AIUI the therapeutic dose here is for mental health. Personally I want a concentration of lithium around the 25 microMolar range. The therapeutic concentration is perhaps 0.75 mmol. Viz 30 times that.
An issue with lithium is that it inhibits citrate carriers. I think that may be why higher doses are nephrotoxic.
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Tim
#327
Apparently high doses have a severe diuretic effect, which can lead to dehydration and kidney failure if the losses are not replenished, as they are often not in cases of an altered mental state. Iām sure there are other mechanisms.
By the way, what is bae, which is one of your remedies for a hangover.
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Korean Pear Juice.
More preventative than remedy.
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jjrap1
#329
Iāve had been taking that one too. 
Noticed that @DrFraser links to the Nutricost brand in his blog. Says āLithium (from lithium orotate) 5mgā. Thatās the one I will order next.
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LukeMV
#331
I just checked ConsumerLab.com and they tested that. Itās really 5mg and they marked it as āapprovedā, so youāre fine. I just ordered it myself.
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LukeMV
#332
I like Nutricost but ConsumerLab hasnāt tested that brand so I went with KAL.
Swanson, Advanced Research, Pure Encapsulations, and Solaray also advertise 5mg serving sizes and were all approved. So any of those brands should be good to go.
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adssx
#333
Lithium deficiency and the onset of Alzheimerās disease 2025
The earliest molecular changes in Alzheimerās disease (AD) are poorly understood1,2,3,4,5. Here we show that endogenous lithium (Li) is dynamically regulated in the brain and contributes to cognitive preservation during ageing. Of the metals we analysed, Li was the only one that was significantly reduced in the brain in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a precursor to AD. Li bioavailability was further reduced in AD by amyloid sequestration. We explored the role of endogenous Li in the brain by depleting it from the diet of wild-type and AD mouse models. Reducing endogenous cortical Li by approximately 50% markedly increased the deposition of amyloid-Ī² and the accumulation of phospho-tau, and led to pro-inflammatory microglial activation, the loss of synapses, axons and myelin, and accelerated cognitive decline. These effects were mediated, at least in part, through activation of the kinase GSK3Ī². Single-nucleus RNA-seq showed that Li deficiency gives rise to transcriptome changes in multiple brain cell types that overlap with transcriptome changes in AD. Replacement therapy with lithium orotate, which is a Li salt with reduced amyloid binding, prevents pathological changes and memory loss in AD mouse models and ageing wild-type mice. These findings reveal physiological effects of endogenous Li in the brain and indicate that disruption of Li homeostasis may be an early event in the pathogenesis of AD. Li replacement with amyloid-evading salts is a potential approach to the prevention and treatment of AD.
Inorganic Li salts, including the clinical standard lithium carbonate (Li2CO3, hereafter LiC), showed significantly elevated conductivity, indicative of increased ionization, relative to organic Li salts (P = 8 Ć 10ā4; Fig. 5a and Extended Data Fig. 7a). Of the organic Li salts, lithium orotate (C5H3LiN2O4, hereafter LiO) showed the lowest conductance across a broad Li concentration range (Fig. 5a and Extended Data Fig. 7a) and was therefore selected for further comparison with the clinical standard LiC.
We have characterized a Li salt, lithium orotate, with reduced binding that can bypass amyloid sequestration in AD mouse models.
Editorial: Does lithium deficiency contribute to Alzheimerās disease?
News: New hope for Alzheimerās: lithium supplement reverses memory loss in mice
Most clinical trials of lithium have tested the form lithium carbonate. The team showed that amyloid plaques readily trap this form ā but others, such as lithium orotate, avoid that fate. When the authors gave mice low doses of lithium orotate, it reversed disease-related brain damage and restored the animalsā memory. Lithium carbonate did not have the same benefits, potentially helping to explain the mixed results of earlier clinical trials.
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LukeMV
#334
Another key piece of evidence here, even if itās in mice! Iām really really bull-ish on low dose lithium as a key supplement that would benefit most of us. It also clues us on in on another reason for Telmisartan potentially having anti dementia effects (lowering of BP but also increase in lithium). The question is really what the optimal dose should be in humans.
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adssx
#335
Thatās the big question.
In this paper in PD Lithiumās effects on therapeutic targets and MRI biomarkers in Parkinsonās disease: A pilot clinical trial 2023 they found that 45 mg/day lithium aspartate was effective, while 15 mg/day lithium aspartate not so much. (high-doseā lithium carbonate was also useless, confirmed by the Nature AD paper) According to ChatGPT, lithium aspartate is similar to acetate and pyruvate in terms of conductivity, so less effective than orotate. So 15 to 45 mg/day of lithium orotate is probably effective and maybe even lower doses. I already feel benefits with 1 mg/day, so for now Iām sticking to thatā¦
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Just make sure youāre getting the full 1mg because some supplement companies donāt account for elemental lithium vs the whole package. I am on 25mg/day empagliflozin, so I was thinking of taking 5mg KAL lithium for some time until I start taking telmisartan toward the end of the year, and then dropping lithium to 1mg/day hoping telmisartan counteracts the SGLT2i wrt. lithium excretion/sparing.
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The influence of food on side effects and absorption of lithium
āLithium was completely absorbed when given after food, but when given on an empty stomach the absorption was lower in some subjects, apparently due to rapid gastrointestinal passage in connection with diarrhoea. Lithium should therefore preferably be administered after meals.ā
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Lithium Battery of Tests
Did researchers just find a glimmer of hope in the quest to fight Alzheimerās? āSeven years of investigation by scientists at Harvard Medical School have revealed that the loss of the metal lithium plays a powerful role in Alzheimerās disease, a finding that could lead to earlier detection, new treatments and a broader understanding of how the brain ages. Researchers led by Bruce A. Yankner, professor of genetics and neurology at Harvard Medical School, reported that they were able to reverse the disease in mice and restore brain function with small amounts of the compound lithium orotate, enough to mimic the metalās natural level in the brain.ā
Research on reversing Alzheimerās reveals lithium as potential key.
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Beth
#339
You mentioned to me recently that we can test our lithium levels.
Do you happen to know what a good range might be?
My objective is around 25 micromol sadly the tests I use go down to 50.
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adssx
#341
I donāt know, but I trust John on those kinds of things. Iāve never tested though.
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LukeMV
#342
If I am not mistaken, the current lithium tests are only in place for bipolar patients so the ranges reflect that population of people. I asked for a lithium blood test last time I went to the lab and the range showed I was low despite being on 5mg and then I realized that was why.
However, there could be a superior test I am not aware of.
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It looks like lithium orotate is the form most of us should be taking.
ālithium orotate was more effective than lithium carbonate at preventing the accumulation of AĪ² and phosphorylated tau, cognitive deficits and the expression of pro-inflammatory markers.ā
āTo replenish lithium in the brain, the authors identify a lithium salt, lithium orotate, that does not easily form ions and is therefore not readily sequestered by amyloid plaques. Treatment with lithium orotate prevents the worsening of amyloid plaque build-up, possibly by restoring the ability of microglia (the brainās immune cells) to clear amyloid-Ī², and it protects against loss of cognitive function in mouse models of Alzheimerās disease and normal ageing.ā
NEWS AND VIEWS 06 August 2025:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02255-w?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=b430ed5dda-nature-briefing-daily-20250807&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-33f35e09ea-49409460
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LukeMV
#344
Iām memory serves me correctly, I think low-medium dosed lithium extended lifespan by 20% in the Ora Biomedical testing on nematodes.
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Curious
#345
Anecdottely, two persons told me that their long covid was vastly improved after taking 5 mg lithium with meals twice a day. (And I think Modern Healthspan has had an interview with a Researcher who studied lithium for long COVID.)
I have seen a dose-dependent effect from lithium orotate on my mood. I have never taken more than 10 mg per day. Usually, I take 5 mg per day. I use lithium orotate from Swanson.
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