The Bipolar Relationship to Salt (Excerpt from Book: Med Free Bipolar on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JMSQ1YK and Books a Million)
Don’t have a COW, get a SALT LICK INSTEAD.
Salt can relax muscles, calm nerves, smooth out anger, and tame RAGE.
Lithium Orotate versus Prescription Lithium Carbonate:
The bipolar link to salt deficiencies has been understood for centuries. Lithium is a salt compound. Lithium carbonate was approved by the FDA for the treatment of mania in 1970, but had long been in use prior to that. It was discovered as an element in 1817, and was used in the treatment of mania as early as 1871.
Naturally occurring lithium-rich mineral baths and springs attracted people for their numerous health benefits, even including the word “Lith” in their establishment name to allure the public. Lithium used to be considered a good thing and sought after for its health benefits. Now it holds a stigma almost as strong as mental illness does.
Natural forms of lithium are less concentrated and are compounded differently than the prescription forms, so side effects are not as great an issue.
I am neither for nor against medications as a strict rule; I am however, very much for you knowing all of your options and alternatives. The doctors can let you know about all of the prescription options available to you, but they may not know about a safe, natural form of lithium.
Although this lithium, called lithium orotate, has not been clinically studied side by side with lithium in actual clinical trials that I am aware of, it has been tested by several of my peers with bipolar who did pretty well for years on lithium carbonate (by prescription), and then transitioned over to lithium orotate (found in health food stores). They found even greater health and stability without the side effects, prescription refills, blood tests, and fear of kidney failure.
If there were a safer, more effective form of lithium that you could get without a prescription, wouldn’t you want to know about it? I did, and even got righteously angry the more I learned. The very thought of doctors prescribing the prescription form of lithium makes me sick to my stomach since I discovered a healthy rather than toxic alternative!
NOTE: When using the Med Free Method™, it is important to follow water and salt recommendations. Too much water can dilute stomach acid and digestive enzymes, as well as flush out minerals and nutrients, while too little water will leave you with even bigger problems like constipation and dehydration, especially due to the increased salt intake.
Lithium Orotate (120mg), over the counter in health food stores
Most people don’t realize that lithium itself is not a drug, but a naturally occurring mineral salt, like potassium. It can be found in water, soil, and in fruits and vegetables. Lithium is vital for the proper functioning of every brain.
I often get asked how is lithium orotate different from lithium carbonate and lithium citrate (the ones prescribed)? Lithium orotate is in its natural mineral form, requiring less to affect more results. The body utilizes about 97%, whereas it takes large quantities of the pharmaceutical grade lithium, at near toxic levels, to be effective.
Dr. Hans Nieper of Germany discovered that lithium orotate or lithium aspartate penetrate cells more effectively than lithium carbonate. This means that smaller doses can be used to achieve therapeutic results, versus the higher doses of prescription lithium that borderline toxicity levels. The effective therapeutic window using prescription lithium is dangerously close to the toxicity level, which is why regular blood/toxicity levels need to be checked through doctor supervision.
Lithium orotate is a safe over-the-counter mineral supple-ment that can be safely used to augment symptoms of:
• Stress
• Bipolar Disorder I & II (formerly known as manic depression)
• ADHD and ADD, Depression
• Alcoholism, Aggression
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Alzheimer’s, and much more
It is said to be effective for 70-80 percent of individuals with bipolar who take it! I was scared of this natural remedy for quite a while. Even the name scared me into thinking it was like the prescription lithium, of which I had heard horror stories of kidney failure, blood lithium level checks, and other debilitating side effects similar to what I experienced while taking Depakote.
I encourage you to do your own research, but I have read quite extensively now on this natural salt. I have talked to chiropractors, health-food storeowners, and naturopaths about its safety and efficacy. I can see that it may be amazingly beneficial to many people without the harmful side effects.
For the “broke, busy, or lazy,” lithium orotate could be a first natural treatment protocol if desired, as it is quite inexpensive. It is more effective at much lower doses than prescription lithium because it goes directly into the blood stream and is more potent at low doses!
It can also be beneficial for every “normal” brain as well! It protects the brain in a number of important ways, and has recently been found that low doses can actually restore and increase the grey matter in the brain, which is said to be the source of intelligence. It preserves and even renews brain cells. Eight out of ten people given lithium orotate increased their grey matter by 3% in only four weeks! Nothing else so far has been shown to do this. Supplementing with small amounts of lithium orotate may also provide anti-aging benefits to the brain, as well as protecting it from toxins. Lithium can also:
• Block the damaging effects of excitotoxins like Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), aspartame (found in diet sodas), and other chemicals found in processed foods
• Help form new cells by enhancing DNA replication
• Help protect against brain cell death caused by anti-convulsant drugs
• May protect against damaging effects of illegal drugs, alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, and marijuana
• May repair the brain’s abnormally-functioning neural pathways
• Help chelate aluminum thought to cause Alzheimer’s disease (AD) so that it can be expelled from the body according to a 2001 abstract in Society for Neuroscience.
The most interesting thing that I found in my research of lithium was a case study where 27 Texas counties found that the incidences of homicide, rape, robbery, burglary, suicides, and arrests for drug possession were significantly higher in counties whose drinking water contained little or no lithium. Comparatively, places where water naturally contained higher amounts of lithium had lower crime rates, and fewer hospitalizations for mental illness, psychosis, neurosis, personality disorders, schizophrenia, and even eating disorders.
SQUIRREL POINT
James Howenstine, M.D. spent thirty-four years as an internal medicine specialist before becoming convinced that natural products are safer, more effective, and less expensive than pharmaceutical drugs. He is the author of A Physicians Guide to Natural Products that Work, and believes that lithium should be added directly to the water supply instead of fluoride, especially in counties where lithium levels are deficient. Doing so would reduce crime rates, increase longevity of brain function in seniors, and help curtail the staggering number of children who are diagnosed with learning disabilities. “Since placing lithium in our water could improve general health and decrease the need for pharmaceutical drugs, there is little possibility this will occur,” Howenstine said.
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