Hey everyone, welcome back to another edition
of Ask the ND.
I'm Dr. Jeremy Wolf.
In this episode, I wanted to spend some time
talking to you about a supplement that not
only supports the growth and development of
children, but may also help them fight off
the common cold.
I'm talking about Zinc.
Zinc is not only important for children, adults
need to maintain adequate levels of zinc to
stay healthy as well.
So, what is zinc?
Zinc is a nutritionally vital mineral.
It is found in foods such as sunflower seeds,
red meat, eggs, oysters and beans.
Zinc performs many therapeutic actions in
our bodies.
It functions as an anti viral, anti inflammatory,
and antioxidant.
In fact, over 200 enzyme reactions depend
on zinc.
So, what else does it do?
Here's the rundown.
Our senses like vision, taste, smell and hearing
require zinc to function optimally.
Adequate zinc intake is essential in maintaining
the integrity of our immune system.
If you are deficient in zinc, you may be more
susceptible to a variety of infectious agents.
When zinc is taken within the first 24 hours
of onset of symptoms, for example, a scratchy
throat, it may reduce the duration of the
common cold by as many as 3 days and might
help reduce the severity of the symptoms.
Zinc supplements come in many forms such as
picolinate, acetate, methionine or gluconate.
Zinc picolinate is the preferred form for
oral supplementation because it's easily absorbed
by our body.
However, if you would prefer a lozenge, gluconate,
or acetate may be the best forms.
A dosage of around 10-20 mg a day is okay
for maintenance.
However, you might need a higher dosage to
help kick those cold symptoms.
Taking large quantities of zinc, for long
periods of time, can interfere with the availability
of copper.
This can result in a copper deficiency.
Lastly, when taking zinc for cold symptoms,
it is best not to over do it as some research
has shown too much zinc may actually weaken
our immune system.
Thank you for watching another edition of
Ask the ND.
From all of us here at LuckyVitamin, spread
the wellness.
