Zinc Sulfate - Three Things Consumers of Natural Supplements Need to Know

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Zinc sulfate is an especially inexpensive form of zinc used in supplements. It is not especially well absorbed into the bloodstream, and it's not the idea form of zinc to use to fight the first symptoms of colds. But in skin care products, zinc sulfate is usually the best form of zinc to do the job. There are three important reasons zinc sulfate is the best form of zinc for many applications in natural health.

Zinc sulfate is the best form of zinc for treating many skin conditions.

Zinc sulfate has been used in acne remedies for over 150 years. It is used in skin treatments for controlling infections, and it's especially useful for treating stubborn skin infections that are especially severe in persons of African origin.

Dark skin contains high concentrations of melanocytes, the cells that make the pigment melanin. Any kind of immune stimulation of the skin stimulates the melanocytes to make more and more melanin as an anti-inflammatory. The melanin made by black skin can leave permanent dark spots after acne, ingrown hairs and whiskers, and a kind of infection called dermatosis papulosa nigra.

Antibiotics can trigger immune and allergic reactions that leave black spots long after the infection is gone. Zinc sulfate ointments, however, kill the germs without damaging the skin, and clinical trials find they work as effectively as many of the most commonly prescribed antibiotic medications. An additional advantage of zinc sulfate is that is does not trigger antibiotic resistance so often a problem when antibiotics are overused.

Zinc sulfate is the least expensive form of zinc for making nutritional supplements.

It is true that zinc gluconate is more completely absorbed than zinc sulfate from zinc supplements, but the difference is not very great. Formulators of nutritional products find that they spend 3 times as much for the zinc that gives their customers only 20 per cent more nutritional value. If you do not have a medically diagnosed zinc deficiency, you are just as well off if you use a cheaper supplement that is made with zinc sulfate than if you take a more expensive supplement made with zinc gluconate.

Zinc sulfate is the form of zinc used to treat ADHD in children.

Clinical researchers have found that zinc sulfate supplementation, not supplementation with any other form of zinc helps children get better control over the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than treatment with Adderall or Ritalin alone. The best dosage of zinc for treating ADHD in children is 30 milligrams of zinc as zinc sulfate every day, divided into two 15 milligram tablets. Two smaller doses get better results than one larger dose. Children who receive zinc supplements should also receive a daily supplement including 1 to 3 milligrams of copper.

Don't buy a more expensive product just because you are told it contains a more completely absorbed form of zinc. For almost all day to day applications of nutritional supplements, zinc sulfate yields results that are just as good as other forms of zinc. And when buying zinc products for the skin, look for zinc oxide in sunblock and zinc sulfate for treating infection.

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