Many things that have happened in my career have been by pure chance - and often, through the ongoing research by my children. This story is such a situation. I have long been acquainted with medicinal lithium through my nursing days and was less than impressed. The benefits rarely outweighed the risks. The side effects are renowned but what if it was just another case of modern health care taking hold of something natural and mongrelising it to become a monster?
I have written at length on this topic - iron, Vitamin C, Calcium and Folate being just 4 culprits here. These nutrients alone, mismanaged for decades, have been linked to an incalculable number of health issues and deaths - simply because rather than admit that 'alternative' health just may have some answers, or perhaps they could even learn from the forefathers of medicine, they took what was not theirs to misuse and then create new disease - a great money spinner if nothing else.
But back to this story. One about lithium. It is a natural substance found in water - in fact, for centuries health springs with high traces of lithium have become health spas par excellence - especially good for emotional and psychiatric disturbance.
Today, trace - or nutritional lithium can barely be found in food - it is sanitised out of our drinking water It is missing from foods no longer natural. And the fallout can be seen all around. So, what are the symptoms of lithium deficiency, both long and short term?
Anger problems
Irritability
ADD/ADHD
Behavioural problems
Anxiety
Depression
Addictions
Substance abuse
Bipolar
Eating disorders
Cognitive decline
Alzheimer's
Lyme disease
Chronic fatigue
Various auto immune disorders
Headaches and migraines
Declining brain health
Poor bone health (throw away the caltrate!)
Poor attention and focus
Tourette syndrome
Poor sleep patterns and insomnia (circadian cycle balancing)
Cachexia (rapid weightloss or autophagy during terminal and other chronic illness)
Rapid ageing and apoptosis (cell death)
OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder)
Huntington's chorea (not a cause but a definite deficiency link detected)
Insulin resistance (diabetes)
Inflammation and poor immunity
Poor mitochondrial function
Tardive dyskinesia
Anorexia nervosa
Alcoholism
Seizures
Meniere's disease
Genetic disorders affecting serotonin uptake,
I would hazard a guess that most people reading this would now believe they are lithium deficient. It is no wonder. If you have poor kidney function, then lithium deficiency is common. And in today's toxic world, this could affect most of us.
As a micronutrient it is safe, it is almost impossible to overdo (unless you are in the habit of downing a full bottle of supplements a day) - I can only ask as a doctor of natural health, why this is not taught in college, why it is not considered as important as more popular deficiencies that even the media advertise widely? It is also very affordable - around $6AUS for a two month supply.
Order here
TAKE PLANT OMEGA OILS WHILE YOU ARE ON LITHIUM FOR OPTIMAL UPTAKE - FLAX, CHIA SEEDS, BRUSSELS SPROUTS, HEMP OIL, WALNUTS, SESAME SEEDS, SUNFLOWER SEEDS.
As it is a neurological element, it stands to reason that Zinc and Magnesium work well with Lithium. Interestingly, each of these foods is high in both.
Please note: there is some confusion between elemental lithium and pharmaceutical lithium. They are not the same.
References:
Are You Lithium Deficient? By Nicholas Hundley
Benefits of Lithium by Joe Cohen