Re: Treating a zinc deficiency

 One strange thing I noticed about my stretch marks is that they were NEVER PURPLE. I only noticed them when they were white/silvery in colour and they appeared when I became ill with adrenal fatigue.

Stretch marks are more likely with adrenal fatigue.  The adrenals get priority on vitamin C over the entire rest of the body.  When there is adrenal fatigue there is also a higher need for vitamin C by the adrenals leaving less for the rest of the body.  Since skin is a very low priority for the body the decreased levels of vitamin C lead to a loss of skin elastin, which requires vitamin C for production.  Thus the skin is more prone to stretching damage.

Is it possible for stretch marks to form in white as I thought NEW stretch marks looked red/purple and as they aged they changed to white.

No, they can form in white.

I certainly never saw purple/red lines on my body where I now have stretch marks.

Also, can a person have a copper and zinc deficiency at the same time or only one or the other as I believe zinc is antagonistic to copper and vice versa?

Yes, both can be low at the same time.  And these are both also required for the production of elastin.

My hair analysis test shows copper at 9 on a range of 8-136 and zinc at 158 in a range of 119-245 so the test seems to show I am borderline low in copper and at the bottom of the range with zinc but I seem to remember you saying in an earlier reply to me that hair analysis tests are not reliable.

Correct, I do not trust hair analysis at all.

So I guess the result at face value implies I should take both copper and zinc supplements, but for how long? Is it safe to take 50mg zinc with 2.5mg copper for like a year for example to bring levels of both up in the ranges?

Yes, these can be taken long term.  They do not store up in the body.  And they are lost from the body through several means.  Therefore, we must continually derive these from sources such as diet and supplements.

Also, is it true that copper is difficult to detect in hair and if it is detected in low amounts then it could indicate copper toxicity?

Again hair analysis is not going to tell you much of anything.  External contamination is a big problem with these tests.

As an example of why I do not trust these tests is on your test results it shows high phosphorus and low calcium.  If serum phosphorus is actually high this would trigger the parathyroid glands to release parathyroid hormone, which would break down bone material to bring calcium levels up.