Thankfully we can do our own research, see by whom it has been cited, in what journal it has been published, and so forth. You can easily tell that this is quite an unimportant and incredible one. Of course you could tell it yourself after having read it that it is nonsense.
For example my mother-in-law is starting to micro-dose lithium and cited this article as evidence: https://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2020/12/lithium-and-a...
Which cites 19 medical journals. The website itself reeks of bullshit, but how can I tell if the journals it cites are valid or just woo?
The bottom line is that as a Layperson it would be extremely difficult to vet the validity of any given paper let alone whole journals.
I think I was starting to draw that conclusion.
If a claim is in the Lancet, NEMJ, Nature, etc; its probably pretty credible.
If a claim is in another journal; it shouldn't have much bearing on my decision (positive or negative) since I don't have the expertise to evaluate it.
That said, there are lots of "may" in the article. As to why someone is telling you this, well, in this case it is to sell you their products. She could consult a doctor about it. What form is the lithium in? How much of the product (which they sell) is actual lithium? Should look at the studies mentioned where they say "may", so that you would actually have something to base your beliefs on, because "may" is not a claim of "will", and "may" is not "evidence", it is just speculation; they are merchants of hope. The article also does not go very in depth with the comparisons of dose. How much lithium do people get daily and from which sources? Might it turn out that micro-dosing is actually a mere 1/10th of what people already get normally in a day? Keep also in mind, that some regions have lithium in their tap water already. Plus, people believe the news too, because it sounds believable, but this is not about technical literature alone. People do need to get educated about how to critically comb articles.
By the way: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11838882/
> Lithium is commonly found in drinking water and various foods, with dietary intake estimated at 0.6 to 3.1 milligrams per day in the United States in 1985. Lithium supplements are sold as pills, liquid capsules, solutions, and syrups of lithium orotate or lithium aspartate.
With sites like this, it feels like the citations are a form of DDOS or EULA boilerplating where they could demand naming rights to your first born because they know you won't read it.
But to begin with, the article you cite is not a proper peer reviewed article. It's merely a webpage on a private website. It's not indexed on pubmed. No one has cited it, nor will they.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evolutionary-psychia...
There is an idea, especially here in the US, and especially over the last 10-15 years, that you can just "do your own research" and come to correct conclusions about things that have been studied for decades or centuries. You can't. If you want to do it for your own edification, or because it's interesting, by all means. But please not for making real decisions that have a real impact.
I would just tell them my concerns and either ask for why they think that would help, or maybe get a second opinion? It's hard to say for sure.