by Art Solbrig Published: September 3, 2020 Updated September 9, 2020
Ulcerative Colitis (UC) is an Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD) that causes long-lasting inflammation and ulcers in your digestive tract. UC affects the innermost lining of your large intestine/colon and rectum.
Generally, it takes time to reach a serious level, but at the extreme, it can be life-threatening and can require surgery in some cases. This makes natural alternatives for UC quite desirable and useful.
Here we discuss the use of Zinc and melatonin for UC / IBD.
The following studies suggest that Zinc may be of use in UC to help control it:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10534-019-00225-0
https://badgut.org/information-centre/health-nutrition/zinc/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7291944/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30821862/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5177471/
Note:
They did not give zinc recommendations in the linked articles, but the upper limit set forth by the NIH is 40 mg / day for adults as outlined here:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements-zinc/art-20366112.
The subsequent studies indicate that melatonin can also be useful for UC :
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24247651/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7010660/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23975342/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18626968/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28777367/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21893693/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20676767/
Note:
In the 6th melatonin study above on the list, they used 5 mg per night, but these folks were in remission and that dose helped keep them in remission as well as kept their CRP levels in range while CRP in the placebo group continued to climb very significantly. Based on this study, 5 mg would be the minimum dose, but may require more in active cases. The 5 mg dose is a good place to start as some people can not tolerate melatonin and it is probable better to find that out at 5 mg than at the dosing Dr. Shallenberger uses.
In a recent human study for Parkinson's Disease, they used 10 mg / night to good effect in 12 weeks. Dosing for melatonin can differ very significantly depending on what you are trying to treat. As examples, Dr. Neel is using 1 mg per kilogram of body weight to treat Covid-19. So for a person who weighs 80 kilograms or roughly 175 lbs, the dose for Covid-19 is 80 mg/day total in divided doses, but he has shown a willingness to go even higher if he deems it necessary. Dr. Shallenberger is using 180 mg / night for all of his patients as a preventative. For his stage 4 cancer patients he uses over 300 mg / day!
These two supplements with excellent safety profiles are definitely worth considering to help control or improve UC.
Other supplements may be useful for UC / IBD, such as wheatgrass juice, vitamin D, Boswellia Serrata Gum Resin, aloe vera gel, and Andrographis Paniculata extract. Also, one that is synergistic with zinc, Lactobacillus Plantarum.
However, Zinc and melatonin seem like an excellent starting point!
Another consideration is the prescription medication LDN which has shown significant results in the IBD, Crohn's disease. The following study link shows the clear benefit of LDN for IBDs:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5845217/
Art
