Interaction · Supplement
Zinc + Iron: separate the timing
Competes with iron for absorption — take at different meals.
- Overall grade
- Grade C
- 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.
What is uncertain
Read off the same rows as above. Nothing here is added that the entry does not itself record.
The evidence in words
The interaction
Zinc and Iron — a timing interaction. Competes with iron for absorption — take at different meals.
What to do
They are fine to use in the same regimen, but not at the same time. Separate the doses (typically by 2–4 hours) so one does not block the other's absorption.
About Zinc
Zinc is an essential trace mineral and structural cofactor in hundreds of enzymes and transcription factors. Mild deficiency exists, especially in vegetarians and older adults, because phytates in grains and legumes reduce absorption.
The bigger picture
Supplement–drug and supplement–supplement interactions are the reason a stack should be read as a system, not a list. This platform's interactions graph maps them; the medication side always belongs with the person who prescribes it.
Related reading
Entries that share this one's tags or conditions.
- Iron + Caffeine: separate the timingCoffee polyphenols cut non-heme iron ~40% — separate 2 hours.Evidence grade C
- Iron + Calcium: separate the timingCalcium blunts iron uptake — split across meals.Evidence grade C
- Iron + Levothyroxine: separate the timingBinds thyroid hormone — separate by 4 hours.Evidence grade C
- Zinc + Antibiotics: separate the timingChelates quinolones/tetracyclines — separate 2+ hours.Evidence grade C
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.