Molybdenum and Manganese - let’s do some Prospecting and Mining for Good Mental Health and Feeling Better
Molybdenum is a trace mineral found in some of our tissues - liver, kidney, spleen, bone, teeth and skin - an average of 9 mg. per each of us. Not a lot and highly crucial! Molybdenum is an essential factor in protein synthesis and the metabolism of fats and carbohydrates and the transformations of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur - all very basic functions and critical to have this working just right. It plays an important part in the use of iron in your body, by mobilising iron from your liver’s storage reserves (helps prevent anemia). It helps detoxify those nasty preservatives and sulfites from your body. It helps with hormonal balancing and pre-menstrual symptoms. Molybdenum helps keep a person alert and it can helps keep impotence from becoming an issue. It plays a crucial role in your body's ability to keep blood sugar levels in balance. It is absorbed from your gastrointestinal tract and excreted in your urine.
(some good recipes at http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/)
Molybedenum enhances that general feeling of well-being that we all require.
People are not deficient in this mineral if the food they eat is organic and comes from nutrient-rich soil - and how many of us is that? And if you have a tendency towards depression then you definately don’t want to be caught short.
Even though molybdenum is needed by us in very small amounts, we cannot live it out it!
The RDA for for molybdenum is 75 mcg (which in reality means that is the bare ultimate minimum for a very healthy person looking for barely a maintenance amount and 150 mcg. is a more honest minimal daily amount. The recommended amount for getting topped up is any amount higher than 150 up to 1500 mcg. per day. Toxicity (a lot more than 1500 mcg. per day) is rare and symptoms may be some stiffness and swelling of the joints and / or diarrhea. Too much at once means that an imbalance with other minerals occurs as all the minerals dance together and are synergistic as well as antagonistic with each other - so be rational. Too much for a long period of time would, for example, push copper out of the way and that would result in the possibility of sore and/or swelling joints.
Whole grains, whole rice, rye, oats, buckwheat, barley, wheat germ, legumes, beans, peas, lentils, sunflower seeds, eggs and dark green leafy vegetables, including spinach and parsley deliver the goods.
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Manganese is a slightly more present trace mineral and has antioxidant, free-radical-fighting properties. It is needed to activate a number of enzymes that allow the body to digest food (convert protein and fat to energy), bone health, formation of cartilage and lubricating fluid in the joints. Manganese can help reduce fatigue and even improve memory, help maintain healthy reproductive, nervous systems and is involved in blood sugar regulation (everyone with an unhappy pancreas take note). Your body also utilises manganese in the production of breast milk and several hormones. Manganese helps your body absorb vitamin B1 (thiamin), Biotin and Vitamin C and E and works with all B-complex vitamins to combat depression, anxiety and other nervous type disorders. Manganese can reduce heavy menstrual flows and improve thyroid function (dependent on a balance of manganese and iodine and a shortage of either can tend people towards a slower thyroid, leading to many more symptoms and imbalances that are often put down to 'it's all in your head" type disagnoses).
When not getting enough manganese, there could be also be tendencies towards the white cells not working hard enough for you due to free radical damage and a whole host of malfunctioning can then ensue such as slower wound healing, increased tendancy towards atherosclerosis and convulsions, increased tendancy towards eye and hearing problems, heart disorders, high cholesterol levels, hypertension, irritability, confusion and memory loss, muscle contractions, pancreatic unhappiness and profuse perspiration,.
No need for supplementation - just eat yourself to a better balance and a happier you with some really nice foods!
Good natural sources of manganese include: asparagus, avocados, beans and peas, nuts and seeds, seaweed, pineapple, broccoli, whole grains, blueberries, egg yolks, bananas, liver, beets, blackberries, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, coconuts, honey, oats, olives, oysters, pineapple, green leafy vegetables including parsley and spinach, brown rice, eggs, sweet potatoes are all excellent sources.
If you have a tendancy towards depression - then shop for these foods and add the molybdenum foods above and the teas below and what a health-smart feast!
Many herbs also contain manganese, such as alfalfa, burdock root, camomile, dandelion, fennel seed, fenugreek, ginseng, hops, horsetail, lemongrass, parsley, peppermint and raspberry. Some of these herbs would be great as teas (even add some mint for flavour).
And for people who are in great shape and happy and healthy and who want to stay that way,
here’s a short shopping list that includes the foods that have both of these minerals - wher these minerals overlap! Two for one! Bon appetite!
So put these into your shoping buggy: all the whole grains including rye, oats, buckwheat, barley and wheat germ, eggs, whole rice, beans and peas, sunflower seeds and dark green leafy vegetables including spinach and parsley. And then just swing by the bananas and avocados to round out this mineral extravaganza.
I am not fond of munching on sunflower seeds so I grind them up and include them in salad dressings and sauces. Or I roast them a tiny bit and include them in a tossed salad.
There’s a bread at Cobs Breads - the bread store chain here in Western Canada, that has it all! It’s Cape Seed Bread and doesn’t include soy flour but has a liberal amount of whole wheats and seeds.
I use the high content of minerals in parsley in a unique way. Just go to http://www.pacificholistic.com and subscribe to my newsletter and get the FREE 78 Foolproof Ways to Improve Your Health and there you can read about it in the subsection on minerals. parsley is a varitable mine full of minerals... but who wants to eat raw parsley all the time... so read up on how to use it smartly! And let me know how it's going.
read more at http://www.pacificholistic.com and get your free report
Feel free to call Merrie anytime at 604-261-7742 (if you receive the message machine, we will call back promptly).
Merrie explains why she makes each recommendation and why certain foods or supplements are recommended. No blind faith required. This is empowering for me. You are not “talked at”, either. You explore and come to conclusions. She also has a sense of humor and the time flies by.
Jill L.
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