The Wonders of Magnesium

[Guest guest]

The Wonders of Magnesium

 

Dr. Carolyn Dean

 

When it comes to building healthy bones, magnesium is as important

as calcium and vitamin D!

 

Knowing the vast benefits that magnesium confers on our bodies, I've

always wanted to report on this remarkable mineral . . . and now the

time has come!

 

I was first introduced to the wonders of magnesium during my

obstetrical training where I saw, up close and personal, how

effective magnesium sulfate was in preventing seizures and restoring

normal blood pressure in pregnant women suffering from toxemia.

 

Years later, I often gave my patients magnesium intravenously (IV)

(along with a series of other vitamins) as part of an IV mix known

as Meyer's formula. I found that this mixture frequently relieved

muscular pain and also promoted speedy healing from surgery,

sprained ankles, and the like. It also appeared to boost immunity.

My colleagues and I at Women to Women (a medical clinic founded more

than 15 years ago by Dr. Northrup and several of her colleagues,

which is devoted to health care for women, by women) sometimes gave

it to each other when we were coming down with a cold or were

feeling fatigued. It worked every time.

 

An astounding number of studies have documented the effectiveness of

intravenous magnesium in helping prevent cardiac damage and even

death following a hear attack –- roughly half of all sudden deaths

from hear attack are the result of spasm in the arteries, not

blockage from clots or arrhythmias! And magnesium allows coronary

artery muscles (and all other muscles) to relax.

 

Most of us don't require intravenous magnesium, of course. We can

get all the benefits we need just by making sure that we get enough

of it in our diets or through supplements. Here's what everyone

needs to know about getting optimal benefits from this essential

(but often overlooked) mineral.

 

Why We Need Magnesium: Magnesium is essential for the functioning of

hundreds of different enzymes in the body, particularly those that

produce, transport, store and utilize energy. Magnesium is important

for the following metabolic processes:

 

Protein synthesis: DNA and RNA in our cells require magnesium for

cell growth and development.

Sparking the electrical signals that must travel throughout the

miles of nerves in our bodies (including the impulses for our brain,

heart and other organs).

Normal blood pressure, vascular tone, transmission of nerve-cell

signals, and blood flow.

Functioning of all nerves and muscles.

Release and binding of adequate amounts of serotonin in the brain.

In short, living with sub-optimal levels of magnesium is like trying

to operate a machine with the power off.

 

The Magnesium/Calcium Connection: Though there's been an enormous

amount of media hype about calcium, very few people realize that

without its partner, magnesium, calcium doesn't serve the body

nearly as well as it should. In fact, too much calcium can actually

impede the magnesium's uptake and function, creating further

imbalance. When it comes to building healthy bones, magnesium is as

important as calcium and vitamin D.

 

Magnesium and calcium are designed to work together. For example,

magnesium controls the entry of calcium into each and every cell –-

a physiological event that happens every time a nerve cell fires.

Without adequate magnesium (which is also a natural calcium-channel

blocker), too much calcium gets inside the cell. This can result in

muscle cramping, blood-vessel constriction, migraine headaches, and

even feelings of anxiety.

 

Magnesium also keeps calcium dissolved in the blood so that it won't

produce kidney stones. In fact, taking calcium without magnesium for

osteoporosis can actually promote kidney stone formation.

 

Magnesium Deficiency on the Rise: In 1997, the National academy of

Sciences found that most Americans are deficient in magnesium. There

are a number of reasons for this:

 

Food processing depletes magnesium, and the vast majority of

Americans eat mostly processed foods. When wheat is refined into

white flour, 80 percent of the magnesium in the bran is lost; 98

percent is lost when molasses is refined into sugar. Similarly,

magnesium is leached out of vegetables that are boiled in water or

frozen. Additives such as aspartame and MSG, as well as alcohol,

also deplete magnesium stores.

Indigestion and antacid use: Insufficient stomach acid impedes

magnesium absorption. Unfortunately, a refined-food diet is a potent

recipe for indigestion. Antacids –- the number one over the counter

drug in the U.S. –- further deplete hydrochloric acid in the

stomach.

Farming practices: Magnesium and other minerals have been depleted

from much of the soil that we grow today's produce in.

Medications: Many drugs –- including common diuretics, birth-control

pills, insulin, tetracycline and other antibiotics, and cortisone –-

cause the body to waste magnesium.

Anxiety and Panic Attacks: Magnesium helps keep adrenal stress

hormones under control and maintain normal brain function. in her

book The Miracle of Magnesium (Balantine Books, 2003), Dr. Carolyn

Dean points out that the rate of depression has gone up every decade

since World War II. It's quite possible that this is related to

magnesium depletion.

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 Magnesium as been used for

decades to help.

Diabetes: Magnesium helps insulin transport glucose into the cell.

Without this, glucose builds up in tissue causing glycemic stress

and damage.

Heart Disease: Magnesium deficiency is common in those with heart

disease. The mineral is an effective treatment for heart attacks and

cardiac arrhythmias.

Hypertension: Without adequate magnesium, blood vessels constrict

and blood pressure increases.

Insomnia: Magnesium helps regulate melatonin, a hormone that's

essential for normal sleep cycles.

Nerve Problems: Magnesium helps eliminate peripheral nerve

disturbances that can lead to migraines, leg and foot cramps,

gastrointestinal cramps, and so one.

Osteoporosis: Without magnesium, calcium may actually contribute to

osteoporosis.

 

This article appeared in Dr. Christiane Northrup's newsletter. The

Dr. Christine Northrup Newsletter: P.O. Box 5100, Carlsbad, CA 92018-

5100 . . . 760-431-7695 or 800-654-5126 . . . 760-431-6948 (fax) or

800-650-5115 (fax)