Zinc Tally Test

Zinc is one of the most critical and often deficient minerals in the body. It is required for over 2000 plus biochemical reactions. However, determining a Zinc deficiency is difficult to detect in a laboratory since most of the body’s zinc is found in the cells. Instead one can use a simple taste test with a zinc solution.

Gustin is a zinc dependent polypeptide, which is required for normal development of taste buds. Zinc Tally is one in several zinc solutions designed for testing zinc deficiency in the body. The product was accepted in the British 1988 Pharmacopoeia as a good way of testing one’s zinc status.

You must not eat, drink, or smoke less than one hour before the test. Then take the equivalent of 1oz glass of the fluid and rinse your mouth with the fluid for 5-10 seconds, after which you can either swallow or spit it out.

One of four possible results now appear:

No flavour or “like water” = typical zinc deficiency

No flavour to begin with, but later a reaction occurs described as either “dry”, “fluffy”,”mineral”, “like baking powder” or “sweet” = zinc deficiency

A strong but not necessarily unpleasant flavour is registered immediately and builds up little by little = no zinc deficiency

An unpleasant flavour is registered immediately. The test person makes a wry face and wants to rinse his mouth with water = no zinc deficiency, good zinc status