One study by the National Institutes of Health showed that 68% of Americans are magnesium deficient and other experts put that number closer to 80%. WOW! Even well trained athletes are often magnesium deficient. Data suggests that their intake is only about 70% of the recommended daily allowance with female runners being at ~59%.
The American diet full of preservatives, fats, convenience foods, and processed foods is causing an epidemic of magnesium deficiency. And even with what is considered a good dietary lifestyle and cooking vegetables, there will be a loss of about 50% of the nutrient content with boiling raw vegetables.
Conditions that can upset the body's magnesium supply are these (along with others of course): intestinal flu, irritable bowel and GI disorders, celiac sprue, diabetes, salt, and alcohol intake. Also heavy menstrual periods, excessive sweating, and prolonged stress can effect the body's magnesium supply. Although people are trying to eat healthier, often times they are cooking the nutritional content right out of everything and food as a remedy for these conditions just doesn't cut it.
Got insomnia? Did you know that magesium is considered the nonaddictive tranquilizer? Magnesium deficiency often presents as night terrors, restless leg syndrome, frequent awakenings, and nocturnal verbal and motor outbursts. Conversely, a high magnesium and low aluminum diet has been found to make people sleep like a baby with few awakenings and uninterrupted sleep.
Diabetes:
"Diabetes is a magnesium deficiency state,"says Jerry Nadler, MD, of the U of Virgina School of Medicine. He suggests that 80% of diabetics have low intracellular magnesium. Research suggests that low magnesium boosts your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 1/3. Why don't people know this?!?! Ahhhhhh.......ok, done with my rant. Supplementation can improve insulin activity and may help with insulin resistance in obese children.
Osteoporosis: The emphasis has always been on calcium, but 50% of the body's total magnesium is found in the bone. Low magnesium=Low bone density.....rocket science I know. Tufts reseachers found that high magnesium predicted stronger bone mass.
Cardiac: Studies indicate that daily Mag intake for 6 weeks reduces arrhythmias by 25-50%. In fact, women skimping on Mag were prone to developing irregular heartbeats within 3 months. Documentation shows that higher Mag means lower blood pressure, more elasticity in the blood vessels, and a less enlarged heart. It's sort of a natural calcium channel blocker for all of you in my blog land who know what that class of medicines does for heart patients.
Migraine: Studies show that there's a 42% drop in headache frequency in migraine sufferers taking 600mg of Mag/day. Again, estimates are that 50% of headache sufferers have a magnesium deficiency.
Pain Relief: Mag helps with muscle cramps, restless legs, fibromyalgia, and chonic pain conditions.
Anxiety and Mood: Symptoms of Mag deficiency can include poor attention, memory loss, fear, restlessness, insomnia, cramps, and dizziness. (That's about 90% of the symptoms of patients who come to my office for hormone consultations right there.) In one study of more than 200 patients with depression and chronic pain, 75% had low Mag levels. Hmmmm? It's not hard to connect some dots on that.
CONSTIPATION:
(From the Livestrong website) Women need 320 mg of magnesium daily and men require 420 mg, notes the Office of Dietary Supplements. Pregnancy ups the requirement to 360 mg, but you don't need more than 320 mg while breastfeeding. Magnesium supplements have varying levels of the mineral available for absorption, which is referred to as elemental magnesium. For example, magnesium oxide provides 60 percent elemental magnesium, making it the most bio-available source. Magnesium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide each have a little more than 40 percent elemental magnesium. Most other forms of magnesium in supplements contain less than 20 percent elemental magnesium. I actually recommend the magnesium glycinate version and carry a pharmaceutical grade product for our patients. When women or men complain of constipation, I typically will ask if they are doing any kind of magnesium supplementation. If not, then it's always a good place to start. Most people in our society are deficient and recommended manufacturers dosing on the side of the bottle serves as a good guide.
Drug Interactions: Now before you go out and start popping Magnesium supplements let me share some of the interactions that you need to be aware of. These meds can cause a bit of a conflict if not appropriately managed:
Antibiotics (such as cipro, tetracycline, doxycycline, etc.)
Calcium Channel Blockers
Diabetic meds
Digoxin
Diuretics
Thyroid meds
So after reading this blog do you see the magic of Magnesium? Perhaps you should consider your symptoms and draw correlations to this incredible supplement. It's a simple and inexpensive remedy to a host of physical problems. There are other beneficial supplements, but this is a BIGGIE in my opinion. On almost every hormone patient that I take on, I recommend this key supplement. It's essential to core nutrition and healthy hormone metabolism. Call for a custom nutraceutical regimen today. All vitamins and supplements are NOT created equal. We provide only the highest quality products lines and those that must be directed by a healthcare provider.
To your good health,
Dr. Sonja
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