Frequent muscle twitching after supplementing 25 mg Zinc Picolinate

[Yasin]

Hi,

I hope you're all well.

I began supplementing 25 mg Zinc Picolinate daily back in June 2021 and noticed positive effects, such as higher libido, higher energy, drive, motivation and more benefits. However, after a month and a half of supplementing, I noticed that I was having frequent muscle twitching on a daily basis which did not occur prior to supplementation. My left hand index finger, hand muscles, calves, deltoids, triceps etcetera all started twitching frequently. I also noticed more physical anxiety e.g. jitteriness, nervousness and racing heart rate.

I have stopped supplementation for 3 weeks now and have seen some improvement of this issue. The muscle twitching does not occur as frequently but does occur more than before I first began supplementation. The physical anxiety symptoms seem to have reduced significantly.

What nutritional deficiencies that may have been caused by 25 mg Zinc Picolinate is causing these muscle twitching incidents?

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[Vinero]

Zinc supplements deplete Copper. I did this to myself too with taking zinc daily. Zinc worked great when I first started taking it. But the longer you take it the benefits stop. I eventually would get anxiety and panic from zinc, along with symptoms of anemia. I would stop the zinc supplement completely and eat some shellfish like squid or crab which are high in copper. Other foods which contain copper are potatoes, dark chocolate, mushrooms, cashew nuts but the quantity of copper depends on the soil. I notice very good effects from eating squid.

 

[Yasin]

Zinc supplements deplete Copper. I did this to myself too with taking zinc daily. Zinc worked great when I first started taking it. But the longer you take it the benefits stop. I eventually would get anxiety and panic from zinc, along with symptoms of anemia. I would stop the zinc supplement completely and eat some shellfish like squid or crab which are high in copper. Other foods which contain copper are potatoes, dark chocolate, mushrooms, cashew nuts but the quantity of copper depends on the soil. I notice very good effects from eating squid.

@Vinero Thanks for your advice.

Did you also notice that you was more socially anxious when you had the zinc induced copper deficiency?

I have noticed that my heart rate still speeds up unecessarily when being in a place with lots of people e.g. gatherings, classes etcetera. I also have annoying feelings that people are looking at me when sitting in crowded places. I didn't get this before.

 

[Vinero]

I don't know about social anxiety but zinc can cause heart problems by depleting copper. I would really stop the zinc supplements and just get zinc from food.
There are multiple threads here on the ray peat forum were people have messed themselves up from too much zinc depleting copper.
Here is an example from another thread:

Zinc Causing Extreme Reactions. Help

Back in 2017, I induced a copper deficiency from several months of high zinc supplementation. I discovered the copper deficiency this year and began copper supplementation. My copper levels are back in normal range. The copper supplement has helped tremendously with my anxiety, muscle twitching...

raypeatforum.com

 

[Peatness]

Although the dose you were taking is quite low If you were low in magnesium supplementing zinc may have exacerbated that deficiency

Inhibitory effects of zinc on magnesium balance and magnesium absorption in man - PubMed

Zn supplements of 142 mg/day decreased Mg absorption and the Mg balance significantly during all Ca intakes for the three groups combined.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

I think zinc can also lower sodium

 

[Razvan]

I think you must've red about zinc benefits from some dudes in here that are anti-copper and they say that lowers histamine/androgens and causes health issues. These are all bullshits as copper is one of the most important nutrient that there is and doing so much zinc will cause damage by lowering copper. Copper is absolutely beneficial,after mushrooms and liver you will be the most sociable. Even Ray Peat has an article on copper.

 

[youngsinatra]

You can only absorb roughly 7mg of elemental zinc at one time, because of the limited capacity of the zinc-transporter saturation, which resets roughly every 5 hours. I doubt that such a zinc dose causes any problem with copper, except if your diet is really low in copper to begin with.
Maybe it's not the zinc, but the supplement itself or the form of the zinc supplement. (Ray Peat isn't a fan of picolinate itself and Chris Masterjohn PhD does not recommend picolinate specifically!)

The RDI of copper can easily be met with fruits, organ meats, mushrooms, potatoes, while zinc is much more difficult to get enough of into the diet as it is found in red meat and oysters almost exclusively in good quantities. I'd recommend dropping the zinc supplement, and start eating red meat or oysters regularly instead for zinc.

 

[PaRa]

I think you must've red about zinc benefits from some dudes in here that are anti-copper and they say that lowers histamine/androgens and causes health issues. These are all bullshits as copper is one of the most important nutrient that there is and doing so much zinc will cause damage by lowering copper. Copper is absolutely beneficial,after mushrooms and liver you will be the most sociable. Even Ray Peat has an article on copper.

hey bro,
like we’re all different, I never wanted to be so desappreciating about copper but fact is that some people are in fact overlod with copper, some the contrary

copper is important yeah, but zinc too, even iron

and yes peat as an Article on copper



just like peat is pro mead acid claiming that they are better than some pufas and so on, while mead acid are just as easily oxidized as some of these pufas

IME redsun advices were the best I followed, better than some of peat (iron, zinc via beef, lower copper intake, higher histamine state, carbs as starches, even some fatty fish, some eggs when I want them, fruits and dairy are still there but they don’t make the basis of my diet anymore)


everyone Has biases, people have to find what works the best for them, it’s not always the more zinc way, sometimes it’s more copper, sometimes more calcium, sometimes more an other thing etc


Razvan i learnt a lot from you, maybe I could even learn more, keep in mind the debating view, not a conflict, nothing personal


as for the OP, sorry I didn’t read the thread yet, I’ll do and see if I judge that I can be constr or not

 

[Razvan]

hey bro,
like we’re all different, I never wanted to be so desappreciating about copper but fact is that some people are in fact overlod with copper, some the contrary

copper is important yeah, but zinc too, even iron

and yes peat as an Article on copper



just like peat is pro mead acid claiming that they are better than some pufas and so on, while mead acid are just as easily oxidized as some of these pufas

IME redsun advices were the best I followed, better than some of peat (iron, zinc via beef, lower copper intake, higher histamine state, carbs as starches, even some fatty fish, some eggs when I want them, fruits and dairy are still there but they don’t make the basis of my diet anymore)


everyone Has biases, people have to find what works the best for them, it’s not always the more zinc way, sometimes it’s more copper, sometimes more calcium, sometimes more an other thing etc


Razvan i learnt a lot from you, maybe I could even learn more, keep in mind the debating view, not a conflict, nothing personal


as for the OP, sorry I didn’t read the thread yet, I’ll do and see if I judge that I can be constr or not

Fair enough,very well put. What starches do you eat?

 

[PaRa]

Fair enough,very well put. What starches do you eat?

well mostly welk cooked ripe plantains (and it’s quite rich in folates !) and white sweet potatoes
and some classic potatoes

occasionnaly I will have white rice with well cooked greens (mostly brocoli bc i like it, only veggie that I like tho, don’t know why, sometime spinach) if I eat with family
tomatoes too

theses starches are eaten with lean beef (90% of the time) or extra lean chicken, may try lamb one day tho
1-3 times a week some fatty salmon
occasional shrimp
Quite often pineapple when I find good ones

i even did some well cooked oats and einkorn sourdough that surprisingly went quite well ( tho I think that coffee is a plus with wheat and so on)

so basically it’s 2/3 meals meat and starches, 1/3 is dairy and fruits (hello skyr, coconut milk and fresh dates combo or chocolated milk as snack)


egg If I crave it but rarely


basically it’s a low fat (not event 60g quite balanced between sfa and MUFA + little pufa) high carb medium/high protein

supps are
sometimes a B complex ,
and I take 400ui vit E ED, more if lots of fatty fish
taurine and some magnesium citrate before sleep
Some Vit D on days I don’t have dairy

did Quit caffeine cold turke, after like 10-12 days of struggle I don’t need it at all, and one cup took in the early afternoon may make sleep harder lol
i like having some redbull tho, it’s quite clean, tastes great and the B3+ caffein just smash serotonin already quite low with highish histamine state (confindence goes thru the roof and workout are awesome)


but I think that starches works best for me because I need a ton of salt (30-40g a day, otherwise im freezing, I have cystic fibrosis so I don’t retain salt well at all) and it’s just impossible to do so with dairy and fruits only, and I crave beef meat a lot (iron and zinc) and always found that liver (wether chicken beef etc) was the worst tasting ***t, makes me vomit








OP I would say to drop the zinc too yes and take a look on your electrolytes

be sure to get them all (calcium magnesium potassium and salt and consume carbs, drink something too, not overshoot it tho but can’t harms, reduce diuretics and caffeine maybe)

 

[camagunn]

Zinc picolinate doesn't work. When I had bad skin, it didn't help, whereas Zinc Gluconate did. Chris Masterjohn has shown that it likely greatly increases your urinary output if zinc. I did feel like it made me urinate more frequently when taking it.