Vanadium

• What other names is Vanadium known by?
• What is Vanadium?
• How does Vanadium work?
• Are there safety concerns?
• Are there any interactions with medications?
• Dosing considerations for Vanadium.

What other names is Vanadium known by?

Atomic number 23, Metavanadate, Métavanadate, Orthovanadate, Pentoxyde de Vanadium, Sulfate de Vanadyl, V, Vanadate, Vanadio, Vanadium Pentoxide, Vanadyl, Vanadyl Nicotinate, Vanadyl Sulfate, Vanadyl Sulphate.

What is Vanadium?

Vanadium is a mineral. It was named for the Norse goddess of beauty, Vanadis, because of its beautiful colors. Vanadium supplements are used as medicine.

Vanadium is used for treating diabetes, low blood sugar, high cholesterol, heart disease, tuberculosis, syphilis, a form of "tired blood" (anemia), and water retention (edema); for improving athletic performance in weight training; and for preventing cancer.

Likely Effective for...

• Preventing vanadium deficiency, a condition in which the body doesn't have enough vanadium.

Insufficient Evidence to Rate Effectiveness for...

• Diabetes. There is some evidence that high doses of vanadyl sulfate (100 mg daily, providing 31 mg elemental vanadium) might improve the way people with type 2 diabetes use insulin, the hormone that processes sugar. The study suggested that high-dose vanadium might lower blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes. But there are two big concerns about this study. First, it only involved 40 people, so the conclusions need to be confirmed using a bigger study group. Secondly, even if high-dose vanadium works for diabetes, these high doses, used long-term, might not be safe. It's not known if lower doses work as well. For now, don't use vanadium to treat type 2 diabetes. Wait to see if additional larger studies show benefit and safety.
• Heart disease.
• High cholesterol.
• Water retention (edema).
• Preventing cancer.
• Other conditions.

More evidence is needed to rate the effectiveness of vanadium for these uses.

Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database rates effectiveness based on scientific evidence according to the following scale: Effective, Likely Effective, Possibly Effective, Possibly Ineffective, Likely Ineffective, and Insufficient Evidence to Rate (detailed description of each of the ratings).