MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY
WHAT DOCTORS ARE SAYING:
“It is shocking, frankly, how little people know, how little
doctors know, about this vital mineral (magnesium).”
-Dr. Jay S. Cohen, MD, author of “The Magnesium
Solution for High Blood Pressure”
“Without enough magnesium, cells simply don’t work.”
-Dr. Lawrence Resnick, MD, Cornell University
“Most modern heart disease is caused by magnesium
deficiency. A vast and convincing body of research,
largely ignored, has convinced us and many colleagues of
this fact.”
-Dr. Mildred S. Seelig, MD, MPH author of “The
Magnesium Factor”
“Studies have shown that 90 percent of individuals with
type II diabetes have low levels of free intracellular red
blood cell magnesium.”
-Dr. Zachary T. Bloomgarden, MD, Endocrinologist
“The more I learn about magnesium, the more convinced
I am that doctors are missing a huge opportunity by not
making it one of their drugs of choice.”
-Dr. Carolyn Dean, MD, author of “The Magnesium
Miracle”
“Magnesium is the most important mineral to man and
all living things.”
-Dr. Jerry Aikawa, The University of Colorado
“Research has overwhelmingly demonstrated the critical
relationship between low levels of magnesium and
cardiovascular disease. So many hypertensive (high
blood pressure) patients could benefit from increased
intake of this mineral.”
-Dr. Julian Whitaker, MD, one of America’s best known
doctors of integrative medicine
“If magnesium is deficient, bones are more fragile.”
-Bones researcher Katherine Tucker, PhD, of Tufts
University
“Magnesium has solved more ‘incurable’ and ‘mysterious
symptoms’ than any other mineral I have observed in 31
years.”
-Dr. Sherry Rogers, MD, author of “Depression: Cured at
Last”
“Magnesium depletion may represent the most
frequently unrecognized electrolyte abnormality in
clinical practice today. There appears to be as much as
an 85 to 95 percent shortfall in the clinical recognition of
abnormal serum (blood) magnesium. The role of
magnesium in cellular function, both in health and
disease, remain largely unknown to medical clinicians.”
-Dr. Robert Whang, MD
“A link between magnesium, diabetes and hypertension
seems established beyond a reasonable doubt.”
-Dr. Lawrence Resnick, MD, Cornell University
“Magnesium deficiency is one of the most common
nutritional problems in the industrialized world today.
This deficiency is the result of agricultural practices, food
preparation techniques, and dietary trends. The health
implications are nothing short of catastrophic.”
-Dr. Mark Sircus, Ac, OMD, author of “Transdermal
Magnesium Therapy”
“For millions of Americans, correcting magnesium
deficiency could be one of the most important steps on
the road back to health.”
-Dr. Alan Gaby- Author of “Magnesium: How an
Important Mineral Helps Prevent Heart Attacks and
Relieves Stress”
Recommended Dosage: Take 400 mg of Magnesium Taurate, Glycerate, Citrate or Chelated (Do not take Magnesium Oxide) with
100mg of B6. Increase dose every 3 days until you have loose bowels then back off 1 dose.
RESEARCH STUDIES:
Heart Disease and Hypertension
A study of over 10,000 people in the United States found that 79%
were not consuming the US RDA daily intake of magnesium in their
diet. Further, the study showed that 26 percent of the people in the
study were taking magnesium supplements and it was this group of
people that demonstrated lower levels of C-Reactive protein. Elevated
C-Reactive protein is quickly becoming one of the most powerful
predictors of heart disease.
Source: US study, reported in the July 2006 issue of the journal
Nutrition Research.
An analysis of seven major clinical studies shows that intravenous
magnesium reduced the risk of death by 55% after acute heart attack.
These results were published in the prestigious “British Medical
Journal” and the widely read journal “Drugs”.
Source: Teo KK et al, “Effects of intravenous magnesium in suspected
acute myocardial infarction: overview of randomized trials. “Brit Med
J, vol. 303, pp. 1499-1503, 1991.
In studies of natives from Greenland, the Bantu peoples of Southern
Africa, Bedouin people of the Middle East and Aborigines of Australia,
incidences of high blood pressure and heart disease were low due to
high levels of magnesium in their drinking water and food. When
these people moved to urban areas and began eating a modern diet,
they developed high blood pressure and heart disease as often as
those in the industrialized western countries.
Source: Altura, B.M., B.T. “Magnesium and Cardiovascular Biology.”
Scientific American, Science & Medicine, May/June 1995: 28-37.
In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, published in the British
Journal of Nutrition in 1997, people who took 411- 548 mg of
magnesium daily achieved a reduction in both systolic and diastolic
blood pressure.
Source: Itoh, K., Kawasaki, T., Nakamura, M. “The effects of high oral
magnesium supplementation on blood pressure, serum lipids and
related variables in apparently healthy Japanese subjects”. British
Journal of Nutrition, 1997;78 (5):737-50.
In a study of people who are borderline hypertensive, Drs. Burton and
Bella Altura, two of the leading researchers in the field of magnesium,
report that 70-80% have significantly depressed blood-ionized
magnesium levels.
Source: Altura, B.M., B.T. “Magnesium and Cardiovascular
Biology”. Scientific American, Science & Medicine, May/June
1995:28-37.
Diabetes
Three of the largest studies ever done on the incidence of disease are
the Harvard Nurses’ Health study of 85,000 women, the Health
Professionals Follow-up study of 43,000 men, and the Iowa Women’s
Health study of 40,000 women. All 3 studies showed that those
people with the highest levels of magnesium intake had the lowest
risk for developing diabetes.
Stroke
A study of 98 stroke patients admitted to the emergency room of 3
hospitals in New York exhibited early and significant magnesium- ion
deficits. The stroke patients also demonstrated a high calcium to
magnesium ratio, which are signs of increased vascular tone and
cerebral vessel spasm.
Source: Altura BT et al. “low levels of serum ionized magnesium are
found in patients early after stroke which result in rapid elevation
cytosolic free calcium and spasm in cerebral vascular muscle cells.”
Neurosci Lett, vol. 230, no. 1, pp. 37-40, 1997.
All deaths due to stroke among Taiwan residents (17,133 cases) from
1989- 1993 were compared with deaths from other causes (17, 133
controls). It was determined that the higher the magnesium levels in
drinking water used by Taiwan residents, the lower the incidence of
stroke.
Source: Yang CY, “Calcium and magnesium in drinking water and risk
of death from cerebrovascular disease.” Stroke, vol. 18, no. 8, pp. 411414, 1998.
Metabolic Syndrome
In a 15 year study of 5,000 young adults, it was found that higher
intake of magnesium through food or supplements led to a lower
likelihood of developing Metabolic Syndrome. Note: Metabolic
Syndrome is characterized as a single person who has several health
risk factors at the same time, including abdominal obesity, high
cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetic, etc.
Source: He K, Liu K, Daviglus ML, Morris SJ, Loria CM, Van Horn L.
Jacobs DR, Savage PJ, “Magnesium intake and the incidence of
metabolic syndrome among young adults.” Circulation, vol. 113, no.
13, pp. 1675-1682, 2006
PMS
Recent studies showed that of 192 women taking 400mg of
magnesium daily for PMS, 95 % experienced less breast pain and had
less weight gain, 89% suffered less nervous tension, and 43% had
fewer headaches.
Source: Goldberg B, Alternative Medicine Guide: Women’s Health
Secrets Series 1, Future Medicine Publishing, Tiburon, CA 1998.
Depression
A study of approximately 500 depressed people by Dr. RH Cox and Dr.
CN Shealy found that the majority of the sufferers were magnesium
deficient. The authors of the study advised clinicians that they should
consider the distinct possibility of therapeutic benefit from the use of
magnesium therapy in chronic depression.
Source: Cox RH, Shealy CN, Cady RK, Veehoff D, Burnetti Awell M.
Houston R, “Significant magnesium deficiency in depression:” J Neurol
Orthop Med Surg, vol. 17. Pp. 7-9, 1996.
Migraines
A group of 3,000 patients given 200mg of magnesium daily had an
80% reduction in their migraine symptoms.
Source: Mauskcop A, Fox B, What your doctor may not tell you about
migraines, Warner Books, New York, 2001.