Sup all, some of you could probably benefit from some of these ramblings...
Zinc is an interesting metal. I've always been interested in trying really high doses of it but always been afraid to for fear of copper deficiency. I finally gave in a decided to experiment with it after crawling over an interview on T.nation with Charles Poliquin who mentioned that nearly all of the strength athletes that he sees to are zinc deficient. Yup, almost every one of them. He would then mention that he treats them with 180mg/zinc per day for two months and begin to taper. I figured if this guys doing it, then I'll give it a shot too.
I'll be honest these past two months have been a bit of a blur. I've been consistently downing 60mg doses 3x a day of zinc chelate by Trophic. I've been predominantly taking it with protein shakes blended with soaked flax seeds, fruit, and other supplement powderes including calcium ascorbate. I more recently switched to a zinc citrate, and now a zinc picolinate. No particular reason, though I gravitated towards the zinc picolinate due literature stating it was the superior form and it was also more cost effective. In terms of absorption and "noticing" a difference between either forms, I'll wager to say the zinc chelate by trophic was the least effective of all three. But that's a just a gut feeling.
I at times during these roughly two month period had days of a maximum of 50mg zinc to even 300mg zinc.
I always consumed a minimum of 250mg of betaine HCL w/ pepsin with every zinc administered. I may have missed this step a maximum of 5 or 8 times throughout the entire process. I also adjusted the amount of betaine on gut feeling, literally.
At no time throughout this entire process did I feel like I had an adverse reaction or anything significantly negative happening to me. At most was heavy heavy feelings of lethargy and stomach irritation if I took more than 60mg (it seemed) of zinc at once.
A couple of things I noticed at the beginning of the process that dissapeared towards the end:
Sweating, overheating after administration
Thirst, dry throat
Overall: Great experience. They say the adrenal gland and the prostate gland have some of the highest concentrations of zinc in the body. Well, I'll tell you one thing, if you're adrenal glands aren't functioning right, you will benefit from zinc. Straight up. There is a reason they have high concenrations. I personally don't know why but zinc is definitely "food" for them. I've always had problems with stress in my environment. Not necessarily physical stress, but perceived stress, mentally & socially. I can also feel when my adrenals are being activated so to speak. There is a distinct feeling right where my kidneys are in response to stress and I aint that dumb enough to not be able to make the correlation. Well, after this period of zinc administration. My ability to handle stress has improved significantly. To the point where I've become almost non-reactive. This was a god send as I've been trying to figure out why I experience this kind of phenomena and why I had such a reduced capacity to handle stress. That feeling I get, is much much more infrequent and fleeting at best. It's now becoming more a memory.
I at one point also felt that I had a lot of inflammation in my prostate area. I requested to be checked by my doctor at one point as I thought I might be developing some sort of cancer or a problem in the future (go spikeTV ads!). He confirmed my initial observation but thankfully it wasn't a problem yet. Zinc has pretty much put my prostate to rest. And thats the only way I could describe it.
A lot of you are probably wondering about the effects of zinc are on hormones and testosterone and stuff. Well, I've had periods of ED and zinc helps. BUT IT AINT THE ONLY THING. Zinc has a wonderful effect on your hormonal system and testosterone it seems, I'll wager once you've packed enough of the **** into your adrenal glands so that they are running optimally you will have a definite overall increase in sexual appetite and ability, but again, its only 1 piece of the puzzle. I suspect copper has *a lot* to do with optimal sexual fuction. As zinc only seemed to fix 1 part of the sexual dysfunction puzzle for me. MORE ON THIS TOWARD THE END.
My original goal of taking this zinc was 1) to quiet my curiosity and 2) to see if this **** would help with my metabolic dysfunctions. And it ****in worked alright. Now heres the thing about copper. I had a hair mineral analysis many months ago prior to this administration that showed I was both deficient in zinc and copper. The ratios of other minerals and those as well suggested that my thyroid was underactive and my adrenals were ****ed. I didn't quite understand the copper deficiency as I had been taking large doses of copper during the same period that my hair was tested for. Well copper doesn't do **** for you unless you're adrenals aren't working properly in the first place. In fact, it'll probably quite **** you up. The reason for this has to do with ceurloplasmin which is a copper transport protein that is produced from the liver or something, and it gets its production message from your adrenals. I've always had problems with pigmentation in my skin, (white spots along my forearms and upper arms), I've also always had problems with my thyroid (low body temperature, ****ty response to cold environments), a lot of other small things that involved hair texture, cold hands & feet and poor cardiovascular ability and I've also always had a bit of a sexual problem. None of this **** has ever responded to vitamin & mineral supplementation up to this point and I've ALWAYS attributed it to a copper problem, HOW or WHAT I have never really understood but lately I'm beginning to finally ****in put it all together. Anyways... eventually near the end of this 2 month trial period taking all this zinc started to exasperate (sp?) all these symptoms. My thyroid just ****in seemed to not even wake up in the morning, my white spots seemed to just really become extremely pronounced and noticable and my skin started to get dry and stuff. Thats when I said, K, I think its starting to interfere with my copper (and I was already deficient). So I started tapering zinc, and introducing minimal amounts of copper, 2 - 4mg max, this is where I am now. And unlike any other time in my life, I think this supplementing of copper is actually working. So I'll update on this ****.
Another thing I noticed during this period of zinc. I once took 60mg zinc before I went exercising (and I'm pretty sure this is when I was at my lowest for copper). They say that zinc accelerates the conversion of T4 to T3 and increases potassium in the cells so that would allow for better cellular response. Well whatever it is, its right. I started to heat up like fin mad, my heart started beating out the **** and man did I feel sick.
Another word on the adrenal glands, once everything seems to be working right with them, and that they can respond well and u can handle copper supplementation, well, it seems as if copper indirectly starts to benefit the adrenal glands. I reckon it has something to do with the following: copper is also involved in the production of thyrotropin, CuZn-SoD and regulation of chloresterol.
Anyways, my final note on why zinc is definitely not the only thing in regards to sex drive. Well at the worst of what I think was an exasberation of my copper deficiency, I had no formal appetite for sex, my thyroid seemed to be almost shut down unless stimulated, and all I wanted to do with sleep and not do anything. I think the FUNCTIONING of your sex glands is greatly influenced by copper. There is also literature out there that states that copper stimulates nitric oxide production. INTERESTING? Yah. I don't really got much else... hope ya enjoyed.
Last couple thoughts actually: No real notice in body composition I've always been very lean. Zinc is soooo important for blood sugar and I could tell it was having a major effect on my own; very positive until I hit the copper drought, then I was having mad ****ing carb cravings for what I think was a subconcious goal to upregulate my thyroid.
anyways, yah I'm gonna keep this one updated a bit
Im at currently 0 - 100mg zinc and 2 - 4mg copper. No regime just going on gut feelings for now.
* One thing I want to note. I think its f'ing dumb of you to start supplemting vitamins and minerals and **** if you're diet isn't already a ****ing A Plus. There is so bull**** food stuff we put into our bodies that probably interact with **** that you take and makes it f'ing useless. Case in point, high fructose corn syrup ****s copper absorption. If you're diet isn't clean already, you're a dumbass for thinking that high doses of vitamins and anything will do anything for ya.
* And I also think its dumb to just supplement ONE mineral. In this case I was experimenting with large doses, but I also take complete vitamin mineral supplementation; yes that includes boron, vanadium, lithium, and other lesser well known minerals, vitamin c, full spectrum vitamin E, and so forth. I think its imperative to stick with only mineral chelates or kreb cycle intermediates and what not and more importantly to remember equilibrium.
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