Can't remember the name of the organization which sets the needs limits - but they are refusing to show documents which give results on needs from their OWN experts - they are going to be accessed by the freedom of information act because there is alarm that people will be very ill if they walk around with these low doses of D in them. I just read that today - I know some aren't fond of Dr. Mercola - but if you follow his research resources, he's got the nail/head thing going on this one.

I buy Zinc now and again and have never seen it restricted. Vit. B6 got hit by CODEX which proclaims it a TOXIN! It is one of those you can over-dose on if you start getting too much, but there's some good food sources, too, so it should be easy to get it the way we were intended - eating food.

Heysal,

I meant that zinc that came up on the search at the drug store was prescription. I guess that is just a scam to make the drug companies and doctors rich. They DID have what was chemically *******IDENTICAL******* Over The Counter! I bought THAT!

As for overdosing, it is generally safe, but they COULD make them sublingual tablets and say to take them under the tounge and to stop taking if they are distasteful. If you have plenty of zinc, there is a kind of bad taste. If you are deficient, it is pretty much tasteless.

The vitamin B I was talking about was a type of B2, as I recall. As for B6, there is a HUGE chasm between PLENTY and an OVERDOSE. And you apparently have to overdose for MONTHS to get a real injury. The injury is generally nerve damage.

Steve

Zinc is highly toxic in high levels over time - and not that much time - and it's not too hard to get those levels. It should be a real longshot that anyone that eats seafood and meat a lot should have shotages unless they are foiling the absorption some way. Zinc from plant sources won't absorb and high fiber diets mess with absorption. If you're taking zinc, around 9 - 10 mg a day is enough. It builds up in your system, too - and too much of it can cause anemia and lowered white cell count. Not nice stuff. It will screw with your copper levels - and that is more bad news - can mess with your heart - also fatigues and lowers resistance to infection. It can cause all sorts of problems with your bones and connective tissues (a lot of crap they call "natural aging" pfffft).

It wouldn't hurt my feelings that much if they nixed it off shelves (other than I don't believe in their right to do so). If I get short on zinc, I'll just eat a steak or two and maybe have chicken for a few days, too. It's not that tough to build it back.

Blacks and Mexicans are more prone to shortage, Steve. As humans moved North their skin got lighter.....to help absorb vitamin D. If it's cloudy out long enough to make a white person deficient, it's playing bad havoc with someone with darker skin, which is more resistant.

If you get out in the sun every day showers won't matter so much - but if you aren't getting a lot of sun, you definitely want to avoid showers/baths for at least 24 hours to let the stuff process. If your skin is white it will turn just a bit pink (not sunburn) when you've gotten enough D. The next day you'll see that pink is gone - that's what that's all about. It takes me 15 minutes of exposure in the spring to get there - by autumn I can stay out half the day before I absorb that much because my skin gets so dark so fast.

BTW - copper - yeah, I mentioned fatigue........a lot of deficiencies that cause fatigue is deficiency caused anemia.