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TL;DR Since I started on zinc picolinate I've not caught any viral infection, and it's the longest time I've not had one (at least in recent years). My skin also cleared up very nicely after taking zinc, within days I noticed a huge difference. Nothing worked before to stop the acne. Other little issues I was having also completely went away. I already mentioned my issues with magnesium and zinc in my blog posts, but I just want to share it here in case someone comes across it. When I first started doing CR, it felt like I was almost completely immune to any bugs going around. Sometimes I would go years without catching a cold or the flu, and then somewhere along the line things changed. In the last few years, I noticed I was getting sick just like everyone else. Every year, I'd develop a cold or what felt like the flu. They also seemed to be a lot worse than what I remembered having before. So at some point, I started developing acne (I really became a teenager again), athletes foot, and other skin issues. I think I also experienced some diffuse hair loss, but my hair is thick anyway, and therefore took me a long time to notice. During that winter I developed 3 colds, and then a burst eardrum. Although, despite being a large perforation and saying I needed an operation, it healed very fast, which was quite unusual apparently. Eventually, I figured that I might be deficient in zinc. Normally I wouldn't be so complacent and track my nutrient intake or I'd just take half a multi in previous years and do just fine. However, I know that even tracking and getting enough through diet doesn't always guarantee there won't be an issue... as my experience with magnesium a long time ago had shown me. So I started taking Zinc. Within days of taking 100 mg zinc picolinate, my skin and acne started to heal. I continued taking this amount for probably one or two months if I remember correctly, before lowering the dose to 50 mg per day and then 22 mg sometime after that. Anyway, I just wanted to share this in case someone else experiences it. I have heard of many raw foodists/vegans having issues with these two minerals and even some people on CR showing signs of mild zinc deficiency. I'm a lot more careful again now about ensuring I get what my body needs by more closely tracking nutrient intake, staying on top of supplementing where necessary. I couldn't understand that despite my super healthy lifestyle I was having these issues, especially with acne! Something that my diet had completely stopped many years ago. And with regards to getting sick a lot, I put that down to just having 7 nieces and nephews always running around here and bringing germs back lol.