Vorschlag: Authorize lithium as a dietary supplement
A low-dose intake of lithium can preserve brain health and protect against neurodegenerative processes. Environmental and lifestyle factors frequently lead to a deficiency. Furthermore, lithium demonstrably meets all scientific criteria of an essential trace element, even though it is not yet officially recognised as essential.[1] In addition, as a trace element, lithium is far more difficult to overdose than other essential trace elements such as selenium or zinc.[2]
Lithium should therefore be approved as a dietary supplement.
Lithium as a trace element
Lithium occurs as a micronutrient in food and drinking water. Environmental and lifestyle factors can lead to a deficiency.[3] Lithium raises levels of the growth factor BDNF and promotes the formation of new nerve cells, for example in the hippocampus.
Epidemiological evidence
Several large studies report lower dementia and mortality rates in regions where drinking water contains more lithium.[3][4][5]
Lithium deficiency and Alzheimer's disease
A research group at Harvard University concluded in Nature that lithium is essential for maintaining cognitive function.[6][7][8]
- Of all the metals examined, only lithium was significantly reduced in the brains of people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
- In a mouse model, removing 50% of dietary lithium led to increased amyloid-β and phospho-tau deposits, microglial activation, loss of synapses, axons and myelin, and accelerated cognitive decline.
Lithium supplementation
In mice, low-dose lithium orotate restored the clearance of amyloid by microglia. Lithium may be the only molecule capable of fully stabilising Alzheimer's disease in its early stages.[9]
References
- ↑ https://www.openpetition.de/petition/online/lithium-anerkennung-der-essentialitaet-und-zulassung-als-nahrungsergaenzungsmittel
- ↑ https://www.openpetition.de/petition/online/lithium-anerkennung-der-essentialitaet-und-zulassung-als-nahrungsergaenzungsmittel
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 AFGM: Lithium – ein essenzieller Mikronährstoff [Lithium – an essential micronutrient]. 2025. Online.
- ↑ Kessing, L. V. et al.: Association of Lithium in Drinking Water With the Incidence of Dementia. In: JAMA Psychiatry 74, 2017, pp. 1005–1010.
- ↑ Zarse, K. et al.: Low-dose lithium uptake promotes longevity in humans and metazoans. In: European Journal of Nutrition 50, 2011, pp. 387–389.
- ↑ Aron, L. et al.: Lithium deficiency and the onset of Alzheimer's disease. In: Nature 645, 2025, pp. 712–721.
- ↑ Bush, A. I.: Does lithium deficiency contribute to Alzheimer's disease? In: Nature 645, 2025, pp. 593–594.
- ↑ Peeples, L.: New hope for Alzheimer's: lithium supplement reverses memory loss in mice. In: Nature, 2025.
- ↑ Nehls, M.: Die Lithium-(R)Evolution – Plädoyer für ein lebenswichtiges Spurenelement [The lithium (r)evolution – a plea for a vital trace element]. In: QS24 – Der Gesundheitskompass No. 1, May 2025. Online.