Lithium Supplementation

#21

FWIW

Review the following;

Serum Lithium Levels: Ideal Time for Sample Collection! Are We Doing it Right?

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4100432/

#22

I buy mine from Life Extension for longevity. The serving size is 1000 mcg of lithium orotate daily.

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#23

I think the serving is actually 1000mcg of elemental lithium provided as orotate.

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#24

It appears on the label this way: (as lithium orotate). So I see thereā€™s a difference. I just didnā€™t know about that.

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#25

The difference is in how much of the Lithium ion there is.

Lithium has an atomic weight of 6.941 Lithium Orotate has a molar weight of 162.03g. For this purpose, therefore, to get a milligram of Lithium you need 162.03/6.941=23.34 milligrams of Lithium Orotate.

Labelling is not always that clear, but you are probably taking 23.34 milligrams (give or take a few milligrams) in each capsule.

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#26

7UP used to contain lithium. It was called ā€œlithiated lemon sodaā€.

In 1949 the Australian psychiatrist John Cade published studies that showed that lithium could be used to treat manias and stabilise bipolar disorders. [Med J Aust. 1949 Sep 3;2(10):349-52.] Cade needed much higher concentrations of lithium to do this than were found in 7UP. But when Cade discovered that even higher concentrations were toxic, the manufacturer of 7UP removed lithium from its product.

Lithium worked so well, however, that Cade initially thought that bipolar disorders were caused by a shortage of lithium. This theory led to ā€˜nutri-criminologicalā€™ studies which revealed that in areas where the drinking water contained more lithium there were lower serious crime rates and fewer suicides. [Biol Trace Elem Res. 1990 May;25(2):105-13.]

Tell the mayors of the cities below.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-city-rankings/most-violent-cities-in-america

The twenty cities with the highest violent crime rates (number of incidents per 100,000 people) are:

  1. St. Louis, MO (2,082)
  2. Detroit, MI (2,057)
  3. Baltimore, MD (2,027)
  4. Memphis, TN (2,003)
  5. Little Rock, AR (1,634)
  6. Milwaukee, WI (1,597)
  7. Rockford, IL (1,588)
  8. Cleveland, OH (1,557)
  9. Stockton, CA (1,415)
  10. Albuquerque, NM (1,369)
  11. Springfield, MO (1,339)
  12. Indianapolis, IN (1,334)
  13. Oakland, CA (1,299)
  14. San Bernardino, CA (1,291)
  15. Anchorage, AK (1,203)
  16. Nashville, TN (1,138)
  17. Lansing, MI (1,136)
  18. New Orleans, LA (1,121)
  19. Minneapolis, MN (1,101)
  20. Chicago, IL (1,099)
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#27

Lithium is available in many mineral waters throughout the world and is highly bioavailable.
One brand sold in the U.S. would only require you to drink 2 liters a day for 1 mg of bioavailable lithium. Of course the other minerals could be problematic for some. Some German waters contain almost 2 mg/L

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#28

Negative in mice https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/acel.13479

But mice die way too much of cancer, and lithium seems to act on mechanisms independently of cancer

#29

I think the data is fairly convincing that lithium supplementation is good for your health, cognition and lifespan. I take lithium orotate every night.

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#30

Yep, I believe there was a case report in the literature involving negative effects from higher dose orotate supplement form causing a hospitalization somewhere if one wants to look into it. It appears to possibly be close to equivalent.

Frankly, Iā€™m not even particularly convinced by the suggested effects of epi evidence for suicide prevention on microdosing lithium at 1-3 mg, but Iā€™m not doubting a potential mood effect on even low doses around 5-15 mg.

My take is ~1 mg (spaced out in water from USP grade lithium carbonate IR, wished I had the benefit of ER version) is highly, highly unlikely to cause significant long-term harm if any, with a potential shaky benefit based on a poorly done trial at a slightly lower microdose on AD (with some lack of key details in the trial) that also used lithium carbonate. Not particularly convinced yet on it having enough empircial evidence to significantly increase healthspan or lifespan in humans at the dose Iā€™m taking if it even has any effect in the first place, but the mechanistic gamble in this instance vs potential for harm seems okay in my personal situation.

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#31

I ordered a 1mg lithium orotate supplement to add to my stack that should arrive today. @JuanDaw I have lived in one of the cities listed in your post for the last 28 years so I suspect my intake has been low.

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#32

My post above shows cities with high crime rates per capita. The suggestion of adding lithium to city drinking water was in jest, because there is no showing that those citiesā€™ drinking water have low lithium content. The connection is made based on the untested hypothesis of Australian psychiatrist John Cade.

This theory led to ā€˜nutri-criminologicalā€™ studies which revealed that in areas where the drinking water contained more lithium there were lower serious crime rates and fewer suicides. [Biol Trace Elem Res. 1990 May;25(2):105-13.]

My lithium orotate arrived yesterday, in time for my weekend dosing of kaempferol, myricetin, and lithium. I started kaempferol and myricetin the weekend past. This is for my self-experimentation of a substitute for rapamycin (or everolimus), and trametinib (a MEK inhibitor and anti-cancer), as posted below.

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#33

I ordered it before reading your post so I didnā€™t decide based on that but I certainly appreciate your clarification. I do believe based on what Iā€™ve read that both places Iā€™ve lived during my lifetime have low groundwater lithium levels.

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#34

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#35

Trace lithium in Texas tap water is negatively associated with all-cause mortality and premature death (2017)

#36

Low-dose lithium uptake promotes longevity in humans and metazoans (2011)

https://t.co/pldvnIz4CA

#37

As promised, I finally had my lithium levels checked. Quite a surprise, makes me wonder if the lithium orotate supplement I am currently taking actually has any lithium in it.
FWIW: I am currently taking
ā€œLithium Orotate 5mg, 180 Vegetarian Lithium Capsulesā€ by ā€œPurely Holisticā€
I think I will go back to the ā€œNCI Advanced Research Dr. Hans Nieper Lithium Orotate Tabletsā€
I have been taking low-dose lithium orotate for decades, so I am completely surprised by the results.

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Side Effects of Rapamycin (part 2)
#38

I take 20mg daily from weyland which is sold on amazon. I should probably test my lithium levels after dosing some time.

#39

When I took 5mg Lithium tablets I had a test result of 0.1 mmol/L. Your result is not clear as it says under 0.3 L when it probably means <0.3 mmol/L. However, that would be consistent with my result.

My result was too high for my purposes as I want a level under 0.05 mmol/L hence I reduced my intake.

That reference range is a mental health dosage range not a longevity low dose range.

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#40

It is <0.3 mmol/L and yes the range 0.6-1.2 mmol/L is the therapeutic range for treating mental illness. Thanks for keeping me straight.

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