Curious
#366
6 Likes
Agetron
#367
Hahahaā¦I eat cheese before bed and knock down my supplements with whole milk.
Thanks for the heads up.
2 Likes
LukeMV
#368
ACE inhibitors do the same (it may also be the mechanism of Telmisartan raising lithium)
3 Likes
Very interesting. Maybe some of the claimed health benefits of taurine could be due to that. By increasing the levels of lithium in the body, you get more of the benefit from lithium intake in the diet or even from supplements.
5 Likes
Beth
#370
Yes, and EXCELLENT find @Curious !!!
I was taking 1mg of lithium, but then when I learned an sglt2 might decrease it 50-70% ish, I started taking 2mgā¦. and then, this week I ordered 5mg based on all the new data, knowing my effective dose might wind up being around 2.5ā¦But eureka, I take 6g of taurine daily so who the heck knows- Iām getting whiplash 
I did ask about labs for lithium the other day but it was brought up that often labs are designed for people on high dose for BPD, so our low levels might not register.
Watching this space closely!!!
3 Likes
I am not a chemist, so this question is extremely naive (perhaps appropriate for my first post).
If lithium orotate and lithium carbonate are both salts, and both dissolve upon contact with water into their constituentsālithium ions and the corresponding orotate and carbonate ions, respectivelyāwhy should there be any difference in how strongly the lithium ions from these salts bind to amyloid in the brain?
I know the Harvard paper showed this empirically in the mice they studied, but it still seems odd to me.
5 Likes
They are both not v soluble
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Thanks. That would explain it.
The acid in the stomach should dissolve them though.
1 Like
Yes! Cheese for the fat content and satiety, but I use a casein shake instead of whole milk.
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Thanks to those who posted the heads up on the lithium orotate supplements and the question about whether the ā5mgā denotes the amount of lithium or lithium orotate. I am coming to the conclusion itās probably just lithium orotate. The marketing verbiage on the Doublewood bottle says āJust 5 mg of lithium orotate may help support ā¦ā, and the facts box says āLithium (as lithium orotate) 5mgā, not āLithium (FROM lithium orotate) 5mgā. Both suggest just 5 mg of Li Orotate, such that one is getting a fraction of a mg of Li.
I notice there is lithium chloride salt available (about 15% Li by mass). And there is orotic acid powder available. In solution, at physiologic pH, the carboxyl group on orotic acid should deprotonate yielding the orotate anion, and lithium chloride should produce the Li+ cation. At which point I donāt see how that is distinguishable from lithium orotate in solution.
So can anyone sanity check my chemistry with regard to the idea of supplementing lithium chloride + orotic acid as a means of being sure one is getting as much lithium as one intends?
3 Likes
Davin8r
#378
I would just buy the KAL brand version of lithium orotate, which is what I use. They are an extraordinarily reputable brand with decades of experience, and the ingredients label is very clear ā Lithium 5mg, as lithium orotate.
5 Likes
Yes, the KAL brand seems superior. Thatās what I will be using from here on out. Thanks to everyone who helped spot this!
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Curious
#380
I buy Swanson lithium orotate with 5 mg elemental lithium. From the web page (ā¦ā5 mg Elemental Lithium 60 Veg Capsāā¦)
2 Likes
Herm
#381
A confounder is that orotic acid has pharmacodynamic actions of its own, either biochemical for example as a pyrimidine precursor, or physical-chemical interactions, such as increasing urate excretion. A design with LiOr/LiC/Or/LiC + Or/Placebo would have been more convincing. Also see here that brain concentrations of Li in rodents do not seem to differ when Li given as carbonate or orotate, though that is a different question, though somewhat related.
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LukeMV
#382
Both KAL and Swansonās lithium orotate are legit according to ConsumerLab. Canāt go wrong with either.
6 Likes
