Silvermint Zinc Lozenges

Dense and grey-white, this lozenge takes its time dissolving against the inside of the cheek, heavier than a breath mint has any business being. The flavor is mineral first, peppermint second — this is not candy wearing a vitamin's name, and it does not pretend otherwise. Zinc has long come from oysters, red meat, and pumpkin seed, foods that traditional diets leaned on without knowing why. It is valued for its support of normal immune function, particularly through the changing of the seasons, and for its part in the ordinary maintenance of skin and the senses of taste and smell. The lozenge format is deliberate: taken this way, zinc sits against the tissue of the mouth and throat directly rather than travelling straight to the stomach as a swallowed capsule would, which is the whole reason lozenges exist as a category rather than a novelty. This is zinc gluconate, chosen for how readily it dissolves and how well it is tolerated, cut with nothing but a little peppermint oil — no dyes, no sugar, no syrup to disguise the mineral underneath. Let one dissolve slowly, without chewing, a few times a day if you like, especially as the seasons turn. Keep the tin in a coat pocket. It is a small, unglamorous habit, and unglamorous habits are usually the ones that hold up.