Manganese
Supplements · Minerals · Supplement, Typed Supps
Needed in genuinely tiny amounts — and easy to get from food.
Stage by stage
- Intake (Tablet): Absorbed in the small intestine via transporters shared with iron.
- Small intestine (Shared pathway with iron): Absorbed in the small intestine via transporters shared with iron.
- Bloodstream (Carried to tissues): Used in enzymes involved in bone formation and antioxidant defense.
- Liver (Cleared via bile): Excess is cleared primarily through bile rather than the kidneys.
What the evidence supports
- Correcting a genuine manganese deficiency — moderate evidence. Deficiency is very rare because manganese is widespread in food; when it does occur, repletion helps, but this is a narrow situation.
- Providing extra benefit by supplementing above dietary needs — insufficient evidence. There is no good evidence that supplementing helps people who already meet their needs, which is almost everyone.
- Evidence that it causes Causing neurotoxicity in excess — moderate evidence. Excess manganese accumulates in the brain and can cause parkinsonism-like effects; the main risks are occupational inhalation and impaired clearance in liver disease, but chronically high oral intake also warrants caution.
Typical dose
If supplementing at all, around 1–2 mg to match needs
Upper limit: Tolerable Upper Intake Level of 11 mg/day for adults
Timing
With food, standard dosing.
Time to effect
- Weeks: Levels stabilize with regular intake.
Medication interactions
- Quinolone and tetracycline antibiotics: As a divalent mineral, manganese can bind these antibiotics in the gut and reduce their absorption; separate the doses by several hours. (moderate)
Common myth
“It’s basically the same as magnesium.” In reality: Despite the similar name, manganese and magnesium are entirely different minerals with different roles.
Food sources
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