Manganese Facts – What It Is & How to Get It

Meet manganese—the humble mineral. Think of any body function and it’s likely that manganese has a hand in the production. Manganese is like the costume designer of a Broadway play—all the actors get the glory (calcium, vitamin D, iron, potassium), but it couldn’t have happened without the behind the scenes crew.

Manganese helps with everything from building testosterone and estrogen, to making our ligaments and tendons strong. It makes our blood clot when it should, facilitates calcium absorption, and helps us have healthy brains, bones, and nerves. It’s also an antioxidant, helping to quell the tazmanian devil-like destruction caused by free radicals.

Though manganese is a “trace” element, meaning you don’t need much in your body to have enough, a whole host of problems arise when we’re deficient—infertility, deformed bones, seizures, and muscle problems. Manganese may also help with symptoms of some of our most common and pesky health problems, like PMS, arthritis pain, diabetes, and even cancer.  Luckily, manganese deficiency is rare these days, in the US at least.

So where can we find it, and how much do we need? Adult males need about 2.3mg per day, while female adults need only 1.8. Pregnant and nursing women need 2mg and 2.6mg, respectively. You can find manganese in these foods: oats, spinach, pumpkin seeds, soybeans, pineapple, lentils, beans, wheat, buckwheat, nuts, sweet potatoes, and green and black tea.

Enjoy your SuperFoodsRx diet and rest assured you’re getting all the manganese you need.

Sources: University of Maryland Medical Center, USDA, Oregon State