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zinc and vitamin c

Walterj
Walterj Posts: 41 Member
edited January 7 in Health and Weight Loss
I have a sore throat, I hear taking zinc supplements with Vitamin C cancel each other out. I know its not a diet question, but I need to feel better to track calories again

Replies

  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    I did a quick google- the only reference I could find to them cancelling out was in snopes.

    I take zinc anytime I feel I'm coming down with something, as it boosts immunity.
  • Walterj
    Walterj Posts: 41 Member
    whats snopes?
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    A website that debunks popular myths. If something sounds a bit weird or fanciful, it's always a good place to check.

    If zinc and vitamin C will make you feel better, then go ahead and take them both.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    No, that's not correct (as snopes said). But, if you take zinc regularly it should be correctly balanced with copper.
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    If they cancelled one another out we'd have to stop eating any vitamin C rich foods with zinc rich foods or end up with scurvy! Your immune system needs far more than just vitamin C and zinc to function optimally - it needs the full complement of nutrients including many vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and amino acids (protein). Micronutrients work synergistically and in opposition, randomly supplementing one or a small group can actually do more harm than good. If you are confident your diet is deficient in zinc or vitamin C fix your diet. If you want to take a complete multivitamin/ mineral as an insurance policy go ahead.
  • cem9532
    cem9532 Posts: 32 Member
    When i get the first sign that i maybe coming down with something, I take echinacea, emergen c powder and vitamin d3. The vitamin d3 should be an all the time thing to boost immunity but better late than never. I have done this combo on about 4 different occasions and I never got full blown sick. Ive never done them seperately so i dont know if its the combo or one of these items that makes the difference. Since it worked I didnt change it.
    I did however try the zinc by itself and it didnt work for me, I continued to get worse and became full on sick.
  • Walterj
    Walterj Posts: 41 Member
    thanks i hate being sick
  • Walterj
    Walterj Posts: 41 Member
    No, that's not correct (as snopes said). But, if you take zinc regularly it should be correctly balanced with copper.

    that's a joke right? copper?
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    No, that's not correct (as snopes said). But, if you take zinc regularly it should be correctly balanced with copper.

    that's a joke right? copper?

    No, it's not a joke. I don't really know how important it is, really (since I never actually hear about it being a problem). But, from what I understand taking zinc can sometimes cause a copper deficiency. I take zinc that is balanced in the correct ratio with copper. I guess most people don't usually think about copper (I can see why you would think that was a joke). If you have a multivitamin with zinc it probably has copper in it, too (you could check to see).
  • watfordjc
    watfordjc Posts: 304 Member
    I looked in the fridge about half an hour ago as I wanted some nuts but didn't know what I wanted. Left with some pecans and orange juice.

    If zinc and vitamin C didn't go together, pecans wouldn't contain both nor would those fizzy tablets you drop in water that have words like "colds" and "immune system" on the packaging.
This discussion has been closed.

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