L-Lysine vs Zinc for immunity
Short answer: For immunity, more users report improvement with L-Lysine — 100% of 9 reports, versus 89% of 37 for Zinc.
L-Lysine has 7 meta-analyses and 59 randomized trials on PubMed; Zinc has 220 and 555.
Based on 53 reports about L-Lysine and 1,594 about Zinc. Not medical advice.
| L-Lysine Supplement | Zinc Supplement | |
|---|---|---|
| Users say it helped | 65%helped21 reports · medium confidence | 59%helped510 reports · high confidence |
| Verdict | Mostly positive | Mixed |
| Research | AResearch: Strong | AResearch: Strong |
| Meta-analyses / RCTs | 7 / 59 | 220 / 555 |
| Mainly used for | ||
| Libido % reporting improvement | — | 90% (120) |
| Hormones % reporting improvement | — | 88% (94) |
| Sleep % reporting improvement | 50% (2) | 84% (76) |
| Mood % reporting improvement | — | 81% (68) |
| Energy % reporting improvement | — | 74% (57) |
| Common side effects | stomach issues | nausea, stomach issues, vomiting, copper deficiency |
| Typical dose reported | 2 g / before bed | 75 mg |
Based primarily on case reports ornithine levels can be reduced by using a protein restricted diet, pyridoxine supplementation (variation-dependent) and/or lysine supplementation. The lack of pre-defined clinical outcome measures and structural follow-up in all included studies impeded conclusions on clinical effectiveness. Future research should be aimed at 1) Unravelling the OAT biochemical pathway to identify other possible pathologic metabolites besides ornithine, 2) Pre-defining GACR specific clinical outcome measures, and 3) Establishing an international historical cohort.
Mol Genet Metab, 2021 ↗“Finally, I started to take L-lysine for a different issue. Immediately I saw that I could lay my head down at night and go to sleep like I could before. That was several months ago and I continue to sleep regularly.”
Acne patients have decreased serum zinc levels. Zinc is effective for the treatment of acne, particularly at decreasing the number of inflammatory papules, when used as monotherapy or as an adjunctive treatment.
Dermatol Ther, 2020 ↗“I had actual energy in the mornings for the first time I could remember.”
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Percentages come from first-hand user reports and are not clinical outcomes. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. How we rate