This Could Save Your Life: Focus on Magnesium by Brenda Eastwood, RNCP
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id you know that you can die from a heart attack due to an electrical imbalance in the body caused by a magnesium deficiency? Yet everywhere you look, the focus is on calcium. Drink more milk. Eat more yogurt. Put cheese on everything. The focus of attention needs to shift from calcium to magnesium. Yes, of course, we need calcium, but without enough magnesium, health problems will always be inevitable. There are three facts to remember about magnesium. Calcium contracts and magnesium releases. Are you wearing a night guard to protect your teeth? Taking medication for high blood pressure? Downing more calcium for muscle tension or cramps? Suffer with angina? These are typical contracted states caused by a magnesium deficiency. Calcium is directed by magnesium. Without enough magnesium, calcium does not go to your bones. Instead it ends up in the wrong places, causing such conditions as calcification of the joints and aortic valve or bone spurs.
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Magnesium is anti-inflammatory. All “itis” diseases such as rhinitis (inflammation of the nose), sinusitis (inflammation of the sinuses), asthma (inflammation of the airways), arthritis (inflammation of the joints) and dermatitis (inflammation of the skin), are all in part caused by a magnesium deficiency.
How you become deficient in magnesium Large amounts of calcium will diminish magnesium absorption, such as eating a lot of dairy products that are high in calcium and exceptionally low in magnesium, or taking high doses of calcium supplements. Diuretics, excessive sweating and alcohol and sugar consumption also cause you to lose magnesium. However, the biggest cause of magnesium loss is stress, stress and more stress!
Correcting magnesium deficiency Of the magnesium in your body, the concentration in the blood is only one sixth to one tenth that of magnesium in the cells, making blood tests for
magnesium levels quite useless unless you are suffering from a total depletion of magnesium. It is extremely difficult to correct a magnesium deficiency without the correct supplementation. You would need to eliminate all sugar, alcohol and diuretics and, most importantly, all of your stress. You would need to reduce your intake of calcium-rich food, such as dairy products, while simultaneously loading up daily on certified organic fresh green vegetables that are rich in magnesium, such as asparagus, broccoli, kale and beet leaves.
For real results Taking a magnesium citrate with L-taurine supplement along with making wiser lifestyle and dietary choices will give you the fastest and best results. L-taurine is an amino acid that helps magnesium (along with potassium, sodium and calcium — your electrolytes) get in and out of your cells. Because magnesium reacts and is used up in many metabolic processes, the body must be regularly supplied with as much magnesium as is elimi-
nated. If you are deficient in magnesium, expect to take between 250 to 700 mg of magnesium citrate daily. Brenda Eastwood, RNCP, is an author and a women’s health and hormone specialist. Her 33 years of experience include 17 years in private practice, seminars and workshops, radio and television interviews, a CD series, newsletters, teleclasses and an online coaching program. Her new book is Get Off the PMS and Perimenopausal Roller Coaster, Learn 9 Natural Fast Track Solutions to Balanced Hormones. www. HormoneRollerCoaster.com