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Top 5 Common Food Sources of Manganese
Looking to get more manganese in your diet? Look no further! My team and I have crunched the numbers and did all the math to determine the top 5 common food sources of this mineral, per serving. Getting enough manganese as part of a healthy balanced diet is important since a large collection of studies show that getting nutrients from dietary supplements or multivitamins doesn’t improve health outcomes compared to getting nutrients from foods!
| Rank | Food | Nutrivore Score | Serving Size (Raw) | Manganese (mg/serving) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans), Mature Seeds | 454 | 1/5 cup | 8.5 | 371 |
| 2 | Teff | 253 | 1/4 cup | 4.5 | 194 |
| 3 | Muscadine Grapes | 644 | 1 cup | 4.4 | 192 |
| 4 | Blue Mussels | 1564 | 4 oz / 115 g | 3.9 | 170 |
| 5 | Cloves, Ground | 2209 | 1 tbsp | 3.9 | 170 |
Want to know more about this important mineral including what are the effects of manganese in the body, how much manganese we need, what happens if we have low levels of manganese or if we get too much, and even more awesome manganese rich foods? Keep reading to learn all there is to know!
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What Is Manganese and What Does It Do?
Manganese is an essential mineral concentrated mostly in the bones, brain, kidney, liver, and pancreas. It serves as both a structural component of enzymes and a cofactor for their activation, giving it wide-ranging roles in carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid synthesis, lipid processing, gluconeogenesis, detoxification, and free radical defense! In fact, it’s needed to form an extremely important cellular antioxidant called manganese superoxide dismutase.
Manganese plays a particularly vital role in skeletal health and wound healing, due to serving as a cofactor for enzymes involved in cartilage, collagen and bone formation. Getting enough of this nutrient may also help protect against diabetes, osteoporosis, and seizure disorders, although more research is needed in all of these areas. And, both too little and too much manganese can be problematic: while a deficiency can cause skeletal abnormalities, impaired growth, and alterations in carbohydrate tolerance and metabolism, too much can be toxic to the nervous system (although it takes extremely high exposures to get there!).
Learn more about manganese here.
Manganese Deficiency
True manganese deficiency is relatively uncommon in humans.
Groups At Risk
No specific groups of people have been identified to be at higher risk of manganese deficiency.
Symptoms of Deficiency
Manganese deficiency is rare in humans but has been studied in animals, where it’s been shown to cause growth issues, skeletal deformities, impaired glucose tolerance, reduced reproductive function, and disrupted carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. In humans, reported symptoms include impaired growth in children, bone demineralization, skin rashes, signs of increased bone remodeling, and poor glucose tolerance.
Learn more here.
Problems From Too Much Manganese
Excessive amounts of manganese can be toxic, primarily affecting the nervous system and causing manganism, a neurodegenerative disorder with symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease, including tremors, muscle spasms, and psychiatric issues. It typically results from occupational exposure or contaminated water. High manganese levels have also been linked to cognitive and behavioral problems in children. Rarely, genetic conditions like SLC30A10 mutations can cause manganese buildup in the liver and brain. Those at higher risk for manganese toxicity include individuals with chronic liver disease, infants and children (due to higher absorption), and people with iron deficiency, which increases manganese uptake. Consuming manganese from diet alone doesn’t seem to pose any risk of side effects, but there have been reports of manganese toxicity from taking high dose manganese supplements for long periods of time which it is why it’s always important to seek medical advice from a healthcare professional before supplementing.
Learn more here.
How Much Manganese Do We Need?
The following table summarizes the current recommended adequate intake for manganese, based on age, gender, or situation. The tolerable upper intake level is set based on the neurotoxic effects observed from excessive manganese.
It’s also important to note that manganese has some known interactions with other nutrients including calcium, iron, and magnesium. Learn more here.
| 0 – 6 months | |||||
| 6 months to < 12 months | |||||
| 1 yr – 3 yrs | |||||
| 4 yrs – 8 yrs | |||||
| 9 yrs – 13 yrs | |||||
| 14 yrs – 18 yrs | |||||
| 19 yrs – 50 yrs | |||||
| 51+ yrs | |||||
| Pregnant (14 – 18 yrs) | |||||
| Pregnant (19 – 30 yrs) | |||||
| Pregnant (31 – 50 yrs) | |||||
| Lactating (14 – 18 yrs) | |||||
| Lactating (19 – 30 yrs) | |||||
| Lactating (31 – 50 yrs) |
Nutrient Daily Values
Nutrition requirements and recommended nutrient intake for infants, children, adolescents, adults, mature adults, and pregnant and lactating individuals.
More Food Sources of Manganese
Manganese-rich foods include shellfish like mussels, clams, and oysters, along with nuts (e.g., hazelnuts, pecans, almonds), seeds (pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds), sweet potatoes, legumes (e.g., chickpeas, soybeans, adzuki beans), and dark leafy greens (collard greens, kale, mustard greens). Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts, and turnip greens also provide manganese. Additionally, whole grains like oatmeal, brown rice, and bran cereals are excellent sources.
Best Food Sources of Manganese
The following foods have high amounts of manganese, containing at least 50% of the recommended dietary allowance per serving, making them our best food sources of this mineral!
Good Food Sources of Manganese
The following foods are excellent or good sources of manganese, containing at least 10% (and up to 50%) of the daily value per serving.
Top 5 Common Food Sources
If you’re looking for top 5 common food sources of other important nutrients check out these posts!
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