Lithium is a naturally occurring mineral found in soil, water and many foods. It is also considered a salt, and it is absorbed in minute amounts by plants and animals. Human dietary intake of lithium depends on the location of food sources, because some geographic areas are higher in lithium than others. Lithium also been used for many years as a drug to treat severe depression and bipolar disorder, according to the Mayo Clinic website.
Mineral Water
Drinking water may contain trace amounts of lithium, but water from mineral springs containing lithium may have the highest amount of this mineral. There are no known diseases attributed to lithium deficiencies. However, an article in the "Journal of the American College of Nutrition" reports that mental hospital admissions, suicides, murders and other crimes were observed in areas of Texas where drinking water had an especially low lithium content.
Grains
Grains are another source of lithium in the diet. All plants take up lithium when it is present in the soil, so virtually all types of grain have trace amounts of lithium when grown in lithium-rich soil. Lithium ends up in the soil due to weather and the breakdown or erosion of rocks that are rich sources of lithium.
Beef
Beef, especially cattle that are fed grain and watered with lithium-containing water, provide a dietary source of lithium. The type of feed and where it was grown determines the amount of lithium it contains. Grains and feed grown in Texas, for example, where there is less lithium will likely contain less lithium. Therefore, the beef from cattle raised in low-lithium areas like Texas is likely to have a low lithium content.
Eggs
Eggs are also a good source of naturally occurring dietary lithium. Like cattle, poultry are often fed a diet of grains and water. If that grain and water come from an area with a high lithium concentrate, then the poultry eggs probably contain lithium as well. All embryos, human and poultry, have been found to contain some amounts of lithium.
Green Vegetables
Green vegetables are a major source of dietary lithium for humans. An adult weighing approximately 154 lbs has an average daily intake of between 650 to 3100 mcg of dietary lithium, most of which comes from green vegetables, grains and drinking water. Grains and vegetables combined provide between 66 percent and 90 percent of a person's dietary lithium intake; the rest comes from animal products and water, according to the "Journal of the American College of Nutrition" article.
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