July 15, 2013 Supplements

I'm taking two new supplements; zinc picolinate, as well as melatonin, at least on a trial basis.  I did some research on Examine.com (seriously check them out), and decided to give these two a shot.  Examine is basically an aggregator for scientific research into supplements, and then breaks that research down into basic English so it's easier to understand.  If you're taking supplements give it a read.  Anyhoo, I'm taking the melatonin because I haven't been sleeping great lately; I fall asleep easy, but then I seem to wake up around 3 or 4, and I doze, but the sleep quality probably isn't there.  I have a lot of things going on right now so that could be why.  I'm trying the melatonin, even though it seems to be mainly indicated for problems falling asleep. We'll see.  

As for the zinc, it's lost in sweat and is frequently deficient in athletes.  I already don't get that much; mean typically need 14-15mg per day, and I was around 8 or 9 mg.  Couple with the athletic activity that I'm doing 6 days per week and I was probably a bit low.  I chose zinc picolinate as it appears to increase serum levels better than Citrate or Gluconate forms of it. 

Zinc Picolinate (bound to picolinic acid, a metabolite of tryptophan), at 50mg elemental Zinc (144mg) in healthy persons appears to increase urinary and serum levels greater than placebo and the other two forms tested (Citrate, Gluconate).[1]

It can increase testosterone in those that were defficient in zinc beforehand, and can also aid the immune system.  I'm not sure if I'll feel any different taking it, but it's worth a shot, at least during the summer when I'm sweating so much when sprinting and doing my conditioning work.