The Essential Nutrient Magnesium - Key to Mitochondrial ATP Production and Much

[Guest guest]

The Essential Nutrient Magnesium - Key to Mitochondrial ATP Production and

Much More

_http://www.prohealth.com/ME-CFS/library/showArticle.cfm?libid=14606 & B1=EM06

1009C_

(http://www.prohealth.com/ME-CFS/library/showArticle.cfm?libid=14606 & B1=EM061009\

C)

by Andrea Rosanoff, PhD*

June 8, 2009

 

" While it was estimated in 1968 that magnesium was a required cofactor for

over 300 enzyme systems, that number is now more reliably estimated at 700

to 800.â€

 

Magnesium is an essential nutrient for all living things.

 

• In plants it holds the central position in the all-important chlorophyll

molecule which transforms sunlight’s energy into life’s form of

chemical-energy, ATP (adenosine triphosphate).

 

• Along with calcium and phosphorus, magnesium (Mg) is considered a major

element in human nutrition, as opposed to the trace elements such as iron

(Fe), zinc (Zn), chromium (Cr), selenium (Se), etc., and is one of the four

electrolytes along with calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), and potassium (K).

[Electrolytes are minerals in body fluids that carry an electrical charge and

conduct electrical impulses in the body. A balance is essential to control the

amount of water in the body, blood acidity, muscle action, and more.]

 

Biochemically, a large part of magnesium’s essentiality comes from its

combination with ATP - life’s high energy chemical battery.

 

This Mg-ATP complex is required for the cells’ energy-producing structures

(mitochondria) to produce ATP; the breakdown of food energy (glucose and

fat) into water, carbon dioxide and energy as ATP.

 

When glucose and/or fatty acids are metabolized, the end products are ATP,

water, and carbon dioxide. We breathe out the carbon dioxide. The water

goes into our system, as we are 90+% water.

 

The metabolism requires oxygen, which we breathe in; protein synthesis for

growth and enzyme production; DNA replication, and RNA synthesis. While it

was estimated in 1968 that magnesium was a required cofactor for over 300

enzyme systems, that number is now more reliably estimated at 700 to 800.

 

At the cellular level, magnesium joins with the other electrolyte ions in

a cell-controlling dance.

 

These ions are carefully and meticulously separated in living cells:

 

• Calcium and sodium ions, for the most part, are kept outside cells,

 

• While magnesium and potassium ions are kept mainly inside cells.

 

Energy in the form of the Mg-ATP complex is necessary to maintain this

ionic “packaging†as well as to alter it in a regulated way when warranted.

Magnesium has been called “nature’s physiological calcium channel

blocker.â€

[blocking calcium from getting inside cells.]

 

When this “blocker†function is breached or when magnesium becomes

depleted within the cell from its normal level, calcium rises inside the cell.

This altered state results in a change in the intracellular Mg:Ca ratio,

which appears to have an impact on cell function.

 

For example, a lower-than-normal Mg:Ca ratio:

 

• In blood vessel smooth muscle cells - causes vasoconstriction, arterial

stiffness, and/or hypertension;

 

• In heart cells - causes enlargement (hypertrophy);

 

• In blood platelet cells - causes increased aggregation, stickiness and

clotting;

 

• Makes fat and skeletal muscle cells less able to respond to insulin

(insulin resistance);

 

• Causes pancreatic beta cells to produce more insulin, causing

hyperinsulinemia [which may lead to hypoglycemia and sodium

retention/hypertension];

 

• Increases nerve cell activity as well as the response of endocrine

tissues.

 

In a life-threatening crisis, such reactions are warranted, necessary, and

can be life-saving as they allow an animal to perform with unusual

strength and speed. Indeed, all these cellular responses to a low Mg:Ca

cellular

ratio can be aspects of the stress response or “fight-or-flight†reaction.

 

In healthy individuals, when the stress or crisis is over, magnesium

increases inside cells to its normal level, its calcium blocker function is

restored, calcium moves back outside cells, reestablishing normal electrolyte

“

packaging,†and the stress response subsides.

 

However, when these responses to a lower-than-normal Mg:Ca ratio are a

result of a magnesium nutritional deficiency state, some predictable disease

states can occur.

 

These include:

 

1. Cardiovascular Diseases. All the usual markers (or risk factors) for

heart disease such as hypertension (high blood pressure), high total

cholesterol, low HDL (‘good’) cholesterol, high LDL (‘bad’)

cholesterol, high

homocysteine, and high C-reactive protein, can be the result of low magnesium

status.

 

Recent studies show that high anxiety and depression (symptoms of human

magnesium deficiency) can predict heart disease even more than the

traditional risk factors.

 

2. Hypertension. Chronic high blood pressure (essential hypertension) can

be caused both directly and indirectly by a magnesium deficiency.

 

• Low magnesium:high calcium in blood vessel muscle cells cause them to

contract, which results in a hypertensive state.

 

• In addition, a low cellular magnesium impedes a healthy sodium to

potassium ratio, which is necessary for normal blood pressure.

 

3. Type 2 Diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is seen as part of a syndrome,

Syndrome X or metabolic syndrome, which includes hypertension, obesity,

unhealthy

blood cholesterol levels, and high blood sugar coupled with cells’

inability to properly respond to insulin (insulin resistance).

 

These, with the exception of obesity, have been linked to low Mg:Ca

cellular ratio, and the type of obesity most predictive of this syndrome,

abdominal obesity, has been shown to be assuaged with a long term diet

containing

high magnesium foods and a regime of regular exercise.

 

4. Osteoporosis. Many people take calcium supplements to prevent depletion

of minerals from bone that can lead to osteoporosis. To properly use this

extra calcium, a body needs to have a healthy magnesium status.

 

If magnesium is low, extra calcium can increase the severity of the

magnesium deficiency, which causes improper calcium metabolism as one of its

symptoms. One of the first signs of a magnesium deficit can be low blood

calcium.

 

Other disease states that may be associated with a magnesium deficiency

include:

 

• Asthma,

 

• PMS,

 

• Pregnancy induced hypertension,

 

• Migraine headache due to constriction of blood vessels in the head,

 

• Depression,

 

• High anxiety.

 

Some of the initial problems seen in people who have or are developing

magnesium deficiency are neuromuscular.

 

These are presumably due to the abnormal muscular contraction-nerve firing

states brought on by a low Mg:Ca cellular ratio, which can be a result of:

 

• Chronic low magnesium intake,

 

• Very high calcium intake,

 

• Or a combination of the two.

 

Quantifying human magnesium status and the degree of magnesium deficiency

in populations of the industrialized world is difficult given the current

lack of a widespread biomarker. Commonly available tests of serum and red

blood cell magnesium have not reliably been associated with overall

nutritional magnesium status. [As Dr. Paul Cheney has suggested, _blood tests

don't

tell the whole Mg story, because they are not sensitive to intra-cellular

magnesium_ (http://www.prohealth.com//library/showArticle.cfm?libid=12084) .]

 

Most health professionals are taught and many believe that magnesium

deficiency is rare, occurring mainly in alcoholism or with general

malnutrition,

and that most diets give a person enough magnesium given that magnesium is

widespread in foods.

 

The research does not support this widespread view.

 

Diets of the industrialized world can be quite low in magnesium. [The

large majority of Americans (65%) get much less magnesium than is required for

health, according to _a national USDA survey_

(http://www.centerformaged.org/index.php?page=Balancing+Supplements) .]

 

Refined grains and refined sugar are among the lowest foods in Mg content,

so when these are high in the diet, Mg intake can be quite low. (See

_chart indicating the magnesium content of common foods_

(http://www.centerformaged.org/index.php?page=Magnesium+Density+in+Foods) –

from cocoa, highest, to

white flour products & sugar, lowest.)

 

Given the wide use of refined sugar and flour in processed foods, the

widespread use of calcium supplements, and the increased practice of fortifying

foods with calcium, daily magnesium supplements can be protective.

Magnesium supplements can be found in various forms such as inorganic MgO and

MgCl2, in tablets and capsules and in a better-absorbed organic form such as

water soluble Magnesium Citrate.

 

Note: Individuals with kidney disease (renal failure) must not take any

magnesium supplements.

____

 

* This article is reproduced with kind permission from _Peter Gillham’s

Natural Vitality website_ (http://www.petergillham.com/news_index.php) .

Peter Gillham is a clinical nutritionist, chemist, and pioneer in magnesium

research. Dr. Andrea Rosanoff is directing scholar for the Hawaii-based

_Center for Magnesium Education & Research_

(http://www.centerformaged.org/index.php?page=About) , and coauthor of the book

titled _The Magnesium Factor_

(http://www.amazon.com/Magnesium-Factor-Mildred-Seelig/dp/1583331565) .

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

---I really like the articles on Magnesium. However I am looking for some

alternatives for My high blood pressure. I have been taking Lisinopril and a

diuretic called dyazide for 1 year, after going thru several horrible side

effects such as tremendous joint pain, fatigue, and what I call brain fog with

bad short term memory and unable to concentrate I decided to go off all of my

supplements one at a time. After several weeks all of my symptoms were still

present. So I went off my blood pressure medicine and diuretics. Now after 3

days all of my horrible symptoms have gone. Does anyone have any other

suggestions for me for my High blood pressure besides Magnesium? I once was put

on Chinese herbs that worked very well, but the prescribing doctor has since

retired and I am unable to find a Alternative Medicine physician in my area. I

know that Diet and exercise play a huge role in Hypertension, and I am currently

working on that. Thanks for all of the informative articles I have learned alot.

[Guest guest]

hmm, great article.

 

Mg is a major part of my life, born with muscle spasms its a nessessity.

improves my life alot, going without it the spasms increase to cramps

 

 

, bestsurprise2002 wrote:

>

>

> The Essential Nutrient Magnesium - Key to Mitochondrial ATP Production and

> Much More

> _http://www.prohealth.com/ME-CFS/library/showArticle.cfm?libid=14606 & B1=EM06

> 1009C_

>

(http://www.prohealth.com/ME-CFS/library/showArticle.cfm?libid=14606 & B1=EM061009\

C)

> by Andrea Rosanoff, PhD*

> June 8, 2009

>

> " While it was estimated in 1968 that magnesium was a required cofactor for

> over 300 enzyme systems, that number is now more reliably estimated at 700

> to 800.â€

>

> Magnesium is an essential nutrient for all living things.

>

> • In plants it holds the central position in the all-important chlorophyll

> molecule which transforms sunlight’s energy into life’s form of

> chemical-energy, ATP (adenosine triphosphate).

>

> • Along with calcium and phosphorus, magnesium (Mg) is considered a major

> element in human nutrition, as opposed to the trace elements such as iron

> (Fe), zinc (Zn), chromium (Cr), selenium (Se), etc., and is one of the four

> electrolytes along with calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), and potassium (K).

> [Electrolytes are minerals in body fluids that carry an electrical charge and

> conduct electrical impulses in the body. A balance is essential to control the

> amount of water in the body, blood acidity, muscle action, and more.]

>

> Biochemically, a large part of magnesium’s essentiality comes from its

> combination with ATP - life’s high energy chemical battery.

>

> This Mg-ATP complex is required for the cells’ energy-producing structures

> (mitochondria) to produce ATP; the breakdown of food energy (glucose and

> fat) into water, carbon dioxide and energy as ATP.

>

> When glucose and/or fatty acids are metabolized, the end products are ATP,

> water, and carbon dioxide. We breathe out the carbon dioxide. The water

> goes into our system, as we are 90+% water.

>

> The metabolism requires oxygen, which we breathe in; protein synthesis for

> growth and enzyme production; DNA replication, and RNA synthesis. While it

> was estimated in 1968 that magnesium was a required cofactor for over 300

> enzyme systems, that number is now more reliably estimated at 700 to 800.

>

> At the cellular level, magnesium joins with the other electrolyte ions in

> a cell-controlling dance.

>

> These ions are carefully and meticulously separated in living cells:

>

> • Calcium and sodium ions, for the most part, are kept outside cells,

>

> • While magnesium and potassium ions are kept mainly inside cells.

>

> Energy in the form of the Mg-ATP complex is necessary to maintain this

> ionic “packaging†as well as to alter it in a regulated way when

warranted.

> Magnesium has been called “nature’s physiological calcium channel

blocker.â€

> [blocking calcium from getting inside cells.]

>

> When this “blocker†function is breached or when magnesium becomes

> depleted within the cell from its normal level, calcium rises inside the

cell.

> This altered state results in a change in the intracellular Mg:Ca ratio,

> which appears to have an impact on cell function.

>

> For example, a lower-than-normal Mg:Ca ratio:

>

> • In blood vessel smooth muscle cells - causes vasoconstriction, arterial

> stiffness, and/or hypertension;

>

> • In heart cells - causes enlargement (hypertrophy);

>

> • In blood platelet cells - causes increased aggregation, stickiness and

> clotting;

>

> • Makes fat and skeletal muscle cells less able to respond to insulin

> (insulin resistance);

>

> • Causes pancreatic beta cells to produce more insulin, causing

> hyperinsulinemia [which may lead to hypoglycemia and sodium

retention/hypertension];

>

> • Increases nerve cell activity as well as the response of endocrine

> tissues.

>

> In a life-threatening crisis, such reactions are warranted, necessary, and

> can be life-saving as they allow an animal to perform with unusual

> strength and speed. Indeed, all these cellular responses to a low Mg:Ca

cellular

> ratio can be aspects of the stress response or “fight-or-flightâ€

reaction.

>

> In healthy individuals, when the stress or crisis is over, magnesium

> increases inside cells to its normal level, its calcium blocker function is

> restored, calcium moves back outside cells, reestablishing normal electrolyte

“

> packaging,†and the stress response subsides.

>

> However, when these responses to a lower-than-normal Mg:Ca ratio are a

> result of a magnesium nutritional deficiency state, some predictable disease

> states can occur.

>

> These include:

>

> 1. Cardiovascular Diseases. All the usual markers (or risk factors) for

> heart disease such as hypertension (high blood pressure), high total

> cholesterol, low HDL (‘good’) cholesterol, high LDL (‘bad’)

cholesterol, high

> homocysteine, and high C-reactive protein, can be the result of low magnesium

> status.

>

> Recent studies show that high anxiety and depression (symptoms of human

> magnesium deficiency) can predict heart disease even more than the

> traditional risk factors.

>

> 2. Hypertension. Chronic high blood pressure (essential hypertension) can

> be caused both directly and indirectly by a magnesium deficiency.

>

> • Low magnesium:high calcium in blood vessel muscle cells cause them to

> contract, which results in a hypertensive state.

>

> • In addition, a low cellular magnesium impedes a healthy sodium to

> potassium ratio, which is necessary for normal blood pressure.

>

> 3. Type 2 Diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is seen as part of a syndrome,

> Syndrome X or metabolic syndrome, which includes hypertension, obesity,

unhealthy

> blood cholesterol levels, and high blood sugar coupled with cells’

> inability to properly respond to insulin (insulin resistance).

>

> These, with the exception of obesity, have been linked to low Mg:Ca

> cellular ratio, and the type of obesity most predictive of this syndrome,

> abdominal obesity, has been shown to be assuaged with a long term diet

containing

> high magnesium foods and a regime of regular exercise.

>

> 4. Osteoporosis. Many people take calcium supplements to prevent depletion

> of minerals from bone that can lead to osteoporosis. To properly use this

> extra calcium, a body needs to have a healthy magnesium status.

>

> If magnesium is low, extra calcium can increase the severity of the

> magnesium deficiency, which causes improper calcium metabolism as one of its

> symptoms. One of the first signs of a magnesium deficit can be low blood

> calcium.

>

> Other disease states that may be associated with a magnesium deficiency

> include:

>

> • Asthma,

>

> • PMS,

>

> • Pregnancy induced hypertension,

>

> • Migraine headache due to constriction of blood vessels in the head,

>

> • Depression,

>

> • High anxiety.

>

> Some of the initial problems seen in people who have or are developing

> magnesium deficiency are neuromuscular.

>

> These are presumably due to the abnormal muscular contraction-nerve firing

> states brought on by a low Mg:Ca cellular ratio, which can be a result of:

>

> • Chronic low magnesium intake,

>

> • Very high calcium intake,

>

> • Or a combination of the two.

>

> Quantifying human magnesium status and the degree of magnesium deficiency

> in populations of the industrialized world is difficult given the current

> lack of a widespread biomarker. Commonly available tests of serum and red

> blood cell magnesium have not reliably been associated with overall

> nutritional magnesium status. [As Dr. Paul Cheney has suggested, _blood tests

don't

> tell the whole Mg story, because they are not sensitive to intra-cellular

> magnesium_ (http://www.prohealth.com//library/showArticle.cfm?libid=12084) .]

>

> Most health professionals are taught and many believe that magnesium

> deficiency is rare, occurring mainly in alcoholism or with general

malnutrition,

> and that most diets give a person enough magnesium given that magnesium is

> widespread in foods.

>

> The research does not support this widespread view.

>

> Diets of the industrialized world can be quite low in magnesium. [The

> large majority of Americans (65%) get much less magnesium than is required for

> health, according to _a national USDA survey_

> (http://www.centerformaged.org/index.php?page=Balancing+Supplements) .]

>

> Refined grains and refined sugar are among the lowest foods in Mg content,

> so when these are high in the diet, Mg intake can be quite low. (See

> _chart indicating the magnesium content of common foods_

> (http://www.centerformaged.org/index.php?page=Magnesium+Density+in+Foods) †"

from cocoa, highest, to

> white flour products & sugar, lowest.)

>

> Given the wide use of refined sugar and flour in processed foods, the

> widespread use of calcium supplements, and the increased practice of

fortifying

> foods with calcium, daily magnesium supplements can be protective.

> Magnesium supplements can be found in various forms such as inorganic MgO and

> MgCl2, in tablets and capsules and in a better-absorbed organic form such as

> water soluble Magnesium Citrate.

>

> Note: Individuals with kidney disease (renal failure) must not take any

> magnesium supplements.

> ____

>

> * This article is reproduced with kind permission from _Peter Gillham’s

> Natural Vitality website_ (http://www.petergillham.com/news_index.php) .

> Peter Gillham is a clinical nutritionist, chemist, and pioneer in magnesium

> research. Dr. Andrea Rosanoff is directing scholar for the Hawaii-based

> _Center for Magnesium Education & Research_

> (http://www.centerformaged.org/index.php?page=About) , and coauthor of the

book titled _The Magnesium Factor_

> (http://www.amazon.com/Magnesium-Factor-Mildred-Seelig/dp/1583331565) .

>

>

>