{
  "dataset": "manganese-cost-by-brand",
  "title": "Manganese Supplements Compared — cost per elemental mg, and which products exceed the adult upper limit",
  "sourcePage": "https://verifiedsupplementdata.com/manganese/best-overall/",
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licenseUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "attribution": "Verified Supplement Data (2026), Manganese Cost Comparison",
  "dateModified": "2026-07-20",
  "methodology": "All nine products here disclose ELEMENTAL manganese mg directly on the label, so cost per elemental mg is a real, computable comparison. costPerElementalMg = price / (servings x elemental manganese mg per serving). CATEGORY CONTEXT (YMYL, honesty-first, U-shaped essentiality): manganese is a genuinely essential trace mineral (Mn-SOD antioxidant cofactor, bone and connective-tissue formation, carbohydrate/amino-acid metabolism), but the adult Adequate Intake is only 1.8mg/day (women) to 2.3mg/day (men) (2mg pregnancy, 2.6mg lactation) and ordinary diets (whole grains, nuts, legumes, tea, leafy greens) comfortably clear that bar — true dietary deficiency is essentially never documented outside controlled research diets (Friedman 1987, PMID 3819860, n=7 controlled feeding study). The load-bearing clinical story for this category sits at the EXCESS end: manganism, a Parkinsonism-like neurotoxic syndrome from chronic overexposure, classically occupational welding/mining inhalation (Racette 2017, PMID 28031394; Baker 2015, PMID 25380186; Kwakye 2015, PMID 26154659; Roels 2012, PMID 22498092), but also drinking water with a documented child-neurodevelopment signal (Bouchard 2011, PMID 20855239; Dion 2018, PMID 28870865; Wasserman 2016, PMID 26713676), and impaired excretion in liver disease or long-term parenteral/enteral nutrition, where manganese accumulates in the brain (Spahr 1996, PMID 8903385; Jin 2018, PMID 29187042; Abdalian 2013, PMID 22829428; Iinuma 2003, PMID 12709821). The 11mg adult UL is set for neurotoxicity risk, not GI tolerance. Of the nine products checked for this dataset, five are dosed at 1.8x to ~20x the UL and are EXCLUDED from the ranked comparison (activeMgPerServing set to null): Carlson 20mg, Ecological Formulas Picolinate 20mg, and Swanson Albion Glycinate 40mg and Solaray 50mg (1.8x-4.5x UL), and BulkSupplements Gluconate Powder 225mg/serving (~20x UL). The one positive bone-related trial in this evidence base (Strause 1994, PMID 8027856) tested a calcium-plus-trace-minerals COMBINATION, not isolated manganese, and no RCT in this evidence base supports standalone manganese supplementation for energy, bone density, or antioxidant benefit in manganese-replete adults — stated here as an explicit negative-search finding. This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA; these products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.",
  "headline": {
    "productsCompared": 9,
    "aiMgWomen": 1.8,
    "aiMgMen": 2.3,
    "aiMgPregnancy": 2,
    "aiMgLactation": 2.6,
    "upperLimitMg": 11,
    "rankedCount": 4,
    "excludedOverUlCount": 5,
    "cheapestPerElementalMg": 0.0044,
    "cheapestPerElementalMgBrand": "Source Naturals",
    "lowestDoseBrand": "Taste N' Score",
    "note": "Five of the nine tracked products exceed the 11mg adult upper limit (1.8x-20x) and are excluded from the ranked comparison — a checkable, sourced fact about this retail category, not editorializing."
  },
  "columns": [
    "brand",
    "product",
    "slug",
    "form",
    "elementalMgPerServing",
    "servings",
    "price",
    "costPerServing",
    "costPerElementalMg",
    "timesAiMen",
    "timesAiWomen",
    "pctUl",
    "verdict",
    "dailyRankEligible",
    "thirdParty"
  ],
  "units": {
    "elementalMgPerServing": "mg elemental manganese",
    "price": "USD",
    "costPerServing": "USD/serving",
    "costPerElementalMg": "USD per elemental mg of manganese"
  },
  "citations": [
    {
      "claim": "Controlled feeding trial in n=7 young men fed a manganese-deficient diet — the closest thing to a controlled human deficiency-induction study; true deficiency is essentially never seen in realistic free-living diets.",
      "source": "Friedman BJ, Freeland-Graves JH, Bales CW, Behmardi F. 1987, The Journal of Nutrition",
      "pmid": "3819860"
    },
    {
      "claim": "Higher drinking-water manganese was associated with lower full-scale IQ in a 362-child cohort.",
      "source": "Bouchard MF, Sauvé S, Barbeau B, Legrand M. 2011, Environmental Health Perspectives",
      "pmid": "20855239"
    },
    {
      "claim": "Longitudinal follow-up strengthens the water-manganese/child-intellectual-function association by tracking change in exposure and outcomes over time.",
      "source": "Dion LA, Saint-Amour D, Sauvé S, Barbeau B, Mergler D, Bouchard MF. 2018, Neurotoxicology",
      "pmid": "28870865"
    },
    {
      "claim": "Reductions in water manganese (and arsenic) exposure were associated with improvements in some child intelligence measures over two years.",
      "source": "Wasserman GA, Liu X, Parvez F, Factor-Litvak P, Kline J, Siddique AB. 2016, Environmental Health Perspectives",
      "pmid": "26713676"
    },
    {
      "claim": "Higher cumulative welding-fume manganese exposure was associated with faster progression of parkinsonian motor signs — a dose-response occupational finding.",
      "source": "Racette BA, Searles Nielsen S, Criswell SR, Sheppard L, Seixas N, Warden MN. 2017, Neurology",
      "pmid": "28031394"
    },
    {
      "claim": "Measurable subclinical neurological/motor changes were detected even at relatively low-level, early-career welding-fume exposure.",
      "source": "Baker MG, Criswell SR, Racette BA, Simpson CD, Sheppard L, Checkoway H. 2015, Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health",
      "pmid": "25380186"
    },
    {
      "claim": "Review defining manganism and its overlapping-but-distinguishable clinical/mechanistic features versus idiopathic Parkinson's disease.",
      "source": "Kwakye GF, Paoliello MM, Mukhopadhyay S, Bowman AB, Aschner M. 2015, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health",
      "pmid": "26154659"
    },
    {
      "claim": "Broad synthesis review connecting occupational and environmental (water/air) manganese exposure to cognitive deficits.",
      "source": "Roels HA, Bowler RM, Kim Y, Claus Henn B, Mergler D, Hoet P. 2012, Neurotoxicology",
      "pmid": "22498092"
    },
    {
      "claim": "Discontinuing manganese supplementation from home parenteral nutrition solutions reduced whole-blood manganese and improved brain MRI pallidal signal over 5 years.",
      "source": "Jin J, Saqui O, Allard JP. 2018, JPEN Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition",
      "pmid": "29187042"
    },
    {
      "claim": "Long-term parenteral nutrition patients receiving standard multi-trace-element additives showed elevated blood manganese levels.",
      "source": "Abdalian R, Saqui O, Fernandes G, Allard JP. 2013, JPEN Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition",
      "pmid": "22829428"
    },
    {
      "claim": "Cirrhotic patients had elevated blood manganese correlating with pallidal MRI T1 hyperintensity and neurological symptoms — the foundational liver-disease/manganese-accumulation paper.",
      "source": "Spahr L, Butterworth RF, Fontaine S, Bui L, Therrien G, Milette PC. 1996, Hepatology",
      "pmid": "8903385"
    },
    {
      "claim": "Children on long-term home parenteral nutrition accumulated measurable brain manganese, paralleling adult PN findings.",
      "source": "Iinuma Y, Kubota M, Uchiyama M, Yagi M, Kanada S, Yamazaki S. 2003, Pediatric Surgery International",
      "pmid": "12709821"
    },
    {
      "claim": "A calcium-plus-trace-minerals (zinc, copper, manganese) combination significantly reduced spinal bone loss versus calcium alone or placebo in postmenopausal women — a combination effect, not isolated-manganese evidence.",
      "source": "Strause L, Saltman P, Smith KT, Bracker M, Andon MB. 1994, The Journal of Nutrition",
      "pmid": "8027856"
    }
  ],
  "products": [
    {
      "brand": "Source Naturals",
      "product": "Manganese 10mg",
      "slug": "source-naturals-manganese-10mg",
      "form": "amino acid complex",
      "elementalMgPerServing": 10,
      "servings": 250,
      "price": 11.05,
      "costPerServing": 0.04,
      "costPerElementalMg": 0.0044,
      "timesAiMen": 4.3,
      "timesAiWomen": 5.6,
      "pctUl": 91,
      "verdict": "near-ul-ranked",
      "dailyRankEligible": true,
      "thirdParty": "None stated"
    },
    {
      "brand": "Best Naturals",
      "product": "Manganese 8mg",
      "slug": "best-naturals-manganese-8mg",
      "form": "amino acid chelate",
      "elementalMgPerServing": 8,
      "servings": 250,
      "price": 9.99,
      "costPerServing": 0.04,
      "costPerElementalMg": 0.005,
      "timesAiMen": 3.5,
      "timesAiWomen": 4.4,
      "pctUl": 73,
      "verdict": "ai-range-ranked",
      "dailyRankEligible": true,
      "thirdParty": "None stated"
    },
    {
      "brand": "Nutricost",
      "product": "Chelated Manganese 8mg",
      "slug": "nutricost-chelated-manganese-8mg",
      "form": "amino acid chelate",
      "elementalMgPerServing": 8,
      "servings": 120,
      "price": 11.95,
      "costPerServing": 0.1,
      "costPerElementalMg": 0.0124,
      "timesAiMen": 3.5,
      "timesAiWomen": 4.4,
      "pctUl": 73,
      "verdict": "ai-range-ranked",
      "dailyRankEligible": true,
      "thirdParty": "None stated"
    },
    {
      "brand": "Taste N' Score",
      "product": "Manganese Liquid Ionic 6mg",
      "slug": "taste-n-score-manganese-liquid-6mg",
      "form": "ionic/liquid",
      "elementalMgPerServing": 6,
      "servings": 118,
      "price": 18.5,
      "costPerServing": 0.16,
      "costPerElementalMg": 0.0261,
      "timesAiMen": 2.6,
      "timesAiWomen": 3.3,
      "pctUl": 55,
      "verdict": "ai-range-ranked",
      "dailyRankEligible": true,
      "thirdParty": "None stated"
    },
    {
      "brand": "BulkSupplements.com",
      "product": "Manganese Gluconate Powder",
      "slug": "bulksupplements-manganese-gluconate-powder",
      "form": "raw gluconate powder",
      "elementalMgPerServing": 225,
      "servings": 444,
      "price": 18.97,
      "costPerServing": 0.04,
      "costPerElementalMg": 0.0002,
      "timesAiMen": 97.8,
      "timesAiWomen": 125,
      "pctUl": 2045,
      "verdict": "over-ul-excluded",
      "dailyRankEligible": false,
      "thirdParty": "None stated"
    },
    {
      "brand": "Solaray",
      "product": "SOLARAY Manganese Supplement 50mg",
      "slug": "solaray-manganese-50mg",
      "form": "capsule",
      "elementalMgPerServing": 50,
      "servings": 100,
      "price": 8.49,
      "costPerServing": 0.08,
      "costPerElementalMg": 0.0017,
      "timesAiMen": 21.7,
      "timesAiWomen": 27.8,
      "pctUl": 455,
      "verdict": "over-ul-excluded",
      "dailyRankEligible": false,
      "thirdParty": "None stated"
    },
    {
      "brand": "Carlson",
      "product": "Chelated Manganese 20mg",
      "slug": "carlson-chelated-manganese-20mg",
      "form": "chelate",
      "elementalMgPerServing": 20,
      "servings": 100,
      "price": 10.03,
      "costPerServing": 0.1,
      "costPerElementalMg": 0.005,
      "timesAiMen": 8.7,
      "timesAiWomen": 11.1,
      "pctUl": 182,
      "verdict": "over-ul-excluded",
      "dailyRankEligible": false,
      "thirdParty": "None stated"
    },
    {
      "brand": "Swanson",
      "product": "Albion Chelated Manganese Glycinate 40mg",
      "slug": "swanson-albion-manganese-glycinate-40mg",
      "form": "Albion-chelated glycinate",
      "elementalMgPerServing": 40,
      "servings": 60,
      "price": 15.19,
      "costPerServing": 0.25,
      "costPerElementalMg": 0.0063,
      "timesAiMen": 17.4,
      "timesAiWomen": 22.2,
      "pctUl": 364,
      "verdict": "over-ul-excluded",
      "dailyRankEligible": false,
      "thirdParty": "None stated"
    },
    {
      "brand": "Ecological Formulas",
      "product": "Manganese Picolinate 20mg",
      "slug": "ecological-formulas-manganese-picolinate-20mg",
      "form": "picolinate",
      "elementalMgPerServing": 20,
      "servings": 100,
      "price": 21.41,
      "costPerServing": 0.21,
      "costPerElementalMg": 0.0107,
      "timesAiMen": 8.7,
      "timesAiWomen": 11.1,
      "pctUl": 182,
      "verdict": "over-ul-excluded",
      "dailyRankEligible": false,
      "thirdParty": "None stated"
    }
  ]
}