Zinc Supplement

Jin7

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Okay, so I'm a 20-year old college student who's been experiencing diffused hair loss for a couple of years now, to the point where a receding hairline is definitely starting to become noticeable. It's also been accompanied by a flaky scalp, which got me thinking about whether it was a hereditary problem or some sort of a nutritional deficiency. I'm a vegetarian, and I can also confidently say that I haven't been eating as well I should since starting college (which is also when the hair loss began!).

Besides trying to maintain a more well-balanced diet, I also recently learned about the importance of zinc (which is severely lacking in my poor vegetarian meals) to proper hair growth, and started taking a 50 mg zinc gluconate supplement. It's been a month, and I don't know if it's just me looking for results or not, but I'm actually starting to look more like my 18-year old self (it's sad, I know, for someone to already be thinking like this). My only problem is that even though I would gladly continue taking this supplement for as long as possible, is it safe to do so? I know that although zinc is very beneficial for our bodies, it can also be harmful if too much is taken in. But I don't think I'm getting much to begin with (outside of freakin' breakfast cereal), so I really don't know what to do.
 

Vox

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Jin7 said:
My only problem is that even though I would gladly continue taking this supplement for as long as possible, is it safe to do so? I know that although zinc is very beneficial for our bodies, it can also be harmful if too much is taken in. But I don't think I'm getting much to begin with (outside of freakin' breakfast cereal), so I really don't know what to do.

50 mg is fairly high. Although the recommendations vary, most agree that one should not exceed 40 mg per day and this not for prolonged periods of time, because it will start messing with the copper metabolism. The recommended quantities are in the range 15-22 mg per day and as a vegetarian you should absolutely take as much. Especially if you are sexually active.

If you believe that you are not eating well, you could also consider some supplement with the B-vitamins complex. But regarding zinc, you should also choose a better formula from a bioavailability point of view. The one you use now (gluconate) is not the best you will find today. For example you could take zinc citrate, picolinate or methionine.

The fact that you noticed differences after taking zinc means that you were deficient. My suggestion would be to keep it at ~15 mg/day and for limited periods (for example during winter, when we most need a strong immune system) to increase it up to 22 mg/day, preferably combined with other antioxydants.
 

Ryan Curtis

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Dosage is definitely as issue. Take too much and it will screw your body metabolism. For someone like you, it's best if you discontinue taking 50mg of zinc and opt for taking lower doses in the long run.

With each serving you'll get 30mg of zinc picolinate, which I feel is a safe bet for you! Hope this helps.
 

neddy2016

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You can buy a natural DHT supplement and they say you should take 2 tabs of 23mg zinc with some other vitamins like saw palmetto and Biotin.

I did take it for a while but was always worried about the idea of over doing Zinc
 

worm

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Okay, so I'm a 20-year old college student who's been experiencing diffused hair loss for a couple of years now, to the point where a receding hairline is definitely starting to become noticeable. It's also been accompanied by a flaky scalp, which got me thinking about whether it was a hereditary problem or some sort of a nutritional deficiency. I'm a vegetarian, and I can also confidently say that I haven't been eating as well I should since starting college (which is also when the hair loss began!).

Besides trying to maintain a more well-balanced diet, I also recently learned about the importance of zinc (which is severely lacking in my poor vegetarian meals) to proper hair growth, and started taking a 50 mg zinc gluconate supplement. It's been a month, and I don't know if it's just me looking for results or not, but I'm actually starting to look more like my 18-year old self (it's sad, I know, for someone to already be thinking like this). My only problem is that even though I would gladly continue taking this supplement for as long as possible, is it safe to do so? I know that although zinc is very beneficial for our bodies, it can also be harmful if too much is taken in. But I don't think I'm getting much to begin with (outside of freakin' breakfast cereal), so I really don't know what to do.


I have taken zinc for more than 20 years, which i believe has an impact on your scalp. I would suggest 15-25mgs of zinc picolinate. I used gluconate for ages, dont waste your time with it.

On a side note, it sounds like my experience from 20 years ago.

Feel free to read my thread - zix was my ultimate solution (mixing zinc and b6 together).

https://www.hairlosstalk.com/intera...ce-how-b6-and-zinc-have-saved-my-hair.101629/
 
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