Copper Deficiency's High Costs
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By
A.S. Gissen
Since our three part newsletter review of copper during 1994, additional studies have been published that further establish the negative effects of subclinical copper deficiency in humans. As we presented in our previous newsletter review, copper is of vital importance for many different reasons. Among these are its central roles in protecting us from cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, free radicals, and cancer. Copper is also vital for keeping our skin, blood vessels and connective tissue supple and elastic. These well-documented findings came as a surprise to many who had been misled to believe that copper should be avoided because it is toxic and can generate free radicals.
As we presented in our 1994 review of the subject, not only is copper relatively non-toxic, but a deficiency of copper raises free-radical activity in our bodies by lowering the activity of many of our endogenous antioxidant peptides like superoxide dismutase, ceruloplasmin, and glutathione peroxidase. Indeed, it is a deficiency of copper that increases an animals damage from free radicals and increases its susceptibility to cancer. Other than the fact that the majority of us do not consume even half of the recommended 2-3 milligrams of copper daily, research showing a negative effect of both zinc and ascorbic acid supplements on copper status was alarming for supplement users. While severe, chronic copper deficiency results in anemia, leukopenia, and skeletal demineralization, subclinical copper deficiency in adult animals is hard to detect. In spite of this, it is insidious enough to cause instability in heart rhythm, hyperlipidemia, thrombotic heart disease, and breakdown of vascular tissue. This makes the importance of adequate copper nutrition obvious, especially for those of us consuming supplements of dietary copper antagonists like zinc and ascorbic acid.
One of the problems with assessing whether we are consuming adequate copper has always been the inaccuracy of readily available blood tests for determining copper status, coupled with the lack of an accepted index of copper nutritional status in adult humans. In this newsletter we report on the exciting finding that several sensitive indicators of human copper status have been found to accurately reflect copper depletion and repletion. This will hopefully provide more accurate and meaningful dietaryrecommendations for copper in the future. Until then, we continue to suggest 3-5 milligrams of copper daily from diet and supplements. Additionally, we include 3 milligrams of copper in all our multivitamin/mineral products that contain moderate levels of zinc and vitamin C, known antagonists of copper utilization.
While some companies manufacture multivitamin/mineral products that contain little or no copper (and worse, with high doses of vitamin C and zinc), and pay little attention to the possible consequences, we continue to recognize the fundamental importance of adequate copper in optimal nutrition. Because even exotic copper supplements like copper salicylate are inexpensive, coppers importance has generally been overlooked. It is certain that if copper were a high-priced nutrient it would have many vocal supporters pointing to its vital importance and remarkable health-promoting properties. In light of the enormous amount of scientific evidence, however, inexpensive should not be equated to unimportant.
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