Posted on 12/02/2023 8:30:11 AM PST by Uncle Miltie
Poster's Note: This is a very long article documenting how zinc is Anti: Weight, diabetes, cholesterol, inflammation, oxidation, metabolic syndrome, stroke, atherosclerosis, death, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, cytokines, liver damage, blood vessel damage, kidney damage, etc. I'll post the first dozen paragraphs or so, and you're welcome to follow the link to the extensive article.
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A number of studies have reported that zinc plays a substantial role in the development of metabolic syndrome, taking part in the regulation of cytokine expression, suppressing inflammation, and is also required to activate antioxidant enzymes that scavenge reactive oxygen species, reducing oxidative stress. Zinc also plays a role in the correct functioning of lipid and glucose metabolism, regulating and forming the expression of insulin. In numerous studies, zinc supplementation has been found to improve blood pressure, glucose, and LDL cholesterol serum level. Deeper knowledge of zinc’s properties may help in treating metabolic syndrome, thus protecting against stroke and angina pectoris, and ultimately against death.
Introduction
Zinc (Zn) is one of the most common trace elements in the human body and plays a substantial role in growth and development, acting as a signaling factor [1]. This metal takes part in the regulation of chronic inflammatory status through the reduction of inflammatory cytokines. Zinc also reduces oxidative stress by participating in the synthesis of antioxidant enzymes and acts as a catalyzer of enzymes, taking part in lipid, carbohydrate, and protein metabolism. It is involved in the synthesis, storage, and release of insulin, which suggests the critical role of this microelement in the progression of type-2 diabetes mellitus, atherosclerosis, and metabolic syndrome (MS) [2,3,4,5].
Studies of zinc concentration in the human body are scarce, and have shown inconsistent results. Zinc deficiency has been observed in patients in some counties with increased oxidative stress and generation of inflammatory status and the decrease concentrations of this element occur in patients with MS [3], in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus [6] and with hypertension [7] than in healthy people.
Some studies showed that high concentration of zinc is associated with impaired lipid profile and risk of MS [8,9,10]. In the last study, increase in erythrocyte zinc concentration and high zincuria was observed in patients with MS [11]. Obtained results indicate that zinc is strongly associated with oxidation stress, inflammation, and lipid and glucose status and it can be assumed that zinc status may be a predictor of metabolic disorders.
Taking together, current knowledge reflects the need for a critical overview of the zinc role in metabolic disorders. The proposed review summarizes the advances of the last years (2010–2017), providing new insights into the association between zinc status and inflammation, oxidative stress, lipid, and glucose metabolism.
Zinc status in metabolic disorders
Multiple studies have demonstrated the interaction between obesity and Zn homeostasis. In particular, blood Zn levels were found to be significantly decreased in obese patients [12, 13]. Erythrocyte Zn levels were also shown to be negatively associated with anthropometric markers of obesity like BMI and waist circumference [14]. At the same time, the decrease in serum Zn levels was accompanied by increased urinary concentrations, being indicative of increased Zn excretion in obesity [15]. Low nutritional Zn status in obesity is also associated with aggravation of obesity-related metabolic disturbances like insulin resistance, inflammation, and altered lipid profile [16].
Similarly, short-term (8-week) weight loss in obese women was associated with a significant improvement of serum Zn levels, being negatively associated with body fat percentage [17].
The role of Zn dyshomeostasis in obesity is also confirmed by the results of supplementation trials. In particular, administration of 30 mg/day Zn gluconate for 1 month resulted in a significant decrease in body weight and BMI values as well as serum TG concentrations [18]. Eight-week treatment with 20 mg/day zinc also resulted in a significant decrease in BMI and BMI z score in obese children, although remaining abnormally high. At the same time, Zn supplementation was also associated with improvement of lipoprotein profile (decreased ApoB/ApoA1, oxLDL, total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol values) and reduced leptin levels [19].
It is also suggested that zinc deficiency may be an important risk factor of diabetes mellitus II. In several studies, decreased concentration of zinc status was observed in diabetic patients compared to healthy people [20,21,22,23,24,25,26]. Sinha et al. [20] have demonstrated that zinc plasma levels are inversely correlated with glycemic status (HbA1C) in diabetes mellitus, while in patients with MS an association between high zinc concentration in urine (zincuria) and fasting glucose level, glycated hemoglobin level, insulin resistance, and also CRP were found. In one study, inadequate zinc intake was observed and zinc deficiency was suggested in patients with MS [27]. The relation between inadequate zinc intake and raised insulin concentration in blood was also noticed in adolescents [28]. Some recent studies showed that zinc supplementation improved glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity in diabetic patients [29,30,31]. It was also found that zinc supplementation reduced fasting plasma glucose, serum insulin and insulin resistance in gestational diabetes in women [32]. However, in other studies, the association between zinc supply and glucose metabolism and insulin resistance was not confirmed [18, 33].
In our opinion, the association between metabolic disorders and zinc status is mainly mediated by inflammation, oxidative stress, modulation of zinc transporters, and altered lipid and glucose metabolism.
Inflammation
A significant decrease in zinc levels in obese population with inflammatory state was observed. According to research, it increases risk of the development of obesity-related complications. It has been mentioned that zinc takes part in the regulation of proinflammatory cytokines expression through many mechanisms (Fig. 1) [34
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My favorite source of zinc is a liquid supplement that includes quercetin. That pairing helps drive zinc into cells making them a hostile environment for replication of SARS-CoV-2.
Probably the best way. That or venison.
Goodnight! That’s a lot!
I take it every day.
My BP and heart meds are way less than that! Smack him in the head for me! Just kidding.
ping
Most common bottled dose is 50mg, but 30mg is available by some mfgrs. I’ve not seen a 40mg so far. I take the 50mg caps.
Thanks, I’m going keep taking it but cut my average daily intake!
Yes, my supplement is 25 mg zinc picolinate + 1 mg copper.
Zinc has the ability to inhibit viral replication. Think covid-19, influenza.
“My favorite source of zinc is a liquid supplement that includes quercetin. That pairing helps drive zinc into cells making them a hostile environment for replication of SARS-CoV-2.”
I haven’t been totally convinced that the posited ionophore activity is meaningfully real and not merely theoretical. Despite taking all those I had covid four times and possibly five. But it’s true I stayed out of hospital so who knows..
Ping.
My wife has to avoid any multivitamins and other supplements that contain extra zinc. Gives her nasty headaches.
I’ll read it later, I zinc.
Yes, but only when zinc passes through the cell membrane and enters the cell.
Fortunately, zinc require a zinc ionophore to do this, so regular zinc supplemental use would not enter the cells unless one takes an ionophore like quercetin or hydroxychloroquine along with the zinc.
-PJ
Go sit in the corner.
When I get the very first symptoms of a cold (usually a sore throat), I’ll take up to 2,000 mg of vitamin C and 100 mg of zinc daily for a few days. Seems to help lessen the severity. I haven’t had a cold (or Covid) since retiring in 2020, probably because I’m not around that many people now.
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