Manganese

MANGANESE

by Dr. Lawrence Wilson

All information in this article is for educational purposes only. It is not for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure of any disease or health condition.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Manganese is a very important, alkaline-forming, regulatory mineral. Healthful forms of manganese are found in many natural foods. It is a very essential mineral, needed for dozens of enzyme reactions in the body.

Deficiencies. Most people are deficient in vital manganese compounds because:

1) They are born low in manganese due to deficiencies in their mothers

2) They eat refined or chemicalized foods that contain little manganese

3) They eat too much raw food such as salads. Human beings cannot extract enough manganese from these foods because we cannot break down the tough vegetable fibers.

Valence. Manganese can have many valences. Healthful manganese compounds have a valence of +2 or +3 (similar to iron and copper, to which it is related).

A female mineral. Dr. Eck classified manganese as an older ‘female’ element in the body. He called it the maternal mineral because animals fed diets low in manganese exhibit less maternal behavior toward their young, and may abandon them completely.

Toxic manganese. A highly toxic form of manganese is found in gasoline. This means that anyone living in a city, or living near a highway, is exposed every day to a toxic form of manganese that can replace the good forms of manganese in the body, to some degree.

Welders are often exposed to another toxic form of manganese, as well. Toxic forms may have a valence of +4 or +6.

Violence. This can help explain why welders sometimes exhibit bizarre and violent behavior. A number of the school shooting rampages in the United States and other nations have been committed by welders. This is explained later in this article.

SOURCES OF HEALTHFUL, BIOAVAILABLE MANGANESE

Vegetables - corn, corn germ, parsley, legumes

Meats - snails, egg yolk

Nuts/seeds - sunflower, coconuts, peanuts, pecans, walnuts, chestnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, brazils

Fruits - blueberries, olives, avocados

Grains - wheat, wheat germ and bran, rice, barley, oats, buckwheat, rye

Miscellaneous - kelp, cloves, tea. Gasoline fumes contain manganese, as can some water supplies, especially in the Northeast USA.

ROLES IN THE BODY

· Essential for energy production

· Involved in glucose tolerance

· Helps maintain the integrity of tendons and ligaments

· Essential for bone development and arterial integrity

FUNCTIONS OF MANGANESE

Nervous system - synthesis of neurotransmitters

Reproductive system - fertility

Endocrine system - required for normal adrenal and thyroid gland activity

Skeletal - tendons, ligaments, connective tissue

Metabolic - energy production, glucose tolerance, utilization of fats and carbohydrates

Detoxification - involved in superoxide dismutase

ENZYMES THAT REQUIRE MANGANESE

· Pyruvate carboxylase - carbohydrate metabolism

· Superoxide dismutase - destruction of free radicals

· Glycosyl transferase - glucose utilization

· Various hydrolases, kinases, transferases, peptidases, arginase, phosphatases, and DNA polymerase - degradative and biosynthetic enzymes

MANGANESE DEFICIENCY SYMPTOMS

ANTAGONISTIC NUTRIENTS

Absorption - calcium, phosphorus, iron, soy protein, many other minerals

Metabolic - copper, magnesium, iron, vanadium

HAIR ANALYSIS NOTES

- Normal or low hair manganese is not a reliable indicator of manganese status.

Most slow oxidizers have excessive and usually biounavailable manganese.

- Toxic accumulation of a biounavailable form of manganese to some degree is very common. To assess this, look for elevated aluminum or iron.

Manganese, aluminum and iron are called on this website “the amigos” because they are often found together inside the body. If any one of these three are elevated on a hair mineral analysis, usually all are excessive inside the body. For details, read The Amigos on this website.

Manganese and maternal behavior. Manganese-deficient animals show reduced maternal caring for their young.

Poor eliminators. A hair manganese level less than about 0.02 mg% or 0.2 ppm is a poor eliminator pattern for manganese. A hair manganese level less than about 0.008 is a very poor eliminator pattern for manganese. These mean that the body cannot eliminate toxic forms of manganese, such as MnO6.

The excess manganese is hidden, but it is building up inside the body. This is a very important indicator for detecting hidden manganese and other toxic metals.

Reasons for high hair tissue manganese:

Drinking water. This occurs in some parts of Massachusetts, USA and in a few other areas of America and in some other nations. It may be due to natural rock formations through which ground water flows. It may also be due to contaminated soil and wells due to older factories.

NOTE: The US and state Environmental Protection Agencies are NOT required to report manganese levels in drinking water.

Gasoline. When lead was removed from gasoline in the 1970s, it was replaced with a toxic form of manganese. Those who live in cities with heavy traffic may absorb more of it. Also, a cruel practice used during some rapes is to pour gasoline on the person during a rape party. For details, read Rape. This results in manganese toxicity.

Welders. Manganese is used in welding rods, so welders are often exposed to manganese.

Manganese miners. Studies show manganese mining and welding can cause manganese madness or manganism. These are important clinical syndromes characterized by extreme anger and other symptoms.

Adrenal support. When the adrenal glands are weak, most people accumulate some toxic oxide form of manganese, which has a stimulatory effect upon the adrenals and the sympathetic nervous system.

Low hair tissue manganese:

- Not a reliable indicator of manganese status. It is often hidden and biounavailable.

- A hair manganese level less than 0.02 is an indicator of poor elimination of manganese. See the section above for more on this interesting hair mineral pattern.

REASONS FOR MANGANESE SUPPLEMENTATION

Supplementary manganese is found in the Endomet brand Megapan and Limcomin supplements.

We do not find it necessary to give a separate manganese supplement. This is most likely because the development diet is very high in cooked vegetables, and also includes the liberal use of sea salt and other mineral sources such as kelp. For details, read Food For Daily Use – A Diet For Rapid Development

REMOVING EXCESS TOXIC MANGANESE FROM THE BODY

Removing the toxic, oxide form of manganese and some other toxic forms of manganese from the body is not easy with medical drugs. However, a properly designed development program will achieve this. Beware of people who offer this or similar programs who are not listed on the Find A Helper page of our website.

One may need to remain on the development program for ten years or more for manganese elimination to occur if the body is in a weakened state, as most are today.

Following a complete development program is the best and fastest way we know of to eliminate excess and toxic manganese that we find almost everyone has, so some degree.

In addition to the diet, supplements and a healthful lifestyle, reddish heat lamp sauna therapy and coffee enemas are very helpful, and perhaps needed, at times, to remove toxic manganese from the body. Perhaps this is because this therapy drastically increases circulation.

References

1. Barney, P. Doctor’s Guide To Natural Medicine, Woodland Publishing, Inc., Utah, 2014.

2. Casdorph, HR and Walker, M., Toxic Metal Syndrome, Avery Publishing Group, NY, 1995.

3. Diem, K. and Lentner, C, Scientific Tables, seventh edition, Ciba-Geigy, New York, 1973.

4. Droesti, I.E. and Smith, R.M., editors, Neurobiology Of The Trace Elements, Humana Press, New Jersey, 1983.

5. Dunne, L.J., Nutrition Almanac, fifth edition, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2002.

6. Guyton, A., Textbook Of Medical Physiology, sixth edition, W.B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia, 1981.

7. Kasper, D. and Fauci, A., Harrison’s Principles Of Internal Medicine, Elsevier Medical, 2015.

8. Jensen, B., The Chemistry Of Man, Bernard Jensen Publishing, California, 1983.

9. Kutsky, R., Handbook Of Vitamins, Minerals & Hormones, 2^nd edition, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1981.

10. Pfeiffer, C. C., Mental And Elemental Nutrients, Keats Publishing, Connecticut, 1975.

11. Schroeder, H., The Trace Elements And Man, The Devin-Adair Company, 1973.

12. Segala, M., editor, Disease Prevention And Treatment, expanded fourth edition, Life Extension Media, Florida 2003.

13. Stryer, L., Biochemistry, second edition, W.H.Freeman And Company, New York, 1981.

14. Wilson, L., Nutritional Balancing And Hair Mineral Analysis, 2010, 2014, 2016 and the latest edition - Development Science And Development Programs (2019).

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