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The body relies on carbonic anhydrase, a zinc-dependent enzyme, to produce carbonic acid and support the bicarbonate buffering system that maintains proper pH balance.

When carbonic acid travels to the kidneys, it generates the bicarbonate buffering system, which is your body's primary mechanism for keeping blood pH within the narrow range required for survival.

To make carbonic acid, you must have zinc, because carbonic anhydrase cannot function without this mineral as its essential cofactor.

In a state of copper overload, copper blocks zinc from binding to the enzyme, and when zinc cannot activate carbonic anhydrase, carbonic acid production shuts down completely.

Without carbonic acid, your kidneys cannot maintain acid-base balance, and the entire bicarbonate buffering system fails to do its job.

The result of this failure shows up clearly on standard blood work as a high anion gap and low CO₂ levels, both of which indicate that your body is running too acidic.

This pattern is known as metabolic acidosis, and it is happening across the population, driven by the widespread problem of copper overload interfering with zinc function.

Restoring proper acid-base balance requires addressing copper overload first, because until copper is managed, zinc cannot do its job and pH will remain disrupted.

Dr. Robert Selig
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