More on Zinc – could help migraines

In a post last August, I mentioned that zinc could possibly extend the duration of the effect of Botox. A new report by Chinese neurologists in Headache describes their findings of an inverse association between dietary zinc intake and the occurrence of migraine in American adults.

The researchers used the data from a five-year study conducted by the CDC to assess the health and nutritional status of Americans. Data were collected using a computer-assisted dietary interview system which proved to be very reliable. Over 11,000 adults were included in the analysis of zinc intake. These subjects were divided into quintiles, according to their zinc intake. The data were adjusted for various confounding factors. These included age, sex, race, ethnicity, smoking status, body mass index, and others.

People in the lowest quintile were at least 30% more likely to suffer from migraine compared to people in the other four quintiles. Associaion does not mean causation and this study does not prove that taking zinc will prevents migraines. However, a few small studies did show the benefit of taking a zinc supplement in migraine patients.

Checking your blood for zinc levels before taking a supplement would be ideal. However, there is very little downside to taking 10-25 mg of zinc daily even if you don’t know your zinc level.

Zinc is very important for the normal functioning of the immune system, it possibly prevents macular degeneration, and has many other benefits.  Taking too much zinc can cause serious side effects. The effects of zinc toxicity are mostly due to the lowering of copper levels.