My zinc-copper reading never changes. why?

OKCATLMAN

I noticed that no matter what my zinc-copper never changes.

hobo

Assuming daily variations it will be changing but perhaps not by much.

On the web , go to Trends, Full Report and add nutrient charts for Zinc, Copper and Energy. For me, Zinc and Copper seem to move together with Energy. On these charts it isn't easy to see differences in the Zn:Cu ratio.

To see the numbers, on the web, go to Trends, Charts and on the nutrient chart select Zinc and "export to CVS" (from the chart cogwheel). Similarly export Copper and Energy.

In Excel, calculate:

1. Calculate Zn/Energy (x1000) and Cu/Energy (x1000) giving mineral density in mg/kcal (or ug/kcal if x1000). This removes the effect of different kcal per day so you can see which days had higher or lower Zn (or Cu) density and review those diary entries to see why.
2. Calculate Zn/Cu. For me, Zn/Cu mostly ranged 3.0 to 4.8 over 4 weeks.
3. Scatter plot Zn and Cu. For me, there is a clear trend line suggesting my daily the
   proportion Zn:Cu is fairly constant.
4. Scatter plot Zn/Energy and Cu/Energy. For me, these cluster with a few outliers which suggest less usual days to review in the diary.
5. Bar chart Zn/Cu. For me, this varies within a narrow range.

The charts and numbers may point you towards days worth reviewing in your diary.

You can review the Zn/Cu ratio for specific foods in the diary by viewing their nutrition (on the web, select the food in the dairy and in the app, select the food and then "more details").

For me a vegan, foods with higher (just in range) Zn/Cu included:

• Brown rice
• Oats

and with lower (below range) Zn/Cu included:

• Fruits, e.g. Apples, Bananas
• Most of the vegetables
• Seeds, e.g. sunflower, sesame
• Nuts, e.g. Brazil, Almonds, Hazel, Pecan.

If I lived on brown rice and oats my Zn/Cu would be on target but the other foods are dragging it down. Tough call!

Which vegan foods have high Zn/Cu ratio especially ones above the target range? Maybe the Oracle could allow searching on Zn/Cu and Cu/Zn nutrient (ratios)?

hobo

Dr Greger of NutrionFacts.org reports research that found that garlic and onion had a promoting influence on the bioaccessibility of iron and zinc from food grains.

• https://nutritionfacts.org/video/new-mineral-absorption-enhancers-found/
• Higher bioaccessibility of iron and zinc from food grains in the presence of garlic and onion.
  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20597543

This paper reports copper bioaccessibility is also increased.

• Effect of sulfur-containing spices on the bioaccessibility of trace minerals from selected cereals and pulses.
  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27786355

Vickie

For people who are not vegetarian or vegan, red meat and chicken are excellent sources of zinc. They should be more bioavailable as well.

hobo

Which vegan foods have high Zn/Cu ratio especially ones above the target range?

CoFID, a UK food composition dataset is available for download (xlsx).

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/composition-of-foods-integrated-dataset-cofid

On the mineral sheet, I calculated Zn:Cu, filtered by probable vegan groups and sorted on high Zn:Cu. Some of the foods had low Cu values (0.01mg/100g) compared with NCCDB data, perhaps due to lack of data, and gave unexpectedly high Zn:Cu, so I filtered out foods with low Cu readings (<=0.11.mg/100g). Here are the results for Zn:Cu > 5

High Zn:Cu (selected) vegan foods excluding Herbs and Spices:

Zn:Cu = Zn / Cu -- Food
17.4 = 6.1 / 0.35 -- Spinach, dried
17.1 = 14.0 / 0.82 -- Wheatgerm
15.4 = 4.3 / 0.28 -- Courgette, dried
12.7 = 1.9 / 0.15 -- Seaweed, Irish moss, raw
12.1 = 1.7 / 0.14 -- Rice, Thai fragrant, raw
10.5 = 2.1 / 0.20 -- Bannocks, made with beremeal, homemade
9.5 = 6.2 / 0.65 -- Seaweed, kombu, dried, raw
9.4 = 3.2 / 0.34 -- Sweetcorn, dried
8.8 = 2.3 / 0.26 -- Bread, wheatgerm
8.4 = 2.1 / 0.25 -- Rice, brown, easy cook, raw
8.2 = .9 / 0.11 -- Rice, brown, easy cook, boiled in unsalted water
8.2 = 1.8 / 0.22 -- Rice, brown, wholegrain, raw
7.8 = 1.4 / 0.18 -- Bread rolls, brown, soft
7.8 = 1.4 / 0.18 -- Rice, white, long grain, raw
7.7 = 1.7 / 0.22 -- Bread, brown, toasted
7.6 = 1.3 / 0.17 -- Bread, brown, average
7.5 = 1.8 / 0.24 -- Rice, wild, boiled in unsalted water
7.5 = 2.4 / 0.32 -- Flour, wheat, wholemeal, bread/strong
7.4 = 1.7 / 0.23 -- Taro, baked
7.2 = 1.3 / 0.18 -- Taro, boiled in unsalted water
7.2 = 1.3 / 0.18 -- Taro, steamed
7.0 = 1.9 / 0.27 -- Bread, wholemeal, toasted
7.0 = 1.4 / 0.20 -- Paratha, homemade
7.0 = 1.4 / 0.20 -- Rice, white, Italian Arborio risotto, raw
7.0 = 2.3 / 0.33 -- Flour, rye
7.0 = 1.6 / 0.23 -- Bread, wholemeal, average
6.9 = .9 / 0.13 -- Bread rolls, white, crusty
6.9 = .9 / 0.13 -- Bread rolls, white, soft
6.9 = 2.2 / 0.32 -- Flour, wheat, brown
6.8 = 4.3 / 0.63 -- Rice, wild, raw
6.7 = .8 / 0.12 -- Bread, pitta, white
6.7 = .8 / 0.12 -- Bread, white, crusty bloomer, unsliced, fresh, large
6.7 = .8 / 0.12 -- Bread, white, farmhouse or split tin
6.7 = 1.0 / 0.15 -- Cornmeal, sifted
6.7 = .8 / 0.12 -- Flour, wheat, white, self raising
6.7 = .8 / 0.12 -- Grenadillas, flesh and seeds
6.5 = 1.7 / 0.26 -- Bread rolls, wholemeal
6.5 = 1.3 / 0.20 -- Noodles, egg, dried, raw
6.5 = 1.3 / 0.20 -- Taro, raw
6.3 = 1.2 / 0.19 -- Bread, white, 'with added fibre'
6.3 = 3.9 / 0.62 -- Green beans, dried
6.1 = 1.1 / 0.18 -- Bread rolls, malted wheat
6.1 = 1.1 / 0.18 -- Bread, malted wheat
6.1 = 1.4 / 0.23 -- Bread, white, 'with added fibre', toasted
6.1 = 1.4 / 0.23 -- Horseradish, raw
6.0 = .9 / 0.15 -- Mooli paratha, homemade
5.9 = 1.3 / 0.22 -- Spinach, baby, boiled in unsalted water
5.9 = 1.0 / 0.17 -- Bread, white, toasted
5.8 = .7 / 0.12 -- Bannocks, made with wheat flour, homemade
5.7 = .8 / 0.14 -- Bread, white, sliced
5.7 = .8 / 0.14 -- Bread, white, sliced, fried in rapeseed oil
5.6 = .9 / 0.16 -- Alfalfa sprouts, raw
5.6 = .9 / 0.16 -- Spinach, baby, raw
5.6 = 1.5 / 0.27 -- Flour, gram
5.6 = 1.5 / 0.27 -- Flour, wheat, brown, bread/strong
5.6 = 1.5 / 0.27 -- Pasta and sauce mixes, dried, raw
5.6 = 1.0 / 0.18 -- Rice, white, pudding, raw
5.5 = 1.1 / 0.20 -- Chapatis, made with fat, retail
5.4 = 2.0 / 0.37 -- Flour, wheat, wholemeal, self raising
5.4 = 5.6 / 1.04 -- Bran, wheat
5.3 = .8 / 0.15 -- Flour, wheat, bread/strong, white
5.3 = .8 / 0.15 -- Milk bread, homemade
5.3 = 1.0 / 0.19 -- Okra, stir-fried in corn oil
5.3 = 2.1 / 0.40 -- Barley, pearl, raw
5.2 = 2.8 / 0.54 -- Pasta, wholewheat, spaghetti, dried, raw
5.2 = 1.4 / 0.27 -- Rice, white, basmati, raw
5.1 = 1.9 / 0.37 -- Flour, wheat, wholemeal
5.0 = 1.0 / 0.20 -- Chapatis, made without fat
5.0 = 1.1 / 0.22 -- Puri, homemade
5.0 = 1.2 / 0.24 -- Rice, savoury, including chicken, beef, mushroom and vegetable varieties, dried, uncooked

High Zn:Cu Herbs and spices:

Zn:Cu = Zn / Cu -- Food
23.8 = 3.8 / 0.16 -- Parsley, dried
20.0 = 8.8 / 0.44 -- Chervil, dried
17.3 = 2.6 / 0.15 -- Garlic powder
11.5 = 4.7 / 0.41 -- Mustard seeds
10.4 = 4.7 / 0.45 -- Ginger, ground
8.8 = 3.7 / 0.42 -- Bay leaf, dried
7.2 = 6.2 / 0.86 -- Thyme, dried, ground
6.7 = 3.3 / 0.49 -- Dill, dried
6.3 = 4.6 / 0.73 -- Mixed herbs, dried
6.2 = 4.7 / 0.76 -- Sage, dried, ground
6.1 = 4.3 / 0.71 -- Paprika
5.8 = 5.3 / 0.91 -- Anise seeds
5.8 = 3.2 / 0.55 -- Rosemary, dried
5.8 = 4.5 / 0.78 -- Dill seeds
5.7 = 3.9 / 0.68 -- Tarragon, dried, ground
5.5 = 4.8 / 0.87 -- Cumin seeds
5.3 = 1.8 / 0.34 -- Cinnamon, ground

OKCATLMAN

Thank you for the incredible in depth answer. It even made sense to this keto working guy. Have a great day.