Zinc and Copper, working together.
Separately, zinc and copper have hundreds (if not thousands) of essential roles supporting your physical and mental performance — including...
- Supporting your cardiovascular system and maintaining your blood lipid levels
- Playing an important role in your brain and body’s stress response — supporting your mood
- Contributes to the normal function of the immune system
- Converting amino acids into usable cellular energy — supporting physical performance
- Helping to promote normal testosterone and estrogen levels
- Signalling apoptosis which normally regulates cells based on age, condition, or cell health
- Fortifying your cell membranes to reduce oxidative damage
- Playing an integral role in maintaining prostate health
And taken together, these two key minerals become even more powerful:
Bulletproof™ Zinc with Copper combines both essential trace elements in amounts proven in the latest scientific studies because together they develop a crucial antioxidant enzyme called copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD).
Don’t worry about pronouncing it — just know that this unique product of combining zinc and copper is one of your body’s primary internal defence mechanisms against oxidative stress.
Additionally, maintaining proper levels of both zinc and copper in your system can be a delicate balance — for example, you can actually deplete your copper levels by taking zinc on its own. So, consuming both micro-nutrients together, in scientifically studied amounts, can help ensure you’re getting the maximum benefit without accidentally ending up with too much of one or the other.
Vegan
The plant fiber used to make the vegetable capsules is all-natural alpha cellulose derived from the pulp of specially selected, high-grade Southern soft pine trees.
Although they are more expensive than the standard animal-sourced gelatin capsule, they offer some great benefits compared to gelatin. They’re 100% natural, vegetarian/vegan friendly, and more stable than gelatin when exposed to heat and humidity.
Do we get enough Zinc?
A full rundown of zinc and copper benefits would fill up a small book — with vital roles in everything from cardiovascular function, to hormone production, to contributing to the normal function of the immune system. In fact, zinc alone is responsible for over 300 enzymatic reactions in your body.
But even though both zinc and copper occur naturally in vegetables, fruits and meats…chances are you’re not getting enough — even if you’re following the Bulletproof Diet.
After all, nutrient depletion in modern soil is steadily driving down the vitamins and minerals you’re getting bite-for-bite compared to the produce your parents and grandparents ate (even if you buy organic). And not just a little bit — compared to a generation or two ago, copper levels in contemporary foods are as much as 75% lower than they used to be.
Meanwhile, because your body doesn’t store zinc, it needs to be replenished daily...
While the best pound-for-pound food source for zinc is oysters, you’re probably not throwing back enough oysters on the half-shell each day to make a difference, even if you like them. What about other food sources for zinc? Red meat, nuts, legumes, and whole-grains also contain zinc, but in markedly lower amounts. And you may want to avoid consuming too many nuts, legumes, and whole-grains daily for other reasons, like their high levels of phytates and other “anti-nutrients,” which can suppress zinc absorption from your diet.
The takeaway? Even if you have plates piled with fresh-grown veggies washed down with platters of Oysters Rockefeller daily, supplementing with extra zinc and copper is likely one of the easiest “quick win” upgrades you can add to your diet.
