Well, we've admittedly been slacking on the blog, but this one was necessary, thanks to your questions and comments.
Zinc. Seems weird to think about a shiny silver metal as important to your immune system, but we've been inundated with requests for it, questions about it, and confusion about when to get it.
As soon as the press reported that the doctors at Walter Reed were pumping it into President Trump, the phones went crazy. So, here's the story, and the news.
It is true that zinc can a winner. It's often given to kids with upper respiratory infections, and it's used to shorten the duration of the common cold in adults. I take a zinc supplement every day. It's hell on your stomach that way, but in this day and age I'm willing to deal with a little stomach discomfort to boost my immune system.
That said, it may not be the "cure all" everyone says. The real effectiveness of zinc supplements comes when someone is deficient in zinc. That happens a LOT in developing countries where people don't have access to fresh fruit and vegetables. Not so much in the United States where most of us CAN get all the quality food we want.
Grass fed beef has a a good amount of zinc and you're likely getting plenty of that. Cashews, avocados (which down here we eat like they're free even though they're getting expensive), and spinach (yuck) also have a ton of zinc. If you don't get much of those in your diet, maybe a zinc supplement is a good idea for you.
Even if you get plenty of zinc, it has been shown to help shorten the time you'll suffer from rhinoviruses and coronaviruses. Not like it's going to wipe them out, but the zinc does help your body beat them back more rapidly.
So, all that being the case, we're adding zinc to our #Immune Tune package. It can't hurt. It's going to cost us a little more but we aren't going to pass that cost on to you. We're hoping you'll just tell everyone you love us in exchange for the added goodies at the same price. We're also hoping that if you do have a bug it helps you get past it a little more quickly.
So, in general, if you get plenty of the foods that are rich in zinc, don't worry about a supplement if you aren't sick. If you aren't sure, a low dose (11 mg) supplement like the chewable tablets (they actually taste pretty good) from Walmart are pretty cheap ($6/25) and effective. If you're feeling the onset of some sort of crud though, and you want to go the presidential "I'm too busy to be down" route, schedule your Immune Tune and we'll load you up.
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