Zinc

[justine]

Hi

I have something to share. I started using Healtheries Zinc chelated. One per day. I am worried about flu as I had it last year and dont want it again! It says on the container that it is good for skin problems (acne) and dry skin (as well as cold sores). I have been taking it a week and I have noticed that my skin on my face has become smooth, unblemished & rosie. I have never had 'good' skin, it's been dry but that has changed in the last couple of days. The zinc cost $8.20 from Healthpost. Stuff the expensive creams I'm gonna use zinc from now on - I must have been lacking in it!

Luv Justine :giggle:

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

Zinc is good for many things. When kids have diarrhoea, it shortens the course...

Here is another post I put up on mothering ages ago...



Zinc is so critical to proper growth & development, suggesting that an undernourashed pg woman taking 30mg/d is detrimental to the baby is just stupid to me. And suggesting that it is well-absorbed from grain products?




Undernourished pregnant women obviously require more than zinc alone.



Duh!

Here's an interesting one done with kids:

"In developing populations, the coexistence of marginal vitamin A deficiency with zinc and iron deficiency is common. Attention to nutritional status for a single nutrient might not be appropriate (9, 10)."
www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/71/3/789 (http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/71/3/789)

As is this one:

"In communities in which stunting is prevalent, it is highly likely that several nutrient deficiencies occur simultaneously in the stunted children. In a study in a rural community in Mexico, 82% of children 18–36 mo of age were deficient in at least two micronutrients out of five that were determined. Results of studies with single nutrient supplementation are conflicting; thus that there is no consistent evidence for any nutrient that its use for supplementation will promote linear growth. In the case of Mexican preschoolers in whom deficiencies of multiple micronutrients were demonstrated, we did not find any effect on linear growth after 1 y of supplementation with zinc and/or iron.

Supplementation with multiple micronutrients {my insertion from earlier in their paper-- the "multiple micronutrients were:The supplement contained 1 Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of vitamins D, E, K, niacin, B-1, B-6, folic acid, pantothenic acid, iodine copper, manganese fluoride and selenium; 1.2 RDA of vitamin A; and 1.5 RDA of ascorbic acid, riboflavin, vitamin B-12, iron and zinc.} produced a significant increment in linear growth."
www.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/129/2/531S[/i] (http://www.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/129/2/531S%5b/i%5d)

Zinc Supplements May Improve ADHD Treatment Response

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Apr 21 - The results of a small study published in the April issue of BMC Psychiatry suggest that zinc supplements added to conventional drug therapy may be beneficial in the treatment of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

In a 6-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, Dr. Shahin Akhondzadeh, and colleagues from Tehran University School of Medical Sciences in Iran, randomized 44 children with a diagnosis of ADHD to methylphenidate plus zinc sulfate 55 mg/day or methylphenidate plus placebo. The mean outcome measure was the Teacher and Parent ADHD Rating Scale. The patients were assessed at baseline, 14, 28, and 42 days after starting the medication.

No significant differences between the groups were observed at baseline. Two children in each treatment group dropped out of the trial.

Both groups improved significantly during the trial. Compared with the placebo group, the group taking the zinc supplement exhibited a more marked improvement in their condition after 6 weeks.

The children receiving the zinc supplements were also three times more likely than those receiving placebo to report nausea. Most of the patients in the zinc group also complained about the metallic taste of the medication. No significant differences in the frequency of other side effects were observed.

"Zinc is basic for the production and modulation of melatonin, which helps regulate dopamine function, supposed to be an important factor in ADHD and its treatment," Dr. Akhondzadeh and colleagues write.

These findings support those of a previous study suggesting a beneficial effect of zinc supplementation in the treatment of ADHD. "However, the present study assessed the adjuvant role of zinc in...ADHD for the first time," the researchers note.

Additional studies to replicate these findings and to examine the effect of different zinc doses are recommended.

BMC Psychiatry 2004.

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

This is 25 pages long, but it's food sources for zinc.

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/SR20/nutrlist/sr20w309.pdf (http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/SR20/nutrlist/sr20w309.pdf)