MAIN Health Vitamins & Minerals Tin

Tin Fast Facts

Foods: soil, air, canned goods, in trace amounts in nearly all fruits and vegetables

Nutritional & health benefits: inconclusive, although research is ongoing on its many suggested health benefits

Tin, which goes by Sn on the periodic table, is a trace mineral that very little research has been done on. In fact, scientists are still not absolutely sure that tin is essential for human beings, a claim which has some merit as tin is not an essential mineral for many animals.

Despite the skepticism of tin's role in the human body, there is at least one study which demonstrates that tin may actually provide some health benefits.

In a study of two hundred and eighty-five individuals, tin supplements were given to test subjects for a short term period of just a few weeks and also a much longer period of a year to two years for some participants. The result was that tin supplementation had no more negative side effects than many other trace minerals do at similar levels, and for many of the research participants there were many positive health benefits.

Psychological benefits included decreased depression and fatigue, an increase in positive mood and general well-being, and an increase in energy. Some test subjects also experienced improvements in general occurrences of pain, skin problems, and digestion. There was also a noticeable decrease in headaches, asthma, and insomnia for some.

Beyond this one study on tin, there is not a great deal that is known about the health benefits that tin may provide.

Tin is available in small amounts from virtually all fruits and vegetables. Tin is absorbed by plants from the soil, which means that to get more tin, it does not especially matter what fruits and vegetables are being eaten, but rather what soil conditions those fruits and vegetables were grown in.

More information about tin & nutrition around the Web:

Element Tin: Health effects on Adrenals, Depression & Fatigue - A discussion on human and laboratory animal studies suggesting the effects of low-levels of the mineral in relation to increased fatigue, depression and even asthma, plus facts on food sources, toxicity, recommended daily allowances.

Tin - Abstracts of research identifying the trace mineral with heavy concentrations in the thymus gland, associated with dental sensitivity, in connection with lithium, and other related studies.

Tin - A brief overview, deficiency and toxicity symptoms, sources.

Tin - Facts on suggested outcomes from studies and research, precautions, related literature.