Tuesday 20 January 2009

Magnesium: Just as important as Calcium.

Suffering from anxiety/depression? Can't get to sleep? Suffering from night cramps/restless legs/menstrual cramps/muscle spasms/asthma/migraines? You may be deficient in magnesium. See Magnesium and the Brain: The Original Chill Pill , Magnesium and the Ketamine Connection , A case of oesophageal spasm, and the ‘unproven’ treatment that helped it and Around the Web; and Menstrual Cramp Remedy.

After Vitamin D and Omega-3 fats, magnesium is the third nutrient in which people are likely to be deficient. Processed foods are low in magnesium. Diets low in green vegetables are low in magnesium, as chlorophyll has magnesium at the centre of the molecule. For a list of the 999 richest sources of magnesium per 100g serving, see http://nutritiondata.self.com/foods-000120000000000000000-w.html. Too much calcium can result in a relative magnesium deficiency.

An optimum intake of magnesium is approximately 50% of your calcium intake. Other sources of magnesium are Milk of Magnesia (magnesium hydroxide) and Epsom Salts (magnesium sulphate heptahydrate). A large amount (~4g) of Epsom Salts taken in one dose acts as an osmotic laxative, but spreading the same amount over 24 hours has no laxative effect. Approximately a level teaspoonful (~4g) of Epsom Salts gives you ~400mg of magnesium. Epsom Salts is as cheap as chips.

Magnesium is also available as a dietary supplement. Magnesium oxide (Magnesia) isn't as well-absorbed as magnesium citrate/amino acid chelate, so take extra if using oxide. See Magnesium bioavailability from magnesium citrate and magnesium oxide. Magnesium can be absorbed through the skin, so adding Epsom Salts or Magnesium Chloride to your bathwater is another option.

6.1.15. New article: Magnesium in Man: Implications for Health and Disease.

4 comments:

Dr. Art Ayers said...

I find it interesting that all of the nutritional requirements to avoid inflammation have overlapping symptoms. Magnesium is one of them. One common symptom is depression. It is possible to get to depression by numerous nutritional paths. Even if an antidepressant drug was effective against one type of nutritional deficiency, it might not work on others. This may partially explain the poor performance of these drugs.
Hope your mum is doing well.

Nigel Kinbrum said...

Hi. Mum sounded more like her old self when I spoke to her yesterday. She had nothing to complain about, for once!

She still can't grasp the concept of time and is convinced that turning over a page in her diary transports herself to that new date. I'm going to try to find a way to demonstrate that her diary isn't a Tardis.

However, she's definitely improving and she's only been on the pink & yellow pills since the beginning of January. Thanks again.

As for me, I've been increasing my intake of tinned & smoked salmon and am currently up to ~600g/week. The combination of all that DHA & the Vitamin D3 is, how can I put it, stimulating!

Cheers, Nige.

TedHutchinson said...

A cheaper option to Epsom Salts is Magnesium Chloride, DEAD SEA SALTS
you can buy them by the 25kg sack from Equine suppliers, or maybe those outdoor farm equipment stores for small farmers. It's used to put in the water to calm horses/pigs etc.
This article explains how to use it
http://www.health-science-spirit.com/magnesiumchloride.html
I just throw a jugful in the bath water. I gather you can also (because it attracts water, allow it to become a supersaturated solution and put this in a spray bottle and then spray it on as a cheap/effective under arm deodorant.
Magnesium does permeate the skin (like trans dermal medicine patches)so you'd be improving your magnesium status at the same time.

TedHutchinson said...

There is a nice new paper on Magnesium that can be downloaded as PDF free from this link.
Magnesium in Man: Implications for Health and Disease