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I keep hearing the name, ‘Molly’: “I think I’ll use ‘Molly’ for this patient” or “A bit of ‘Molly’ might go well with the zinc for their high copper”... a moment of confusion on my behalf, (Molly who?) and then the slightly late…’ooooooooh Molybdenum’. Gotta love a trace mineral that is having it’s heyday…right?…right?

There are often jokes made about how little time medical degrees dedicate to teaching nutrition in general – was it 1 lecture or 3? – but let’s be honest, who among any of us really knows the ins and outs of this transition metal.  I reckon we spent maybe 15 mins in my undergraduate on it and that was BC (Before Computers!) so I am guessing that 15mins has expanded about a gooooooogle times and we’ve come to a more comprehensive perspective.  What do we need to update on?

Most of us are across the basics – Mo is central to S metabolism, in particular being a cofactor for the conversion of those nasty sulphites to sulphates, hence it’s the go-to-prescription when we see sulphite sensitivity in patients.  More on trend over recent times is its antagonistic relationship with copper, which has prompted pracitioners to employ it in high copper cases that won’t budge with other interventions but beyond this what do you really know about it?  Going back and revisiting how Mo behaves in soil, gets into our food supply and why, its distribution in the human body – what we know about its actions and what we suspect starts to make a lot more sense and both broadens and concurrently restricts how we should use it.

Every nutrition text on the planet will say something to effect of,  ‘there is no evidence of Mo deficiency in healthy people ‘ – straight up!  Just like that.  Experts agree that it is essential but they argue against supplementation except in the rarest of circumstances yet some practitioners are handing out Mollies like Lollies!  Who’s right?  Well as always, the truth probably lies somewhere in between & the more we can improve our knowledge – the better we can apply this mineral.

Minerals are so incredibly fascinating (oh dear I really did say that out loud) and Mo is no exception. New research points to a potent role for Mo in sex hormones and in the HPA axis and hand in hand with these discoveries there is better mapping of the limits – the real human toxicity picture which has eluded us previously.  The biggest emerging concern re higher Mo intakes – well, just a small problem, it appears to lower testosterone.  Yup.

To use any nutrient well, we have to really know it.  I am a shameless mineral nerd as always but I think we all better update our knowledge on this one 😉

Must knows about Mo is the latest Update in Under 30 podcast. ‘Molly’ seems to have become everyone’s best friend recently, prescribed often in combination with zinc for high copper or ‘sulphur issues”, especially in autism, but what do you really need to know about this trace element? How strong is the evidence for its clinical use, how likely is a deficiency, what are the key signs of inadequate levels and importantly what are the risks associated with too much? – new evidence points to some cause for concern and caution. In this timely update, Rachel talks Molybdenum literally from the ground up…to the supplements on your shelf and the absolute must knows for every clinician