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Discover the Top Health Benefits of Zinc Picolinate

Zinc vitamin is a trace mineral that our bodies need. Despite this, we don’t produce it naturally, meaning we must eat zinc rich foods to experience its benefits.

Zinc foods include shellfish, prawns and oysters, lamb, chicken, turkey and beef, dairy, bread, lentils, cereals, seeds like sesame and pumpkin, chickpeas, cashews and plain yoghurt.

Keep in mind that it’s a trace mineral, meaning we only need trace (small) amounts of it. So, how much zinc per day? This is different for men and women:

• How much zinc per day for a man? 11mg
• How much zinc per day for a woman? 8mg (11mg when pregnant and 12mg when breastfeeding)

There is also an upper limit of 40mg of zinc per day. Don’t take intranasal zinc, as this has been linked to a loss of smell.

What Does Zinc Do for the Body?

So, what is zinc good for? It’s needed for many different processes in our bodies, including:

• Immune Health: Zinc supports our immune system by activating our immune cells when the body detects bacteria.
• Growth and Development: Zinc helps with DNA synthesis, helping our cells grow and multiply, meaning it’s essential for children and during pregnancy, so much so that a zinc deficiency can stunt growth.
• Healing Wounds: Those with a zinc deficiency heal slower from wounds, with zinc playing a major role in scarring and membrane repair.
• Eye Health: Zinc supplements may help prevent age-related macular degeneration in those at risk.
• Processing Food: Zinc also helps our bodies process fats proteins and carbohydrates from the foods we eat.
• Reducing Inflammation: As an antioxidant, zinc helps reduce the damage caused by free radicals and also helps with joint pain caused by inflammation. It also helps reduce the severity of inflammatory skin conditions, like rosacea, eczema and psoriasis.
• Skin Health: In our bodies, our skin is the third most zinc-abundant tissue. Zinc increases the levels of glutathione, catalase and heme-oxygenase, helping prevent wrinkles and fine lines, and it also helps deflect UV rays. Does zinc help with acne?Yes, zinc also helps reduce acne and is needed for collagen formation and DNA repair.
• Sex Hormones: Zinc is needed by both men and women for fertility, especially in the metabolism of androgens, estrogen and progesterone. Other benefits of zinc sexually include increasing testosterone levels, improving blood flow to the genital region and improving sexual function in both men and women.
• Brain Health: Zinc plays a key role in regulating our HPA axis, which helps maintain our hormone balance and mood. It’s found in many neurons in the brain that are responsible for our memory, learning and emotions.
• Weight Management: Zinc has a role in metabolism, too, and is also needed for the thyroid gland to produce thyroid hormone, which maintains our metabolism and energy.

What is zinc deficiency?

A zinc deficiency is when your body doesn’t have enough zinc for your body to use for its functions. Other than getting a blood test to test for zinc deficiency, you may notice your skin developing what looks to be eczema. Other symptoms of zinc deficiency include hair loss, frequent infections, diarrhoea, wounds taking a long time to heal, hair loss, eye problems and a loss of taste and smell.

Zinc supplements are recommended if you have a zinc deficiency.

Zinc Chelation

Now that you know the answer to the question, ‘How is zinc good for you?’ it’s time to start talking about zinc supplements.

Chelate simply means that the supplement you are taking is bound with another compound to help your body absorb it. Many mineral supplements are in chelate form as the body finds it difficult to absorb them on its own, such as Magnesium Glycinate, where the magnesium is bound with the amino acid, glycine, which greatly improves its bioavailability.

Zinc from amino acid chelate or zinc glycinate?

There are quite a few different types of chelated zinc, but they’re mainly separated into two groups, amino acids and organic acids. Amino acids include aspartic acid, methionine and monomethionine while organic acids include acetic acid, citric acid, gluconic acid, orotic acid and picolininc acid. Zinc is also combined with inorganic acids like sulfates and oxides.

The chelated zinc that are easily absorbed are zinc picolinate, citrate, acetate and monomethionine — so, predominantly organic acids.

Zinc glycinate, or zinc bisglycinate, is a form of zinc that is easily absorbed and is similar to zinc citrate in how it supports the body’s zinc levels.

Zinc picolinate vs zinc gluconate

Zinc gluconate (gluconic acid) isn’t the best absorbing form of zinc, while zinc picolinate (picolinic acid) is one of the best absorbing forms of zinc, even more so than zinc citrate.

While not the most absorbable form, zinc gluconate has still been shown to be well absorbed and is great for seasonal throat and respiratory issues through lozenges and nasal sprays, possibly even to reduce the duration and symptoms of the common cold.

Due to its high absorbability (bioavailability), zinc picolinate can be used to treat zinc deficiency as well as help with immunomodulatory activity. One study compared the absorbability of zinc picolinate, zinc citrate and zinc gluconate in healthy humans and found that zinc picolinate was the leading performer for the levels of zinc in our hair, urine, erythrocyte and serum.

What Does Zinc Picolinate Do?

Due to these results showing zinc picolinate’s benefits, here at Xandro Lab, we have formulated our own zinc picolinate supplement, called Zinc Picolinate + C, so let’s go over why.

So, what is zinc picolinate good for?

Zinc supplement benefits include:

• Improving the body’s inflammatory response during immune stress
• Promoting healthy eyes and skin
• Supporting reproductive health
• Improving lean muscle mass
• Helping the body maintain normal production of testosterone

Zinc picolinate benefits these areas even more strongly due to the zinc being bonded to picolinic acid, improving its absorption in the gastrointestinal tract.

What are some specific zinc picolinate uses?

• If you feel yourself becoming sick, you can take zinc picolinate to help support your immune system as it regulates the production of immune cells.
• If you feel your skin getting thin, you can take zinc picolinate as it promotes collagen production and helps in wound healing.
• If you feel as though your hormones are imbalanced, taking zinc picolinate can help in the production of regulation of insulin, oestrogen and testosterone.
• If you feel your mental capabilities have been a big foggy, you can take zinc picolinate to support your cognitive function as it may improve mood and memory.
• If you want to add more antioxidants to your diet, zinc picolinate may act as an antioxidant and help support your cells from oxidative stress.
• You can take zinc picolinate for hair health as zinc helps keep your hormone levels in check, preventing and treating hair loss. Zinc also supports and regulates keratin production, helping keep thick hair fibres.
• If you’re wondering, ‘Does zinc picolinate burn fat?’ then not specifically, but it does play a role in weight management. It helps the body digest food and helps our metabolism. Its fat reduction benefits are primarily linked with obese individuals who have low zinc levels, with it being found to improve BMI and body weight.
• If you have sore joints, zinc picolinate ache benefits come from the fact that it’s an anti-inflammatory.

Be sure to speak with your doctor before taking supplements to determine if there you have any underlying health factors.

Why has Xandro Lab combined vitamin C with zinc? As mentioned, zinc is a great supplement to take if you feel yourself getting sick. Combining vitamin C with zinc has been found to significantly be more effective than just taking zinc for symptoms! It’s dual-action immune support in one capsule. Since vitamin C is also an antioxidant, this provides enhanced antioxidant support for healthy aging, too.

Zinc Picolinate Side Effects

We’ve gone over the benefits of zinc picolinate, but what are the side effects of zinc?

As long as you stick within the normal dose of elemental zinc, as shown above, there are no known side effects linked with zinc picolinate. If taking high doses, zinc may cause indigestion, diarrhoea, headache, nausea or vomiting, with long-term high dosage possibly causing a copper deficiency.

Does zinc supplement cause constipation? Too much zinc may also cause constipation as it can interfere with the absorption of other nutrients needed for bowel regularity, such as copper and iron. This is likely to happen if you take between 50mg and 150mg per day of zinc.

Speak with your doctor before use, especially if you’re taking antibiotics, penicillamine or thiazine diuretics as these may have interactions with zinc supplements.

How Much Zinc Picolinate Per Day?

This will depend on how much elemental zinc is included in the supplement. If you have a zinc deficiency, you need to take supplements to boost your levels, making sure to stay under the recommended threshold of 40mg per day.

Adult women need 8mg per day while adult men need 11mg per day of elemental zinc.

Xandro Lab’s Zinc Picolinate + C contains 25mg of elemental zinc and 250mg of vitamin C, which, with zinc picolinate’s great bioavailability, will help boost your zinc levels and allow you to potentially experience its benefits.

End Note

You can generally get enough through the foods you eat, but if you’re at a stage in life where you’re finding it difficult to get all the required nutrients you need, such as if you’re fasting, travelling or working irregular hours, a supplement may be required once you’ve spoken to your medical professional.

Looking for the best zinc supplement? Why not try out Xandro Lab’s Zinc Picolinate + C duo with zinc picolinate 25 mg? If you’re looking for how to boost immune system and how to increase collagen production, this supplement does both! It helps with maintaining a healthy immune system, healing wounds, antioxidant support and collagen production, this form of zinc has one of the highest absorption rates!