Calcium has received an enormous amount of attention. It's likely that every woman reading this article has been told by her doctor to get enough calcium. If asked what role calcium plays in health, nearly every woman would answer that calcium is necessary for strong bones. But what about magnesium? Did you know that this mighty mineral may be even more essential for health?
Magnesium and calcium work together, but magnesium may actually play a more important role. It controls the entry of calcium into each and every cell--a physiological event that occurs every time a nerve cell fires! When it comes to building healthy bones, magnesium is as important as calcium and vitamin D are! Without adequate magnesium, too much calcium gets inside the cell. This causes cramping and constrictions in ways you might never consider.
A Pregnant Pause
I was first introduced to magnesium during my obstetrical training, where I saw how effective magnesium sulfate was in preventing seizures and restoring normal blood pressure in pregnant women suffering from toxemia. Magnesium is also frequently given to women having preterm labor to stop contractions. It works!
A good friend of mine, Alexa, had her third baby in 1994. About seven weeks before the baby was due, she started to have contractions that would only stop when she lay down. Because she was 2.5 centimeters dilated and almost fully effaced (conditions often present when a woman goes into labor with a full-term third child), she was put on bed rest. Luckily this helped, and she was able to avoid a lengthy stay at the hospital. After having her baby, Alexa was extremely run down, had frequent migraines, and severe muscle cramps. She decided to go to a Naturopath for help. He immediately diagnosed severe magnesium deficiency, and she was given weekly magnesium IVs to correct the imbalance.
Alexa's magnesium deficiency isn't all that unusual. In fact, the National Academy of Sciences found (in 1997) that most Americans were deficient in magnesium. [1] The following factors contribute to this:
Alexa's OB/GYN was insistent that she get 1500 mgs of calcium every day to protect her baby's and her bones. He told her to take a couple of Tums, an antacid, any day she didn't get enough calcium from the food she ate. Tums contains calcium, and it was the calcium "supplement" he recommended to all his patients. (This was his strategy for keeping her calories from dairy fat down, too.) He never recommended that she increase her magnesium, just her calcium. It's not surprising that she had a magnesium deficiency after following his advice during three pregnancies.
Magnesium Is Indispensable
Magnesium is essential for the functioning of more than 300 different enzymes in the body, particularly those that produce, transport, store, and utilize energy. This includes:
In short, living without adequate levels of magnesium is like trying to operate a machine with the power off. And like a machine, it's likely to malfunction. Here are some health conditions associated with the cramping and constrictions that can be attributed to a magnesium deficiency:
Anxiety and panic attacks: Magnesium helps keep adrenal stress hormones under control and also helps maintain normal brain function. [2]
Asthma: Magnesium helps relax the muscles of the bronchioles in the lungs.
Constipation: Magnesium helps keep bowels regular by maintaining normal bowel muscle function. Milk of magnesia has been used for decades to help constipation.
Heart disease: Magnesium deficiency is common in those with heart disease. Magnesium, a natural calcium channel blocker, is an effective treatment for heart attacks and cardiac arrhythmias. An astounding number of studies have documented the effectiveness of IV magnesium in helping prevent cardiac damage and even death following a heart attack. The reason for this is that 40 to 60 percent of sudden deaths from heart attack are the result of spasm in the arteries, not blockage from clots or arrhythmias! [3]
Hypertension: Without adequate magnesium, blood vessels constrict and blood pressure increases.
Infertility: Magnesium can relax spasms in fallopian tubes that prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterus.
Nerve problems and muscle spasms: Magnesium helps eliminate peripheral nerve disturbances that can lead to migraines, leg and foot cramps, gastrointestinal cramps, and other muscle aches and pains.
Obstetrical problems: Magnesium can prevent premature labor (because it calms contractions) as well as eclampsia.
Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D., author of The Magnesium Miracle (Ballantine Books, 2007), reports that these (and other) conditions are also associated with magnesium deficiency: blood clots, bowel disease, cystitis, depression, detoxification, diabetes, fatigue, hypoglycemia, insomnia, kidney disease, kidney stones, musculoskeletal conditions, osteoporosis, Raynaud's syndrome, and even tooth decay. Dr. Dean also reports that she's seen magnesium improve patients' PMS, painful periods, chronic fatigue, and fibromyalgia. She's also seen it increase their sexual pleasure!
Supplementing With Magnesium
For the majority of human history, the ratio of calcium to magnesium in the diet was 1:1, a ratio that's considered optimal. A ratio that's between 1:1 and 2:1 is adequate (for example, 800 mg of calcium to 400 mg of magnesium). Unfortunately, today's diets contain an average of 10 times more calcium than magnesium.
In addition to eating a nutritious diet, I recommend that you use supplements that contain magnesium. I do this myself, especially when traveling or dealing with the stress of deadlines. There's considerable variation among individuals as to the ideal amount of magnesium to take. Here's what I recommend: Keep your calcium intake between 800-1,400 mg per day, adding enough magnesium to balance it. For example, if you take 1,000 mg of calcium per day, you need at least 500-800 mg of magnesium.
Magnesium comes in many forms. Magnesium oxide or chloride is fine, as is chelated magnesium. Capsules usually contain 250-500 mg of magnesium. You can also use a calcium/magnesium supplement. Experiment with levels. The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for magnesium is 350-400 mg per day, although for optimal levels, you may need as much as twice that amount.
It's best to take your magnesium in divided doses throughout the day. You can take it either on an empty stomach or with meals. You can also add Epsom salts to your baths--Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate. It's absorbed through the skin and will help replenish magnesium stores. This "treatment" can easily include a relaxing bath with a good book.
Testing for proper levels of the nutrient is difficult (as Dr. Dean puts it, magnesium is "its own worst enemy") because its serum concentration is so low that it's hard to get an accurate picture of how much is in the whole body just by testing what's in the blood. Only one percent of the body's magnesium is in the blood, and the body will take it from bones and tissues if that level drops. That means that a blood test could easily show a normal reading, even when the rest of the body is very deficient.
A True Miracle
Perhaps the most miraculous story I've ever heard about magnesium was one I heard from Dr. Dean. There was a man who suffered from esophageal spasms so severe that he often couldn't swallow anything, including his own saliva. During one horrible attack--something quite similar to choking--his wife gave him some water with magnesium citrate powder mixed in it. After holding the solution in his mouth for about a minute, the magnesium calmed the muscle spasms and he was able to function normally.
If you want to learn more (and I think that everyone should), I recommend that you read Dr. Dean's The Magnesium Miracle. Quite frankly, this book should be in everyone's home library. The information could surely save your--or a loved one's--life!
For more information about magnesium, visit the association's Web site at www.nutritionalmagnesium.org.
Copyright Christiane Northrup, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
This information is not intended to treat, diagnose, cure, or prevent any disease.
All material in this article is provided for educational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you have regarding a medical condition, and before undertaking any diet, exercise, or other health program.
References:
[1] Institute of Medicine, Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Vitamin D, and Fluoride (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1997).
[2] M. J. Eisenberg, "Magnesium Deficiency and Sudden Death," American Heart Journal, vol. 124, no. 2 (1992), pp. 544-49; P. D. Turlapaty and B. M. Altura, "Magnesium Deficiency Produces Spasms in Coronary Arteries: Relationship to Etiology of Sudden Death Ischemic Heart Disease," Science, vol. 208, no. 4440 (April 11, 1980), pp. 198-200; B. M. Altura, "Sudden Death Ischemic Heart Disease and Dietary Magnesium Intake: Is the Target Site Coronary Vascular Smooth Muscle?" Medical Hypotheses, vol. 5, no. 8 (Aug. 1979), pp. 843-48.
[3] B. S. Levine and J. W. Coburn, "Magnesium, the Mimic/Antagonist of Calcium," New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 310, no. 19 (May 10, 1984), pp. 1253-55.
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Also - many cases of fm are resolved with T3 (thyroid). I don't think magnesium alone is going to help. This is where you will find your best help: http://www.drlowe.com/
Often I make a soup of assorted beans, available in a small bag, in with the dried bean & lentils.These bags contain several types of beans, & costs so little - under $2.00! In a large pot, it cooks a while, then I add slices of 1 red onion, 2 carrots, 2 stalks celery, a few cloves of garlic, then near the end, add in lots of kale. Herbs, fresh, like a flat leaved parsley, or sometimes a dry blend called Herbes de Provence,Sea salt & fresh cracked pepper - a blend of white, green, red & black - called pepper royale is a nice addition - when I have it on hand.
It makes me feel so good - & it freezes well, so is ready to go whenever I need a quick, simple, nutritious meal. I usually have it with a grainy bread or hard tak & sweet butter. Sometimes I add in bits of meat, and or mushrooms - in individual servings, leaving the basic soup all veggies & beans.
So glad I read this tonight, since I've been feeling achy, & need to be ready for the gardening season ahead! I'd heard many times how important magnesium is, as is vit. D,& they're in my multi vitamins, but the natural sources are best - & I believe, are
Some plants produce quite well in simple composted plant materials, though other plants are heavy feeders & may require more food.Composting is an art as is growing our own foods.
I'm trying your delicious miso dish a.s.a.p.
I take the liquid and, after years convinced my hubby to start and he can't believe the difference in so many ways.
good health ...
Also Magnesium and Vitamin D are imporatne supplements in addition to Calcium in an ageing population. Our health derpartment and education department can do a lot to educate our school children.
So far ... so good.
Needless to say, I was suspicious. I said, "thanks for the information", promptly paid my bill, and left.
Despite all the medical advice, I refused to give up and finally found myself in the office of an Integrative doctor. She diagnosed my pain in the first visit, determining that my pain was due to my iliopsoas muscle contracting as my body's response to the surgery. The muscle never relaxed afterward, squeezing nerves, blood supply and pulling other muscles out of their normal range. She then gave me several injections of magnesium over the course of several weeks. The muscle relaxed and the pain was gone. Infuriatingly simple after all my family and I had been through.
I have TWO doctors for my son. A traditional pediatrician and a pediatric osteopath. They both get input. Two different points of view and approaches to the same issue = priceless.
BUT
what You write tells people that taking it in pills is good for them.
Only to ten years later say magnesium does get all the press but kalium is the real healer. - So people swallow kalium pills.
What if we stop all that nonsense and eat healthy food that has ALL of that - and more - in it? There is a reason we can not live on the foodlike substances - including pills of the lates rage in minerals and vitamins - and stay healthy.
Someone who eats REAL food will only have a magnesium deficiency if there is an underlying condition. And giving them magnesium pills is like patching a bullet wound without removing the bullet.
The soil is being ruined by the use of a wide range of pesticides, fungicides, & chemical fertilizers used in growing most of our veggies, for decades. This has resulted in poor soil, which erodes & blows away. I'd heard yrs ago we are losing topsoil at an alarming rate - due to these practices.This also means the foods grown in these soils are depleted, as the soil's been depleted.
Most foods are laden with poisons, which cannot just be rinsed off, as these poisons are taken up by the root systems, and are incorporated in every cell of the plants.To take control of our food sources is of utmost importance.
How are these modern foods affecting human DNA, intelligence, mental deficiencies, & behavior problems?This may even explain the spike in Autism, though it's possible we are just able to detect it sooner, so say the studies - but I still wonder, how will the human race fare,when we are all compromised, due to chronic toxicity & malnutrition?
A friend of mine did a three year study on testing genetically changed food and what she found even right below the surface is staggering. Monsanto knew all along that people eating genetically changed foods get NEW allergies. Not recumbent ones breaking out but completely new allergies. And not one or two in a thousand but a whopping 24%.
For a listing of foods high in magnesium:
http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/food/magnesium-foods.htm