Home » Blog » Reviews »
Best Zinc Supplement UK 2022 Review
If you think that THE MINERALS WERE the ancient God then zinc would be the Zeus: superhero mineral, protector of our immune system, defender of bodily invaders and involved in virtually every aspect of infection prevention. If you’ve got a cold, an infection, or a cold sore, zinc may just be your best friend. This is our commitment to inspire people to embrace a more natural approach in choosing the best product. Our main concern is making sure to find the Best Zinc Supplement UK brand that contains natural ingredients and absolutely safe”
In our body every cell needs zinc, but most of us do not get enough of this important mineral. Zinc is contained in enzymes -chemicals that do everything from digesting food to healing wounds. It is a crucial component of the immune system, helping to fight infections, including the common cold.
What is it
Zinc is concentrated in our muscles, skins, bones, liver, kidneys, pancreas and eyes. In men, the prostate. It is plentiful in high-protein foods such as meat and fish. The body does not produce or store zinc, so it depends on external sources for a continuous supply.
What is Zinc Good for
- Helps to prevent colds, flu and other infections.
- Helps to treat a wide range of chronic ailments, from rheumatoid arthritis and underactive thyroid to chronic fatigue and osteoporosis.
- Alleviates skin problems and digestive complaints.
- It can improve fertility for men, grow healthy hair and diminish tinnitus.
Best Zinc Supplement UK 2022
1.
Nutritrust Patented EasySwallow® 25mg Zinc Tablet
2.
Nu U Nutrition Zinc Tablets 40mg
3.
Jarrow Formulas Zinc Balance Capsules 15mg
4.
Zipvit Zinc 25mg Tablets
5.
Smoky Mountain Naturals Zinc Glycinate Supplement 30mg
Why Zinc is Your Key to Infection Protection
Zinc is found in every one of our eighty trillion cells in our body. Without it, we wouldn’t survive. Zinc helps us in many ways like to grow and develop, breathe, and digest our food. One of its primary functions is in wound healing and tissue repair. In the language of the twenty-first century, it is a “healing” nutrient. Because our bodies are constantly being subjected to little injuries (and big ones), we need zinc for the rebuilding process (healing). Without it, we’d simply break down.
If you’re like millions of people in the UK, you must have tried to look for zinc lozenges at the first sign of a cold. That would be smart. A study showed that zinc lozenges can decrease the duration of colds and flu by an impressive 50 %.
Zinc possesses antiviral activity and will attack viruses that may cause the common cold. The American Journal reported that after one year of either zinc supplementation or no supplementation, those taking zinc experienced far fewer colds than those who took a placebo. In addition, 88 % of participants in a study of the elderly developed colds when they didn’t take 45 mg of zinc regularly. Note that these participants ranged in age from 55 to 87—could there be a need for higher levels of zinc as we age? Zinc lozenges became popular after a well-publicized 2000 study done at Wayne State University showed that they significantly reduced the duration of the common cold. They work because they bathe the throat tissues where viruses multiply. So reach for zinc lozenges during cold and flu season.
A study done a couple of years ago showed the benefits of zinc supplementation in the treatment of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Four hundred healthy children diagnosed with ADHD were randomly assigned to receive either 40 mg of zinc (as zinc sulphate) per day or a placebo for twelve weeks. At the Four-week evaluation, the average total ADHD score had improved significantly more in the children given zinc com-pared with the children, given a placebo.
Specifically, the zinc-treated children had significantly greater improvement in scores on hyperactivity, impulsiveness, and impaired socialization scales than the children given the placebo. At the twelve-week evaluation, the improvement in the zinc group was even more pronounced.
Let’s stop overmedicating our kids and start looking for the root causes of conditions like ADHD. Maybe then—with a little help from zinc and other nutrients—we can start to reduce the number of school-age children who are currently diagnosed with this disorder.
Nixing the Naysayers
Of course, like most natural treatments, zinc has its naysayers. One study, in particular, is widely touted by the anti-supplement brigade as evidence that zinc has no effect on the common cold. But let’s go to the videotape. Three dosages of zinc were given to subjects with colds-5 mg, 11.5 mg, and 13.3 mg. These amounts are pretty paltry; 5 mg isn’t even 65 % of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for women, and it’s less than half of what’s recommended for healthy men. (It could reasonably be assumed that sick folks might need more than the RDA.) When the researchers “averaged” the results for all three groups, sure enough, these little bitty doses of zinc didn’t make a difference.
However, for the group getting the 13.3 mg dose, the duration of the cold was about 30 % shorter. I don’t know about you, but if a tiny drop of zinc cuts my cold length by a day—which happened in this study—I’m taking it.
This study also used two different types of zinc—zinc acetate and zinc gluconate, and only one was effective (the gluconate). The lesson here isn’t that zinc has no effect on the common cold, it’s that you’ve got to use the right amount and the right type of zinc. Note: To alleviate cold symptoms, for several days try lozenges providing 13 to 23 mg of zinc gluconate or zinc gluconate-glycine every two hours while awake. The is very effective lozenges are used at the first sign of a cold.
Zinc: The Missing Link for Super immunity
Many studies have reported that extreme zinc deficiency significantly depresses our immune system because zinc is needed for our both the development and the activation of a very important class of white blood cells (lymphocytes) called T cells. When we have low zinc and we are given zinc supplements, our T-cell count goes up and they’re better able to fight off diseases.
There’s a fair amount of research showing that malnourished children given zinc supplements have shorter courses of infectious diarrhoea. Zinc supplements also can help heal skin ulcers and bedsores for people who are low in zinc, to begin with. (When zinc levels are normal, however, supplements don’t seem to make the wounds heal any faster.)
Problem is, how do you know when your levels are normal? You don’t. There’s no single laboratory test that consistently and accurately measures zinc status. (Nutritionists have been using the simple zinc taste test for years, but not everyone knows about it and it’s somewhat subjective. See the box on page 84 for more information.) Test or no test, one thing we know for sure is this: Most of us don’t get nearly enough zinc. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 1996 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes, more than 70 % of Americans don’t consume the recommended daily allowance, which is only 8 mg a day for women and 11 mg a day for men. (Ten % of individuals don’t even consume half the RDA!)
Not just a Man’s Mineral
Zinc has something of a reputation in the men’s health magazines as a “guy’s” nutrient, largely because it is critical for the production of both sperm and boost testosterone. (Little fun fact: The reasons oysters are thought to be such a “sexy” food—even an aphrodisiac—is that they’re loaded with zinc.) And the normal human prostate gland has a higher level of zinc than any other soft tissue in the body, compared to cancerous prostates, which have a lot less zinc than normal ones.
Then there’s the infertility connection. Infertility affects 20 % of all couples in the United States, and the main culprit (35 %of couples) is sperm abnormalities. Since zinc is needed for pretty much every aspect of male reproduction, including hormone development, healthy and numerous sperm, and sperm motility, it makes sense—especially if you’re a guy—to get enough zinc in your diet. Zinc levels are usually much lower in infertile men with low sperm counts. One study showed that increasing zinc and folic acid levels helped increase sperm counts in infertile men.
But zinc is hardly just a man’s mineral. It has been shown in studies to aid children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and help prevent or retard the progression of macular degeneration, the leading cause of adult blindness. It fights fatigue for both sexes, diminishes white spots in fingernails, reduces brittle hair and nails, and it can help with menstrual problems, impotence, and painful knee and hip joints. And whether you’re a man or a woman, if strengthening your immune system is high on your list of priorities, zinc needs to be an important part of your diet (or supplement program).
Finally, we need zinc to help decode the instructions in our DNA, the genetic version of a user’s guide for how to keep our body functioning. Our bodies use these instructions to make the proteins that keep muscles, bones, hormones, enzymes, and dozens of other bio-chemicals in our complex internal systems running smoothly. Zinc is an essential component of about 400 of these proteins.
A Little Goes a Long Way
And zinc isn’t one of those nutrients you need to “over supplement” with. (Quite the contrary: Too much zinc interferes with copper absorption, and the two minerals need to be in balance.) For example, while prostate health depends on adequate zinc levels, one study indicated that men who supplement with 100 mg of zinc or more a day have more than twice the risk of developing prostate cancer. We don’t know why, though some nutritionists, like my associate Suzanne Copp, M.S., think that it might have to do with a copper deficiency that can be created by taking too much zinc.
Point is, you can do really well with supplementing in the 15 to 50 mg range, although for some situations (like macular degeneration or fighting off a cold or healing a wound) it’s perfectly okay to use a higher dose for a short time. In general, a basic 15 mg a day seems to help fend off most common problems. Certain seafood, notably oysters, along with milk, whole-grain bread, dark meat poultry, and nuts like cashews also provide plenty of the mineral.
But a number of factors can interfere with zinc absorption—phytates in cereals and soy foods, for example, are compounds that bind to minerals and keep them from being absorbed. Even fibre may decrease zinc’s availability. Stress definitely depletes it, and very easily!
Nutritionists have used a test for years called the zinc taste test. Here’s how to do it at home:
First, you get some liquid zinc. (Liquid zinc is available at better health food stores or through health practitioners. You can’t use a flavoured kind—it has to be pure, clear, and tasteless, like Zinc Talley by Metagenics.) The test is simple: You just hold a capful or two of the liquid zinc in your mouth for about a minute. If it tastes like metal, you’re not zinc deficient. But if it tastes like water, you are.
Many anorexics see some improvement when they start taking zinc as part of an overall treatment program. (It’s better for them t-o take it in liquid form so they can test their levels through the taste test; at the same time, they’ll get better absorption.) It’s possible that because it helps with taste perception, it may help them get better in touch with their experience of food and hunger (“When am I hungry, when am I full?”).
How much you need
Currently recommended target for zinc is 7 mg for women and 9.5 mg for men daily. Higher doses are usually reserved for specific complaints.
IF YOU GET TOO LITTLE: Severe zinc deficiency is rare in the UK, but a mild zinc deficiency can lead to poor wound healing, more frequent colds and flu, a depressing sense of taste and smell, and skin problems such as acne, eczema and psoriasis. It can result in impaired blood sugar tolerance (and increased diabetes risk) and a low sperm count.
IF YOU GET TOO MUCH: Long-term use of more than 100 mg a day has been shown to impair immunity and lower the level of HDL (‘good’) cholesterol. One study reported a connection between excessive zinc and Alzheimer’s disease, though the evidence is scant. Larger doses (more than 200 mg a day) can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.
How to take it
DOSAGE: The recommended target is 15 mg once a day. Taking high levels of zinc for longer than a month may interfere with copper absorption, so dietary supplements should include 2 mg of copper for every 30 mg of zinc. For colds and flu: Use zinc lozenges every 2 to 4 hours for a week; do not exceed 150 mg a day.
GUIDELINES FOR USE: Take zinc an hour before or two hours after a meal; if it causes stomach upset, have it with a low-fibre food. If you are taking iron supplements for a specific condition, do not take them at the same time as zinc. Try to take a zinc supplement at least two hours after taking antibiotics.
