Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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So, I started adding 25mg of zinc picolinate to my supplement regimen, and after about a week I woke up with a distinctive "zincy" taste in my mouth yesterday. I've done zinc challenges before with aqueous zinc, and when it starts to taste unbearably bitter, that supposedly means you have enough in your system. I'm wondering if I'm there and should lay off the supplement for a while.

On a side note, it did make a difference in menstrual cramping (Yay! Thank you Travis for the idea). I haven't had a lot of cramping lately, but I only felt 1 twinge, instead of the slight backache and discomfort I generally get.

edited Mar 18 2012 at 10:05

Happy Now
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asked Sep 30 2011 at 6:32

Happy Now
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	Thx for sharing cramping info. I was interested to know the results as my female often has it, although it reduced after delivery. I am not sure about zincy taste. I take 50mg daily for a few weeks was using 50mg every 2nd day for about 2 months and I don't have any zincy taste. – majkinetor Sep 30 2011 at 7:00
	I think you should use 50mg a week before next period to see if it further improves. – majkinetor Sep 30 2011 at 7:01

Travis Culp · Accepted Answer · 2011-09-30 18:48:21Z UTC

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Happy: It sounds like you were only slightly deficient. Maj and I haven't experienced that yet because we're likely far more deficient.

If I wake up soon wondering if I made out with a galvanized fence the night before, I'll know I'm topped off as well.

answered Sep 30 2011 at 18:48

Travis Culp♦
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	That is a beautiful visual...Taking a break from the zinc for now, and I'm going to wake up giggling next time that happens. – Happy Now Sep 30 2011 at 20:29
	BTW, were you ever a vegetarian? I'm guessing no, and that Maj either was or it's due to his heavy vitamin C intake, which greatly increases iron absorption to the detriment of zinc/copper. – Travis Culp♦ Sep 30 2011 at 20:37
	I was raised 99% vegetarian (with a little "medicinal calf liver" thrown into the mix), and pretty much stuck with it for 24 years, but didn't eat red meat on a regular basis until 3 years ago (I'm 35 now). I think my lack of vit. C intake at may be at play here. I hadn't sought it out at all until very recently, so maybe I'll need more zinc now that I'm supplementing C. I'm also wondering about how genotypes might play a role in mineral utilization. I'm an Apo E4 carrier, and supposedly we aren't able to remove accumulated metals in the body well: chss.gmu.edu/defenses/491 – Happy Now Sep 30 2011 at 21:22
	Huh...that's interesting. 3 years is long enough to address a deficiency without supplementation on an ancestral diet, and I always say that vegans could be healthy if we forced them to eat liver. I don't yet know what to make of that paper; I'll have to digest it for a while. – Travis Culp♦ Sep 30 2011 at 21:31

WordVixen · Answer 2 · 2012-09-19 21:51:31Z UTC

According to my mother (who isn't infallible, but was a medical journal proofreader for 19 1/2 years and recently became a nurse), you'll always know that you've had enough zinc when you start to have a metallic taste in your mouth. I've often described it as "tasting as though you've just bitten a fork".

Thanks for the reminder, btw. Travis' post about zinc was right before I went on vacation and I'd meant to look into it more when I came back.

Lutfisk · Answer 3 · 2012-03-18 19:23:28Z UTC

Once upon a time, I was eating pumpkin seeds daily for zinc, and I would just sit and eat them and they were SO GOOD. I couldn't get enough. One day I woke up and ate some and they tasted bitter. I think it was my body's way of telling me it had had enough.

Zinc taste in mouth means I’m topped off?

3 Answers