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  • A popular home-remedy for common colds is once again picking up steam.

  • It's zinc!

  • And with the cold season upon us, this supplement is flying off shelves as people try to strengthen their immune systems.

  • But is this remedy all hype, or does it actually work?

  • So before we get started, I’m going to throw out a disclaimer.

  • The jury is still out on how effective zinc is at treating any illness, including colds and even COVID.

  • What we do know is that zinc is an essential trace mineral.

  • Your body only needs tiny amounts, but it can still have big impacts on your health.

  • Zinc is involved in hundreds of essential biological reactions in the body.

  • It also aids in very important cellular processes like DNA replication, RNA transcription, and cell division.

  • The human body doesn’t make zinc, so we need to get it from our diets,

  • particularly from foods like oysters, red meat, poultry, and beans,

  • or from supplements.

  • According to the U.S. Food and Nutrition Board, the daily recommended dietary allowance of zinc

  • is 11 mg for men and 8 mg for women.

  • When we don’t have these minute amounts of zinc, our bodies don’t work properly,

  • so people who are zinc deficient are often treated with supplements.

  • But the benefits for people with normal zinc levels has remained unclear.

  • The efficacy of zinc supplements for treating the common cold has been debated as far back as the 70s,

  • when researchers observed that zinc also inhibited viral replication.

  • Armed with a better understanding of its role in immune function,

  • people began to acknowledge zinc as an essential mineral for human health.

  • Interest grew even more after a 1984 study found that zinc lozenges may be useful for treating colds,

  • but trials since then have yielded mixed results.

  • But a meta-analysis submitted in November of 2020 might help close the gap of understanding zinc’s potential benefits.

  • Researchers looked at 28 randomized controlled trials involving over 5,000 participants.

  • To get technical, they found that when zinc was taken to prevent respiratory infections,

  • participants had a 28% lower risk of developing mild symptoms

  • such as those you’d get with the common coldsneezes, sniffles, scratchy throat

  • and an 87% lower risk of developing moderately severe, flu-like symptoms, like a fever and all those aches and pains that make us feel lousy.

  • If you already have a cold, using zinc to treat it was found to clear up symptoms two days earlier

  • and reduce their severity at the peak of illness,

  • but overall, youre not in the clear,

  • as they found that the day-to-day symptom severity remained the same.

  • So how does zinc affect our immune response, anyway?

  • The immune response is divided into two parts: innate and adaptive immunity,

  • and zinc plays a role in both.

  • When infectious viruses or bacteria manage to invade the respiratory tract,

  • the innate immune system is the first line of defense.

  • It responds by sending out white blood cells to identify and eliminate the threat.

  • Zinc is vital for the normal development and function of these cells.

  • Our adaptive immune response, on the other hand, relies on the memory of specific infectious invaders in case they return.

  • B-cells manufacture antibodies to attack germs, and T-cells destroy cells infected with a virus

  • both of which are activated by zinc.

  • When you're looking for zinc supplements, youll probably come across lozenges, pills, and nasal sprays,

  • all of which the latest meta-analysis looked at.

  • But there’s so much variation between brands and their individual dosages,

  • and not enough evidence to say definitively what works.

  • Some zinc formulations even contain ingredients that undercut zinc’s effectiveness.

  • For example, certain lozenges contain citric acid, which binds to the zinc in a way that prevents the mineral from being released.

  • And while zinc supplements are accessible and convenient, it doesn’t mean theyre risk-free.

  • Even moderate doses can produce minor side effects like nausea, stomach cramping, and even a sore mouth.

  • Taking high doses for a long period of time could even lead to more severe symptoms like copper deficiency.

  • That’s because zinc and copper compete for absorption in the stomach

  • and taking too much of one leads to a deficiency in the other.

  • So there’s a lot to consider this winter seasonsome zinc may help, but maybe don’t rely on it entirely.

  • When it comes to fighting colds, the best approach may be to not over-zinc it!

A popular home-remedy for common colds is once again picking up steam.

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Does Zinc Actually Work to Fight the Flu and Cold?

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    Summer に公開 2021 年 12 月 08 日
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