The Single Most Important Mineral?

[PinkDiamond]

Is This the Single Most Important Mineral?
Newsletter #604 - Lee Euler, Editor

Up to 80 percent of Americans are deficient in this nutrient, which is known for helping prevent sudden cardiac arrest, heart attack, stroke and even cancer.

Yet dangerously, they don’t even know it. It’s like having a criminal on the loose.

No blood test gives an accurate reading of its status in your body, because only one percent is found in your blood. Your stores of this mineral are mostly hidden in your bones and muscles.

And most people skimp on the foods that contain it -- making them a magnet for all the ‘crimes’ linked to this deficiency, and causing them to miss out on all its benefits.

So it’s time to become your own personal detective, and learn how to read the symptoms of deficiency if you have them. Keep reading and I’ll provide you all the tools and tricks below.

You don’t hear much about magnesium, and maybe that’s why deficiency is so widespread. Or maybe it’s because, like Vitamin D, it has so many benefits they can’t be summed up in a sentence or two.

GreenMedInfo reports that researchers now know of 3,751 magnesium-binding sites on human proteins, suggesting that its role in your health may have been vastly underestimated. And they’ve indexed more than 100 health benefits of magnesium.

Magnesium is also found in 300+ different enzymes that help relax your blood vessels, keep your heart beating strongly, promote bowel function, regulate blood sugar levels, and create energy and strong bones.

Lowers your cancer risk

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that higher levels of dietary magnesium were linked to a lower risk of tumors of the colon and rectum.1

In fact, for every 100 mg boost in your magnesium intake, your risk of colorectal tumor drops by 13 percent.

Researchers think its anti-cancer effects might be related to magnesium’s ability to lower insulin resistance, which is also linked to tumor development (and, of course, diabetes). But magnesium may also reduce colon cancer by improving bowel function. In fact, it’s a natural laxative (think milk of magnesia). And you can get diarrhea by over-supplementing with magnesium.

Prevents strokes and heart attacks

Many studies show that magnesium benefits your blood pressure and helps prevent strokes and heart attacks.

One meta-analysis of seven studies involving a total of 240,000 participants showed that those with the highest magnesium levels had the lowest risk of ischemic stroke.2

However, even these impressive benefits may be a small portion of what magnesium can do for you.

Magnesium helps you detoxify, so it helps prevent damage from various toxins and heavy metals.

Even glutathione – your body’s "master antioxidant" – requires magnesium in order to work.

Become a detective to find out if you’re deficient

Since there’s no blood test to reveal if you need more magnesium, it’s time to put on your detective hat. Even the other tests your doctor could order – a 24-hour urine test or a sublingual epithelial test – give only a hint of your magnesium levels.

You need to evaluate your possible symptoms of deficiency for yourself.

So, do you suffer any of these conditions?

Constipation
Atrial fibrillation
Type 2 diabetes (leads to magnesium loss in urine)
Premenstrual syndrome
Migraine (and other headaches)
Cardiovascular disease
High blood pressure
Coronary spasms
Numbness and tingling
Muscle contractions/cramps
Seizures
Low appetite
Nausea and vomiting
Fatigue and weakness
Alcoholism
Use of medications (diuretics, antibiotics, and some cancer drugs contribute to deficiency)
An unhealthy digestive system (Crohn’s, leaky gut…) affects magnesium absorption
Aging (absorption decreases with age)
Kidney problems (contribute to excessive magnesium loss in urine)
Fibromyalgia
Osteoporosis

Don’t expect a miracle cure for any of these conditions just by taking magnesium supplements, but magnesium brings significant relief and – if you have a severe deficiency – you may see an improvement that really is like a miracle cure.

To protect yourself against cancer, stroke, heart attack, and diabetes, you’ll want an action plan to improve your magnesium status.

Consider this: Your heart is a muscle. If a magnesium deficiency is giving you spasms in your leg muscles, what does it suggest for your heart?

The best way to bone up your magnesium levels

If you suspect you’re low in magnesium, your best bet is to boost your levels by eating the organically bound magnesium found in whole foods. Pills are a poor second.

The chlorophyll molecule has a magnesium atom at its center. That’s what enables it to use the sun’s light energy. So take the hint and eat a lot of green plants.

Green leafy vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard are great sources of magnesium-rich chlorophyll. Other high magnesium foods include nuts, nut butters and seeds – like almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower, flax, and sesame seeds. Avocados and some beans are also high in magnesium.

Seaweed, basil and coriander are also good options. So is dark chocolate.

Juicing your vegetables can greatly boost your magnesium levels (and those of other great nutrients), because you’re eliminating the fiber and taking in a lot more of everything else. Eight ounces of carrot juice, for example, contains far more carrots than you’re ever likely to eat at one sitting. Yet vegetable juices add hardly any calories to your diet.

Want to do a supplement? It can get confusing

There are many kinds of magnesium supplements on the market. I’ll try to help you sort through them.

Magnesium must be tightly bound – or chelated – to another substance. The word chelated originates from the Greek word for claw.

The Weston Price Foundation explains that chelation means a mineral is held in place by another molecule, such as an amino acid or other molecule – much as a claw would hold a small object.

Chelation prevents a normally reactive mineral like magnesium from reacting with other substances. It makes absorption easier. How much easier depends upon what’s chelated to it.

When you eat the plant food itself, you get naturally chelated magnesium via the chlorophyll. That’s why real food should be your #1 strategy.

But if your goal is to quickly boost your levels, you can try one or more of these options. Personally, I like to vary the form of magnesium I take to hedge my bets on absorption.

Magnesium glycinate – Chelated magnesium known for high absorption and bioavailability. Considered ideal if you’re trying to correct a deficiency.
Magnesium lactate and magnesium chloride – Contain only 12% magnesium, but have higher absorption than others with greater percentages of magnesium.
Magnesium carbonate – About 45% magnesium with antacid properties.
Magnesium citrate – Magnesium with citric acid. Has laxative properties.
Magnesium taurate – Magnesium + taurine (an amino acid). Exerts calming effect on body and mind.
Magnesium Threonate – A newer type of magnesium supplement. Can possibly penetrate the mitochondrial membrane.
Magnesium oxide – Non-chelated. Contains about 60% magnesium with stool softening properties.
Magnesium sulfate or magnesium hydroxide – Also called milk of magnesia. Used as a laxative. WARNING: It is very easy to overdose on these so follow instructions carefully.

The RDA for magnesium ranges from 310 to 420 mg per day, depending on your age. Some researchers think we need double that amount. Fortunately it’s quite safe so you don’t have to worry about overdosing except for the diarrhea issue.

Experts say the best way to tell when you’re getting enough magnesium is the "bowel test." When your stools become loose, back down your amount slightly. You could start at about 200 mg per day and build to the point of bowel tolerance.

Relax your way to higher magnesium

Magnesium is readily absorbed through your skin and into your blood stream. So soaking in a bath of Epsom salts, which contain a naturally occurring magnesium and sulfate, can have powerful health benefits and help you detoxify.

Epsom salts work via reverse osmosis, pulling harmful toxins out and letting the magnesium and sulfates into your body. Allow 40 minutes – 20 minutes for detoxification and 20 minutes for mineral absorption.

So you’ve detected whether you’re deficient. And now you have three great ways to improve your magnesium status – real foods, Epsom salt baths, and supplements. Your health will thank you for your fine detective work.
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[SwordfishMining]

I need to go find the analysis of the waters I lounge in here daily. At least until the horse flies come out, then it is nightly. LOL