@Mary Miller You mentioned that you take zinc with copper (I assume because zinc can deplete the copper in your system.) May I as how much zinc you take? Year ago I was on a large-dosage supplement program, and zinc was one of the things I figured I was getting plenty of through diet, so I never supplemented it. Now I'm having issues with my sense of taste, and I understand that zinc might be able to help, so yesterday I picked up a bottle of 50mg tablets. Out of all the high doses (multiple pills several times a day) of all the vitamins & minerals I've taken for many years with no issue, this single 50mg dose of OTC zinc made me sick to my stomach. I was surprised. It's not as though I popped 2-3 of them.
fwiw, less than optimum stomach acidity can be one reason some things including zinc cause an upset stomach. Also, about 5 years ago or so, some people reported (for the first time I'd ever heard back) getting an upset stomach from B vitamin tablets that they had just tried... Turned out with the B vitamins, that the brand they took, generic or not, has a certain (or more than one possible) FILLER used in making the tablets, and that FILLER is known and shown to cause stomach upset even when the vitamins present are good and fine ... Switching brands worked , causing no upset at all, and giving good indication to avoid some FILLER(s).... (although not all FILLER(s) are listed on the label...) Whenever someone is starting a supplement, I recommend they find an old reliable unchanged brand, or get a small bottle/ sample/ even borrow from someone who takes them who they know, to verify it does not upset their stomach or have other untoward effects... The old old adage "take with food" (or "take on an empty stomach" ) sometimes makes a difference too. p.s. these days, so many people (especially over 30 years old (used to be 60 years old) ) have low (too low) stomach acid (which causes heartburn more often than any other cause) , that that is something to be considered and ruled out, if possible.
Some things do better if you eat something first, @John Brunner . Plus this starts the digestive process so the vitamins are actually used by the body.
Thanks, @Jeff Elohim and @Yvonne Smith I had just eaten before taking these, but had not heard of low stomach acid as being an issue (another one of your ACV remedies, Jeff? ) I don't think I've got that problem, since my appetite is always fine and can tolerate just about any food (much to the detriment of my waistline.) Right after I popped the zinc I went on the web to read about it (yeh, I did it backwards), and found lots of admonitions regarding stomach upset at the higher end of the dosage limits. Most of what I read says that the body tries to get rid of anything over 40mg...mine did. I eventually had to vomit so I could get to sleep. It's not an illness coming on...I feel fine (albeit tired) this morning. I am rather surprised that this OTC is universally higher (50mg) than the generally recommended problematic limit (40mg).
I take 50 mg twice a day, after breakfast and after dinner, along with my heart medications and other supplements. I get $100 a month to spend on OTC along with my Humana Advantage plan, so I spend it on vitamins each month. The only one that affects me if I don’t eat first is the niacin (niacin flush !), and B+complex, which makes me nauseous if I take that on an empty stomach.
That's interesting that you take 100mg/day with no ill effects. I've yet to have any supplement sensitivity--except as you say the infamous B₃ flush--and I took large doses of upwards of 20 different vitamins & minerals for years. Well, I guess I found a sensitivity. I'll just cut them in half, since they don't seem to be time-released.
John, How much is dependent on whether you are at a healthy level already, or not. The good news for most men is that zinc is available through meat. Copper to zinc supplementation is around 2mg copper to 30 mg of zinc. You are right in that they work together but an imbalance can deplete the copper. Though, I remember a brewhaha when older folks were found to have almost zinc poisoning (not deficiency) because of the adhesive in their denture cream. The company fixed that. For me, 50 mg is a lot. If that was the size pill I had, I would cut it in half. But zinc, especially on an empty stomach can make you feel quite sick. It is good to listen to your body. You know it better than anyone and can try to find out how to make it happy. A fun way to supplement zinc is by eating pumpkin seeds and tree nuts instead of potato chips. And Brazil nuts are THE BEST source of selenium and help the absorbtion of iodine. There is a book called Food as Medicine. It is may be the only book I don't have on this subject. Anyone read it? Is it as good at the title sounds?
I am beginning to suspect the trustworthiness of different companies' supplements info as most are coming from China. I find one that works for me and stay with it as long as it does.
@Mary Miller Interesting you cite meat as a good source of zinc. I read that the only people who should worry about supplementing are those who do not eat meat and those who consume alcohol to excess. (Funny, I started taking supplements as a safeguard when I quit drinking.) And it was listening to my body that later got me off of everything except a daily multivitamin, since most everything I read said that if one is deficient in a vitamin/mineral, then the changes would be evident once one supplemented. I eat a varied diet and that seems to be enough...my body clearly did not want that 50mg. I might play around with cutting these pills up, but cold remedies that include zinc only have a couple of milligrams of it. I was only trying it to recover a coffee-specific problem with my sense of taste. And, Yes, they are made in China.
It is a surprise to find out that the so-called daily allowance is much less than is needed for healthy children or adults , since it is not so profitable if people are healthy, see? Before 1950, from what I could find out, including in the drug makers books, there was practically no toxicity at any dose of any vitamin.... (synthetic iron may be the biggest exception, and that is possibly (maybe not) if it is taken without sufficient variety and amounts of all the other nutrients needed for /by/ the body to metabolize or balance or whatever. OTC for decades has been thankfully available as needed for many people, as they find out for themselves that the drugmakers lie daily, for profit. And it was them who 'set' the recommended limits , arbitrarily and with no reality as to what is required and safe and healthy. Some people, maybe many, maybe most, have taken zinc at a lot higher level, with no side effects and especially no bad effects, only improved healing, if they paid attention to all the other details also at least as much as needed... Online resources , and even recent published books and studies are woefully inaccurate. If you can find Adelle Davis' and Maureen Salaman's books from decades ago, and one of the older editions of Back to Eden by Kloss, and Fit for Life by the Diamonds, and Folk Medicine by Jarvis, all those each themselves , and with any of the others for information, for starters, have helped millions (perhaps) of people get free from pain (it is relatively easy), and from the artificial health care industry/ corporations/ false information (from many directions) .... little by little, and with some living person naturally inclined and with experience for their knowledge and testing that may be available , almost everything that needs accomplished can be accomplished. Even with a licensed doctor overseeing the efforts, as long as they are not limited to ama instructions. The testing required, to eliminate pain, heartburn, indigestion, and so forth, may not be available at all under the usual channels, and they are inexpensive enough to use sometimes if not more often. All safe, all proven, all good, if you are able to find someone honest and trained well, and often best, of course, with experiential knowledge over enough time.
I have never used it. I used a bottle of hemp oil but decided regular pills would be cheaper for the amount of relief I got, if I went that route. I only saw hemp lotion in the store yesterday. It was $21. Not there yet. Have you tried it yourself?