Zinc

Different zinc preparations:

There are many forms of the essential mineral zinc including zinc orotate, zinc picolinate, zinc gluconate, zinc acetate, zinc oxide, zinc sulfate, and chelated zinc. Many of these trials show evidence of benefit for various health conditions at doses above the maximum recommended intakes. The research data based on the most positive randomized controlled trials support zinc gluconate and zinc acetate as having the greatest amount of supportive evidence for making an impact in various health conditions. The elemental zinc was believed to be bound tighter in zinc orotate and zinc citrate forms possibly reducing effectiveness of zinc treatments in some trials. (2,3) According to other sources, the best form of zinc is zinc orotate because it is the most readily absorbed by the body due to neutral charge, but the use of this form of zinc is more anecdotal and does not have evidence supported by randomized controlled trials. (1)