Copper
Minerals & trace elements
It works with iron: without it, iron is not put in place correctly.
Cocoa and cashews are the densest. A prolonged excess of isolated zinc can, conversely, lower it.
Effects and benefits
Iron's partner: without it, iron does not leave its stores to join the blood. It also contributes to connective tissues, the color of hair and skin, defenses and the protection of cells.
A copper-laden blood protein, ceruloplasmin, oxidizes iron so it can be transported; when copper is lacking, an anemia appears that iron alone does not correct. It also serves the enzyme that makes melanin, the pigment of hair and skin, and the one that welds collagen and elastin fibers.
It contributes to the maintenance of normal connective tissues, to normal energy-yielding metabolism, to the normal functioning of the nervous and immune systems, to normal hair and skin pigmentation, to normal iron transport and to the protection of cells from oxidative stress (Regulation 432/2012).
By sex: EFSA sets the adequate intake at 1.6 mg a day for a man and 1.3 for a woman (EFSA, 2015).
Sources: EU Regulation 432/2012 · EFSA, 2015
Where to find it (15)
- Almond
- Black chickpea
- Button mushroom
- Cashew
- Chickpeas
- Cocoa
- Green / brown lentil
- Grenoble walnut
- Hazelnut
- Oats
- Pumpkin seeds
- Sesame seeds
- Shiitake
- Sunflower seeds
- Whole wheat