Have a swig of lithium!

 7-Up used to contain lithium until scientists discovered that it could be lethal if consumed in large quantities. Taken in proper quantities, however, it has been shown to be beneficial. In fact, it has been shown to reduce the rate of suicides in places where it occurs naturally in the water.

In 1990 a study of 27 counties in Texas, researchers discovered that, in the places where the water had the least amount of lithium, people had significantly greater levels of suicide, homicide, and rape than the people whose water had the higher levels of lithium. In fact, the group whose water had the highest lithium level had nearly 40 percent fewer suicides than that with the lowest lithium level. In Japan, a study of more than a million people over a five-year period found that suicide rates were inversely correlated with the lithium content of the local water supply. Similar studies in Greece and Austria have corroborated these findings. Moreover, in reanalyzing the Japanese study, researchers discovered that those people with higher levels of lithium in their water supply had lower levels of “all-cause mortality.”

Lithium is the third element to have emerged from the Big Bang, along with helium and nitrogen. It occurs in sea water, granite, mineral springs, and in all of us. Because elements on the periodic table can’t be patented, pharmaceutical companies have little interest in developing uses for it. However, if you’re feeling a little down and like to try it, you can buy lithium water online as Lithia Spring Water. 

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