Zicam costs about $10 for 25 lozenges, breaking down to 40 cents apiece. I bought this for $6.40 for 60 lozenges, or 11 cents each.
There's a lot of reading material out there debating the efficacy of zinc for shortening colds, but I recently became a convert. Still just because I'm a believer doesn't mean I'm loyal to one particular brand. It can be very easy to run through a bottle of Zicam if you and another paranoid member of your household take it as suggested (every three hours until symptoms subside).
I did a fair amount of research comparing the active ingredients of the two.
Zicam's two active ingredients are:
-Zincum aceticum 2x
-Zincum gluconicum 1x
Zicam doesn't specify the quantity of its active ingredients but uses 1x or 2x to refer to dilution (I learned this after reading a 2010 LA Times article on homeopathic cold remedies). My understanding is that 1x means one part of the active ingredient (in this case, zincum gluconicum) in 10 parts water.
Nature's Way lists 23mg of zinc "as citrate/gluonate." Though I tried my best to look it up, I can't tell what exactly the difference is between zinc aceticum and citrate. However, given what I learned about dilution, it does seem likely there's more zinc in here than Zicam. I can't say definitively that these two products are the same, but I can say that having taken both I've felt able to overcome colds faster (again, who knows how much of this is due to zinc vs placebo effect vs just a cold playing out its course).
I had read reviews that complained about the taste of these lozenges, but I found it perfectly acceptable and certainly more palatable than the Zicam RapidMelts in orange cream (which was the only flavor the pharmacy had when I bought it)
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