Epimatter is a miracle solution for everyone – moms, students, adults, and many others reap the benefits of this mineral supplement. What is it, though and what does it help, what side effects should I expect, how many can I take, and most importantly, is it safe?
This article will be a tad longer and more scientific than I usually write; please stick with me and also reach out to me with any parts you have questions about or need better explanations! Your asking improves my writing and if you have questions, so do ten others afraid to ask! Use my chat box (bottom left) and fire away!
People often need to learn how to question or even conclude if treatment is correct for them or not. I can’t begin to tell you how many patients have started treatment only to find out it wasn’t the right choice for them. My years of practice (and listening to my patients) have led me to develop 8 important questions you should be asking when considering treatment for yourself or for your child–whether prescription medications, medical procedures, or even natural remedies.
For ease, I will use “treatment” as one unified term with regard to medical procedures, prescriptions, or natural remedies. Please ask and have confidence in the answers you receive to these questions before any treatment is accepted.
- Do you have clear criteria for successful treatment outcomes, and what should be considered a failure?
- Within this answer, you should include any symptom reduction or exacerbation and improvement or degradation in the quality of life and health and outline any economic burdens of treatment.
- Are there any withdrawal issues when the treatment is terminated?
- Is there a timeframe or need for weaning this treatment?
- Is there any built-in rebound of symptoms once the treatment is terminated?
- Are any symptoms or side effects of the treatment exacerbated or created by the treatment that would need something more (another medication or medical treatment) to counteract?
- Does the treatment lead to a worsening of symptoms or create new ones?
- Does the treatment lead to any future substance abuse issues?
Answering these questions should help you feel at peace about any treatment you decide on.
Now let’s dive into EpiMatter, why we created it, its ingredients, safety measures, and research backing up its many uses.
In early 2020, I began to research natural products that could affect brain function, regrow grey matter, stimulate stem cells, and affect DNA repair. I wanted to pair it with the nutrition I was already having success using.
I kept coming across Lithium as a possibility, but like many others, I read about side effects that I didn’t like. Then I read “Nutritional Lithium: A Cinderella Story: The Untold Tale of a Mineral That Transforms Lives and Heals the Brain” by James M. Greenblatt MD. [1] I was so intrigued by what I was reading I started to research Dr. Greenblatt to find out he has a Functional Psychiatry course where he trains Medical professionals on how to handle complicated cases nutritionally and well as medically. Enrolling in this course, I saw gaps in where I was seeing patients with significant depression, anxiety, and anger. Knowing its value, I decided I must bring Lithium into the office. I then began my research into ingredients, fillers, and sourcing and failed to find a product on the market that I could comfortably recommend to my patients. In a conversation with my oldest two about this, they turned to me and said, “we’ll find it.” Fast forward to Spring of 2022, we launched our proprietary supplement, EpiMatter (patent pending), the only Lithium on the market to be Third-Party Tested, confirming our product is 100% free of Gluten, Pesticides, Soy, Dairy, and GMO Ingredients.
SIGNS YOUR BODY NEEDS NUTRITIONAL LITHIUM OROTATE
Here are some of the uses of Nutritional Lithium Orotate in the body, it helps distribute iodine (a must for the thyroid), prevents dementia, alcoholism, Alzheimer’s, and Bi-Polar Disorder, reduces aggression and hyperactivity; and can increase memory and focus. Studies show nutritional lithium orotate can potentially help regulate blood sugar imbalances, the ability of your brain to detoxify and regulate neurotransmitters, ADHD, Autism, disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD), depression, and can help anyone who experiences emotionally reactive, angry, and aggressive behaviors, insomnia, sleep issues, low motivation, and migraines. Furthermore, low levels of Nutritional Lithium Orotate are found in children with developmental delays and individuals with nervousness, lack of focus, attention deficit, or lack of sleep.
Tests for Nutritional Lithium Orotate
Hair analysis is the best way to see if you are deficient in Nutritional Lithium. I have been running these for years in the office, and the only patients I have seen come back with some lithium level have been foreign adoptions from countries where there was still lithium present in their well water and soil. That said, I am comfortable recommending people begin taking nutritional lithium orotate without the hair analysis because of the positive results I’ve seen after patients start taking EpiMatter. However, if you are more comfortable testing before you begin taking EpiMatter, you can order your Hair Test HERE.
Blood work, as opposed to hair analysis, only applies if you take a synthetic version of lithium or prescription Lithium Carbonate or Citrate. It is important that we discuss the differences in the various types of lithium.
Lithium Orotate vs. Lithium Carbonate and Citrate
Please confirm any search on Lithium is on the natural version of Lithium Orotate.
A natural, over-the-counter, non-toxic form, Lithium Orotate, is used in micro-doses of 5-30 mg daily. Versus a chemical medically required prescription, Lithium Carbonate and Citrate are used at much higher doses of 1000 + mg daily, which requires blood monitoring for toxicity. They are not the same product, do not create the same effects on the human body, and can not be compared.
Lithium Orotate is considered safe, even by the FDA, with no problems when used in the recommended doses.
Another difference between Lithium Orotate and almost all prescription psychiatric drugs is the medications work with the neurotransmitters outside of the cell membrane or by increasing the number of brain chemicals like serotonin or dopamine. Lithium, being a natural component the body recognizes as essential, can move into the brain cells, helping to affect the inner workings of the cell itself in ways that can significantly benefit mood, the natural balance of neurotransmitters, and the brain’s natural detoxification process. Synthetic lithium (carbonate or citrate) chemically forces these changes, while nutritional lithium orotate simply assists the body and encourages its natural function. Due to this, Lithium Orotate is also 20 times more bioactive (the body readily accepts it) than lithium carbonate, allowing a reduction in dosage and significantly reducing the likelihood and severity of potential side effects.
Indicators of Nutritional Lithium Orotate base on Symptoms
- Anger
- Irritability
- Low mood
- Attention Problems
- Depression
- Addictions
- Substance Abuse
- Eating Disorders
- Cognitive Decline
- Anxiety
- Autism
- Family History of Depression or Psychiatric illness
What Can Nutritional Lithium Orotate do in the Body?
- Help balance mood swings
- Help regulate the circadian rhythm improving sleep
- Help focus and concentration
- Increase neuroplasticity
- Induce Stem Cell Production
- Help regulate Blood Sugars
- Improve brain cells’ ability to utilize methyl folate and methyl-B12, essential cofactors for creating the mood-enhancing and brain-boosting neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. Indispensable for those with MTHFR
- Decrease damage to neurons
- Potential to regrow grey matter
- Help the brain heal from concussions
- Remove and slow down the creation of Alzheimer’s tangles in brain tissue.
- Decrease stress-induced neuronal damage.
- Contains anti-aging properties
- Helps assist Mercury detoxification
Let’s look at the benefits in detail.
ADHD
Dr. Hans Nieper, a German medical doctor, discovered that his chronically ill patients had significant mineral needs. He has written several articles on Nutritional Lithium Orotate for ADHD; he stated that this mineral decreases mood swings and anger, increases focus and memory, and helps children see tasks through to completion. He found that Nutritional Lithium Orotate renews brain cells, increasing the number of brain cells by about three percent in four weeks. This discovery means it has an anti-aging effect on the brain.
Blood Sugars
It may help regulate blood sugar imbalance. Nutritional Lithium Orotate deficiency in specific insulin-sensitive tissues may be associated with blood sugar imbalance.[2] Considering dementia and Alzheimer’s are later-term effects of insulin imbalance, and Nutritional Lithium Orotate shows promising research for this as well, balancing the insulin could be one of the reasons.
Lithium for Neurotransmitter and Mood Support
Nutritional Lithium Orotate can help regulate or stabilize the amount of the neurotransmitter glutamate between the brain cells. This stability creates a neuroprotective ability that prevents neuronal cell death from stress. In effective doses, Nutritional Lithium Orotate reduces neurological deficits.[3,4] Nutritional Lithium Orotate also promotes increased cytoprotective B-cell activity in animal models. [5] Research has also found using Nutritional Lithium in long-term low-dose support promotes healthy brain aging.[6] There is also beginning research that small doses of Nutritional Lithium Orotate may extend life expectancy by increasing cellular energy and encouraging damaged mitochondria to be recycled.
Epigenetics studies what people think, eat, live, physical, environmental, and emotional traumas for the immediate person and their ancestors. These events, in turn, affect the person’s telomeres (the endcaps of their DNA) and can be measured to see longevity factors. Since all that is changeable, we know your DNA can be repaired and genetic sequences turned on or off accordingly.
In these situations, where there is an epigenetic link either through early childhood trauma or strong family history, but no apparent triggers for this person’s mood disorders, Nutritional Lithium Orotate may shine as the brightest solution.
Nutritional Lithium Orotate has also been proven helpful in cases of mood instability, irritability, and agitation. Nutritional Lithium Orotate also helps in situations of medication resistance–where medications were once effective but now have become less effective. When Nutritional Lithium Orotate is used in conjunction with a regularly prescribed medication, medication resistance is lessened and therefore the prescribed medication is fully effective.
Nutritional Lithium Orotate for Brain Detoxification Support
Like all organs, the brain must detoxify itself, mainly during sleep. Research has shown Nutritional Lithium Orotate as a neuroprotective agent against Aluminum-induced oxidative stress.[7] In animal models, Nutritional Lithium Orotate increased intracellular glutathione and reduced oxygen metabolite damage.[8]
Nutritional Lithium Orotate For Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar Disorder (manic depression) is characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated happiness that last from days to weeks each. If there is psychosis along with a severely elevated mood, it is called mania.
Current research proposes Nutritional Lithium Orotate may be better than commonly used lithium carbonate [9] due to the bioavailability and ease of crossing the blood-brain barrier, therefore requiring a lower dose to work. It is thought that the lower amount and the better bioavailability could eliminate the adverse side effects currently linked with lithium carbonate. [10], [11]
Nutritional Lithium Orotate For Sleep
Current research is stating efficient sleep, or lack thereof is considered a factor in a multitude of health issues, such as
- Impulsive behavior
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Paranoia
- Suicidal thoughts
- Increased risk for diabetes, heart disease, and stroke
- Increase risk for becoming overweight and obese by affecting your hormones that control feelings of hunger and fullness, leptin and ghrelin
- It can affect growth hormone production (growth in children and teens, repair in adults). These hormones also help build muscle mass.
A 1989 study showed that Nutritional Lithium Orotate has the potential to increase your sleeping ability [12]
Nutritional Lithium Orotate For Anxiety
In animal model studies on preventing Alzheimer’s disease, mice micro-dosed with Nutritional Lithium Orotate exhibited fewer signs of anxiety-type behavior. [13]
In 2002 human studies showed that Nutritional Lithium Orotate can reduce the measures of irritability, aggressive outbursts, antisocial behavior, anxiety, and depression. [14]
Nutritional Lithium Orotate For Depression
Unipolar or Major Depressive Disorder (clinical depression) is more than two weeks of consistently low mood, along with the loss of interest or pleasure in previously enjoyable activities and a decrease in self-esteem. Nutritional Lithium Orotate may play an essential role in long-term stabilization, especially in patients with high suicidal risk. [15], [16]
Nutritional Lithium Orotate For Autism
Nutritional Lithium Orotate can be safely used in lower amounts with fewer toxicity issues. In a 2014 animal model, studies demonstrated that Nutritional Lithium Orotate has the potential to assist in behaviors that accompany autism [17].
Nutritional Lithium Orotate For Alcoholism
Nutritional Lithium Orotate proved helpful in treating alcoholism withdrawal or those in recovery. Reports show a reduction of weakness and apathy, increased appetite, better liver, and cardiovascular function, fewer migraines, elimination of seizures, improved white blood cell count, manic episodes, and hyperthyroid function. Also, people using Lithium report far less frequency of relapse in the first 18 months after quitting. [18]
Cognitive Function and Longevity Benefits
Nutritional Lithium Orotate has been linked to higher IQ scores by increasing the neuroprotective amino acid N-acetyl aspartate (NAA). It has also been found to increase the growth and strength of new neurons and decrease damage to the old neurons from cortisol (stress) which allows for better communication between all the parts of the brain.
Research is showing that Nutritional Lithium Orotate can inhibit GSK-3 (a key player in activating neurodegeneration and affecting memory). Increased activity of multiple beneficial neurotransmitters helps to balance the circadian rhythm, thus affecting the adrenal hormones. This same study showed that Nutritional Lithium Orotate might help maintain longer telomeres (indicators of DNA health), regulate genes related to keeping the DNA structure healthy, and protect against cell senescence (contributors to age-related disease and accelerated aging).
Is EpiMatter Lithium Orotate safe, and what is the maximum dosage one can take?
When you are reading about Lithium, you have to first clarify whether they measuring this as Elemental Lithium (used in science journals and some research projects) or just Lithium (primarily used in supplementation). Both are represented by mg, which can lead to confusion. Many times you will see only 5mg of elemental Lithium is the recommended safe dose per day and then get nervous that you are taking 10mg of EpiMatter. Understand that 4.6 mg of Elemental Lithium roughly equals a 120mg capsule of Lithium Orotate. So our Epimatter is about .4mg of Elemental Lithium per Capsule. Current research states we should have at least 1mg of Elemental Lithium per day. [19]
Adults and children over twelve can start with 10 mg of EpiMatter daily (one Capsule) for the first two weeks and then increase to 20 mg of EpiMatter (two capsules) daily if needed and well-tolerated. Occasionally, it can cause slight relaxation or sedative effects. If so, move the total dose to bedtime. Children under twelve can start at 5mg (1/2 capsules) mixed into any drink or food. Move up to 1 if needed and well-tolerated—maximum dose of around 20 mg (2 capsules) daily.
To be in an unsafe range, you would have to take over 12 Epimatter a day, long term. That said, we have found less is more with this product, and most take 1-2 daily with fantastic success.
Here is a link to a 2-year study using Lithium Orotate for various conditions that showed doses under 5 mg of elemental Lithium Orotate per day are safe and won’t induce side effects. [20]
Lithium Orotate toxicity can occur after long-term use of more than 12 Capsules per day. Toxicity would present as nausea, tremors, impaired kidney function, muscle weakness, and reduced thyroid and parathyroid gland function. To understand how difficult this would be to do, please review the next section, which reviews the half-life of Lithium Orotate.
How long does EpiMatter stay in your system?
Lithium Orotate has a half-life of around 24 hours. Your kidneys will clear this within 48 hours. That’s why it is crucial to be consistent with EpiMatter if you want to feel the benefits continuously.
When To Take Nutritional Lithium Orotate
There has yet to be a consensus on the best time to take lithium orotate. We have people taking theirs in the morning for increased focus and attention and others in the evening to promote sleep. We have some taking a second dose mid-day if they feel their mood or concentration is faltering. And some take one in the morning to encourage focus and one at night to ensure a whole night’s sleep. Some are very disciplined with the time they are taking their EpiMatter, setting a timer to remind them, and others when they feel the need. So bottom line, there is no set best. There is simply your best.
Where is EpiMatter Sourced?
We have sourced everything here in the United States, including our recycled packaging.
We have third-party testing to ensure there are no wheat, soy, dairy, or pesticides in our product, and it is non-GMO. There are no artificial colors or flavors. We worked extremely hard to bring you the purest product possible.
Lithium Studies
I am often asked “Where is the FDA approval for this?”, why my studies are so old, or why I am sourcing anecdotal benefits? And I will clarify that the FDA has not approved Nutritional Lithium Orotate for medical use, saved for prescription medications. However, they have said Nutritional Lithium Orotate is safe for over-the-counter sales.
Since Nutritional Lithium Orotate is part of nature, it can’t be patented as a drug. Drug companies are who pay for research studies and FDA approval. For this reason, I believe Lithium Carbonate was created as their attempt to mimic nature once again and profit grossly through a drug.
The first written record of medicinal plants is over 5,000 years ago, written on clay tablets over 5,000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia, describing a dozen herbal recipes calling for using over 250 plants. Then in 1500 BCE, the Ebers Papyrus listed over 850 herbal medicines and contained many herbs that we recognize and use today, such as cumin, coriander, garlic, willow, frankincense, cedar, and aloe. I could go on and on with documentation of medical uses of herbs for several thousands of years only to find those exact directions ridiculed, primarily since the 1950s.
Once pharmaceuticals began as revenue, herbalists, cultural healers, midwives, and functional doctors that used these generational healing methods found themselves suddenly outlawed and ostracized. Their natural product is demonized while simultaneously stating this new drug (often formulated to mimic one portion of the plant or mineral used for years) is touted as the “only safe, clinically proven solution.”
However, a phenomenon called chirality must be understood when we study the human body. All cells have a chiral spin in one direction [21], and homochirality is considered a signature of life [22]. We understand that nature is created in the same manner as the human body and therefore shares the same chiral spin; thus, like recognizes like. This is why herbs, plants, and organically grown foods have increased bioavailability in the human body. Pharmaceuticals force a physiological change but often at a great expense and with some side effects. This is why you must ask about cost vs. value for all prescriptions.
Learning about this early on in my practice drove me to eliminate all synthetic vitamins, powders, and brain support. I could not recommend something, even over the counter, that would cause harm. I saw my patient’s health expand exponentially in this simple step alone.
I sincerely hope that you are still awake after reading this and have found the information to be helpful. I have personally understood how mental illness can affect children and it is my greatest hope that this brings you the same comfort it has brought not only to my family but also to countless patients and the new friends that have ordered over the years. Please check out our testimonial page to see how this has transformed families.
SOURCES
[1] Nutritional Lithium: A Cinderella Story by James M Greenblatt, MD and Kayla Grossman, RN
[2] Hu M, Wu YS, Wu HW. Effects of lithium deficiency in some insulin-sensitive tissues of diabetic Chinese hamsters. Biol Trace Elem Res. 1997 Jul-Aug;58(1-2):91-102.
[3] Chuang DM. Neuroprotective and neurotrophic actions of the mood stabilizer lithium: can it be used to treat neurodegenerative diseases? Crit Rev Neurobiol. 2004;16(1-2):83-90.
[4] Chuang DM, Wang Z, Chiu CT. GSK-3 as a Target for Lithium-Induced Neuroprotection Against Excitotoxicity in Neuronal Cultures and Animal Models of Ischemic Stroke. Front Mol Neurosci. 2011 Aug 9;4:15. eCollection 2011.
[5] Chen G, Rajkowska G, Du F, Seraji-Bozorgzad N, Manji HK. Enhancement of hippocampal neurogenesis by Lithium. J Neurochem. 2000 Oct;75(4):1729-34.
[6] Zarse K, Terao T, Tian J, Iwata N, Ishii N, Ristow M. Low-dose lithium uptake promotes longevity in humans and metazoans. Eur J Nutr. 2011 Aug;50(5):387-9. Epub 2011 Feb 8.
[7] Bhalla P, Dhawan DK. Protective role of Lithium in ameliorating the aluminum-induced oxidative stress and histological changes in rat brain. Cell Mol Neurobiol. 2009 Jun;29(4):513-21. Epub 2009 Jan 29.
[8] Shao L, Cui J, Young LT, Wang JF. The effect of mood stabilizer lithium on expression and activity of glutathione s-transferase isoenzymes. Neuroscience. 2008 Jan 24;151(2):518-24. Epub 2007 Nov 13.
[9] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/brb3.2262
[10] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.7453/gahmj.2014.064
[11] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34196467/
[12] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2498958/
[13] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4659557/
[14] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12154153/
[15] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28247268/
[16] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0004867418810185
[17] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4071979/
[18]https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0741832986900182
[19]https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11838882/
[20]https://brewersciencelibrary.com/prodimages/The%20Clinical%20Application%20of%20Lithium%20Orotate-CM12.pdf
[21] https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2015.0413
[22] https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2204765119
Additional Resources
[1] Barkins R. Low-dose lithium and its health-supporting effects. Nutr Perspect. 2016;39(3):32-34.
[2] Please read this article with a link to 53 other references. Marshall TM. Lithium as a nutrient. J American Physicians Surgeons. 2015;20(4):104-109
[3] Other nutritional deficiencies found in mental illness https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2248201/
[4] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2836750/
[5] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6996457/
[6] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7511924/
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