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zinc (serum) vs plasma zinc

renski

Senior Member
Messages
338
Location
Honolulu
I've been taking only about 7.5mg of zinc for a while because I have issues tolerating more then that, my serum zinc level was high but on the low end of the range in plasma. Does that mean zinc is not being taken up by the cells? I'm also taking many other B's and some other minerals too.

Also my hair analysis shows zinc has increased a bit with supplementation.
 

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Ema

Senior Member
Messages
4,729
Location
Midwest USA
According to Chris Masterjohn PhD's new cheat sheet, plasma zinc is the way to go.

“Plasma zinc ( preferred: Genova ION Profile + 40 amino acids ; also: LabCorp , Quest ) is the best marker of zinc status. It is very important to measure it in plasma rather than serum, and if the order says “serum or plasma” explicit instructions should be put in the order to use plasma and not serum, and the phlebotomist should be verbally reminded of this at the time of the blood draw. Most ranges are too broad, with the lower end at 50-60 micrograms per deciliter. Measured in micrograms per deciliter, as on the LabCorp and Quest tests, plasma zinc should be at least 70 in females and 74 in males, and the sweet spot is likely between 100-120. “

So your value in mg/dL would be just under 70...
 

renski

Senior Member
Messages
338
Location
Honolulu
@Ema, hmm right.. not sure why I can't handle more zinc but I'm thinking it's because something else is still too low (manganese I'm very low in, chromium and iron also lower now since mineral supplementation)
 

Ema

Senior Member
Messages
4,729
Location
Midwest USA
@Ema, hmm right.. not sure why I can't handle more zinc but I'm thinking it's because something else is still too low (manganese I'm very low in, chromium and iron also lower now since mineral supplementation)
Maybe try a different form or eating more zinc rich foods? I find I’m far more able to affect my levels with foods vs supplements in the case of things like iron or other minerals.
 

renski

Senior Member
Messages
338
Location
Honolulu
Maybe try a different form or eating more zinc rich foods? I find I’m far more able to affect my levels with foods vs supplements in the case of things like iron or other minerals.

Thanks.. will try zinc glycinate, I've been using zinc picolinate. I think my digestion is really poor, I can't gain weight and have signs of low HCL (and don't tolerate HCL supplements), my copper is also high so I think I need high amounts of zinc to get things going. Apparently zinc can lower manganese, so that might be why I can't handle too much zinc.. I can handle manganese fine though. I'm taking 7.5mg of manganese, but my iron is starting to drop. So apparently manganese decreases iron absorption, so now I'm taking iron as well. My chromium has gone down a bit too and that seems to be due one of these minerals as well. I'm starting to feel better lately so hopefully I'm on the right track :/
 

Sundancer

Senior Member
Messages
569
Location
Holland
@Ema, hmm right.. not sure why I can't handle more zinc but I'm thinking it's because something else is still too low (manganese I'm very low in, chromium and iron also lower now since mineral supplementation)

Hi @Ema , may I ask how the not tolerating zinc manifests itself?
I can't tolerate it either and this is the first time I hear someone else about it. More than a year ago that i tried, time to take courage again I suppose...
 

renski

Senior Member
Messages
338
Location
Honolulu
My thoughts are there is another cofactor missing for zinc or its pushing a pathway where something else needs to be addressed first. Or it's just lowering other minerals which are already too low?
 

wastwater

Senior Member
Messages
1,270
Location
uk
G protein receptor 39 and zinc is something I’ve seen noted in connection to my riegers syndrome
I don’t know what this is or means and don’t know if just supplementing zinc would help it
Last time I supplemented magnesium selenium and zinc it made me feel very keyed up and racy in a bad way but may try just zinc again
Oysters have a lot of zinc in them I’ve never tried oysters
 
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Sundancer

Senior Member
Messages
569
Location
Holland
When I tried it, some two years ago, I totally crashed, a setback so enormous. Hart racing and arrhythmia, totally freaked out. No sleep at all. lower dosage ( some weeks later the same, then, another some weeks later I tried livercapsules ( which are high in zinc) the same reaction. I can endure one liver-capsule.

Later I found a therapist who has helped me one and a half year. he told me that people whose endogenous opoid system is very compromised, get this reaction.

he explained it like this: the endorphin are sort of ' glued' to the receptorcells. Zinc is acting on the glue making it less strong. Result then is that you ' lose' the binding with the endorphins and get freaked out.

Healthy people, (or people less compromised), do not become aware of this reaction because they have an abundance ( or (just) enough) endorphins.