Zinc Taste Test For Athletes

Learn how to do a zinc taste test for athletes conveniently at home. Contact us for help with your sports injury.
Read about how to dose a remedy here.
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Read more about the importance of zinc supplementation here!

Athletes need MORE ZINC than other people, due to the demands on their body through sports.  Order zinc picolinate 30 mg capsules from a high quality US lab here.

Under more physical stress for active athletes, under emotional stress or with toxin exposure, your zinc requirements can be about 100 mg  per day or more.

Please Note: This taste test is NOT accurate like Plasma Zinc blood test, which is the #1 way to test for zinc. But it is a helpful option to see the level of deficiency.

Directions For The Zinc Taste Test

• It is an easy, inexpensive method you can do at home.
• It is a method to assess general zinc deficiency.
• It is not as accurate like the best method, which is blood testing for plasma zinc, but it will help show a deficiency.

Option 1: Use Liquid Zinc (as zinc sulfate monohydrate)

• We recommend Zinc Challenge (zinc sulfate monohydrate) by Premier Research
• Order here: http://www.amazon.com/Designs-Health-Zinc-Challenge-Beauty/dp/B000FGXMAY

1. For accurate results, do not eat, drink (or smoke) for about one hour before the test (water is ok to drink.)
2. Using a small paper cup, take a drink of the liquid zinc sulfate solution  – approximately 1 tsp.
3. Hold and swirl it in your mouth for  exactly ten seconds.  Then spit it out.
4. Observe the taste response with the four options below.

Standards for Taste Testing

These are the four categories used for determining zinc deficiency when doing a zinc taste test:

1. VERY DEFICIENT

• Tastes like plain water; there is no specific taste.
• This means there is a serious deficiency of zinc.
• Recommended supplementation is usually more than 150 mg of zinc per day.
• Consult with a skilled Homeopath for guidance on how much to dose and what type of zinc is best absorbed.
• If you are very deficient, a full metabolic panel is recommended.

2. QUITE DEFICIENT

• No immediate taste is noticed at first, but within the ten seconds of the test a ‘dry’ or ‘metallic’ taste occurs.
• This indicates a moderate deficiency of zinc.
• Recommended zinc supplement of about 100 mg of zinc per day.
• Consult with a skilled Homeopath for guidance on how much to dose and what type of zinc is best absorbed.
• If you are very deficient, a full metabolic panel is recommended.

3. SLIGHTLY DEFICIENT

• There is an immediate slight taste is noted, which increases with time over the ten second period.
• This indicates a minor deficiency of zinc.
• Recommended zinc supplement of about 50 mg of zinc per day.
• Consult with a skilled Homeopath for guidance on how much to dose and what type of zinc is best absorbed.

4. ADEQUATE

• An immediate, strong and unpleasant taste is experienced; you feel like you want to spit out the zinc!
• This indicates that no deficiency of zinc at this time.
• These means the diet or any supplementation done is adequate
• This means no additional zinc supplementation is required at this time.

Recommended Daily Zinc Dosing

• The normal recommended daily allowance (RDA)  zinc is 30 mg for adults.
• Athletes will require more zinc!
• You can repeat this taste test every few weeks or every month to help determine how much you need, depending on your involvement in sports and level of intensity.
• This can be either obtained through diet or supplementation.
• Vegetarians tend to be low in zinc and high in copper, as they do not eat meat which is a rich food source of zinc.

Dosing Zinc In Times of Stress

• We recommend you do the zinc taste test in times of stress, especially prolonged stress.
• This includes in heavy periods of athletic work outs, games and tournaments, if there is any autoimmune disease, during colds, during and after the flu and at other stressful times for the person.

What If Too Much Zinc is Taken?

• Zinc is a water-soluble element.
• If you take more zinc than is needed, the person will feel a small intestinal discomfort.
• Reducing zinc intake will bring a person back into balance.