Zinc Deficiency And Diffused Unpatterned Balding

[FilthyFrancis]

I am sharing my post, after commenting on a wrong female thread on HairLossTalk.com:

I am a 25yo man, who's been shedding for 4 years now, following an unusual pattern: I am shedding everywhere, donor area included (could be DUPA).

After one year of unsuccesful 5mg daily oral minoxidil, my new tricho asked for blood tests to be performed. He claimed it was unusual to see oral minoxidil not yielding results and that my hair loss was most likely not Androgenetic Alopecia.

Here are the blood test results, in short:

• My zinc level is very low (9,31 umol/L) despite a 45 mg daily intake of zinc citrate. The reference range is 9.18 to 18.4 umol/L.
• Everything else seems fine - at reference range average (copper, selenium, vitamin D, vitamin B, ferritin, thyroid).
• I have low gamma GT (9 U/L vs a reference range at [8 - 61] U/L).
• Also had high direct bilirubin (4.9 mg/L vs <3 mg/L as a reference) but I am confident the latter was due to my saw palmetto intake destroying my liver (that I discontinued since).

I am concerned about the zinc situation. Despite high daily intakes, the amount of zinc in my blood remains very low. I started supplementing zinc a month ago, but at least 15 days prior to the blood test.

A HairLossTalk.com user, badhabiz, suggested switching to a more absorbable form, like picolinate or better bislycinate, and considering taking boron (2weeks on 1 off) and copper (4mg every 50mg of zinc) with it.

He also invited me to reconsider my diet as it heavily influences zinc absorption. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10801947) : "Phytate, which is present in staple foods like cereals, corn and rice, has a strong negative effect on zinc absorption from composite meals."

I am sure my diet plays its bit in this disbalance. However, I have a low-carb diet as I barely eat any cereals. I mostly rely on fruits/veggies and proteins (both animal and vegetarian). I don't think I have much calcium in my diet either as I don't drink milk or eat yoghurts.

Has anyone ever faced a similar situation?

In any case, I sent my blood results to my tricho, who initially asked for the blood test. Will update the thread with his answer.

 

[badhabiz]

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/nure.12105
have a look of table 4 (page 14/19)
other than phytates
zinc absoption is inhibited by some vegs, and addition of milk/yogurt to a plant based diet like yours is a good idea (close to zinc intake).

unf envitonmental pollution tend to decrease zinc levels to those who are sensitive to it.

supplement high quality zinc.

hope it helps

 

[FilthyFrancis]

No news from the tricho yet, but I met with my general practitioner today.

He claims ZInc blood test are inaccurate as zinc level is highly volatile, from an hour to the next. As a matter of fact, the French social security stopped bearing costs linked to zinc blood tests, and labs are now charging 100% on your ***.

I am waiting for my tricho's feedback and will update this thread accordingly.

 

[FilthyFrancis]

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/nure.12105
have a look of table 4 (page 14/19)
other than phytates
zinc absoption is inhibited by some vegs, and addition of milk/yogurt to a plant based diet like yours is a good idea (close to zinc intake)

Thanks for the support man.

Meanwhile, hair keeps shedding and fina is out of question for me. I am considering microneedling + zix. The fact that this solution is made with zinc sulfate makes me think it could only do good on my scalp.

 

[badhabiz]

No news from the tricho yet, but I met with my general practitioner today.

He claims ZInc blood test are inaccurate as zinc level is highly volatile, from an hour to the next. As a matter of fact, the French social security stopped bearing costs linked to zinc blood tests, and labs are now charging 100% on your ***.

I am waiting for my tricho's feedback and will update this thread accordingly.

he is right, problem is, if he suspects this, it very likely to be, since it is not uncommon in western society.
he should assess this by your dietary intake, urine, nails, and blood.
problem is, if he decides you're lacking in zinc, since absorption of high quality commercial zinc is not more than 23%, you need at least (or probably more) 50mg of elemental zinc (so do your math)

 

[FilthyFrancis]

he is right, problem is, if he suspects this, it very likely to be, since it is not uncommon in western society.
he should assess this by your dietary intake, urine, nails, and blood.
problem is, if he decides you're lacking in zinc, since absorption of high quality commercial zinc is not more than 23%, you need at least (or probably more) 50mg of elemental zinc (so do your math)

Sorry, I am not sure I quite understand your statement.

• Zinc blood level is indeed not a very reliable piece of data when judging deficiency of this mineral;
• Given that it is not uncommon for Westerners to be zinc-deficient, it would still be worth trying to supplement it;
• The only issue is that supplementing zinc is not that easy as I would need 50mg of elemental zinc (which would mean c. 220 mg of commercial zinc). Such tremendous amount of zinc intake would most likely unbalance other minerals.

Is that right?

If so, why would I need 50mg of elemental zinc to balance my deficiency? How did you end up with this amount?

 

[badhabiz]

my bad, if you're deficient, it is not going to unbalance anything, of course there are some minerals like copper or magnesium that compete in the same channel, so its bettere to take zinc in a different moment.
i dont know, of course, the amount you need, or if you need it, its up to your md, but commercial zinc is not elemental so better be aware that you have to supplement more than the usual dosage if you're deficient

 

[FilthyFrancis]

my bad, if you're deficient, it is not going to unbalance anything, of course there are some minerals like copper or magnesium that compete in the same channel, so its bettere to take zinc in a different moment.
i dont know, of course, the amount you need, or if you need it, its up to your md, but commercial zinc is not elemental so better be aware that you have to supplement more than the usual dosage if you're deficient

OK thanks.

I understand assessing one's zinc deficiency is not easy, considering blood level is not really reliable for this matter. I will most likely get a second blood test done by the end of the week (after having stopped my zinc citrate supplementation for a couple of days), just to check if I am way below reference range.

Chances are I will opt for zinc supplementation no matter what. I read on internet that the body does not store zinc, and therefore I understand it would be wiser to supplement thrice a day rather than the same amount in once. Is that so?

 

[badhabiz]

OK thanks.

I understand assessing one's zinc deficiency is not easy, considering blood level is not really reliable for this matter. I will most likely get a second blood test done by the end of the week (after having stopped my zinc citrate supplementation for a couple of days), just to check if I am way below reference range.

Chances are I will opt for zinc supplementation no matter what. I read on internet that the body does not store zinc, and therefore I understand it would be wiser to supplement thrice a day rather than the same amount in once. Is that so?

zinc, magnesium, calcium and iron compete for transporters in the intestine for uptake above a threshold of approximately 800mg, thats why is better to supplement in multiple moments of the day (yes human body doesnt produce or store zinc)