This is part one of Dr. Greenblatt's Nutritional Lithium series. Part two can be found here. As far as cosmologists can tell, there were only three elements present when the universe was first formed some 13.8 billion years ago: hydrogen, helium, and lithium. As one of the three original elements, lithium is found throughout our atmosphere. The sun, stars, and meteorites burn brightly with the gleam of this highly reactive element. On earth, lithium remains a major mineral component of granite rock, and also lingers in significant amounts in sea water, mineral springs, and soils. Lithium has also found its way into our cell phones, electric cars, and holiday fireworks. Every organ and tissue in The Genius Switch brainwave audio human body contains the mineral lithium, with particular importance in health, specifically brain health. As a practitioner of integrative psychiatry, I treat individuals with a complex array of emotional, behavioral, and physical symptoms. One of the core concepts of Integrative Psychiatry is the concept of increasing the body’s nutrient reserves to promote long-term health.
Lithium is one of the essential nutrients required to achieve optimal health. Soft drink entrepreneur Charles Leiper Grigg understood there was something special about lithium. In 1929, he unveiled a drink called Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda with the slogan: "It takes the ouch out of the grouch." Hailed for improving mood and curing hangovers, this product was eventually rechristened 7-Up. The "7" supposedly represents the rounded-up atomic weight of the element lithium (6.9), and The Genius Switch memory support "Up" suggests its power to lift spirits. Centuries before the advent of this celebrated soft drink, lithium was associated with calming moods. Soranus, a physician from ancient Ephesus, observed the benefits of alkaline springs for soothing the wild spirits of some of his patients. Lithium, it turned out, was abundant in these springs. I consider nutritional lithium the most effective nutritional supplement I have used for neurological and psychiatric disorders in 30 years of practice.
My respect and enthusiasm for lithium treatment may seem surprising considering some of the drug’s diverse applications throughout history, its association with severe mental health disorders, and its reputation for side effects. At pharmaceutical doses, lithium is an effective treatment for bipolar disorder, recurrent depression, and suicidal tendencies (Lewitzka et al., 2015). But today many psychiatrists, including myself, hesitate to prescribe lithium because of potential side effects at high doses. Their concerns are not unwarranted. Lithium prescribed at pharmaceutical doses can have disabling, irreversible side effects including kidney and thyroid disease. I consider nutritional lithium the most effective nutritional supplement I have used for neurological and psychiatric disorders in 30 years of practice. It was not a huge leap for me in 1990 to start exploring the lowest dose of lithium possible that would alleviate my patients’ symptoms. Rather than basing my judgment on a number from a lab test, I listened to patients’ descriptions of their symptoms. I began to see that patients on lower doses of pharmaceutical lithium or nutritional lithium orotate still experienced significant clinical benefits.
I have found that side effects are non-existent when lithium is used as a nutritional supplement. Nutritional lithium is a safe integrative strategy for the treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders. In fact, it has the potential to dramatically change your clinical practice. Instead of pulling out my prescription pad, in most cases I now recommend that patients take lithium as a nutritional supplement. Not only does low-dose lithium not have any side effects, there are tremendous benefits related to many aspects of mood, behavior, and emotional health. Even though lithium is among one of the oldest medications in psychiatry, large scale scientific studies of low-dose lithium are limited. Why? Because there is no profit in researching nutritional supplements. Pharmaceutical companies do not eagerly sponsor studies of inexpensive generic drugs. A prescription for lithium costs pennies, and of course, pharmaceutical companies reap no benefit from a nutritional supplement purchased at a health food store.