By Dr. Mark Hymman, found of the Ultrawellness Center, http://drhyman.com/blog/
Magnesium: The Secret Weapon Against Illness
A deficiency in this critical nutrient can make you twice as likely to die as other people, according to a study published in The Journal of Intensive Care Medicine. This nutrient deficiency is linked to a long list of symptoms and diseases—many of which can be easily helped or even cured by simply adding this nutrient to your diet. In my practice, it’s one of my secret weapons against illness. Yet, up to half of Americans are deficient and don’t even know it.
Meet Magnesium
Magnesium is an antidote to stress, the most powerful relaxation mineral available, and it can help improve your sleep. It’s surprising that more doctors aren’t aware of its benefits, even though we use magnesium frequently in conventional medicine.
When I worked in the emergency room, magnesium was a critical “medication” on the crash cart. We used intravenous magnesium for patients with life-threatening arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats). For those who were constipated or needed to prepare for a colonoscopy, we provided milk of magnesia or liquid magnesium citrate to empty their bowels. Pregnant women with pre-term labor, high blood pressure of pregnancy (pre-eclampsia), or seizures were given continuous high doses of intravenous magnesium.
But you don’t have to be in the hospital to benefit from magnesium. You can start taking regular magnesium supplementation today and see results. In this blog, I’ll explain the benefits of magnesium, how it can improve your sleep, and how it’s linked to many chronic illnesses. Plus, I’ll share 13 tips for optimizing your magnesium levels.
The Relaxation Mineral
Think of magnesium as the relaxation mineral. Anything that is tight, irritable, crampy, and stiff—whether it’s a body part or even your mood—could be a sign of magnesium deficiency.
This critical mineral is responsible for over 300 enzyme reactions and is found in all of your tissues, especially in your bones, muscles, and brain. It’s essential for your cells to make energy, for various chemical pumps to work, to stabilize membranes, and to help muscles relax. That’s why magnesium deficiency is linked to so many conditions. In fact, there are over 3,500 medical references on magnesium deficiency!
Despite its importance, magnesium is often ignored because it’s not a drug, even though it can be more powerful than drugs in many cases. That’s why we use it in hospitals for life-threatening situations like seizures and heart failure.
You Might Be Magnesium Deficient If You Have Any of the Following Symptoms:
- Muscle cramps or twitches
- Muscle pain, tightness
- Insomnia
- Irritability
- Sensitivity to loud noises
- Anxiety
- Autism
- ADD
- Palpitations
- Angina
- Constipation
- Anal spasms
- Headaches
- Migraines
- Fibromyalgia
- Chronic fatigue
- Asthma
- Kidney stones
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- Osteoporosis
- High blood pressure
- PMS
- Menstrual cramps
- Irritable bladder
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Reflux
- Trouble swallowing
- Insulin resistance
- High inflammation (e.g. CRP)
In our society, magnesium deficiency is a huge problem. By conservative standards of measurement (blood, or serum, magnesium levels), 65 percent of people admitted to the intensive care unit — and about 15 percent of the general population — have magnesium deficiency.
But this seriously underestimates the problem, because a serum magnesium level is the LEAST sensitive way to detect a drop in your total body magnesium level. So rates of magnesium deficiency could be even higher!
The reason we are so deficient is simple: Many of us eat a diet that contains practically no magnesium — a highly- processed, refined diet that is based mostly on white flour, meat, and dairy (all of which have no magnesium).
When was the last time you had a good dose of sea vegetables (seaweed), nuts, greens, and beans? If you are like most Americans, your nut consumption mostly comes from peanut butter, and mostly in chocolate peanut butter cups.
Much of modern life conspires to help us lose what little magnesium we do in our diet. Magnesium levels are decreased by excess alcohol, salt, coffee, phosphoric acid in colas, profuse sweating, prolonged or intense stress, chronic diarrhea, excessive menstruation, diuretics (water pills), antibiotics and other drugs, and some intestinal parasites. In fact, in one study in Kosovo, people under chronic war stress lost large amounts of magnesium in their urine.
This is all further complicated by the fact that magnesium is often poorly absorbed and easily lost from our bodies. To properly absorb magnesium, we need a lot of it in our diet, plus enough vitamin B6, vitamin D, and selenium to get the job done.
A recent scientific review of magnesium concluded, “It is highly regrettable that the deficiency of such an inexpensive, low-toxicity nutrient results in diseases that cause incalculable suffering and expense throughout the world.” I couldn’t’ have said it better myself.
It is difficult to measure and hard to study, but magnesium deficiency accounts for untold suffering — and is simple to correct. So if you suffer from any of the symptoms I mentioned or have any of the diseases I noted, don’t worry
— it is an easy fix!! Here’s how.
Stop Draining Your Body of Magnesium
- Limit coffee, colas, salt, sugar, and alcohol
- Learn how to practice active relaxation
- Ask your doctor if your medication causes magnesium loss (many hypertension or diuretic drugs can cause this)
Eat Foods High in Magnesium
Include the following in your diet as often as you can: Kelp, almonds, cashews, buckwheat, brazil nuts, dulse, filberts, millet, pecans, walnuts, rye, tofu, soy beans, brown rice, figs, dates, collard greens, shrimp, avocado, parsley, beans, barley, dandelion greens, and garlic.
Use Magnesium Supplements
- The RDA (minimum amount needed) for magnesium is 300 mg a day. Most of us get far less than 200 mg.
- Some may need much more depending on their condition. Most people benefit from 400 to 1,000 mg a day.
- The most absorbable forms are magnesium citrate, glycinate, or taurate, although magnesium bound to Krebs cycle chelates (malate, succinate, fumarate) are also good.
- Avoid magnesium carbonate, sulfate, gluconate, and oxide. They are poorly absorbed (and the cheapest and most common forms found in supplements).
- Side effects from too much magnesium include diarrhea (often avoided if you switch to magnesium glycinate)
- Most minerals are best taken as a team with other minerals in a multi-mineral formula.
- Taking a hot bath with Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) is a good way to absorb magnesium without GI effects.
- People with kidney disease or severe heart disease should take magnesium only under a doctor’s supervision.
- People with kidney disease or severe heart disease should take magnesium only under a doctor’s supervision.
So if you’re coping with the symptoms here, relax! Magnesium is truly a miracle mineral. It is essential for lifelong vibrant health.
