Magnesium deficiency is common and deadly.

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The Magnesium Lottery

Magnesium deficiency is common and deadly. Diuretics, heart conditions,

exercise, and the ECA stack influence magnesium status.

 

The processing of food results in large losses of vital nutrients. For example,

white bread contains about 40% less magnesium than whole wheat bread. In

addition, since World War II, the amount of magnesium in our food has steadily

declined due to farming methods and the use of fertilizers that only replenish

nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (9-BK). Thus, there is reason to doubt

whether even the best diet can provide an optimum amount of magnesium.

 

In light of all this, it is amazing that Big Brother actually tells people NOT

to take supplements. Lets face it, Big Brother can tell people to eat 3,000

servings of fresh vegetables a day till he's blue in the face, but how many

people are going to choose broccoli over pizza? Thus, most of the people who

listen to the official party line about supplements are left in the following

predicament:

 

" In developed countries, the Mg [magnesium] intake [from food] is often marginal

and the Mg intake coming from drinking water represents the critical factor

through which the Mg intake is deficient or satisfactory . . . all [Mg studies

have] shown a reverse correlation between cardiovascular mortality [death] and

the Mg level " (1).

 

Isn't that amazing? Unless you take supplements or eat an extraordinarily good

diet, you are participating in the magnesium lottery -- gambling your life on

the quality of the WATER in your town. Yikes! When you hear some " expert "

parroting the old line about how we *can* get all the nutrients that we need

from food, what they are really saying -- to the vast majority of people -- is

that instead of taking supplements (the dangerous practice of

" self-medication " ), we should just hope and/or pray that there is enough

magnesium in the water. If you listen to these clowns, you are playing the

magnesium lottery. And if you get a losing ticket in THIS lottery, you die.

 

Written

Aug 2000

A Bunch Of Scary Studies

OK, now I know it's easy to criticize epidemiological studies. Actually, there

is also quite a bit of clinical and laboratory research supporting the need for

magnesium supplementation. However, since the magnesium lottery is a global

water quality game, we really should dive in a little deeper (sorry):

 

" A consistent pattern has emerged, indicative of a global phenomenon, which

illustrates the importance of waterborne magnesium in protecting against

cardiovascular trauma and other ailments " (2).

 

Here are the lottery results from Sweden: " The odds ratios for death from acute

myocardial infarction in the groups were inversely related to the amount of

magnesium in drinking water " (4). Scientists in Taiwan studied over 17,000

cerebrovascular deaths and found that the unlucky people who lived in low

magnesium areas were more likely to die of strokes: " there is a significant

protective effect of magnesium intake from drinking water on the risk of

cerebrovascular disease " (5). The scientists in Taiwan have been quite busy.

They also found that low magnesium levels in drinking water are related to the

risk of death from hypertension (6), diabetes mellitus (8), and an astonishing

" 42% excess risk of mortality from esophageal cancer " (7).

 

In light of the uncertainties of the magnesium lottery, it should not be too big

of a surprise to find that magnesium deficiency has been found in a large

percentage of hospital patients (I'll spare you the joke about hospital food) --

and this has been linked to " cardiovascular abnormalities, ranging from cardiac

arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation to hypertension " (12). In addition, low

serum magnesium levels are associated with thickening of the carotid wall and

high fasting insulin levels (13). The elevated insulin levels reflect an attempt

to compensate for impaired insulin receptor function caused by magnesium

deficiency (14). Proper insulin function requires a LOT more than popping a

chromium pill everyday.

 

I could go on and on, but Altura et al. did a good job of summing up the

overwhelming evidence of the health problems that are related to magnesium

deficiency:

 

" It is now becoming clear that a lower than normal dietary intake of Mg

[magnesium] can be a strong risk factor for hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias,

ischemic heart disease, atherogenesis and sudden cardiac death. Deficits in

serum Mg appear often to be associated with arrhythmias, coronary vasospasm and

high blood pressure " (15).

 

Big Brother To The Rescue (sort of)

The California Department of Health Services is aware of this research and they

are calling for an " integrated program of laboratory and epidemiologic research "

(3). They even describe how the use of a magnesium/potassium table salt

substitute reduced hypertension in Finland. However, when it comes time to reach

the obvious conclusion -- that people should take magnesium supplements -- they

COMPLETELY wimp out: " Future research must provide better answers about low

level waterborne magnesium before recommendations to the public can be made "

(3).

 

Of course, the bureaucratic idea is to study this and -- maybe -- eventually add

magnesium to the water supply. The elitists seem to think that they are SO much

smarter than us common folks that, instead of self medicating (taking

supplements), we should wait -- despite the obvious dangers -- until our wise

rulers decide to monkey around with the water supply.

 

Personally, all this messing around with our water and food (irradiation,

bioengineering) worries me because -- if a mistake is made -- we will have a

MAJOR disaster on our hands. This sort of thing seems like a modern version of

the doctrine of the infallibility of the Pope. I would be much happier if --

whenever possible -- Big Brother made recommendations and left us free to make

up our own minds.

 

Written

Aug 2000

 

Dieters, Athletes, And ECA

Lets put this in perspective. Scientists have found that " In developed

countries, the Mg [magnesium] intake is often marginal " (1). Thus, people who

follow restricted diets are VERY likely to have a magnesium deficiency -- even

if they luck out and get a decent amount of magnesium from their water. Winning

the magnesium lottery is definitely not enough -- especially if you diet,

exercise, or take the ECA stack.

 

Obviously, if you follow a restricted diet, it would be nuts not to take

magnesium supplements. However, you should also take potassium supplements

because they work together to protect your health (16, 17). Less well known is

the fact that exercise lowers magnesium levels (10, 25, 27). One study found

that strenuous exercise lowers magnesium levels for 3 months (27), and a rat

study found that even a minor magnesium deficiency caused a large reduction in

exercise capacity (26).

 

Dr. Michael Colgan works with a lot of athletes and he has found that athletes

are likely to test normal even though they are really magnesium deficient:

 

" Magnesium status is difficult to measure in athletes in training. Red blood

cells contain three times the magnesium of blood serum, and hemolysis

(destruction of red cells) in athletes caused by exercise, falsely elevates

serum magnesium levels " (9-BK).

 

The beta 2 adrenergic agonist, salbutamol, has been found to lower plasma

magnesium levels (20). Thus, athletes that take clenbuterol are also likely to

have low magnesium levels. In addition, people who take the ECA stack should

know that caffeine increases urinary excretion of magnesium and calcium (11) and

adrenaline infusion lowers plasma magnesium levels (10). By the way, unlike

obese people, competitive athletes usually have normal, responsive sympathetic

nervous systems (SNS). Thus, athletes that take thermogenic supplements are

actually using TWO methods to boost their catecholamine output (ECA and

exercise).

 

Although magnesium and potassium offer significant protection from

catecholamines, I would also recommend that athletes take taurine and avoid

supplements that contain iron. (Personally, I would not take iron supplements

unless a clear need has been established.) Here's the scoop: the amino acid

taurine protects against free radicals -- and inhibits the formation of

cytotoxic quinones -- generated by iron-stimulated autoxidation of

catecholamines (18-NA).

 

Because of FDA regulations, multivitamins do not contain enough potassium. In

addition, there are VERY few multivitamins that contain an adequate amount of

bioavailable magnesium. Thus, in addition to a multivitamin, an ideal supplement

(for dieters and athletes that take the ECA stack) would contain magnesium,

potassium, and taurine. Interestingly, Twinlab already makes this combo, but I

have never seen it promoted for this purpose.

 

Cellmins Potassium, Magnesium, & Taurine

3 capsules contain:

 

Magnesium Aspartate . . . . 200 mg

Potassium Aspartate . . . . . 200 mg

Taurine . . . . . . . . . . .

 

 

Diuretics And Magnesium

My mother has congestive heart failure. Although I told her (many times) about

the benefits of supplements, she did not want to take them: " I have to take a

handful of drugs everyday and I don't want to take ANY more pills " was her usual

response. Trips to the emergency room occurred frequently. And, as if that

wasn't bad enough, the diuretics (water pills) that she was getting from her

doctor were depleting her potassium and endangering her life.

 

The best that several doctors and a heart specialist could do was to give her

potassium-sparing diuretics and higher doses of potassium. This did no good

because she was not retaining the potassium. Eventually, her potassium got so

low that she almost died -- I found her on the floor unable to move. Another

trip to the emergency room.

 

This traumatic experience convinced my mother that the doctors were unable to

get a handle on this potassium problem. She didn't want to end up paralyzed

again, so she agreed to take whatever I thought would help this potassium

problem -- as long as it involved a " reasonable " amount of pills (I take a LOT

of supplements).

 

That night I did a MEDLINE computer search of the medical literature. For the

life of me, I can't imagine why the doctors and the specialist (expensivist?)

couldn't figure the problem out -- the reason why my mother was unable to retain

potassium was easy to find. In fact, there is so much research on this that it's

hard not to trip over it. You do NOT have to be Sherlock Holmes, dig? Here are a

few clues:

 

A medical article titled " Refractory potassium repletion. A consequence of

magnesium deficiency " explains how diuretics flush a lot more than potassium out

of your system -- and if (when) you get low in magnesium, you will be unable to

retain potassium:

 

" Patients with hypertension and with congestive heart failure appear to be at

special risk for magnesium depletion because diuretics are commonly prescribed

in treatment . . . Experimental and clinical observations support the view that

uncorrected magnesium deficiency impairs repletion of cellular potassium . . .

consideration should be given to treating hypokalemic [low potassium] patients

with both magnesium as well as potassium to avoid the problem of refractory

potassium repletion due to coexisting magnesium deficiency " (19). [emphasis

added]

 

Consideration??? I nominate that for the understatement of the year award. Lets

see . . . hmm . . . If the patient doesn't take magnesium supplements, she will

die. Hmm . . . Maybe we should give them thar suppulments some " consideration. "

What do you think, Jethro?

 

 

I realize that medical professionals are busy and abstracts contain up to 250

words, but just the TITLE of this article should have given the doctors and the

highly paid specialist a clue: " Potassium/magnesium depletion in patients with

cardiovascular disease " explains how 43% of heart patients are at risk of dying

(sudden death) from magnesium deficiency:

 

" below normal muscle magnesium levels have been found in 43 percent of

congestive heart failure patients receiving diuretics. Magnesium is important

for maintenance of cell potassium . . . an increased risk of sudden death

demands that potassium and magnesium deficiencies be treated promptly and that

repletion of both electrolytes be considered " (21). [emphasis added]

 

They said " demands. " Right on! Oops, just as I was about to say that it's nice

to see scientists with the guts to say it straight, they wimp out and use the

word " considered. " Hey guys, get real -- it's death or magnesium. What's to

consider?

 

 

" Introduction: magnesium -- coming of age " discusses how the patients serum

magnesium level can be misleading. Do the research scientists have to hit

doctors over the head with sledgehammers? Every heart patient with sound kidneys

should be taking magnesium supplements:

 

" Clinical and research evidence continues to accumulate that magnesium

deficiency likewise contributes to triggering ventricular ectopic activity and

sudden cardiac death ... magnesium depletion can coexist with a low-normal to

normal serum magnesium level ... The most frequent causes of magnesium depletion

in cardiovascular medicine are diuretic drugs " (22-NA).

 

So, obviously, I gave my mother magnesium supplements and (SURPRISE, SURPRISE)

her potassium level went up and the problem was solved. This has over a decade

of documentation in the medical literature. Why is magnesium STILL

underutilized? If I were not self-educated, my mother probably would not have

survived. In addition to fixing her potassium problem, the magnesium supplements

also made my mother feel better -- which is not too surprising since magnesium

also improves left ventricular function and exercise tolerance (28).

 

Fortunately, this experience changed her attitude about pill taking and

supplements and she asked me what else she should take. I showed her TWO DECADES

of research in medical journals about supplements that are extremely safe and

effective for her heart problems. Based on the medical literature, in addition

to her prescription drugs, she began taking Coenzyme Q10, Carnitine, Taurine,

etc. (I will discuss these supplements in a separate post.) Before this she was

in the emergency room several times a year. Since the addition of the

supplements more than FIVE YEARS AGO, she has never had to go to the emergency

room.

 

The Turf War

Despite this irrational reluctance to tell people to take supplements, the

medical industry routinely prescribes drugs that increase magnesium and

potassium levels. For example, AFTER you develop deficiency-related heart

problems, they are likely to prescribe drugs like Captopril, which increases

intracellular magnesium and potassium (29). It is well known that ACE inhibitors

" have an important magnesium conserving action " (31). In fact, the improvement

in insulin sensitivity caused by ACE inhibitor drugs is related to their ability

to increase magnesium levels and improve the calcium/magnesium ratio (32).

Magnesium supplements have been recommended as an adjunct to prescription

calcium channel blockers in treating hypertensive patients (30).

 

However, from what I have seen with my mother, all this research doesn't seem to

have much effect on what doctors tell their patients. This is ridiculous! My

mother has congestive heart failure and NOT ONE DOCTOR HAS TOLD HER TO TAKE

MAGNESIUM SUPPLEMENTS despite the fact that research shows that " patients with a

low serum magnesium concentration had a significantly worse prognosis during

long-term follow-up (45% versus 71% 1 year survival, p less than 0.05) " (33).

This sort of insanity is the reason why I study medicine. There really seems to

be no alternative. It's funny, musicians are generally not very reliable, but

it's not all that difficult to find a musician that can play ALL styles of

music. Why are doctors not equally versatile?

 

This reluctance to use (or ignorance of) alternative medicine is most baffling.

I keep hearing people say that the situation is improving, but I don't see it.

My mother has seen quite a few doctors, but they routinely neglect to tell her

that she should take magnesium, coenzyme Q10, carnitine, taurine, etc. Since I

simply cannot understand this situation, the best that I can do is post

referenced information and make it easy for people to get copies of the medical

studies. Hopefully, if enough people go to their doctors waving a bunch of

medical studies, things will HAVE to change.

 

Why didn't you tell me about magnesium,

coenzyme Q10, carnitine, and taurine?

 

There is a ton of research showing that these nutrients are safe and that they

can improve the QUALITY and the LENGTH of life of people with heart failure.

There is no rational medical reason why so many doctors do not tell their

patients about them. I would really like to hear from medical students and

doctors who think they have some insight into this. Send me an e-mail.

 

There seems to be an irrational opposition to acknowledging the fact that the

scientific data shows that -- no matter how good your diet is -- you cannot

achieve optimum nutrition (i.e., optimum disease prevention/treatment) without

taking supplements. One of the most knowledgeable people in alternative

medicine, Brian Leibovitz, has written about this situation:

 

" I have observed an incredible resistance to the " Journal of Optimal Nutrition "

(JON) at the very top of the academic community. Both the " American Journal of

Clinical Nutrition " and the " Journal of Nutrition " refused to run my " calls for

papers " notice . . . several members of JON's Editorial Board have related

instances where they have been warned NOT to publish positive results on

supplemental nutrients, for by doing so their careers would suffer. The fear of

having ones career ruined is, in my estimation, one of the methods whereby the

system has survived for so many years . . . I believe that as nutritionists we

can no longer hide behind the veil of academia; we must stand up for what we

know to be the truth. " (24-BK).

 

Safety & Bioavailability

Although the focus of this post has been on magnesium, I want to take a moment

to discuss potassium. I often read posts on the newsgroups from people who are

worried about getting too much potassium -- probably because the FDA restricts

the amount of potassium in supplements. The fact of the matter is that most

people do not get enough potassium -- in fact, one study showed that " A 10-mmol

increase in daily potassium intake (approximately one serving of fresh fruit or

vegetables) was associated with a 40 percent reduction in risk [of stroke] "

(23). Lets put this in perspective: one medium sized banana contains 451 mg of

potassium, yet the FDA limits potassium supplements to 99 mg. How many strokes

could be prevented if multivitamins contained 500 mg of potassium?

 

Interestingly, anyone can go to a grocery store and buy salt substitutes and

" low salt " foods that can easily add several GRAMS of potassium to ones daily

intake. People who take certain medications, or have kidney problems or other

conditions, should not use these products without consulting their doctors.

However, for most people, this is a good way to consume adequate potassium.

 

Serum magnesium balance is controlled by urinary magnesium excretion. In the

case of deficiency, the body tries to retain magnesium; if you consume too much

magnesium, the excess is excreted in the urine. If your kidneys are functioning

properly, there is little danger in any rational supplementation program.

Personally, I think the research strongly suggests that supplements should

contain approximately a 1:1 ratio (equal amounts) of calcium and magnesium,

instead of the common 2:1 ratio. A reasonable dose for most people is 500-1,000

mg of magnesium a day. People with heart conditions or hypertension (who are

working with a doctor) might take up to 2,000 mg a day.

 

 

Most multivitamins contain magnesium oxide, which is not well absorbed. The

supplement manufacturers use magnesium oxide because they can list big numbers

(see the green box) without telling people to take a lot of pills.

 

People want big numbers and very few pills to take. Well . . . they get it, but

they aren't told that they will absorb VERY little of the elemental magnesium in

magnesium oxide. If you really want to improve your magnesium status, you need a

form of magnesium that is highly bioavailable (e.g., aspartate, malate, citrate)

For example, magnesium oxide is only one-tenth as bioavailable as magnesium

aspartate (9-BK).

Magnesium oxide contains 60.3 % elemental magnesium. Thus, if a supplement

maker puts 500 mg of magnesium oxide in a product, the labels will read:

 

Magnesium . . . 301 mg (from magnesium oxide).

Magnesium citrate contains 16.2% elemental magnesium. Thus, if a supplement

maker puts 500 mg of magnesium citrate in a product, the labels will read:

 

Magnesium . . . 81 mg (from magnesium citrate).

 

 

Many people think that a good diet and one multivitamin pill a day is all they

need. However, when you look at what is actually assimilated, you can see that

it is not even possible to fit sufficient magnesium in a single pill. That

should tell you something about the quality of most multivitamins. However, we

cannot lay all the blame on the supplement companies: how many people would buy

a multivitamin that said " take ten capsules with each meal " on the label?

 

Unfortunately, no matter how good ones diet is, optimum nutrition involves

taking a LOT of pills. There's just no way around it. Durk Pearson and Sandy

Shaw were candid about this reality:

 

" Get your vitamins and minerals from a bottle, rather than relying on diet. It

is difficult to get large amounts of vitamins in even the best of unsupplemented

diets. For example, you are unlikely to be getting as much as 25 I.U. of vitamin

E from your diet, even if you are devoted to unprocessed whole-grain foods "

(34-BK).

 

It is comforting to think that mother nature wants to provide us with everything

we need to live long and healthy lives. However, a huge amount of scientific

evidence documents the fact that optimum disease prevention requires MANY TIMES

the level of nutrients found in food -- even if it were grown under ideal

conditions. The Darwinian view is probably closer to reality: we are designed to

reproduce and die. Modern man lives longer because of improved sanitation and

medicine, but our health gives out because the nutrient content of food is not

designed for much more than the fulfillment of our purpose -- to reproduce and

die. Personally, I have other plans. Taking a lot of pills costs money, but it's

cheaper than a heart attack or a stroke. Taking a lot of pills is a hassle, but

it's one hell of a lot safer than playing the magnesium lottery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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