Iron plus zinc better for iron deficiency anemia

[B12life]

reading about zinc I came across the following article. I mean it focuses on chronic kidney desease but I found this gem of info stating that zinc combined with iron is better than iron alone. Now I'm not iron deficient. But I thought this might be interesting for those who are. Beware too much zinc over long periods of time can be toxic. (A chronic toxicity vs acute or immediate toxicity).

"In many pregnant women and infants suffering from anemia, several reports indicate that zinc supplementation combined with iron therapy can increase hemoglobin levels and improve iron indexes more than iron alone [134,135,136,137,138,139,140,141]. In addition, zinc deficiency is known to be associated with various risk factors for cardiovascular disease"

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl....

[Narwhal10]

Thanks B12life,

Saved - to read later. I do like the journal Nutrients. Not many of us have our zinc levels checked. So, I have added this :-

whittington.nhs.uk/document....

Lethargy from zinc deficiency and/or iron deficiency is not depression nor anxiety.

[B12life in reply to Narwhal10]

Thanks narwhal!!!

[Technoid]

Extracted from one of my textbooks:

"Dietary Zinc can affect plasma levels but the association is not suitable for making inferences on dietary intake, in particular since zinc levels do not always decrease following deprivation. The concentration of zinc in blood does not only depend on intake, but also on non-dietary factors, and it is subject to tight homeostatic control.

However, despite it's poor sensitivity and specificity, plasma zinc is still the most widely used biomarker of zinc status. Zinc in hair is associated with intake, and this might be an alternative biomarker, in particular for long-term exposure."

I take about 8-10mg supplemental zinc based on my tracked dietary intake and accounting for the dreaded antinutrients 😋. Up to 15mg long term supplemental zinc is likely safe and short term doses shouldn't exceed 40mg to be on the safe side. The possibility of negative effects on copper status may emerge if you exceed 40mg supplementation. If you go much higher than that again you can even impact magnesium status too, and that wouldn't be good at all.

I rate the chances of getting a zinc biomarker hair test on the NHS to be somewhere between nil and "you must be joking".

[Narwhal10 in reply to Technoid]

Thanks Technoid,

Interest to read about impact on copper status. I laughed at between nil and "you must be joking". Reminds me of nearly chuckling in the face of a doctor who thought copper deficiency was Wilson’s disease. It is an inherited disorder and copper toxicity occurs.

Our hair does tell a lot about our status. 😉

[B12life in reply to Technoid]

Good info technoid.

[HeartyGilly]

Nothing, animal or vegetable grows without zinc. I take 15mg of zinc per day and have for years. As with any chemical , the dose matters.

[BarryBuchy]

Thanks that was a very informative article.