Solaray, Lithium Aspartate, 5 mg, 100 Capsules

Product Information

Lithium orotate contains a higher dose of lithium than the other two supplements, so there is some potential for side-effects and toxicity. However, this typically occurs only when multiple capsules at higher doses are taken. Even then, there have been no reported cases of death or serious side-effects with lithium orotate. In 2007, there was one reported case of toxicity from lithium orotate, in which a woman intentionally took enough lithium orotate to reach low-dose medication levels without medical supervision. The only adverse effects she experienced were mild nausea and tremor, which went away after about 4 hours. Medication: Lithium Carbonate Aarsland D., Larsen J.P., Tandberg E., Laake K. Predictors of nursing home placement in Parkinson's disease: a population-based, prospective study. J. Am. Geriatr. Soc. 2000; 48:938–942. [ PubMed] [ Google Scholar]

Although we still need better-designed, large-scale studies about low-dose lithium’s effect on mental and brain health, these promising preliminary studies and positive patient reportsshould encourage us to reconsider lithium’s role in psychiatry. What type of lithium supplements are available? Knudsen NN, Schullehner J, Hansen B, Jørgensen LF, Kristiansen SM, Voutchkova DD, Gerds TA, Andersen PK, Bihrmann K, Grønbæk M, Kessing LV, Ersbøll AK (2017) Lithium in drinking water and incidence of suicide: a nationwide individual-level cohort study with 22 years of follow-up. Int J Environ Res Public Health 14:627 Pasternak O., Sochen N., Gur Y., Intrator N., Assaf Y. Free water elimination and mapping from diffusion MRI. Magn. Reson. Med. 2009; 62:717–730. [ PubMed] [ Google Scholar] Going over 5 mg per day may result in acute nausea and tremors. Long-term high doses could lead to classic symptoms of lithium orotate toxicity, such as impaired kidney function. Thyroid and parathyroid glands may also be affected. Yang J., Archer D.B., Burciu R.G., Muller M., Roy A., Ofori E., Bohnen N.I., Albin R.L., Vaillancourt D.E. Multimodal dopaminergic and free-water imaging in Parkinson's disease. Park. Relat. Disord. 2019; 62:10–15. [ PMC free article] [ PubMed] [ Google Scholar]Lithium is a trace element whose use in human health has been increasingly recognized. While its best-known role is that of supporting mood, lithium has recently been recognized as having the ability to play a role in maintaining cognitive function. 1,2 Jathar VS, Pendharkar PR, Pandey VK, Raut SJ, Doongaji DR, Bharucha MP, Satoskar RS Manic depressive psychosis in India and the possible role of lithium as a natural prophylactic. II—Lithium content of diet and some biological fluids in Indian subjects. J Postgrad Med 1980, 26:39–44 Heghedus-Mindru G, Biron RK, Pejru DM, Rusnac LM, Rivis A, Stef DS (2008) Cation contents in natural mineral waters of Romania determined with the HPIC method. Food Agr Environ 6:506–508

I’ve been using these supplements for a few months now, and I totally notice a difference in my mood swings. I have depression and anxiety and last year decided I wanted to come off of my prescription medication under my doctor’s supervision and use supplements instead! I’m so very happy I did, and this is a must-have in my daily routine!” Lithium Orotate: Depression Hou L., Xiong N., Liu L., Huang J., Han C., Zhang G., Li J., Xu X., Lin Z., Wang T. Lithium protects dopaminergic cells from rotenone toxicity via autophagy enhancement. BMC Neurosci. 2015; 16:82. [ PMC free article] [ PubMed] [ Google Scholar] For these trace levels, there are virtually no known acute side-effects and no risk for toxicity. This is unsurprising, as we all ingest some level of naturally-occurring lithium from food and water. These trace levels may in fact benefit brain and mental health. However, certain populations such as the elderly and pregnant women may be sensitive to long-term exposure of small amounts of lithium. For this reason, we need more studies to better understand the effects of trace-level lithium supplementation on different populations. Low Dose Supplementation: Lithium Orotate According to Goldstein and Mascitelli (2016), an interesting strategy would be to consider the possibility of adding elemental Li to vitamin preparations for adolescents and adults [ 35]. However, there are supplements containing lithium compounds on the market, e.g., Li orotate, the clinical efficacy of these preparations has not been investigated—only one study has shown a normotomy effect with the use of Li supplementation at a dose of 0.4 mg [ 17, 53]. Moreover, caution is advised in the use of food supplements; it is important that the consumer be fully acquainted with and follow the information provided by the manufacturer [ 17, 87]. The literature has already reported a case of mild intoxication manifested by severe nausea and vomiting as a result of an intentional overdose of a Li-containing food supplement by ingestion of 18 tablets with a total dose of 83 mg Li [ 88].

Lithium orotate side effects

It has been shown that Li restores the level of Na + ions and regulates the activity of sodium-potassium ATP-ase, stabilizes the system of secondary relays, and regulates intracellular signal cascades that are dependent on cAMP and Ca 2+ [ 26]. Intracellular accumulation of Li results in the replacement of Na, which in turn reduces intracellular Ca 2+ concentration, inhibits release, and facilitates the uptake of major transmitters: noradrenaline, serotonin, and dopamine [ 20]. As observed, Li modulates the activity of glutamate, dopamine, serotonin, gamma-aminobutyric acid, acetylcholine, and glycine [ 3, 20]. It is also known that it can regulate intracellular processes stimulated by synaptic neurotransmitters by acting on phosphatidylinositol and adenylyl cyclase systems [ 25, 27, 28, 29]. It has also been shown to inhibit the activity of glycogen synthase kinases, associated with cell proliferation, metabolism, and apoptosis [ 7, 20, 30]. In addition, it enhances the expression of protection factors, such as the brain-derived neurotrophic factor, its receptor, and the BAG-1 factor interacting with the bcl-2 protein [ 25, 28]. Gaillardet J, Viers J, Dupré B (2003) Trace elements in river waters. In: Drewer JJ (ed) Treatise on geochemistry. Elsevier, Oxford, pp. 225–227 Vita A, De Peri L, Sacchetti E (2015) Lithium in drinking water and suicide prevention: a review of the evidence. Int Clin Psychopharmacol 30(1):1–5 Rat brain and serum lithium concentrations after acute injections of lithium carbonate and orotate” Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology (1978)

The prescription form of lithium is very potent. When used in lower doses, it has strong potential to help with cognitive decline, decreasing the effects of amnesia and Alzheimer’s disease. Lithium orotate supplements have lower doses of lithium compared to the prescription form, and experts debate about the potential benefits of these products. An equally interesting aspect of the action of Li is its effect on morphological changes in the blood, resulting in modulation of the immune system response. It is suggested that this element has a complex immunomodulating effect, including suppressor activity and interactions between different classes of white blood cells [ 7]. As shown in clinical trials, Li induces granulocytosis [ 36] and lymphopenia [ 37] but increases the immunological activity of monocytes, NK cells, and lymphocytes, particularly increases the synthesis of IgG and IgM immunoglobulins by B cells [ 7, 38, 39, 40]. Torshin I.Y., Gromova O.A., Ostrenko K.S., Filimonova M.V., Gogoleva I.V., Demidov V.I., Kalacheva A.G. Lithium ascorbate as a promising neuroprotector: fundamental and experimental studies of an organic lithium salt. Molecules. 2022:27. [ PMC free article] [ PubMed] [ Google Scholar]Ionic lithium– This type is sold as a liquid containing lithium chloride. A typical dose of ionic lithium ranges from 0.3-1 mg.