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Ingredient guide

Best time to take a copper supplement, and with or without food

Written by the Full Measure editorial team, which sells supplements. Approved for publication by the Full Measure owners. Updated .

Drafted with AI assistance from the sources listed below. How we write these

Quick answer

NIH's fact sheets name no best time of day for copper. The body adjusts how much copper it absorbs to how much it gets, and adding fiber or phytate to the diet barely changed absorption in young men. In another study, copper dissolved in plain water caused nausea at half the strength needed in an orange-flavored drink.1,2,3

Key facts

  • Copper absorption averaged 31% to 35% whether or not large amounts of fiber or phytate were added to the diet.2
  • On the same diet, copper absorption differed from person to person, from about 27% to 44%.2
  • Phytates in beans and whole grains bind zinc and lower its absorption, so copper and zinc respond differently to the same meal.2,4
  • NIH ties zinc's effect on copper to high zinc intakes kept up for weeks: 50 mg a day or more.4

Morning or night?

None of the sources we used compared morning and evening doses of copper, and NIH gives no advice on the hour. Copper balance is regulated over days and weeks rather than hours: the body absorbs a larger share when intake is low and a smaller share when it is high, and it releases surplus copper into bile.1,5

So the practical question is how a supplement sits with you, which depends more on what you take it with than on the clock.

With food or on an empty stomach

In a 63-day study in young men, adding large amounts of fiber (alpha-cellulose) or phytate, a compound found in whole grains and beans, to the diet did not markedly change copper absorption.2

In a study of 61 healthy adults, mild nausea after a drink of copper dissolved in plain water began at 4 mg of copper per liter, while in an orange-flavored drink it began only at 8 mg per liter.3

No study we found tested copper capsules taken with and without a meal. The drink studies used dissolved copper sulfate, but they show that what copper is taken with can change whether it upsets the stomach. If a copper supplement makes you queasy on an empty stomach, taking it with a meal is a reasonable step.3

The phytate result sets copper apart from zinc. Phytates, the storage form of phosphorus in plants, bind zinc in the gut and cut how much is absorbed, while adding 2.34 g of phytate to the young men's diet left copper absorption close to where it was.2,4

Copper and zinc in the same day

The interference NIH describes comes from high zinc intake kept up for weeks, at 50 mg a day or more; a marker of copper status fell with about 60 mg of zinc a day within 10 weeks. The sources we used did not test whether taking zinc and copper hours apart changes this. What they do show is that the total amount of zinc matters, which is why its adult upper limit is 40 mg a day.1,4

If you take penicillamine or trientine

These medicines remove copper from the body and are taken on an empty stomach, apart from food, milk and other medicines. The penicillamine label says multivitamins must be copper-free during treatment for Wilson's disease and that mineral supplements should not be given, and the trientine label says to avoid mineral supplements such as iron, zinc, calcium and magnesium. Ask your doctor or pharmacist before taking any supplement that contains copper or zinc.6,7,8

Questions people ask

Should I take copper in the morning or at night?

Neither has an advantage in the research we found. Those studies looked at how much copper people got and what it was taken with, not at the time of day.2,3

Can you take a copper supplement on an empty stomach?

You can, but nausea was the most common complaint in a study of copper drinks, and dissolved copper caused it at lower strengths in plain water than in a flavored drink. If a supplement upsets your stomach, take it with a meal.3

Should copper and zinc be taken at different times?

No study we found tested that. In NIH's account, what matters is the total zinc over weeks: 50 mg a day or more can interfere with copper absorption.4

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Sources

  1. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Copper: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. Updated October 18, 2022. Opened 2026-10-07.
  2. Turnlund JR, King JC, Gong B, Keyes WR, Michel MC. A stable isotope study of copper absorption in young men: effect of phytate and alpha-cellulose. Am J Clin Nutr. 1985;42(1):18-23. Opened 2026-10-07.
  3. Olivares M, Araya M, Pizarro F, Uauy R. Nausea threshold in apparently healthy individuals who drink fluids containing graded concentrations of copper. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2001;33(3):271-275. Opened 2026-10-07.
  4. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Zinc: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. Updated January 6, 2026. Opened 2026-10-07.
  5. Turnlund JR, Keyes WR, Peiffer GL, Scott KC. Copper absorption, excretion, and retention by young men consuming low dietary copper determined by using the stable isotope 65Cu. Am J Clin Nutr. 1998;67(6):1219-1225. Opened 2026-10-07.
  6. CUPRIMINE (penicillamine) capsules: prescribing information (Bausch Health US). DailyMed, U.S. National Library of Medicine. Published January 28, 2026. Opened 2026-10-07.
  7. Penicillamine. MedlinePlus Drug Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine. Last revised April 15, 2018. Opened 2026-10-07.
  8. CUVRIOR (trientine tetrahydrochloride) tablets: prescribing information (Orphalan SA). DailyMed, U.S. National Library of Medicine. Published June 23, 2025. Opened 2026-10-07.

This page is information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your own situation.