DietNet - Copper

Copper is a trace mineral found in all body tissues. It helps the body absorb iron, helps regulate and stimulate the brain, helps protect and support the nervous and glandular systems, assists in forming muscle & bone, and assists in the pigmentation of hair and skin.

Too little copper can cause fatigue, weak blood cells, impaired respiration, skin sores,and lack of hair and skin pigmentation. Copper deficiencies are fairly rare, but can be caused by megadoses of zinc or Vitamin C.

While a small amount of copper is essential, this is a mineral that it is easy to get too much of. Large quantities can be toxic. The RDA is 2000mcg, which can easily be obtained from food.

Copper is antagonistic to zinc, which means that if you have too much copper in your body, your zinc supplies will be low (and vice versa).

Never take a copper supplement by itself, unless a copper deficiency has been detected by your health specialist and it has been prescribed. However, copper is usually present in multi minerals. If you have reason to think you have a copper imbalance, try and find a multi without copper.

Symptoms of copper overload include fatigue, skin problems, anxiety, roller coaster emotions, insomnia, yeast overgrowth, PMS, and immune system disorders.

Nutritionist Ann Louise Gittleman found that an excess of copper was the cause of chronic, unexplained fatigue in many of her patients. Some people are unable to clear excess copper from their bodies and are prone to copper overload. If you have chronic fatigue that has no detectable cause, her book "Why Am I Always So Tired?" is well worth a read. It includes case studies, how to test for copper overload and how to reverse it.

Most health professionals are only trained to recognise copper overload in it's acute forms, when the diagnosis can be confirmed by blood or urine tests. But lower levels of copper/zinc imbalance, which can still cause ill-health, can only be detected by a tissue mineral analysis, preferably using a hair sample.

Some other causes of fatigue include : over work or overtraining, not enough sleep, inadequate water intake, inadequate nutrition or inappropriate diet, food allergies, blood sugar imbalance, metabolic disorders, anemia, low thyroid function, immune disfunction, depression and heavy metal overload. I believe that the popular diagnosis of Epstein Barr virus or glandular fever is actually a symptom of immune disfunction, rather than the cause of fatigue.

Copper is readily available in many foods. The copper/zinc ratio is also important, especially for people who have trouble eliminating excess copper. Note that many popular diets (including high carb/low fat, vegetarian, vegan and macro-biotic) emphasise high copper foods and can contribute to fatigue caused by copper imbalance.

	Copper	Zinc	Zinc/Copper
	mg/100 gm	mg/100 gm	Ratio (Ideal 8:1)
NUTS & SEEDS
Sesame seeds	1.59	10.36	6.5
Macadamias	0.29	1.79	6.3
Pumpkin seeds	1.29	7.50	5.8
Peanuts (actually legumes)	0.68	3.21	4.7
Pecans	1.21	5.71	4.7
Almonds	1.07	5.00	4.7
Pinenuts	1.04	4.29	4.1
Tahini (1 Tbs)	0.24	0.70	2.9
Sunflower seeds	1.79	5.00	2.8
Brazils	1.79	4.64	2.6
Cashews	2.25	5.71	2.5
Walnuts	1.39	2.86	2.1
Hazelnuts	1.57	2.50	1.6
Pistachios	1.21	1.43	1.2

	Copper	Zinc	Zinc/Copper
	mg/cup	mg/cup	Ratio (Ideal 8:1)
LEGUMES
Split peas, cooked (200g)	0.36	2	5.6
Black Beans, cooked (172g)	0.36	1.9	5.3
Kidney beans, cooked (177g)	0.43	1.9	4.4
Pinto beans, cooked (171g)	0.44	1.9	4.3
Chick peas, cooked (164g)	0.58	2.5	4.3
Soy beans, cooked (172g)	0.7	1.9	2.7
Lentils, cooked (198g)	0.5	0.25	0.5
SHELLFISH
Shrimps (85g)	0.16	1.3	8.1
Lobster (85g)	1.7	2.5	1.5
Oysters (85g)	7.6	134	17.6
OTHER
Mushrooms (70g)	0.08	0.3	3.8

Excess copper intake can also result from copper water pipes and cooking utensils, some of the new dental amalgams, pesticides and other chemicals, copper IUDs, birth control pills and other oestrogen medications.