Have you heard about Lithium?
Lithium salts have been used for centuries as a popular health tonic. Over the course of history this simple mineral has been applied to heal ailments as wide-ranging as asthma, gout, and migraines. Throughout the 19th and into the 20th century, lithium was used as a mineral supplement to fortify a variety of foods and beverages. By 1907, The Merck Index listed 43 different medicinal preparations containing lithium.
Today lithium is still found naturally in food and water. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that the daily lithium intake of an average adult ranges from about 0.65 mg to 3 mg. Grains and vegetables serve as the primary sources of lithium in a standard diet, with animal byproducts like egg and milk providing the rest. Lithium has even been officially added to the World Health Organization’s list of nutritionally essential trace elements alongside zinc, iodine and others.
In modern medicine, lithium is most widely acknowledged for its ability to encourage mood stability in patients with affective disorders. With years of research and clinical use to back it, a substantial body of evidence now exists to show that nutritional lithium restores brain and nervous system function, right down to the molecular level. This incredible mineral is now being considered for the treatment of cognitive decline.
General Wellness
Lithium as a nutrient
Lithium-induced increase in human brain grey matter
Lithium: occurrence, dietary intakes, nutritional essentiality
Mental Health/Suicide/Crime
The mathematical relationship of drinking water lithium and rainfall on mental hospital admission
Lithium in the public water supply and suicide mortality in Greece
Lithium in drinking water and suicide mortality
Lithium in drinking water and the incidences of crimes, suicide and arrests related to drug addiction
Lithium in tap water and suicide mortality in Japan
Effects of nutritional lithium supplementation on mood
Neurodegenerative Disorders
Microdose lithium treatment stabilized cognitive impairment in patients with Alzheimer’s Disease
Diet may help prevent Alzheimer’s: MIND diet rich in vegetables, berries, whole grains, nuts
