Before I got my hair mineral analysis done, I was convinced that I had copper toxicity and a resulting zinc deficiency because of my copper IUD and increasing anxiety. It turned out that I didn’t, but due to my assumptions, I learned a lot about this condition, how common it is, and why it could be affecting you and your skin.
Please read this closely – this could be the missing piece of your acne puzzle.
What is Copper? What is Zinc?
Copper is an essential trace mineral that is required by the body for health and well being. It has important roles in the bone and connection tissue, energy production in the cells, immune response, the thyroid and adrenal glands, reproductive system, and nervous system.
Zinc is another important essential mineral that is a needed factor in over 300 enzymatic reactions in your body. Needless to say, zinc is one heck of an important mineral and it actually plays an extremely important role in your skin. Zinc deficiency is heavily linked to acne.
Minerals in your body are often matched in ratios with their ‘partner minerals’. Copper competes with zinc in the body, so if you are not getting enough zinc or your body is using it up too fast, copper can rise, or if your body is retaining too much copper, it can deplete your zinc.
What are the Symptoms?
Some usual symptoms of copper toxicity and a zinc deficiency include:
- Emotional Instability. Do you kinda feel like you’re going insane and can’t really figure out why? This could include depression, anxiety, mind racing, anger, mood swings, irritability, spaciness, nervousness, brain fog, and basically all psychiatric or mental issues. Copper is known as the “emotional” mineral because it revs up the emotional part of the brain. At the same time, copper depletes zinc and magnesium which have a calming, rational effect on the mind. Apparently many people with psychiatric and mental issues have copper imbalances.
- FatigueAre you tired all the time? Too much copper impairs the production of energy in the cells, and promotes free radicals. Low energy production and free radical damage can lead to all sorts of health issues including acne, candida, hormone irregularities, hair loss, thyroid burnout, IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), and impaired liver and gallbladder congestion.
- Poor Immune SystemDo you have problems with sinus or fungal infections like candida, yeast infections, and parasites? Do you get sick often and have a lot of colds? Zinc plays a HUGE role in immune health.
- Poor Reproductive HealthDo you get PMS? Apparently copper toxicity can mimic all the symptoms of PMS (yes including acne!). It can also cause low libido in both men and women, and can be particularly an issue for men since they are supposed to naturally be zinc dominant.
Basically it’s one of those things where you could take any symptom and copper could be behind it, but it’s the fact that this is so overlooked yet so common, particularly in women, that makes it worth paying attention to.
What Can Cause Copper Buildup?
- Slow MetabolismSome people are just more prone to retaining copper than others, and if you have a slow metabolism, you are at higher risk. This is possibly why I don’t have copper toxicity – I have a fast metabolism, use up nutrients quickly, and process it out before it can build up.
- Chronic StressStress uses up zinc like nobody’s business (one direct reason that stress can cause acne), and stress also weakens the adrenal glands. Weak adrenal glands don’t produce enough hormone to tell the liver to remove copper from the body.
- Environmental Copper Copper is everywhere these days – in copper pipes, and the one that probably gets most of us – used in pesticides and in some compounds added to tap water. And depending on where you live, it might be in abundance in the soil which means it’s prevalent in your food supply.
- VegetarianismMeat is full of zinc and little copper, and plant foods like soy, whole grains, beans, and nuts are full of copper and little zinc. Our general trend away from meat and toward vegetarianism can easily lead to copper buildup and a zinc deficiency.
- EstrogenEstrogen causes your body to retain copper. Therefore, women are at far greater risk than men, and copper toxicity is actually extremely common among women. Ann Louise Gittleman, a woman who wrote a book called “Why Am I Always So Tired? (Correcting Your Body’s Copper Imbalance)“, estimates that about three quarters of the women she sees in her practice have a copper imbalance.
The use of hormonal birth control is a major risk factor for copper toxicity due to the introduced estrogens. Copper IUDs are problematic too, considering the direct and constant exposure of the copper in them to your body.
In fact, this ‘estrogen causes copper retention’ thing may be a clue into the reasoning behind hormonal acne and the common condition known as ‘estrogen dominance’, which can be caused by synthetic estrogens in some foods like soy, pesticides on conventional produce, and estrogen-like hormones found in conventional animal products. Estrogen dominance is known to cause all kinds of things like bad PMS, irritability and anxiety, irregular periods, fatigue, and everything else under the sun. So maybe what actually causes the symptoms is the excess estrogen causing the body to retain copper and therefore deplete zinc. This would be most noticeable during the second half of your cycle when estrogen levels are higher (PMS time!)
How Do I Detect a Copper Imbalance?
If you think any of this sounds like you, you can get a hair mineral analysis like I just had done. Make sure you get an interpretive report with it though, because copper isn’t always detected in a straight forward manner. Copper tends to accumulate in tissue other than the hair, but the way you are retaining other minerals lets you know whether there is a copper problem.
Read about what hair analysis here, and also what my results were.
If you can’t afford a hair mineral analysis but you suspect you have this imbalance, I’d encourage you to read Ann Louise Gittleman’s book, which will give you a ton of information on what to do.
How is Copper Toxicity Generally Treated?
Copper toxicity is generally treated by lowering high copper foods in the diet, increasing zinc-rich foods in the diet, and avoiding processed foods. Zinc supplements could also help and do have a great track record with improving acne (I’d recommend the zinc picolinate form). However, if your copper imbalance is strong though, simply taking zinc may not be enough (and it’s dangerous to take high dosages of zinc).
Improving stress levels is also very important as burned out adrenals are a strong factor in the body’s inability to properly excrete copper.
What do you think? Does any of this sound like it could apply to you?
Sounds great!! What are some high zinc content foods that are good for my skin as well??
I googled it and found out that oysters are high in zinc. While I have no problem trying them, I’ve never had an oyster let alone cooked one before!!
Also, how many mg of the zinc picolinate should I be taking per day?
Thanks! 🙂
All meat is high in zinc, and yes, oysters are like the ultimate king of zinc! I actually like oysters, I don’t know what they’re like to buy at the store – I just pick them off the shore and bring em home and eat them! You can buy canned oysters too which is convenient if you can find some packed in water or olive oil and not vegetable oil.
50 mg of zinc picolinate is good… 100 mg is probably the most you should ever consider taking and even then is getting a bit high. Now Foods is a good brand of zinc picolinate…. great reviews.
NOW also has an L-OptiZinc brand with a good ratio of zinc/copper in it too so you don’t do the opposite and get too much zinc and deplete copper levels.
Carli, you don’t have to do anything to oysters. You can eat them raw.
I don’t think there’s a big risk for getting too much zinc ad not enough copper… there is plenty of copper available in our normal diets and I think you actually need a ratio of like 8 to 1 in favour of zinc? So if you have copper toxicity I don’t think you should take anything with copper in it… besides wouldn’t a supplement that contained both kind of cancel each other out?
Not only should they be raw but also alive when you eat them, right? Otherwise they are not fresh enough. But it’s definitely not everyones taste..
The concern with dead shellfish is that they can form toxic compounds after death, not to mention tasting nasty. They don’t necessarily have to be alive as long as they’re fresh. I read on some cooking website that putting them in the freezer for half an hour and then dumping them into boiling water makes the shells open up so you don’t have to dig at them with a knife. This will also help you determine which ones are alive and which ones are dead (the dead ones won’t open, although sometimes you get really stubborn oysters that won’t open no matter what even though they’re alive.) Shark is also one other seafood that you must eat as fresh as possible, if at all. You can tell shark is bad when it starts to smell like ammonia. I would imagine seafood is more prone to decomposing quickly because virtually all seafood has significant amounts of omega-3s, which is a PUFA, which is inherently unstable.
You can pick oysters directly on the shore? Lucky you..
Yes, I’m lucky where I live in Canada! It is definitely best to eat them raw to retain all the nutrients, I actually haven’t tried them raw yet but I’m going to when I go home!
If you feels as though you might be deficient with zinc could you take zinc to see if your symptoms improve? or could that be dangerous?
yes, I think it’s fine to just try it and see, especially if you have the symptoms. Lots of people are zinc deficient, especially people with acne.
Make sure you use a good absorbable form of it, like I said above, zinc picolinate 50 mg a day and use it every day consistently for a month to a month and a half and see what your skin does. If you find it does nothing then discontinue it. I noticed that when reading the reviews for Now Foods zinc picolinate, there were numerous people saying the supplement helped them clear up their acne, or at least improve their skin.
I’ve just re-ccheked my test results from my hair sample test, and it appears that I have a copper deficiently, as well as Ellagic Acid and Lignans.
After re-reading this post, I couldn’t find how I increase my copper levels (if I even need to), and unfortunately the exact ‘amount’ of copper in my body wasn’t provided. These results are 4 months old though, and my diet has improved.
Should I definitely NOT be taking Zinc supplements if my copper is low? (I took zinc over a year ago but I no longer do)
Thank you
Hi Nathan,
I didn’t really include stuff about copper deficiency in this article since it’s not as common, I also don’t know at this time what to recommend about it, whether you should take zinc or not.
Does your interpretive report actually say that you have a copper deficiency or is it just the graph that says it’s below normal levels? Apparently copper levels in the hair aren’t straight forward… for example, a low level along with some other factors might indicate a hidden copper toxicity (your body is hiding copper in other tissues).
I’d suggest reading this whole article for more information:
http://www.drlwilson.com/articles/copper_toxicity_syndrome.htm
Hey Tracy, I was just wondering if you knew how long it takes for ZInc to be absorbed into the body? Should you see results within a week if you had a zinc deficiency or will it take longer? I’m just wondering cause I’ve been taking the zinc supplement you recommended and haven’t noticed any changes. I’ve been taking it for a week and 2 days now.
Thanks
Hi Sarah, I would definitely give it at least a month, your body does need time to restock its minerals
Okay, Thanks so much Tracy!
Interesting article! If you know for sure you have coper toxicity, educate yourself about molybdenum. They use it in sheep to increase copper excretion, and humans have success with it too.
Sulfur seems to be important too, which could be the reason why MSM works great for acne?
Source : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1790653/
Thought this was worth mentioning: Copper IUDs are a common type of birth control method. However, if you choose this method, it is probably a good idea to supplement with Zinc. A close friend of mine recently suffered serious zinc deficiency which compromised her immune system because of her Copper IUD as noted by her naturopath physician.
I also have a copper IUD and the last few weeks I was contemplating whether I had a copper toxicity due to symptoms. This was also during a time of a really bad (cramping) menstrual cycle; therefore, I very much wanted to head into the doctor to take it out.
My fiance told me to take a hair analysis test before making any rash moves. I agree – the contraception is expensive. I have yet to do it though because I just recently got a stool testing from a local doctor that ended up costing over $400. I specifically asked her beforehand how much would it cost. I left her office believing it would only cost $100 and insurance would cover it. Let’s just say I was not happy receiving the bill.
Anyways, sidetracked. Thank you for this information for it has been very helpful.
If you continue to feel bad with symptoms that came on right as you got the IUD, there’s a good chance it’s causing it… if you can’t afford a hair mineral analysis, just give it a few weeks/months and see how you feel
I’m considering getting a copper IUD and currently suffer from acne, and have been for around 10 years. I recently started taking a zinc picolinate supplement but have not yet noticed it’s effects. What are your thoughts on the copper IUD if supplementing with zinc is involved? Do you think the copper IUD is a bad idea altogether?
I would love you ladies’ input on this. Thanks <3
Hi Tracy!
I’ve been watching all your videos on youtube and just to letcha know… I love you lol! Thanks for all the valuable information! I have never had acne until I got the copper iud placed about a year and a half ago. I started taking zinc 50mg a day about 2 weeks ago and I feel great! Not anxious, or irritable, or CRAZAY like I used to. I’m still hoping my skin will clear up. I’m taking zinc gluconate for now but i’ll soon switch to picolinate. I’m also taking my zinc with vitamin e capsules do you think that will interefere with the zinc absorbtion?
Cool! I’m glad zinc is managing to help you 🙂 I do hope your skin follows suit, let me know. Also, I’m not sure about the vitamin e.
hi was reading your site it seems good but i read that most zinc supplement you should take daily is 15 mg. i just got a copper iud 2 1/2 weeks ago and been w a bit of anxiety lately. dont want to take too much?
Oh another question so if u remove the iud does the copper toxity goes away?
It sounds to me like for most women, their symptoms do go away once they remove the IUD
Hi Tracy,
I just took off my copper iud yesterday. I put in in January but started having painful menses and back ache before ecah period for 2 months now. I met the doctor and he wasnt quite sure if the iud was the cause of my back ache but i insisted that it be removed first. So,do u think the iud could have been the cause of the back ache and painful menses? \how long do you think this pain will subside since i just removed it yesterday. What do i need to do or take to reduce the back ache and perhaps the copper level in my body. I am really anxious but relieved when i saw that iud could likely cause back ache
Hi – Yes I do think it could have caused it. It sounds like when people take out their IUDs, usually the strange symptoms subside fairly quickly (within a few weeks to a month or two, I suppose, but I’m not really sure). I’d take zinc picolinate to help the process.
Thx Tracy, how much of zinc do I need a day. Could I take this with calcium and vit c without having negative drug interactions?
I think 50 mg a day is the recommended dosage.. and yes it should be fine to take with calcium and vitamin C
could taking zinc 50 mg affect my birth control? (i take the birth control at night) thanks!
As far as I know, I don’t think taking zinc affects the birth control pill
I have 14 silver fillings that I am considering having removed. I heard that I should increase my zinc intake. I think I’m zinc deficient and want to increase before starting removing the fillings . Thanks for any help you could offer. Btw, what is your website ?
Hi Tracy,
Im planning to take 2mg Copper in the noon & 15mg of Zinc before bed.
Do you think i should leave the copper out or stick with it? Btw, I consume both meat and vegetable in my diet.
Hi Jon – I’m not really sure – what are you taking them for? What symptoms do you have?
I have been Taking B complex vitamins along with 50 mgs of Zinc once a day for four months. I do feel a little better. The diet is harder to follow. Do anyone else have the mood swings. It’s likke my nerves are on edge for a week and then I feel better for a week or so. Am I crazy or what?
@Tracy I am currently on antibiotics for my acne which has cleared my face up, but my doctor said chances are that after the course is over the acne will come back, and she said taking antibiotics to often will cause my body to become immune to it. So my question is, if Zinc really does help stop acne is it like antibiotics were my body can become immune to Zinc supplements? or can I take it forever and never become immune to it?
Thanks!
Hi there 🙂
Well, the thing about supplements is that I can never say for sure it will work for you. It may work for you if you have a zinc deficiency and that is the reason you are getting acne, which you won’t know until you try zinc. So… as I say, it might work for you. And your body won’t become immune to it – zinc is a mineral that your body needs to work properly, something we should be getting from our food. It’s totally different than bacteria in your body becoming resistant to antibiotics
Hi Tracy, I did the blood test once and the doctor said my Estrogen level is low. That means I don’t have this kind of problem?
I think for my case, not like most people who have acne because of Estrogen Dominance, I think I am low on estrogen. I don’t have PMS but my period is irregular and not too long.
In my case, can I say that my copper level is low and zinc level is high, just opposite of the article above?
You said in the other article that people who are estrogen dominance it is good to get rid of estrogen by taking DIM or Chasteberry, but for my case, I should avoid them to get rid of acne?
Thank you Tracy!
Hi Hannah,
Well, it kind of depends, because there are different kinds of estrogens. There’s good estrogens and bad estrogens, so even if you had low overall estrogen, you could still have a higher than normal bad estrogen level. Did the doctor have any specifics about the different kinds of estrogen, or just said you had low estrogen?
You can also still be estrogen dominant if you have low estrogen, if you also have low progesterone – you may have low estrogen, but it’s still higher than your progesterone levels. So unfortunately I really can’t say what you should or shouldn’t take based on the information given here!! Sorry Hannah!
Hi Tracy. I have heard that amalgam fillings in the teeth release toxins into the body which can cause acne. Have you heard this? and if so can you suggest a supplement that will help remove them. I have many amalgam fillings which would be too expensive to replace with white ones.
I’ve recently been hearing a fair bit about this, I’ve had a few emails from people saying that they suspect their amalgams are causing their acne. I don’t have any suggestions off the top of my head for mercury detox, except eating cilantro. But yeah… just google mercury detox for ideas
if you have silver fillings, absolutely DO NOT take cilantro. the reason for this, as Andy Cutler (PhD Chemistry, Princeton) illustrates is that we don’t know the half-life of the compound that chelates mercury in cilantro. it’s very important to know the half-life of your chelator to safely detox mercury otherwise you may end up redistributing it to other, more vulnerable areas of the body like the brain or the kidneys. i use DMPS, which requires a prescription (unless you buy it as a research chemical as i did) and take it every 6-8 hours round-the-clock. you can also use alpha lipoic acid or DMSA, except their half-lives are 3-4 hours. i have recovered very miraculously from chronic illness using this method. be safe in your detox, people.
I started taking zinc and it definitely helped. I was taking iron supplements 9 months ago (doctor’s orders) and that’s when my health went downhill, as well as developing horrible acne. I don’t take it all the time, because I start to feel a little light headed when I over-do it for too long. But whenever I start taking zinc again I will wake up the next day and my scars will have significantly faded. Zinc and Estroblock are all that’s in my vitamin cabinet right now. My skin isn’t perfect, but it gets better everyday, the only thing I can tell that’s really causing problems is caffeine and stress which is something I just have to learn to manage.
Oy vey. I have been on a vegan diet for 3.5 years and that’s how my chin acne and forehead acne went away (except for when I was putting straight jojoba oil on my face)…This website is interesting, but it’s just not jiving with me. Oh well. 🙂 Take care.
Hi there Tracy! I just came across your post as I was googling about Copper IUD’s…now I was on regular BCP pills for about 5 years from the ages of 14 to 19, I have ALWAYS had acne but from the ages 16 to 19 I switched pills and my skin cleared. However a year and a half after I stopped the pills at 20/21my face exploded like nothing else.
I am now 22 and have got a realllllly good skin regime and my skin is still not perfect BUT so so much better than it was. I’m happy again and feel beautiful for the first time in ages! The thing is I really would like to go on BC and I want to stay away from hormonal things so was thinking about the Copper IUD really but now I’m so unsure :/
Is there any way to prevent breakouts from it? And do you think that it will be inevitable that I’ll break out again?
Hi Stacey,
No I absolutely don’t think it’s inevitable that you’d break out from the copper IUD, I think it’s not really *that* common that people break out from it. Sometimes people don’t react that well to it in a variety of ways, that might include breakouts, but might not. Most people don’t have any problem with it, personally I’ve had absolutely no problems with it. The only wrench is that if you live in the United States, it’s a really expensive thing to just try out and see if you like it.
Dear Tracy,
I’m not able to have a hair analysis, but I have many symptoms of copper imbalanca: severe anxiety, depression, severe acne, dull complexion, constipation, etc. I have a copper IUD, but have suffered from these symptoms even before I got it in. I’m just a mess. I take vitamin C, niacin 1000mg and a B complex. Doesn’t seem to help. I’m also a smoker. Have started taking zinc a few days ago and feel worse. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Tracy what is best source of zinc in food, and easier bioavailable? I do not eat oyster.
Thanks,
Hi! I was tested at a naturopath and was told I need to be taking iodine daily. My adrenals are taxed and I have issues with my gut and being able to absorb vitamin b’s which has led to a deficiency of vitamin B’s. So, I did some research and found that you should take some companion supplements with iodine..one being zinc, along with vit c, selenium, magnesium, niacin, real salt, & vitamin B2. I also read somewhere that if your taking the zinc supplement you should take a copper supplement as well? Also, if your body is unable to absorb the vit b’s should you bother with taking the b2 supplement..and would this hurt you to not take with the iodine?
I have had acne To different degrees for the last twenty years. At the end of June some of the school year stress caught up with me and my skin started getting worse. I started taking zinc picolinate pretty regularly and saw some improvement. I did some reading on zinc and read about optizinc, which also has copper, and how much better it is supposed to be. Within a few days of taking it my skin was the worst it had been in I can’t remember how long. Not just acne but with severe swelling on a particularly bad spot and difficulty healing. It was horrific. I pretty quickly linked it to the optizinc. Now I know why. I haven’t had the testing but I would bet good money it was from copper toxicity.
I started taking 50mg Zinc Picolinate (Now Foods) brand after reading this. I have mild adult acne (I’m 23, got it at 19)– and it seems to be making me burp a lot, stomach’s kind of upset, but I’ve also been getting red flaming zits that I haven’t seen in years (my skin’s problem is more to do with redness and texture, not big huge zits).
Will this pass??? Haven’t heard of zinc giving detox acne..
I just came accross your website as I was researching copper IUDs. I’ve had the paragard for almost 10 years and I always thought that since it was non-hormonal none off the acne, headache, etc. side effects would apply as I have read are the case with the hormonal IUD. I had never put 2 and 2 together about it being the copper IUD. Now don’t get me wrong it works great and provided pregnancy protection without having to worry about hormones or remembering to take a BCP. However, I noticed during the past 5 years my skin has broken out and my anemia has returned. I have had severe cramping and heavy periods to the point where I have to be bed-ridden because I cannot walk. It seems to have happened now towards the end and I am wondering if copper toxicity is what is causing all of my acne and other side effects.
Test for copper/zinc imbalance with a blood test, checking these three factors:
-Plasma zinc
-Copper
-Caeruloplasmin.
Then Google how to calculate your free (unbound) copper.
If you’re high in copper, you’ll need to supplement zinc and B6, and possibly take molybdenum which binds to copper so you pee it out.
Another hint that you may be low zinc is your sense of smell or taste are impaired.
Since supplementing zinc and booting copper, I feel a bit like a new person. My social anxiety has shrunk way down, I can leave my house without feeling like the world is ending. And my skin maladies are bearable for the first time in over a decade!!
Hi Tracy, Even though you found out you didn’t have copper toxicity did you choose to keep the IUD? and have you had any issues with it? Also, would you advise doing a regimen of zinc supplements if I get a copper IUD inserted?
Yep I still have the IUD and haven’t had any problems with it! You can take zinc to be cautious, I don’t though
Hey Tracy I have copper IUD I was wondering what is the recommended dosage of Zinc in my situation. I think It is higher than average but I am unsure.
Thanks
i think im also zinc deficient…because im having acne and experience lots of hairfall..
Hi Tracy,
I was wondering about dairy-free supplements when searching for some of them that are mentioned. Should I be looking for those since dairy is an acne producer? Or is the amount insignificant in supplements?
As soon as I started iron pills, I had terrible cystic acne. Once off of them, my skin clears up right away….but I need the iron! I’ve even tried Raw, whole food iron pills. Is it true that taking iron depletes your zinc stores and could that be why my acne flairs, and not due to the iron itself?
I can’t take the combined birth control pills as I end up an emotional wreck. I have stupid thoughts & my mind is racing with these thoughts which are irrational & I can’t get rid of them. I cry constantly, feel sick, lose weight from not eating due to feeling constantly sick! I am very temperamental, up & down constantly & can’t sleep! This has happened both times when I have taken the combined pill & has now happened again when I had a copper coil! I started with many physical symptoms such as numbing of hands & feet, tremors, eye sight problems…I then began the emotional downward spiral & have had exactly the same thoughts as I do on the pill! I ended up with anaemia also! I forced the doctors to get the coil out after 3 months of suffering & them making me worse with antidepressants & other medication which just made me more ill! I have done a lot of research & had many tests done. I was told I have pyroluria after having a test for it. The doctors do not believe me or that it could be the copper coil. It makes perfect sense to me though if oestrogen can raise copper levels & I have had this both times I’ve taken the pill & now with a copper coil! I had the coil out almost 1 year ago but it had taken 1 year to make me as ill as I was, it took longer than the pill, so I wasn’t expecting to be better immediately but I’m still not 100%!! I take zinc, vitamin c & vitamin b6 & it is helping a lot. But I do have a lot of stresses I’m dealing with constantly. Is there any advice you can give me? I know I need to sort the stresses out but they are factors I can’t really change at the moment like where I live & work issues.