Zinc for PCOS/PMOS: What It Does for Acne and Hair, and How Much to Take

Zinc helps with PCOS/PMOS where excess androgens show up, in your skin and your hair. It reduces acne formation, helps existing acne scars heal and improves hirsutism (excess facial and body hair), and in a 2016 trial in women with PCOS, both excess hair and hair loss improved more with zinc than with placebo after eight weeks.

Zinc belongs to step one of my PCOS Repair Protocol, the Anti-Androgen Plan, which blocks the effects of excess androgens so you get relief from your symptoms while we dig deeper into your root cause.

Where zinc fits in my protocol

What I build on is step one of my protocol, not a single trial. Step one is three simple rituals each day: drink two cups of spearmint tea, enjoy a PCOS Repair Breakfast, and, for faster results, take an androgen-blocking supplement.

Zinc is one of my favourite natural androgen blockers for that third ritual, alongside saw palmetto, reishi, nettle and green tea. I have used a combination of them with my clients for many years and seen dramatic improvements to stubborn acne, frustrating hair growth, thinning hair and irregular ovulation.

What the paper reports

In Jamilian and colleagues' 2016 paper, 48 women aged 18 to 40 with PCOS/PMOS were randomised to zinc or placebo for eight weeks, and both groups also took metformin. The zinc was 220 mg of zinc sulfate containing 50 mg of elemental zinc, and the placebo was starch.

• The modified Ferriman-Gallwey hirsutism score fell by an average of 1.71 points with zinc and 0.29 points with placebo.
• Hair loss (alopecia) improved in 41.7% of the zinc group and 12.5% of the placebo group, graded on a five-point clinical scale.

What the result means for your goal

If you are considering zinc for acne, it works three ways: it kills the bacteria in your skin that lead to acne, reduces sebum (skin oil) production and helps existing acne scars heal. That makes it an ideal treatment for the acne that flares after coming off the pill.

If your goal is facial or body hair, zinc improves hirsutism, and in the trial the score fell further with zinc than with placebo. Pair zinc with saw palmetto and reishi, which work on DHT, the much more potent form of testosterone behind excess hair growth. Saw palmetto slows the enzyme that makes DHT, and reishi blocks the conversion in your hair and skin follicles. Leave saw palmetto and reishi out if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or trying to conceive.

If your goal is scalp hair, thinning at the crown of your head or a widening part is the androgen pattern, where DHT has got into your hair follicles, and the same combination works on it.

If your goal is regular periods, zinc nourishes your ovarian follicles to promote them, and zinc and magnesium in particular are crucial for regular ovulation and hormone balance. Add inositol as well, whichever type of PCOS you have.

For acne, facial hair and thinning hair together, my guide to reducing androgens in women naturally goes through everything else that brings your androgens down.

How much zinc should you take for PCOS?

The trial's 50 mg of elemental zinc a day is more than the upper limit for adults before any zinc from food is counted. Elemental zinc is the zinc itself; the larger 220 mg number includes the sulfate attached to it.

The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements sets the Recommended Dietary Allowance for an adult woman at 8 mg daily and the adult tolerable upper intake level at 40 mg a day from all sources. It notes that taking 50 mg or more for weeks can interfere with copper absorption, reduce immune function, and lower HDL cholesterol (NIH ODS).

That 40 mg covers zinc from every source, so add up the zinc in your multivitamin, prenatal, lozenges and any other formula before you take a zinc supplement on top.

Zinc supplements use different forms, such as bisglycinate, citrate, gluconate and picolinate. Whichever yours uses, the elemental amount on its label is the number to count.

The dosage I recommend is AndroEase Plus taken as its label directs. I created it because my clients got sick of taking handfuls of pills each day, so it brings saw palmetto, reishi, nettle, green tea, zinc and copper together in one daily androgen support blend, with the zinc as bisglycinate and the copper included to keep your minerals in balance. Leave it out if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or trying to conceive, when inositol is my choice instead, and check with your doctor first if you are on the pill or another regular medicine.

Before zinc becomes the answer

Zinc gives you quick relief from the symptoms while you uncover your root cause, the second step of my protocol, and once you have treated the reason your body over-produces androgens, you will likely no longer need an androgen blocker. Your root cause will be Insulin-Resistant, Adrenal, Post-Pill or Inflammatory PCOS, and most Cysters have a combination of two or three. My free root cause quiz shows you yours.

Zinc deficiency is more likely if you have taken the pill, which depletes zinc along with magnesium, B vitamins and selenium, and if you follow a restrictive diet, have a gut disorder or bariatric surgery, take some diuretics, or are pregnant or breastfeeding. For Post-Pill PCOS, replenishing those nutrients is part of the core treatment in The PCOS Repair Protocol.

If you take a quinolone or tetracycline antibiotic, penicillamine or an iron supplement, ask your pharmacist how to space it from your zinc: zinc interacts with those medicines, and iron can reduce how much zinc you absorb.

Does zinc help with insulin resistance?

In my protocol zinc works on your skin and hair, and your blood sugar gets its own treatment. Insulin resistance affects at least 80% of women with PCOS, and its core treatment in my book starts with what you eat: the PCOS Repair Breakfast and the PCOS Plate Method, then one or two targeted supplements and joyful movement.

If the quiz shows Insulin-Resistant PCOS, start with your breakfast tomorrow, the most impactful habit you can change for your PCOS/PMOS, and keep zinc for your skin and hair.