Zinc: Benefits, Supplements, Dosage, Foods and Side Effects

Dr. Josh Axe Vitamin Advisor · 4–5 questions

Is zinc one of your top 5?

What's your biggest goal right now?

Immunity & getting sickEnergy & fatigueGut & digestionSleep & stressHormones & thyroidJoints & inflammationBlood sugar & weightBrain, focus & moodHeart healthSkin

Zinc is an essential mineral that your immune system, skin, gut lining and hormones depend on, and it helps your body fight off infections, close wounds and repair tissue every day.12 I call zinc your immune mineral and your repair mineral, and my approach starts with zinc-rich foods like grass-fed beef, lamb and pumpkin seeds, then, when you need more, adds 15 to 30 mg a day with food, plus a little copper for long-term use.523

Catching every cold that goes around, cuts that are slow to close and skin that keeps breaking out can all trace back to too little zinc reaching your cells, and that shortfall usually has a cause you can fix, starting with what's on your plate.2 Your body was designed to heal, and zinc is part of the raw material it uses for that work.2

This matters most from November through February, when colds and flu move through homes, schools and offices, and when a cold does start, zinc lozenges have a long line of placebo-controlled trials behind them.4

Did you know?

• Your whole body holds only about 1.5 grams of zinc if you're a woman and 2.5 grams if you're a man, most of it in your muscles and bones.1

• When the raw data from 3 placebo-controlled lozenge trials were pooled, zinc acetate shortened colds by 2.73 days, and the benefit held whether or not people had allergies or smoked, and across age, sex and ethnic background.7

• Your senses of taste and smell rely on zinc, so food that starts to taste flat can be one of the signs you're running low.2

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What is zinc?

Zinc plays a part in your immune function, in building protein and DNA, in wound healing, in cell signaling and division, and in growth and taste, so a shortfall can show up in several places at once.1 How much of the zinc in a meal you absorb ranges from about 5% to more than 50%, depending mostly on how much phytate, a compound in grains and beans, the meal carries.1

In supplements, zinc always comes bound to a partner compound, such as zinc gluconate, citrate, picolinate or acetate, and that partner changes how well it absorbs and what it's best used for, which the supplements section covers. Zinc oxide is the form you'll find in many skin creams, and it has its own guide, zinc oxide benefits.

A short history of zinc

For most of history, nobody knew a person could run short of zinc, and the discovery began in Shiraz, Iran, where Dr. Ananda Prasad was asked to see a 21-year-old man who looked like a 10-year-old boy. He was severely anemic, his sexual development had stalled, and he lived on whole wheat bread, with no animal protein at all.6 Prasad found the same pattern was common in the villages around Shiraz and suspected that zinc was missing along with iron, and he described the syndrome in 1961.6

In his later studies in Egypt, zinc gave young men 12.7 to 15.2 cm (about 5 to 6 inches) of growth in a year, and their sexual development returned to normal within 3 to 6 months.6 Even so, for nearly a decade, the idea that people could be zinc-deficient stayed controversial, until other researchers confirmed it.6 Prasad went on to spend his career on zinc and the immune system, and several of the trials on this page came from his group.8910

What is zinc good for?

How does zinc work in your body?

You can think of zinc as a tool your cells pick up for two kinds of work, defending you and repairing you. It's part of cell division, so it shows up wherever your body is busy making new cells: your immune cells, your skin and the lining of your gut.21

That's why the same mineral turns up in a cold remedy, an acne plan and a gut-healing protocol, and for you it adds up to an immune system that answers faster and tissue that repairs more readily, as long as enough zinc keeps arriving and its partner mineral, copper, stays in balance, which the copper section explains.4818

Zinc benefits, ranked by evidence

I rank zinc's top uses by the strength of the research in people: shorter colds, fewer infections, clearer skin and steadier blood sugar lead the list, and the research on wound repair, testosterone and the gut lining is still growing.

Does zinc help with colds?

A cold virus settles first into the lining of your nose and throat, and that's where a lozenge does its work. As it dissolves, it releases zinc ions into your throat, and researchers propose that those ions block ICAM-1, the receptor many cold viruses use to attach to your cells, a little like a cap slipped over a keyhole before the key arrives.214

Two well-known trials came from Dr. Prasad's group in Detroit. In a placebo-controlled trial of 50 adults who started within 24 hours of their first symptoms, one lozenge with 12.8 mg of zinc acetate every 2 to 3 hours while awake shortened colds to 4.5 days, against 8.1 days on placebo, and coughing lasted 3.1 days instead of 6.3.9 A second trial by the same team found the same pattern, 4.0 days against 7.1, and in both, neither the people nor the researchers knew who got what.299

When a 2017 meta-analysis pooled 7 placebo-controlled trials with 575 people, lozenges supplying more than 75 mg of zinc a day made colds 33% shorter, and both common salts worked, with zinc acetate shortening colds by 40% and zinc gluconate by 28%, a difference too small to be sure of.4 Pooling the raw data from three zinc acetate trials, 199 adults taking 80 to 92 mg of zinc a day, showed that by day 5, 70% of the people on zinc had recovered, against 27% on placebo.28

Higher doses didn't add much in that review, since the 5 trials that used 80 to 92 mg of zinc a day shortened colds by 33% and the 2 trials that used 192 to 207 mg a day by 35%, with no statistically significant difference between them.4

A 2024 Cochrane review of 34 trials, which mixed lozenges with other forms such as nasal sprays and syrups, estimated from its 8 treatment trials with 972 people that colds treated with zinc may run about 2.37 days shorter.14 Results vary by setting, though, and in a 2020 placebo-controlled trial in Finland, in which 88 of the 253 people enrolled caught a cold, 13 mg zinc acetate lozenges taken six times a day for 5 days didn't speed recovery compared with placebo.30 Lozenges are a treatment for a cold you already have, and in the Cochrane review's 9 prevention trials with 1,449 people, those taking zinc every day were about 7% less likely to catch a cold, a gap small enough that it may be chance.14 Even so, I keep zinc in my cold-season plan as one part of the defenses you build, alongside vitamin C and vitamin D, good sleep, exercise and time outdoors.31

I follow the same early timing when I'm sick, typically taking 60 mg of zinc twice a day for the first three days, and in my prescriptions for the common cold, I recommend 30 mg three to four times a day.3132 Both come to about 90 to 120 mg of zinc a day, against the 80 to 92 mg a day used in the lozenge trials, where the lozenges dissolved slowly in the mouth, so pick one route, the lozenges or a zinc supplement, rather than both: start at the first scratchy throat, keep the higher amounts to those first few days, then go back to your everyday 15 to 30 mg.313243

How to choose a zinc lozenge

Pick lozenges made with zinc acetate or zinc gluconate, and read the ingredient list before you buy. Citric acid and tartaric acid bind zinc ions, so lozenges that contain them release little or no free zinc, and in the 7-trial review, most lozenges on the market seemed to have either too little zinc or a zinc-binding ingredient like citric acid.4 Let each lozenge dissolve slowly instead of chewing it, take one every 2 to 3 hours while you're awake, and start within 24 hours of your first symptoms.928

Zinc fits beside the rest of your cold kit, from elderberry syrup to the other natural cold remedies we cover. Keeping a box of the right lozenges in the cupboard before the holidays means you can start the same day a cold shows up.

Signs you may be low in zinc

Frequent infections, slow wound healing, fading taste or smell, hair loss, acne and low testosterone are the classic signs that your body is running low on zinc, and our full guide to zinc deficiency walks through each one.2 If a few of these sound familiar, look at the causes below, because they're ones you can work on.

The root causes I look for are meals built on grains and beans that were never soaked or sprouted, chronic stress, high copper, long-term use of acid blockers or antacids, and heavy drinking.2 Gut conditions such as Crohn's disease and celiac disease cut how much zinc you absorb, and needs climb during pregnancy and breastfeeding.1

To find out where you stand, I prefer an RBC zinc test, which measures the zinc inside your red blood cells, over the standard serum test.2 Serum zinc shifts with the time of day, recent meals and infection, so a single reading can mislead you.1

Which foods are high in zinc?

Our list of foods high in zinc ranks many more, and the table below covers the everyday ones.19

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central records (FDC IDs 170615, 168608, 173847, 168627, 174314, 170148, 173757, 172421, 170557 and 170162) at the serving weights shown; the daily value for zinc is 11 mg.19

Animal foods give you the most usable zinc.1 When red meat is on your plate, keep it fresh, unprocessed and grass-fed. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies processed meat as Group 1, carcinogenic to humans, and red meat as Group 2A, probably carcinogenic.33 As I've said on my show, the studies that link red meat to poor health mostly reflect grain-fed and processed meat, not the fresh, grass-fed red meat I recommend.34

Beef liver brings zinc together with a large dose of copper, about 12.4 mg in 3 ounces.19 It's also one of the richest foods in B vitamins and iron, and I recommend about 3 ounces once a week, unless your bloodwork shows vitamin A running high.

Plant foods carry zinc too, but grains, beans, nuts and seeds also contain phytic acid, one of the antinutrients that binds zinc in your gut.1 I recommend soaking, sprouting and fermenting them, because that lowers the phytic acid and frees up more of the zinc, iron, calcium and magnesium they carry, so a pot of soaked chickpeas or sprouted lentils gives you more usable zinc than the same beans cooked straight from the bag.3

Oysters top most zinc charts, but they're shellfish, and I follow the fins-and-scales standard for seafood from the biblical diet, so I build zinc on beef, lamb and pumpkin seeds instead.

Zinc supplements and pills: which form, how much and when

A zinc pill tops up the zinc your diet supplies, so your immune cells, skin, gut lining and hormones have what they need, and it's most useful when your meals run light on zinc-rich foods or a test shows you're low.2 Zinc comes as small tablets and capsules, as lozenges you dissolve in your mouth and as liquid drops, and the label lists the zinc compound along with the elemental zinc, the amount of zinc itself in each serving, which is the number to dose by.

Take your zinc with a meal, and keep it apart from calcium and iron supplements, since 25 mg or more of iron taken at the same time lowers how much zinc you absorb.21 If you take a multivitamin, check its label for zinc first and count it in your daily total.

Pair long-term zinc with copper

Zinc and copper compete for absorption in your gut, and taking 50 mg or more of zinc a day for weeks can pull your copper down.1

That's why, for long-term use, I pair zinc with 1 to 2 mg of copper.2 When you can, let food bring the two together, and I'd point you to pumpkin seed butter before a supplement, because food brings along the co-factors that help your body absorb and use both minerals, and an ounce of roasted pumpkin seeds carries 0.36 mg of copper with its 2.2 mg of zinc.3519 For more ideas, see these foods high in copper, and our guide to copper deficiency explains the other side of the balance.

How much zinc per day?

Recommended Dietary Allowances and the adult upper limit from the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements.1

These are the amounts most adults need to stay out of deficiency, and food can cover them, since 3 ounces of braised beef chuck alone brings 6.6 mg.119 Vegetarians may need as much as 50% more, because phytate in plant foods lowers how much zinc they absorb.1

When you need more than food provides, my everyday range is 15 to 30 mg a day of zinc picolinate, citrate or glycinate, with no more than 50 mg a day long term, the dose Dr. Will Cole and I give for immune health in Heal Your Cells.3 A cold calls for a different, short plan: a lozenge every 2 to 3 hours while you're awake for the first few days, as the cold section lays out.49

Zinc-rich recipes for cold season and every day

Cooking with zinc-rich foods is the simplest way to cover your daily zinc, and fall makes it easy, with lamb and beef stews back on the stove and fresh seeds coming out of the pumpkins you carve. These five recipes bring zinc-rich foods to the table, and four of them build on foods from the table above:

• Garlic lamb roast: Lean roasted lamb leg has 4.2 mg of zinc in 3 ounces, and this roast makes a Sunday dinner with leftovers for the week.19
• Crockpot beef stew: Braised beef chuck is the richest food in the table, at 6.6 mg of zinc in 3 ounces, and a slow cooker turns it tender while you're out.19
• Herbed turkey breast: A Thanksgiving-ready centerpiece that adds lean protein to the holiday table.
• Spicy pumpkin seeds: An ounce of roasted pumpkin seeds gives you 2.2 mg of zinc, and this is the snack to make the night you carve your pumpkins.19
• Slow cooker bison chili: Grass-fed bison brings 4.5 mg of zinc in 3 ounces, and chili is a cold-night meal the whole family will eat.19

For mornings, this smoothie is built around a tablespoon of sprouted pumpkin seed butter, the same addition I sometimes give the men I work with.26

Coconut milk gives the smoothie a creamy base, and each tablespoon of hemp seeds adds about 1 mg of zinc.19

Zinc side effects and how much is too much

Copper loss at high doses. Taking 50 mg or more of zinc a day for weeks can lower your copper, and low copper can bring on anemia and nerve symptoms.138 In an audit of 70 patients prescribed zinc, 62% were on doses high enough to cause copper deficiency, yet copper had been checked in only 2 of them.38 Pair long-term use with copper as the copper section describes.2

How much is too much. The upper limit for adults is 40 mg of zinc a day from food and supplements combined.1 The sick-day lozenge courses on this page run higher, so keep them to the first few days of a cold.

Stomach upset and taste. Too much zinc can cause nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, diarrhea, headaches and loss of appetite.1 Lozenges often leave a bad taste, and mild side effects were more common on zinc than on placebo in the cold trials.1430 Take daily zinc with a meal, and if it still bothers your stomach, lower the dose or split it in two.

Never put zinc in your nose. Zinc gluconate nasal gel has caused loss of smell, so use lozenges, tablets or capsules only.39

Pregnancy, breastfeeding and children. During pregnancy and breastfeeding, aim for the daily amounts in the dosage table, mostly from food, and confirm any supplement dose with your OB.1 For children, use the dose their pediatrician gives.

The bottom line

Zinc: frequently asked questions

References

1. Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health. Zinc: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. Updated January 6, 2026.
2. Axe J. The 25 Root-Cause Bloodwork Markers That Matter Most. DrAxe.com protocol. 2026 (Marker 14, RBC zinc: what zinc does, the signs and root causes of low zinc, and actions: beef, lamb, pumpkin seeds; 15 to 30 mg zinc picolinate with food; 1 to 2 mg copper for long-term use; take away from calcium and iron. Marker 16, copper-to-zinc ratio).
3. Axe J, Cole W. Heal Your Cells. Avery; 2026 (Reversing Immune Age: Top Supplements and Herbs for Immune Health, #3 Zinc: dosage and forms; and on lowering phytic acid by sprouting and fermenting).
4. Hemilä H. Zinc lozenges and the common cold: a meta-analysis comparing zinc acetate and zinc gluconate, and the role of zinc dosage. JRSM Open. 2017;8(5):2054270417694291. doi:10.1177/2054270417694291. PMID:28515951
5. Axe J. Complete Guide to Healing Leaky Gut Naturally. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2026 (zinc as the immune and repair mineral, at 38:40; zinc carnosine at 75 mg twice daily and his patients, at 38:47; YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y4g5CgMDoU).
6. Prasad AS. Discovery of human zinc deficiency: its impact on human health and disease. Adv Nutr. 2013;4(2):176-90. doi:10.3945/an.112.003210. PMID:23493534
7. Hemilä H, Petrus EJ, Fitzgerald JT, Prasad A. Zinc acetate lozenges for treating the common cold: an individual patient data meta-analysis. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2016;82(5):1393-1398. doi:10.1111/bcp.13057. PMID:27378206
8. Prasad AS, Beck FW, Bao B, Fitzgerald JT, Snell DC, Steinberg JD, et al. Zinc supplementation decreases incidence of infections in the elderly: effect of zinc on generation of cytokines and oxidative stress. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007;85(3):837-44. doi:10.1093/ajcn/85.3.837. PMID:17344507
9. Prasad AS, Fitzgerald JT, Bao B, Beck FW, Chandrasekar PH. Duration of symptoms and plasma cytokine levels in patients with the common cold treated with zinc acetate. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Ann Intern Med. 2000;133(4):245-52. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-133-4-200008150-00006. PMID:10929163
10. Prasad AS, Mantzoros CS, Beck FW, Hess JW, Brewer GJ. Zinc status and serum testosterone levels of healthy adults. Nutrition. 1996;12(5):344-8. doi:10.1016/s0899-9007(96)80058-x. PMID:8875519
11. Dhaliwal S, Nguyen M, Vaughn AR, Notay M, Chambers CJ, Sivamani RK. Effects of Zinc Supplementation on Inflammatory Skin Diseases: A Systematic Review of the Clinical Evidence. Am J Clin Dermatol. 2020;21(1):21-39. doi:10.1007/s40257-019-00484-0. PMID:31745908
12. Wang X, Wu W, Zheng W, Fang X, Chen L, Rink L, et al. Zinc supplementation improves glycemic control for diabetes prevention and management: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Am J Clin Nutr. 2019;110(1):76-90. doi:10.1093/ajcn/nqz041. PMID:31161192
13. Age-Related Eye Disease Study Research Group. A randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial of high-dose supplementation with vitamins C and E, beta carotene, and zinc for age-related macular degeneration and vision loss: AREDS report no. 8. Arch Ophthalmol. 2001;119(10):1417-36. doi:10.1001/archopht.119.10.1417. PMID:11594942
14. Nault D, Machingo TA, Shipper AG, Antiporta DA, Hamel C, Nourouzpour S, et al. Zinc for prevention and treatment of the common cold. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2024;5(5):CD014914. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD014914.pub2. PMID:38719213
15. Wilkinson EA. Oral zinc for arterial and venous leg ulcers. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012;(8):CD001273. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD001273.pub2. PMID:22895918
16. Sturniolo GC, Di Leo V, Ferronato A, D'Odorico A, D'Incà R. Zinc supplementation tightens "leaky gut" in Crohn's disease. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2001;7(2):94-8. doi:10.1097/00054725-200105000-00003. PMID:11383597
17. Lazzerini M, Wanzira H. Oral zinc for treating diarrhoea in children. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016;12(12):CD005436. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD005436.pub5. PMID:27996088
18. Lin PH, Sermersheim M, Li H, Lee PHU, Steinberg SM, Ma J. Zinc in Wound Healing Modulation. Nutrients. 2017;10(1):16. doi:10.3390/nu10010016. PMID:29295546
19. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central (SR Legacy, 2019): Beef, chuck, arm pot roast, separable lean only, trimmed to 0" fat, choice, cooked, braised (FDC 170615); Beef, grass-fed, ground, raw (FDC 168608); Bison, ground, grass-fed, cooked (FDC 173847); Lamb, leg, whole (shank and sirloin), separable lean only, trimmed to 1/4" fat, choice, cooked, roasted (FDC 174314); Beef, variety meats and by-products, liver, cooked, pan-fried (FDC 168627); Seeds, pumpkin and squash seed kernels, roasted, without salt (FDC 170557); Seeds, hemp seed, hulled (FDC 170148); Nuts, cashew nuts, raw (FDC 170162); Chickpeas (garbanzo beans, bengal gram), mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt (FDC 173757); Lentils, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt (FDC 172421); Egg, whole, cooked, hard-boiled (FDC 173424).
20. Barnett JB, Dao MC, Hamer DH, Kandel R, Brandeis G, Wu D, et al. Effect of zinc supplementation on serum zinc concentration and T cell proliferation in nursing home elderly: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2016;103(3):942-51. doi:10.3945/ajcn.115.115188. PMID:26817502
21. Hulisz D. Efficacy of zinc against common cold viruses: an overview. J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2004;44(5):594-603. doi:10.1331/1544-3191.44.5.594.hulisz. PMID:15496046
22. Yee BE, Richards P, Sui JY, Marsch AF. Serum zinc levels and efficacy of zinc treatment in acne vulgaris: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Dermatol Ther. 2020;33(6):e14252. doi:10.1111/dth.14252. PMID:32860489
23. Axe J. Skin Care Mistakes That Are Aging Your Skin (and Wrecking Your Hormones). The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2025 (zinc alone and copper, at 35:25; acne cleared by diet for some patients and by zinc for others, at 54:01; YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsKuJ9EWueY).
24. Dreno B, Moyse D, Alirezai M, Amblard P, Auffret N, Beylot C, et al. Multicenter randomized comparative double-blind controlled clinical trial of the safety and efficacy of zinc gluconate versus minocycline hydrochloride in the treatment of inflammatory acne vulgaris. Dermatology. 2001;203(2):135-40. doi:10.1159/000051728. PMID:11586012
25. Pareek A, Bhatnagar N. Physico-chemical characterization of traditionally prepared Yashada bhasma. J Ayurveda Integr Med. 2020;11(3):228-235. doi:10.1016/j.jaim.2018.11.004. PMID:30962052
26. Axe J. Women NEED to Know This Before Getting on HRT. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2026 (pumpkin seeds, high in zinc, for testosterone production, at 33:51; an eating plan for the men he takes care of and sprouted pumpkin seed butter in a morning smoothie, at 34:14; YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcPa3Wnl_CI).
27. Axe J. Healing Leaky Gut Protocol: The 30-Day System. DrAxe.com protocol. 2026. Supplement stack (zinc carnosine 75 mg twice daily with food).
28. Hemilä H, Fitzgerald JT, Petrus EJ, Prasad A. Zinc Acetate Lozenges May Improve the Recovery Rate of Common Cold Patients: An Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2017;4(2):ofx059. doi:10.1093/ofid/ofx059. PMID:28480298
29. Prasad AS, Beck FW, Bao B, Snell D, Fitzgerald JT. Duration and severity of symptoms and levels of plasma interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor, and adhesion molecules in patients with common cold treated with zinc acetate. J Infect Dis. 2008;197(6):795-802. doi:10.1086/528803. PMID:18279051
30. Hemilä H, Haukka J, Alho M, Vahtera J, Kivimäki M. Zinc acetate lozenges for the treatment of the common cold: a randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open. 2020;10(1):e031662. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2019-031662. PMID:31980506
31. Axe J. How to Prevent & Heal Cold & Flu Naturally (Foods, Supplements, & Herbs for Rapid Recovery). The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2024 (his sick-day zinc dose, 60 mg twice a day for the first three days, at 31:30; preventive supplements through fall and winter, vitamin C, zinc and vitamin D, with sleep, exercise and time outdoors, at 33:41; YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw-cciZ5TTY).
32. Axe J. Ancient Remedies: Secrets to Healing with Herbs, Essential Oils, CBD, and the Most Powerful Natural Medicine in History. Little, Brown Spark; 2021 (Prescriptions for 70+ Conditions: Common cold, p. 231).
33. Bouvard V, Loomis D, Guyton KZ, Grosse Y, Ghissassi FE, Benbrahim-Tallaa L, et al. Carcinogenicity of consumption of red and processed meat. Lancet Oncol. 2015;16(16):1599-600. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(15)00444-1. PMID:26514947
34. Axe J. 10 Biblical Superfoods That Can Add Years to Your Life. The Dr. Josh Axe Show, Episode 393. 2026 (grass-fed versus grain-fed and processed red meat, at 21:03).
35. Axe J. Top 10 Reasons You're Not Healing. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2025 (zinc and copper together from pumpkin seed butter, with their co-factors, at 16:33; YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjU77gf__x4).
36. Polk RE, Healy DP, Sahai J, Drwal L, Racht E. Effect of ferrous sulfate and multivitamins with zinc on absorption of ciprofloxacin in normal volunteers. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1989;33(11):1841-4. doi:10.1128/AAC.33.11.1841. PMID:2610494
37. Penttilä O, Hurme H, Neuvonen PJ. Effect of zinc sulphate on the absorption of tetracycline and doxycycline in man. Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 1975;9(2-3):131-4. doi:10.1007/BF00614009. PMID:786686
38. Duncan A, Yacoubian C, Watson N, Morrison I. The risk of copper deficiency in patients prescribed zinc supplements. J Clin Pathol. 2015;68(9):723-5. doi:10.1136/jclinpath-2014-202837. PMID:26085547
39. Davidson TM, Smith WM. The Bradford Hill criteria and zinc-induced anosmia: a causality analysis. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2010;136(7):673-6. doi:10.1001/archoto.2010.111. PMID:20644061
40. Yu X, Huang L, Zhao J, Wang Z, Yao W, Wu X, et al. The Relationship between Serum Zinc Level and Heart Failure: A Meta-Analysis. Biomed Res Int. 2018;2018:2739014. doi:10.1155/2018/2739014. PMID:29682528
41. Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health. Zinc: Fact Sheet for Consumers. Updated October 4, 2022.

Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CNS

Doctor of Natural Medicine · Founder, DrAxe.com

Dr. Axe is a certified doctor of natural medicine, clinical nutritionist, and multiple New York Times bestselling author. He has spent 20+ years in clinical practice helping people heal at the root cause and founded one of the most-visited natural-health platforms in the world.

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