Zinc and the Thymus

Zinc has been shown to be essential to thymus function and supplementation has been shown to partially reverse thymic atrophy. I have heard zinc aspartate is the best form for this. Do other forms of zinc such as orotate also exert a beneficial affect on the thymus?

baller234 wrote:Zinc has been shown to be essential to thymus function and supplementation has been shown to partially reverse thymic atrophy. I have heard zinc aspartate is the best form for this. Do other forms of zinc such as orotate also exert a beneficial affect on the thymus?

The very best way without question to reverse thymic involution (shrinkage of the thymus gland) is by incorporating a quality Bovine Colostrum.

I see. Any particular brand that you recommend CS? I know the Vitamin Shoppe carries colostrum but I'm not sure if this would have the full IGF family that I recall hearing about on these forums in the past. Thx for the help.

baller234 wrote:I see. Any particular brand that you recommend CS? I know the Vitamin Shoppe carries colostrum but I'm not sure if this would have the full IGF family that I recall hearing about on these forums in the past. Thx for the help.

Here's a link. I've used this in the past for this very thing. In fact, I'm currently using it just for periodic use because it offers quite a number of advantages. The only caveat is that there was time in my past (and others as well), where even something that offers the entire IGF-1 superfamily may encounter a problem if the body produces an excess of inducible nitric oxide (iNOS). This is usually tempered with Ecklonia cava. Another note is that smokers will usually experience too much of the dark side.

http://tinyurl.com/d6gevju

zinc picolinate is supposed to be the best form of zinc to take in a supplement. Personally I prefer getting it from natural sources such as an Ant Extract, He Shou Wu or Pumpkin seed oil.

As IH mentioned colostrum is pretty important as well. It contains thymulin which is known to regulate the thymus gland and help it perform optimally. Just like zinc it can help a shriveled thymus gland regrow. I am unsure what type of colostrum was used in the original study, but I stick with a raw colostrum for a few reasons. One of the most important of which is the growth and transfer factors. Quality varies among the brands out there on the market so make sure if you decide to use colostrum that it is gathered within the first 6-8 hours. After that you might just be buying expensive powdered milk. The other reason is that it helps to maintain muscle mass and weight for me. It's one of those all around healthy foods to consume everyday IMO.

Best of luck.