Again I want to write about a trace mineral that I had personal experience with.

If you are like I was, you haven’t heard of manganese. Manganese isn’t really in food that I normally eat either. One day, I discovered that I was having trouble swallowing.  It’s like my throat muscles wouldn’t work correctly.  It was at this time that I ordered my first hair test. The results showed a number of deficiencies but my manganese was in the red on the deficiency side! I immediately got me some manganese supplements and over time, my difficulty swallowing went away.

When you look at what manganese does, it’s easy to see why my deficiency affected me as it did. Manganese reduces nervous irritability, aids in muscle reflexes, improves memory, and helps combat tiredness.

It’s also  needed for normal bone building (I had broken a couple of ribs years ago that didn’t heal properly) and is important in the production of thyrosin, the principal hormone of the thyroid gland (I had low thyroid). It is also essential for proper digestion and efficient use of food because it makes up enzymes that extract energy and metabolize proteins. Manganese also helps the body properly use vitamin B1, biotin, and vitamin C. Manganese is important for normal central-nervous-system functioning and reproduction.

About the only food that contains manganese is Brazil nuts. Even though I like them, I cannot eat many because they are very filling. Supplementation was the only way to go.

Although it’s claimed that manganese deficiency is rare, I certainly had it. The only thing I changed was adding a manganese supplement and after a while, my swallowing problem went away. It had been going on for many months and was getting worse so I know the manganese supplementation was what solved the problem.

You should make sure your multi-vitamin has manganese it it!