Chris Kresser: We’re going to cover that in more detail in the blood chemistry section, Leslie. Zinc and copper, you can do just serum or you can do RBC values, and we’ll talk about the pros and cons of that when we get to that section.
One thing you should be aware of, though, right off the bat is that copper is an acute-phase reactant, so it’s elevated in an inflammatory response. High copper and a high copper-to-zinc ratio does not always or even often indicate an excess intake of copper and a low intake of zinc. It can often be an indicator of inflammation, and so you don’t always treat a high copper-to-zinc ratio by reducing copper or taking large doses of zinc. That’s something that, I think, awareness of is fairly low, so it’s important to point out, but we’ll talk more about that in the blood chem section.