The Upper Tolerable Limit of zinc is 40 mg/day. Zinc opposes copper in various bodily functions. The Upper Tolerable Limit of copper is 10 mg/day.
Our bodies need the total copper to zinc ratio to average 1 mg copper : 7.5 mg of zinc.
I had signs of too much copper and too little zinc from food, water, and supplement sources. I calculated I got 4-5 mg of copper a day but only 15-20 mg of zinc a day, for many years. There aren’t good common sources of zinc, but there are for copper, in my diet. We also have copper pipes with high amount of chloramines from the city, and chloramines peel away copper. The annual water report showed .5 mg/copper per liter of water. That, coupled with food choices, the amount of chocolate I was getting, and supplements, helped me see what I had allowed (or done) to get me in this unexplainable place with my symptoms.
Add up your total sources of copper and zinc and see if you are maintaining that “magic ratio.” If you aren’t, your body will excrete the opposing mineral to get you to the right ratio, unfortunately. For me, it took years, but it showed up.
We now bleed the water at the kitchen sink for a few minutes every morning to get rid of what the sitting chloramines pulled into the water. I cut down on chocolate eating. I started taking 22 mg of zinc a day on too of my vitamin and minerals. Note that my vitamin and my mineral formulations had that magic ratio already in them. I needed to adjust what I did outside of those.
Check your total daily sources out and determine if the zinc is an issue. It likely isn’t, but seek that ratio of 1 mg copper to 7.5 mg of zinc.
What were signs of too much copper and zinc?
If it isn’t one thing, it’s another that’s gonna get us.
Rice and other grains naturally contain arsenic and other heavy metals from the soil, which is why you’re suppose to rinse it. They say brown rice is good for you but it contains the most. Rinsing only gets out 10%. Of course, everything comes from the soil as does the water we’re rinsing it in.