Copper deficiency: how common is it really (and when should you pay attention)

The short answer: rare, especially if you eat a varied diet

Do you ever worry whether you are getting enough copper? With a normal, varied diet a real deficiency is rare. The European reference values are in fact based on what adults already eat on average. There are a few situations where it is worth paying attention, though. Here is which ones.

In short

• With a normal, varied diet, copper deficiency is rare
• The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) works with 1.3 mg a day for women and 1.6 mg for men, with a safe upper limit of 5 mg a day
• Those values are based on what adults in Europe already take in on average
• A deficiency mainly occurs after certain stomach surgeries or with prolonged high zinc intake
• Zinc and copper compete in the gut for the same absorption route
• Copper drinkware turns drinking water into a fixed daily ritual, in a metal your body works with every day

How much copper do you actually need?

For adults, EFSA works with 1.3 milligrams a day for women and 1.6 milligrams for men, a fraction of a gram. Those values are based on what adults in Europe already eat on average, and that works out simply because copper is found in so many everyday foods: wholegrain cereal products, nuts, seeds, legumes, potatoes, shellfish, and even dark chocolate. Anyone who regularly eats that kind of food naturally reaches that amount in practice, without ever consciously paying attention to it. The safe upper limit is around 5 mg per day, far above what you get from a normal diet. EFSA confirmed that limit again in 2023.

Want to be sure you're well covered too? Then make a few copper-rich foods a regular part of your menu, such as a handful of nuts, wholegrain bread or a serving of legumes. That way you get your copper naturally, just like most adults in Europe.

So when does a deficiency occur?

When copper deficiency does occur, it's usually not in people who simply eat a varied diet. It's mainly seen in specific situations: after certain types of stomach surgery, with long-term overdosing of zinc supplements, or with conditions that make it harder to absorb nutrients. Those are clearly defined, medical situations, not a scenario the average coffee drinker needs to worry about in the morning. After a gastric bypass, for example, it's smart to keep an eye on your minerals, copper included, together with your doctor.

That zinc issue is worth mentioning, because zinc and copper compete in the gut for the same absorption route. If you take high doses of zinc supplements for a long period, for example against colds or acne, that can suppress copper absorption over time. At the doses found in ordinary multivitamins, this barely plays a role. It only becomes relevant with high, long-term zinc doses, something your GP or pharmacist would already warn you about anyway.

Signs to keep an eye on

With an actual deficiency, the medical literature describes signs including: anaemia, lighter pigmentation of skin or hair, reduced resistance and, in more pronounced cases, issues with connective tissue or the nervous system. That fits logically with the functions copper has in your body, since it plays a role in exactly those processes, from your immune system to the pigmentation of skin and hair. Most of this evidence comes from research into people with a demonstrable medical problem, such as after stomach surgery, and not from research into mild, everyday fluctuations in copper intake.

These signs don't automatically say anything about your copper status on their own, by the way. They can have dozens of other causes, from lack of sleep to a thyroid problem to simply a busy period. If in doubt, a conversation with your GP, possibly with blood tests, is the only way to know for sure.

Why this is reassuring news for most people

In a nice way, copper is one of the least worrying nutrients: it's abundant in ordinary, everyday food, your body needs relatively little of it, and a deficiency usually requires a fairly specific cause. That means you can mostly just enjoy everything copper does for you, from its contribution to your energy metabolism to your connective tissue, without having to worry about it daily. If you do fall into one of the groups above, after stomach surgery or with prolonged high zinc intake, it is worth pausing to consider it.

Copper as a daily ritual

What your body needs in copper, you get from your food. What a copper bottle or cup adds is something else: a fixed moment in the day when you drink water, from a metal that has been used for exactly that ritual for thousands of years. In Ayurveda it is called tamra jal: fill it in the evening, drink it first thing in the morning. What that looks like is in tamra jal in practice.

Our view on copper, in miniature

We love copper for what it is: beautiful, timeless and with a long history in human nutrition and culture. Our copper jug, cup and water bottle sit alongside a varied diet, as a daily reminder of a metal your body works with every day.

Check out our Kopero premium copper jug, Kopero premium copper cup and Kopero premium copper water bottle, or discover the full range.