an increased risk to fetuses (Jameson, 1993).
• Diabetes: Zinc is very important in the synthesis, storage, and secretion of insulin (Chausmer 1998). A low level of zinc has been shown to play a role in diabetics with associated disease conditions such as coronary artery disease and several related risk factors including hypertension, and elevated levels of triglycerides (Singh and others, 1998).
• Endocrine System: Studies show a correlation between zinc deficiency in geriatric patients and reduced activity of the thymus gland and thymic hormones, decreased response to vaccinations, and reduced immunity (Haase and Rink, 2009).
• Healing: Zinc deficiency has been linked with delayed wound healing, and has been found to be crucial to the healing of gastric ulcers especially at the early stage (Kennan and Morris, 1993; Andrews and Gallagher-Allred, 1999; Watanabe, 1995).
• Pneumonia: Zinc may shorten the duration of severe pneumonia and time in the hospital (Brooks, 2004).

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Animal doctors know more about Zinc than human doctors (similar to Vitamin D knowledge)

Behavioral impairments in animal models for zinc deficiency - Jan 2015
 Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life

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Frequent Zinc shortens colds by 30% - meta-analysis 2017

Zinc lozenges and the common cold: a meta-analysis comparing zinc acetate and zinc gluconate, and the role of zinc dosage
 Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life

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World Health Organization - Zinc

WHO as of 2018

• "Using food availability data, it is estimated that zinc deficiency affects about one-third of the world's population, with estimates ranging from 4% to 73% across subregions"
• "Worldwide, zinc deficiency is responsible for approximately 16% of lower respiratory tract infections, 18% of malaria and 10% of diarrhoeal disease"
• "Attributable DALYs were higher, with zinc deficiency accounting for about 2.9% of worldwide loss of healthy life years"

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Dr. Jockers

Good Zinc Overview - Dr. Jockers 2018

How To Test for Zinc
There are several ways to test zinc levels. One that I am a fan of due to its simplicity and cost-effectiveness is the zinc sulfate taste test. All you do purchase a bottle of zinc sulfate liquid (this a good one), place a capful in your mouth, and observe the sensations in your mouth.
Below are the possible outcomes and indications:

• You Notice No Metallic Taste: Zinc Deficiency
• You Notice A Delayed Metallic Taste: Slight Zinc Deficiency
• You Notice Slight Metallic Taste: Zinc Levels Are Adequate, But Could Be Higher
• You Notice Very Strong Metallic Taste: You Likely Have Optimal Zinc Levels

Do You Have A Copper and Zinc Imbalance? Dr. Jockers
Nice article has the following charts and many references

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Cochraine Review - Zinc treats colds

2013 with free PDF
Zinc administered within 24 hours of onset of symptoms reduces the duration of common cold symptoms in healthy people but some caution is needed due to the heterogeneity of the data. As the zinc lozenges formulation has been widely studied and there is a significant reduction in the duration of cold at a dose of ≥ 75 mg/day, for those considering using zinc it would be best to use it at this dose throughout the cold. Regarding prophylactic zinc supplementation, currently no firm recommendation can be made because of insufficient data. When using zinc lozenges (not as syrup or tablets) the likely benefit has to be balanced against side effects, notably a bad taste and nausea.

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Low Zinc was the best predictor of Vitamin D <20 ng in Iranian teenage girls - 2019

Diabetes Metab Syndr , 13 (3), 1773-1777 May-Jun 2019, DOI: 10.1016/j.dsx.2019.03.020
An Assessment of the Risk Factors for Vitamin D Deficiency Using a Decision Tree Model
Kayhan Gonoodi 1, Maryam Tayefi 2, Maryam Saberi-Karimian 3, Alireza Amirabadi Zadeh 4, Susan Darroudi 3, Seyed Kazem Farahmand 5, Zahra Abasalti 6, Alireza Moslem 7, Mohsen Nematy 1, Gordon A Ferns 8, Saeid Eslami 9, Majid Ghayour Mobarhan 10

Background and objectives: Vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D or 25OHD) has a key role in the pathogenesis of several chronic disorders. Vitamin D deficiency is a common global public health problem. We aimed to evaluate the risk factors associated with vitamin D deficiency using a decision tree algorithm.

Methods: A total of 988 adolescent girls, aged 12-18 years old, were recruited to the study. Demographic characteristics, serum biochemical factors, all blood count parameters and trace elements such as Zinc, Copper, Calcium and SOD were measured. Serum levels of vitamin D below 20 ng/ml were considered to be deficiency. 70% of these girls (618 cases) were randomly allocated to a training dataset for the constructing of the decision-tree. The remaining 30% (285 cases) were used as the testing dataset to evaluate the performance of decision-tree.
In this model, 14 input variables were included: age, academic attainment of their father, waist circumference, waist to hip ratio, zinc, copper, calcium, SOD, FBG, HDL-C, RBC, MCV, MCHC, HCT. The validation of the model was assessed by constructing a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.

Results: The results showed that serum Zn concentration was the most important associated risk factor for vitamin D deficiency. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) values were 79.3%, 64%, 77.8% and 0.72 respectively using the testing dataset.

Conclusions: The results suggest that the serum levels of Zn is an important associated risk factor for identifying subjects with vitamin D deficiency among Iranian adolescent girls.