Wellness Wednesday
Zinc to the rescue. Download the Winter Wellness Guide. Big savings at FullScript's 2- day sale starts NOW.
The news sure is excited about all the winter sickness falling upon the US. Seems like that’s all they can talk about, yet it doesn’t ever really seem to scare me. I stay sound in my belief that we were given immune systems for a reason. And if we treat our bodies right, giving them what they need, the immune system will take care of any cold or winter illness that may come our way.
Of course there are vitamins that can aid in immune support, as well as herbs that can act as anti-microbials. I listened to an interesting podcast on zinc the other day, which I’ll recap here. I’ve also created a Winter Immune Support Guide with my favorite products for overall health, and then what we use in our house when the colds invade. This guide will come in very handy on the heels of FullScript’s biannual sale. If you don’t already have a FullScript account, I highly suggest that you get one! If you do, you’ll likely be getting an email from them right after this one, announcing that I’ve created a new Winter Immune Support Protocol, in which I’ve populated it with all the products I mention in the guide so you can find them easily.
Zinc is a critical nutrient for our immune system function. It has a lot of other vital functions involved with thyroid, sex hormone production, and skin healing. Zinc in pill form that you swallow is great for supporting these functions, but when it comes to winter viruses, we’ve been doing it all wrong!
In order to kill the common cold, or prevent you from catching it at all, zinc must be a lozenge in the form of zinc acetate. Many cold lozenges have zinc gluconate in them, which is only half as effective.
Most zinc capsules are in the form of zinc salts (zinc gluconate, zinc acetate, since glycinate, zinc orotate). When zinc is free and not bound to anything (ionic zinc), it has a positive charge that will exert effects on nasal and adenoid tissue in the throat – which are the 2 main sites of cold infections.
Ionic zinc has 2 actions:
1. It inhibits the activation of viral polypeptides that are used in the replication of the cold virus. Essentially it stops viruses from being able to reproduce.
2. It inhibits the body’s production of ICAM-1 (intracellular adhesion molecule 1). This is essentially the dock that allows the virus to grab hold of the cell and enter it.
The trick to getting ionic zinc into your mouth and sinus cavities is to use a lozenge in the form of zinc salts that will readily release into its free ionic form in the tissues at the right time. Zinc acetate lozenges are the best at doing this in the pH of the saliva.
Here’s the trick – in order to be effective, zinc must act on the tissue before you present with symptoms (perhaps upon known exposure) or at the first twinge of “I might be getting sick”. Once the virus has taken hold and is peaking with active symptoms, zinc’s action readily declines and you may find it ineffective.
RECOMMENDED ZINC: Life Extension Enhanced Zinc Lozenges.
RECOMMENDED DOSAGE: 1 lozenge every 2 hours for the first several days, letting it dissolve in your mouth slowly over 30 minutes. The ionic zinc must be present on the tissues long enough to diffuse across their cellular membranes and accumulate in the cells to create an inhibitory action.
AM I ZINC DEFICIENT?
There are several ways to test for zinc status in the body. The first, and most direct way, is to run an intracellular micronutrient test. Second, you can take liquid zinc, hold it in your mouth, and if after 15-30 seconds you taste nothing, then you have a high need for zinc. If you experience a strong metal taste, it is likely your zinc levels are adequate. Third, you can look at your Complete Metabolic Panel that is often routinely run by doctors offices with most blood work. The marker called “Alkaline Phosphatase” or “ALP” is a zinc-dependent enzyme. Your level should be mid-range in the reference range. If it is lower than mid-range, you could use more zinc supplementation.
NEXT WEEK: The essential tests your docs aren’t running.
Please comment below or email stacey@happyhormones.info with your pressing questions or a topic you’d like to see covered.
Please consider supporting the creation of these free posts by purchasing your supplements at FullScript. You’ll automatically get 10% off thousands of physician grade supplements (why pay full price ever!). Become a client and get 20-25% always! FullScript is having their twice yearly sale NOW thru September 15th, 2023, so you’ll get an additional 5% off your discount.