Magnesium Basics

This is one of two major minerals that control your nervous system. Allowing you to sleep well and stay calm, avoid anxiety, restless legs, muscle cramps and twitches.

Magnesium works by activating your parasympathetic nervous system. The rest, repair and digest side of your autonomic nervous system. It relaxes and lengthens your muscles, helping to prevent sports injuries.

Because modern agriculture practices have seriously depleted our soils of so many nutrients, most of us need Magnesium supplementation.

Multiple studies have shown that many diseases may be related to magnesium deficiency. Not having enough of this essential, major mineral has been associated with serious issues, like diabetes and heart attacks.

Deficiency can be detrimental to your health, sometimes with fatal consequences.

Magnesium helps prevent cardiovascular disease and irregular heartbeat, reduces the risk of bone loss (osteoporosis), and increases the chance of surviving a heart attack. It may also help prevent stroke and lessen the effects of existing osteoporosis.

Imbalances occur when the blood contains more or less magnesium than it should. Magnesium is necessary for the formation and functioning of healthy bones, teeth, muscles and nerves. It converts food into energy, builds proteins, and is instrumental in maintaining adequate levels of calcium in the blood.

Supplementing with adequate Magnesium helps prevent calcium buildup in body tissues. And it will enhance energy production, and raise low sodium levels.

Bathing in Magnesium Crystals will relax your nerves, remove everyday stress and relieve tension.

Magnesium Gel leaves your skin soft, supple and hydrated, and your hair smooth and silky.

Magnesium Drops are the filtered and concentrated form of Magnesium Oil from ancient mineral sources, pure and tested to comply with USP purity standards.

Together with calcium, magnesium is the most important mineral the body requires for cellular health.  When your magnesium levels are low you can feel agitated, have muscle aches and trouble sleeping (just to name a few).  When you have enough magnesium your heart function, mood and energy levels improve.

It is so important that your body won’t function well with even a slight deficiency.  The RDA for vitamins and minerals is way too low and barely keeps the body functioning.  There are so many nutrients that your body needs in order to function correctly and efficiently and magnesium is responsible for over 350 biochemical reactions.  This means that your body won’t be able to make those reactions without enough magnesium.  If you have a severe deficiency, you need more than a handful of almonds to correct that deficiency.

Low Magnesium: high-strung, irritable, hyperactive, belligerent.

High Magnesium: tired and withdrawn (hibernating animals have high tissue magnesium).

Does your life include these?

  • Mental stress
  • Physical stress
  • Coffee
  • Sugar
  • High sodium diet
  • Alcohol
  • Cola-type sodas
  • Tobacco
  • High perspiration
  • Medical drugs of all types
  • Low thyroid function
  • Chronic pain
  • Diuretics
  • High carbohydrate diet
  • High calcium diet

Symptoms of Magnesium Deficiency

  • Asthma
  • Blood clots
  • Bowel disease
  • Cystitis
  • Depression
  • Detoxification
  • Diabetes
  • Fatigue
  • Heart disease
  • Hypertension
  • Hypoglycemia
  • Insomnia
  • Kidney disease
  • Migraine headaches
  • Musculoskeletal conditions
  • Nerve problems
  • Obstetrical problems
  • Panic attacks
  • Gynecological problems
  • Osteoporosis
  • Raynauds syndrome
  • Tooth decay
  • And so much more: fast oxidation rate, kidney stones, irritability, anxiety, hyperkinetic behavior, muscle spasms, tissue calcification, fast heart rate, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, muscle cramps (especially after exercising), seizures.

Benefits of Adequate Magnesium

  • Improves Sleep
  • Boosts Energy Levels
  • Relieves Muscle Discomfort
  • Overcomes Stress
  • Relaxes Nerves
  • Improves Bad Moods
  • Improves Heart Function
  • Increases Kidney Health
  • Supports Healthy Blood Pressure
  • Improves Bone Health
  • Alleviates Various Aches
  • Keeps Bones in Alignment

Major Diseases Associated with Magnesium Deficiency

  • Angina Pectoris
  • Anorexia
  • Arrhythmias
  • Asthma
  • Atherosclerosis
  • Attention Deficit Disorder
  • Auricular Fibrillation
  • Bulimia
  • Cancer
  • Cardiomyopathy
  • Chronic Fatigue
  • Chronic Bronchitis
  • Congestive Heart Failure
  • Cirrhosis
  • Depression
  • Diabetes
  • Eclampsia
  • Emphysema
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Gall Bladder Infections and Stones
  • Hearing Loss
  • Heart Attack
  • Hyperactivity
  • Hypercholesterolemia
  • Hypertension
  • Hypoglycemia
  • Immune Deficiency
  • Infections (Viral and Bacterial)
  • Intermittent Claudication
  • Kidney Stones
  • Migraine
  • Mitral Valve Prolapse
  • Osteoporosis
  • Panic Attacks
  • PMS – Pre menstrual syndrome
  • Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy
  • PVC’s
  • Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy
  • Strokes

Seawater Composition

Seawater is a nearly constant solution of salts dissolved in variable amounts of water. There are more than 70 elements dissolved in seawater, but only 6 make up over 99% of all the dissolved salts. All occur as ions (electrically charged atoms or groups of atoms):

Chloride Cl – 55.04 wt%
Sodium Na + 30.61 wt%
Sulphate SO4 – 7.68 wt%
Magnesium Mg ++ 3.69 wt%
Calcium Ca ++ 1.16 wt.%
Potassium K + 1.10 wt.%

Functions of Magnesium

Magnesium is an essential mineral for bones, teeth, metabolic enzymes, muscle activity, regulation of body temperature, and assimilation and utilization of Calcium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Sodium.

  • 60% of tissue magnesium is located in the skeleton
  • The rest is within the cells, where it performs very essential functions.
  • Regulation of cell membranes – permeability, muscular contraction, nerve impulse conduction and antagonism to calcium.
  • Enzyme activation within the cells – magnesium is essential for energy production, and protein synthesis.
  • Excretory- prevention of kidney stones
  • Digestive- laxative
  • Nervous- maintains nerve conduction
  • Muscular – prevents tissue calcification, needed for muscle contraction
  • Skeletal – required for bone formation
  • Metabolic- required for energy production, for glucose and fat metabolism, and for protein synthesis
  • Detoxification- required for liver activity.

Magnesium deficiency (hypomagnesemia) or excess (hypermagnesemia) is rare, but either condition can be serious.

Hypomagnesemia (not enough)

Magnesium deficiency most often occurs in people who have been fed intravenously for a long time, whose diet doesn’t contain enough magnesium, or who are unable to absorb and excrete the mineral properly. Secreting too much aldosterone (the hormone that regulates the body’s salt-fluid balance), ADH (a hormone that inhibits urine production), or thyroid hormone can cause hypomagnesemia.

Other factors associated with hypomagnesemia include:

  • Loss of body fluids as a result of stomach suctioning or chronic diarrhea
  • Cisplatin (a chemotherapy drug)
  • Long-term diuretic therapy
  • Hypercalcemia (abnormally high levels of calcium in the blood)
  • Diabetic acidosis (a condition in which the body’s tissues have a higher-than-normal acid content)
  • Complications of bowel surgery
  • Chronic alcoholism
  • Malnutrition
  • Starvation
  • Severe dehydration.

People who have hypomagnesemia usually experience loss of weight and appetite, bloating and muscle pain. And they pass stools that have a high-fat content. Also they may be listless, disoriented, confused, and very irritable. Other symptoms of hypomagnesemia are:

  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Muscle weakness
  • Tremor
  • Irregular heartbeat
  • Delusions and hallucinations
  • Leg and foot cramps
  • Muscle twitches
  • Changes in blood pressure.

Severe magnesium deficiency can cause seizures, especially in children. Neonatal hypomagnesemia can occur in premature babies and in infants who have genetic parathyroid disorders or who have had blood transfusions. This condition also occurs in babies born to magnesium-deficient mothers or to women who have:

  • Diabetes
  • Hyperparathyroidism (overactive parathyroid glands)
  • Toxemia (a pregnancy-related condition characterized by high blood pressure and fluid retention).

Hypermagnesemia (too much)

Hypermagnesemia is most common in patients whose kidneys cannot excrete the magnesium they derive from food or take as medication. This condition can also develop in patients who take magnesium salts, or in healthy people who use large quantities of magnesium-containing antacids, laxatives, or analgesics (pain relievers). Magnesium poisoning can cause severe diarrhea in young people, and mask the symptoms of other illnesses. Very high overdoses can lead to coma. The risk of complications of magnesium poisoning is greatest for:

  • Elderly people with inefficient kidney function
  • Patients with kidney problems or intestinal disorders
  • People who use antihistamines, muscle relaxants or narcotics.

Severe dehydration or an overdose of supplements taken to counteract hypomagnesemia can also cause this condition. People who have hypermagnesemia may feel flushed and drowsy, perspire heavily, and have diarrhea. Breathing becomes shallow, reflexes diminish, and the patient becomes unresponsive. Muscle weakness and hallucinations are common. The patient’s heartbeat slows dramatically and blood pressure plummets. Extreme toxicity, which can lead to coma and cardiac arrest, can be fatal.

Cant I get enough Magnesium from my food?

Because modern agriculture practices have seriously depleted our soils of so many nutrients, most of us need Magnesium supplementation.

If you are growing all your own food and fertilizing the soil properly you may be getting enough nutrients, but most of us aren’t doing this.

Food Sources of Magnesium

  • Nuts and Seeds – almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, walnuts
  • Vegetables – leafy green vegetables, soybeans, parsnips, parsley, watercress, legumes
  • Grains – Buckwheat, wheat bran, wheat germ, other grains
  • Miscellaneous – cocoa, molasses, brewer’s yeast, kelp
  • Fruit – coconut, elderberries, raspberries, lemons
  • Fish
  • Dairy products

Some is stored in the kidneys, and excess amounts are excreted in the urine or stools.

Magnesium Levels in Foods

Compiled by Ingrid VanTuinen from USDA and manufacturers

All-Bran (1/2 cup) 120 mg
Black or navy beans (1 cup cooked) 105-120 mg
Great Northern or pinto beans (1 cup cooked) 90-95 mg
Brown rice (1 cup cooked) 85 mg
Almonds or cashews (3 Tbs.) 75-85 mg
Garbanzos (chickpeas) or lima beans (1 cup cooked) 80 mg
Kellogg’s Raisin Bran (1 cup) 80 mg
Spinach (1/2 cup cooked) 75 mg
Lentils (1 cup cooked) 70 mg
Grape-Nuts (1/2 cup) 60 mg
Multi-Bran Chex or Wheat Chex (1 cup) 60 mg
Baked potato, with skin (1-7 oz.) 55 mg
Seafood (4 oz. cooked) 35-55 mg
Peanuts (1/5 cup) or peanut butter (2 Tbs.) 50 mg
Whole wheat bread (2 slices-2 oz.) 50 mg
Acorn squash (1/2 cup cooked) 45 mg
Yogurt (1 cup) 35-45 mg
Banana (1) 35 mg
Peas (1/2 cup cooked) 35 mg
Watermelon (2 cups) 35 mg
Chocolate, semisweet or sweet (1 oz.) 30-35 mg
Milk (1 cup) 30-35 mg
Grapefruit, orange, or prune juice (1 cup) 25-35 mg
Beef, pork, or poultry (4 oz. cooked) 20-35 mg
Butternut squash (1/2 cup cooked) 30 mg
Cheerios or Wheaties (1 cup) 30 mg
Broccoli (1/2 cup cooked) 20 mg
White rice (1 cup cooked) 20 mg
White bread (2 slices-2 oz.) 15 mg
Kellogg’s Corn Flakes (1 cup) or Frosted Flakes (3/4 cup) 0 mg
Author: Life Enthusiast Staff