Magnesium: Miracle in Minutes

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MAGNESIUM: Miracle in Minutes

 

DID YOU KNOW?

Very few people are aware of the enormous role magnesium plays in

our bodies.

 

After oxygen, water, and basic food, magnesium may be the most

important element needed by our bodies. So vitally important, yet

hardly known.

 

Magnesium is by far the most important mineral in the body,

activating over 300 different biochemical reactions in your body all

necessary for your body to function properly.

 

Magnesium is more important than calcium, potassium or sodium and

regulates all three of them. When we get too low on oxygen, water or

food, the consequences are serious. Yet, we often don't realize the

consequences of magnesium deficiency.

 

The improper use of magnesium among health professionals and the

population in general, is deeply responsible for many of the

failures

encountered daily in treating chronic health conditions nationwide.

---

What are the symptoms of a magnesium deficiency?

Millions suffer daily from:

 

Insomnia

Sleep-disorders

Fatigue

Body-tension

Headaches

Heart-disorders

Low energy

High Blood Pressure

PMS

Muscle tension

Backaches

Constipation

Kidney stones

Osteoporosis

Accelerated aging

Depression

Irregular-heartbeat

Anxiety

Muscle cramps

Spasms

Irritability

and the list goes on....

 

90-95% of the population is deficient, including many of those who

already supplement it. Why?

Due to the misleading information presented in common magnesium

texts. As a result, magnesium remains largely misunderstood, largely

misused and the problem goes on undetected.

 

CALCIUM WARNING –

 

The use of magnesium today is often incorrect, resulting in frequent

failure to improve common conditions and complaints.

One reason is this: Calcium needs magnesium in order to assimilate

into the body. However, when too much calcium is consumed, it will

pull magnesium out of the body parts in order to assimilate. This

creates a magnesium deficiency and the person will get worse and

feel accordingly.

---

 

" Contrary to common belief, magnesium deficiency is very common even

amongst those who supplement it regularly "

---

 

Excess calcium -(in the wrong form for proper assimilation) in

the body results in calcium deposits on joints (often called

arthritis). All of these have been known to disappear after taking

extra magnesium, especially the liquid form.

 

BECOME AN EXPERT –

 

After reading this data you will become your own expert on how to

handle a magnesium deficiency, which strikes most of our unknowing

population. This data is vital for everybody to know. It has changed

the lives of many. It may change your own as well.

 

The fact remains that many of us suffer for months and years from

chronic conditions, which no one seems to detect the source of (not

even the so-called experts). With all the myriad of solutions we

have sought, only a lucky handful amongst us realize that the true

source of these conditions lies with a mineral deficiency.

 

Many of these conditions listed before are caused primarily by

magnesium deficiency. This information may bring new hope to those

who have already grown hopeless about improving their condition.

 

90-95% of the population is deficient, and many of them have thought

that regular magnesium supplements will fix magnesium deficiency.

 

Unfortunately, this isn't the case. Read on to understand this in

full, and why water soluble magnesium (angstrom in size) is the

answer.

 

To understand the importance of magnesium let's consider this:

 

Magnesium is the most important mineral in the body, activating over

300 different processes in your body; Among these functions are

digestion, energy production, muscle function, bone formation,

creation of new cells, activation of B vitamins, relaxation of

muscles, the functioning of your heart, kidneys, adrenals, brain, as

well as the nervous system.

 

****************

The Mineral That Could Have Saved 4 Million Women

by Bill Sardi

 

Modern medicine has made a remarkable admission.

Its failure to utilize a simple, inexpensive intravenous mineral

drip might have saved the lives millions of women over the past

century.

 

Modern medicine knew about the cure since 1906. [New England Journal

Medicine 333: 201-05, 1995]

 

Around 210 million women become pregnant annually around the world

and every minute a woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth, with a

quarter of these deaths due to a condition called pre-eclampsia

which can lead to the more severe and mortal condition called

eclampsia.

 

Women may develop high blood pressure during pregnancy (pre-

eclampsia) and during or prior to birth may experience life-

threatening seizures (eclampsia).

About 5-10 percent of women in their first pregnancy develop pre-

eclampsia.

 

Over the past century, drugs rather than minerals have been employed

to treat eclampsia, Diazepam (Valium) in 1968 and then phenytoin

(Dilantin) in 1987. During the period 1905 to 1987 an estimated 42

million women may have undergone eclamptic convulsion and possibly 4

million died.

 

The modern therapy for eclampsia now includes calcium-blocking

drugs and a host of anti-hypertensive agents. Drugs may reduce the

risk of severe high blood pressure, but not the overall rate of

hypertension nor the risk of eclampsia.

 

[The Cochrane Library, Issue 2, 2002] Yet the anticonvulsant drugs

continue to be employed with little reliable evidence that they

work.

 

Finally, a just-released study of 10,141 women in 33 countries has

shown beyond a " reasonable doubt " that intravenous magnesium reduces

the risks of eclampsia among women with pre-eclampsia.

The relative risk of eclampsia was reduced by 58 percent and the

mortality rate nearly cut in half among women receiving

magnesium ...compared to those who receive a saline drip.

 

The authors of the study concluded that " magnesium sulfate is

remarkably effective at reducing the risk of eclampsia. " [The Lancet

359: 1877-90, June 1, 2002]

 

Not The First Time –

 

This wasn't the first study to conclusively show magnesium sulfate

is a remedy for eclampsia. In a 1995, a study heralded as the most

important obstetric trial of the 20th century, magnesium sulfate was

found to be the most effective approach to controlling convulsions

during childbirth.

[british Medical Journal 311: 702-03, 1995] By 1998 data from

numerous studies had been analyzed and it was known that magnesium

was

superior to any anticonvulsant drugs. [Cochrane Review 2002] This

evidence still didn't convince most obstetrical doctors.

 

Seven years after the report showing magnesium reduces the risk of

mortality from eclampsia, a report endorsed by the World Health

Organization (WHO), UNICEF and the WORLD BANK, magnesium sulfate is

still not available to millions of women worldwide.

 

British medical researchers are pleading with the World Bank and

WHO to fund and disseminate treatment kits. [The

Lancet 359: June 1, 2002]

 

Clues Were There -

It wasn't as if physicians had no clues as to the cause of

eclampsia. The worldwide mortality rates from eclampsia vary widely

from country to country.

 

 

The mortality rate from eclampsia ranges from 0 to 13.9 percent.

[European Society Cardiology 21st Annual Congress, Sept. 1, 1999] So

there are obviously some modifiable factors involved in the

development of eclampsia among pregnant females.

 

Pre-eclampsia and eclampsia are the most important causes of death

during pregnancy in the United Kingdom, USA and Nordic countries,

 

 

nations that consume the most *calcium-rich* DAIRY products.

 

 

Calcium and magnesium must be maintained in a proper ratio to

maintain

proper muscle tone and prevent convulsive muscle spasms.

Furthermore, estrogen and progesterone levels, which increase as a

pregnancy advances, elevate the body's demand for magnesium.

[Journal American College of Nutrition 12: 442-58, 1993] Magnesium

is a natural calcium blocker. [American Journal Medicine 96: 63-76,

1994]

 

Magnesium Shunned For Heart Disease Too –

 

 

This isn't the first time magnesium has been shunned in favor of

prescription drugs.

 

In the 1990s a preliminary report showed that intravenous

magnesium reduced mortality rates following a heart attack.

 

 

This was apparently perceived as a threat to the sale of calcium-

blocking drugs used for the same purpose.

 

 

Medical researchers, financially

backed by a pharmaceutical company that produces calcium-blocker

drugs,

deliberately chose to use an " excessive " dose of *intravenous*

magnesium to " prove " it was of *no value* during the post-heart

attack period.

 

[Townsend Letter for Doctors, October 1998]

 

The sale of calcium-blockers never faltered. There are more than 64

million annual prescriptions for calcium blocking drugs (Procardia,

Cardizem, Norvasc, Verpamil, Adalat, Dilacor, Verelan, Calan), with

sales exceeding $2.5 billion. [American Druggist 1997]

 

Magnesium May Prevent Sudden-Death Heart Attacks –

 

(NOTE: Dr. Shealy emphasizes this in his book--- " HOLY WATER, Sacred

Oils)

 

 

Magnesium is not limited to treating heart disease after a heart

attack. A shortage of dietary magnesium has been repeatedly shown to

be

associated with an increased risk of sudden-death heart attack.

 

 

Unequivocally, a shortage of magnesium from the American diet, in

particular the absence or shortage of magnesium in drinking water,

is directly related to sudden-death heart attack. [Epidemiology 10:

31-36, 1999; Heart 82: 455-60, 1999; American Journal Epidemiology

143: 456-62, 1996]

 

 

Out of 750,000 heart attacks in the USA annually, an estimated

340,000 deaths occur within one hour of a heart attack. [Journal

Nutrition Health Aging 5: 173-78, 2001]

 

One study showed the relative risk of sudden-death heart attack is

more than 1.5 times higher among adults who consume on average 105

milligrams of magnesium a day compared to adults who consume 233

milligrams a day.

 

[Magnesium Trace Element Research 9: 143-51, 1990]

 

Recently researchers reported on the effects of slowly withdrawing

magnesium from the diet of postmenopausal women.

 

Women began to exhibit abnormal heart rhythms as circulating

magnesium levels declined. [American JournalClinical Nutrition 75:

550-54, 2002]

 

Of the minerals removed during water softening, magnesium is the

only mineral found to be deficient in the heart muscle of sudden-

death heart attack victims. [science 208: 198-200, 1980]

 

In an animal experiment, no rodents experienced a sudden-death

heart attack when magnesium levels were adequate, whereas 4 of 11

rodents with low magnesium levels experienced a sudden lethal heart

muscle spasm. [Journal American Collage Cardiology 27: 1771-76,

1996]

 

For comparison, there are about 50,000 tobacco-related deaths per

year in the USA and consequently massive smoking-cessation efforts

are

undertaken.

 

There are more than 200,000 to 300,000 avoidable sudden-death heart

attacks that could be prevented by the provision of an inexpensive

mineral, yet public health authorities do nothing to stop the

problem.

 

This amounts to over 500 *needless* deaths per day in the USA

The current approach to cardiovascular disease is to reduce

circulating cholesterol levels which has been shown to reduce the

incidence of heart attacks but has not reduced mortality rates.

Sudden fatal heart failure may be related to magnesium deficiency

rather than cholesterol levels.

[Medical Hypotheses 43: 187-92, 1994]

 

Widespread Dietary Deficiency –

 

1994 Gallup poll found that 72 percent of Americans don't consume

sufficient amounts of magnesium. The widespread consumption of

processed foods has led to a progressive decline in dietary

magnesium.

 

While nuts and green leafy vegetables are good sources of magnesium,

the shortage of magnesium in the American diet, about 200-300

milligrams per day, is not likely to be made up through foods alone.

Progressive decline of dietary magnesium consumption years Magnesium

intake milligrams per day

1900-08 475-500

1909-13 415-435

1925-29 385-398

1935-39 360-375

1947-49 358-370

1957-59 340-360

1965-76 300-340

1978-85 225-318

1990-2002 175-225

 

[Magnesium Trace Elements 10: 162-28, 1997]

 

Supplementation Advised –

 

Only universal magnesium supplementation is likely to make up

forsucha

widespread mineral deficiency.

Foods cannot easily be fortified with magnesium because it is a

bulky mineral that would alter the

consistency and taste of flour and foods. Magnesium cannot be added

to tap water because it would erode piping. Either magnesium pills

or magnesium added to bottled water would make up for this mineral

deficiency.

 

 

Currently, only 5 major brands of bottled water provide a desirable

measure of more than 75 milligrams of magnesium per liter and only

one brand has a

 

ratio of magnesium that exceeds that of calcium. –

Bloodtests for magnesium are notoriously inaccurate.

Only 1 percent of the total body magnesium pool exists outside of

living cells. So blood serum levels are notoriously inaccurate.

[Clin Chem Lab Med 37: 1011-33, 1999]

 

Only red-blood cell magnesium levels accurately determine the risk

for pre-eclampsia and/or magnesium deficiency, but this test is not

commonly performed in laboratories. [American Journal Hypertension

13: 765-69, 2000]

 

 

A bias against the use of intravenous magnesium sulfate by modern

medicine has taken a terrible toll on humankind. Magnesium sulfate,

also known as Epsom salt, is not absorbed orally and attracts water

in the colon and would thus act as a laxative. So Epsom salts are

not recommended orally.

 

 

Magnesium pills are recommended (200-400 milligrams per day).

Magnesium has been called the " The Forgotten Mineral " and the " 5-

Cent Miracle Tablet " by medical researchers.

 

Numerous researchers have reported that the provision of this

mineral in the population at large would greatly diminish the

 

 

incidence of kidney stones (1 in 11 Americans), calcified mitral

heart valve (1 in 12 Americans), premenstrual tension, constipation,

miscarriages, stillbirths, strokes, diabetes, thyroid failure,

asthma, chronic eyelid twitch (blepharospasm), brittle bones,

chronic migraines, muscle spasms and anxiety reactions. [Pediatric

Asthma, Allergy Immunology 5: 273-79;

Journal Bone Mineral Research 13: 749-58, 1998; Magnesium 5: 1-8,

1986; Medical Hypotheses 43: 187-92, 1994]

 

That's a lot of health benefits for a nickel. Sufficient provision

of magnesium in the American population would likely reduce health

care costs by billions of dollars.

 

June 4, 2002

End of article

 

**************

HEART BECOMES

IRRITABLE WHEN DEPRIVED OF MAGNESIUM

 

The Human Nutrition Research Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota has

released an alarming report that reveals when humans are deprived of

magnesium they may begin to experience abnormal heart beats.

[American Journal Clinical Nutrition 75: 550-54, March 2002]

 

The heart muscle of people who experience sudden-death heart attack

has been found to be low in magnesium. Areas of the world where

drinking water is low in magnesium (soft water areas) have higher

rates of heart attacks.

 

Magnesium is a muscle relaxant, while calcium is a muscle

constrictor.

 

Low magnesium intake is associated with muscle spasm, tremors and

convulsions.

 

Most Americans, particularly women, have been advised to consume

1200-1500 milligrams of calcium daily.

 

Virtually none of these women have been

told that calcium in single doses that exceed 500 milligrams

 

are not absorbed

 

and that they only need an additional 400-600 milligrams

 

of supplemental calcium

 

 

since their diet already provides about 800 milligrams of this

mineral.

 

 

 

Since 99 percent of magnesium resides inside living cells, blood

serum levels are not a good indicator of magnesium deficiency.

 

In other words, your doctor can't easily tell you by a blood test if

your magnesium levels are low.

 

Most Americans, 8 in 10, do not consume enough magnesium.

 

The countries that have the highest mortality rates in the world are

the Scandinavian countries and New Zealand where more calcium is

consumed from dairy products,

 

 

while for comparison the lowest mortality rates in

the world are in Portugal and Japan

 

 

where calcium-rich dairy products

are not consumed regularly.

 

Americans consume about 800 milligrams of calcium daily (milk

drinkers may get 1200-1500 mgs from their diet alone),

 

but only consume about 275 milligrams of magnesium.

 

 

Thus the dominance of calcium over magnesium produces symptoms of

muscle spasm.

 

Migraines, eyelid twitch, heart flutters, back aches, premenstrual

tension, leg cramps and constipation are all linked to calcium

overload.

 

Excessive calcium may also result in kidney stones (1 in 11

Americans) and heart valve calcifications (mitral valve, 1 in 12

Americans).

 

A significant percentage of American adults consume more than 2000

milligrams of daily calcium, the point where side effects of

overdosage begin to be reported. More than 300,000 sudden-death

heart attacks are reported annually in the US (more than 80 per day)

which are believed to be related to

 

excessive calcium and a shortage of magnesium.

 

 

Modern medicine's answer to the problem is to prescribe billions of

dollars of calcium-blocker drugs.

 

 

Magnesium is a natural calcium blocker,

but this goes unrecognized by most physicians

 

 

 

Researchers warn that adults who consume excessive amounts of

caffeine or alcohol, or who take water pills (diuretics), are prone

to

experience irregular heart beats and should consume more magnesium.

 

The same is true for diabetics and people with low thyroid.

 

Most Americans consume tap water that has been softened

(sodium added) which worsens the problem. Sodium depletes magnesium

levels.

 

American adults need to supplement their diet with 200-400

milligrams of magnesium. The only side effect of too much magnesium

is loose stool. Reducing dosages resolves the problem.

 

 

 

Copyright Knowledge of Health, Inc., 2002

Written By: Bill Sardi