Okay so I am pretty sure the last time I got a cold was January of 2016, and other than 2 bouts of food poisoning between then and now, I haven't gotten sick. (I just looked through all of my old texts with Topaz and all my old facebook posts) And some of this is luck but I did ride the bus 4 days a week for a good chunk of the past 4 years, and I have gone to the gym 3 times a week for almost 2 years now so I definitely had a chance to be exposed.

For many years I have taken zinc every day because when I don't, that's when I get the colds of people around me. If I had kids, I would have them taking zinc every day right now. I am currently taking zinc and plan to switch to a higher dose.

I just learned that it may have such an effect on me due to deficiency in my diet, since it is mostly available in meat (like a LOT of minerals) and the zinc in meat is more bioavailable than the zinc from other sources. "The requirement for dietary zinc may be as much as 50 percent greater for vegetarians." ESPECIALLY if you don't eat a lot of grain.

So if you are vegetarian or vegan or eat a low-meat diet, please take zinc (as long as it doesn't interfere with your meds or any health conditions you may have), if you can afford to buy some. And please don't grab any old zinc because brand really really matters when it comes to supplements, and don't take zinc mixed with elderberry! My suggestions:

Solgar – Zinc Picolinate 22 mg ($0.10 per day)
Solgar – Zinc Gluconate 50 mg ($0.10 per day)
Pure Encapsulations – Zinc Citrate ($0.13 per day)
Solaray – Zinc Copper Amino Acid Chelates ($0.14 per day after shipping)
Solaray – Zinc Asporotate 15mg ($0.18 per day)