Dosage · Supplement
Zinc: dosage and how to take it
8–15 mg/day.
- Overall grade
- Grade B
- Last revised
- 0
- graded outcomes
- 0
- references listed
Assembled by the app from other entries in this library. It adds no evidence of its own — follow the links to the entries it draws on.
The evidence in words
How much to take
8–15 mg/day covers requirements. For colds, ~75 mg/day of ionic zinc as lozenges, split, only during the illness. Do not take 40 mg+/day long-term without balancing copper.
Timing & separation
Take Zinc apart from: Iron (Competes with iron for absorption — take at different meals.) · Antibiotics (Chelates quinolones/tetracyclines — separate 2+ hours.)
Why the dose is what it is
Zinc stabilizes 'zinc-finger' proteins that read DNA, supports immune-cell function and wound healing, and is a cofactor in testosterone and thyroid metabolism. Zinc lozenges are thought to interfere directly with rhinovirus replication in the throat.
Bottom line
Fix a deficiency, shorten a cold with lozenges at onset — but respect the ceiling: sustained 40 mg+/day quietly drains copper.
How it is used
As the entry records it, from the studies it summarises. Not a recommendation for you — doses that suit a trial population may not suit you.
- Maintenance
- 8–15 mg/day.
- Cold
- ~75 mg/day ionic lozenges, split, during illness only.
Goes with
- ZincFull Zinc monographEvidence grade B
Related reading
Entries that share this one's tags or conditions.
- Andrographis: dosage and how to take itStandardized andrographolide at onset.Evidence grade B
- Echinacea: dosage and how to take itStandardized extract at onset.Evidence grade C
- Elderberry: dosage and how to take itStandardized syrup at onset.Evidence grade C
- Zinc for Cold duration (lozenges at onset)Evidence grade B — Form/dose sensitiveEvidence grade B
Sources
This entry lists no references of its own — it is assembled from the entries it links to, whose sources are on their pages.
Last revised . A grade is this entry's reading of the evidence, not medical advice.