The Magnesium Miracle

Transdermal magnesium is a hard-core exercise recovery tool. Magnesium is a mineral used in and by, over 300 enzymes in the body. Magnesium has great benefit for bodybuilders and athletes. Here's how:

Atp And Phosphocreatine

ATP, which we all know is the molecular form of energy for the body, is only usable as an ATP/magnesium complex. Magnesium provides stability to ATP. Magnesium is also critical for the proper function of creatine kinase, an important enzyme that converts creatine into its storage form, phosphocreatine (also called creatine phosphate) and helps convert ADP( left over in the muscle after ATP is used for energy) and the stored phosphocreatine back into ATP for muscle contraction.

Since ATP must be bound to the magnesium to be available for use, without this ATP/Mg complex we would not be able to make proteins, RNA or DNA, nor would we be able to activate enzymes, transport minerals into and out of the cells, or phosphorylate proteins. We would not be able to do anything and we would die.

Protein Synthesis

Magnesium is necessary for protein synthesis at the ribosomal level. The ribosomes are the cellular organelles where proteins are synthesized. Magnesium "activates" the amino acids involved and allows the mRNA to attach to the ribosomes. Magnesium is also found in the nucleus of the cell and is essential for the stability of the nucleic acids RNA and DNA. If DNA and RNA structure do not remain stable you may have mutations in the codes and produce incorrect peptides are none at all during protein synthesis. Energy for the production of proteins must come from ATP as well. Without magnesium available in many areas of the cell, protein synthesis cannot occur.

Insulin Sensitivity

Many studies show a correlation between magnesium and insulin sensitivity. Low levels are associated with insulin insensitivity, type 2 diabetes, and syndrome X, although the exact mechanisms are still not clear. More studies are needed to clarify the mechanisms involved, but the relationship is there. Researchers strongly believe that increased magnesium levels, especially via trans-dermal methods, will increase insulin sensitivity.

Cellular Hydration

One should always maintain the correct ratio of magnesium and calcium. But that is very dependent on a number of factors that increase or decrease magnesium and calcium absorption and retention. Magnesium and Potassium are found in the intracellular fluid while calcium and sodium are found outside the cell. Normally you would want to consume a 2:1 ratio of calcium to magnesium, but due to the variables that affect their absorption and retention and the levels present in foods, it might be better to shoot for a ratio of 1:1.

Elevated magnesium and potassium levels inside the cell increase cellular hydration. Cellular hydration can be improved by many mechanisms and can help increase muscle torque as well as positively influence protein synthesis.

Muscle Tightness And Spasms

Magnesium must be present in the synaptic gap between neurons to control the rate of neuronal firing. Decreased magnesium will decrease the neural threshold making them fire to readily, even with a low stimulus. This leads to hyper excitability and hypersensitivity, often leading to anxiety. Epileptics often have a severe decrease of magnesium in the synapses of the CNS.

Vaso-Dilation And The Pump

Magnesium is thought to behave as a natural calcium channel blocker at the cellular level, thereby relaxing vascular tissue and increasing vasodilation independent of nitric oxide. Magnesium chloride can be used as a concentrated solution called magnesium oil. It is not really an oil, but due to the highly hygroscopic (water absorbing) nature of magnesium chloride, it has an oily feel at high concentrations. This magnesium oil can be massaged into the muscles to be worked just prior to exercise.

Many people have found that it has a local affect facilitating the pump and all the benefits that the pump provides. Some hard-core athletes have found a synergistic effect with NO boosters. The magnesium chloride will also have systemic effects as it is absorbed into the bloodstream. Some people may also add a small amount (one half to 1 teaspoon) to their workout drink or to their pre-workout stack.

MUSCLEFighting Pain

There are many mechanisms where transdermal magnesium can affect the sensation of pain, both direct and indirect. One direct method involves magnesium acting as a noncompetitive antagonist of the in NMDA (N-methyl-Daspartate) receptor, which is involved in the transmission of pain. This mechanism also gives magnesium anti-depressive and anxiolytic effects. There are numerous indirect ways that transdermal magnesium can affect pain as well.

Dhea,. Cortisol And Lactate

Dr. Norman Shealy, M.D. Ph.D. discovered that trans-dermal magnesium chloride increases the body's natural production of DHEA, and its metabolites, while oral supplementation and direct injections do not. Increased DHEA levels often lead to elevated testosterone levels. Transdermal magnesium has been linked to decreased plasma cortisol levels, but the exact mechanisms are unclear.

Elevated DHEA and decreased cortisol levels can have a number of positive effects in the body, especially as we age. According to James Thor, national director of Extreme Sports Medicine, increased amounts of magnesium are lost when a person is under stress, including exercise.

Transdermally absorbed magnesium promotes the release of lactic acid from muscle tissue. Dr. Mark Sircus, one of the leading experts on magnesium, says that transdermal magnesium therapy enhances recovery from athletic activity and injuries. We clearly need more studies to understand the mechanisms involved.

Recovery And Reduced Exercise Soreness

There are several theories addressing improved recovery and reduced muscle soreness from transdermal magnesium therapy. One theory for a proposed mechanism states that the decrease in plasma magnesium during exercise is due to a transient shift of magnesium from extracellular fluid to skeletal muscle tissue.

Following exercise, subjects demonstrated significantly increased levels of magnesium in skeletal muscle and a decrease of magnesium in plasma, erythrocytes and other tissue. Transdermal magnesium quickly replenished plasma magnesium preventing the subsequent shift back out skeletal muscle to replenish the plasma levels, thereby maintaining increased hydration and increase cellular volumization.

Maintaining cellular magnesium levels helps facilitate rapid restoration of the phosphocreatine and ATP levels, and the production of proteins by ribosomes allowing for improved recovery and tissue growth.

High intensity anaerobic exercise increases magnesium loss by inducing a transient increase in urinary excretion of magnesium due to metabolic acidosis and other mechanisms. Magnesium is lost in sweat as well. Only trans-dermal magnesium therapy (or direct injections), done within 12 to 24 hours (by soaking in a hot bathtub of magnesium chloride, with added transdermal antioxidants and anti-inflammatories) right before bedtime works best! This also promotes deep restful sleep.

Magnesium is involved in many other systems in the body and can help many degenerative painful conditions such as fibromyalgia, migraines, diabetes, cardio vascular problems, among other things.

Until recently most athletes, coaches and nutritionists thought that the best forms of magnesium supplementation were those chelated to an amino acid or Krebs cycle intermediate and absorbed through the G.I. tract.

Many new studies show that magnesium can be easily absorbed transdermally and rapidly replenish magnesium levels, quickly correcting diminished plasma and tissue levels. This allows for more rapid recovery after strenuous aerobic and anaerobic exercise.

Transdermal magnesium chloride therapy can maintain cardio respiratory efficiency, increase endurance performance, decrease oxygen consumption, increase work capacity, increase strength, energy, and muscle mass, decrease lactic acid and post exercise muscle soreness, increase insulin sensitivity and many other things!

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Our topic is: MAGNIFICENT MAGNESIUM (Mg)
And you will soon know why. It is a supplement commonly prescribed by me because I often see deficiency conditions.
If you first like narrative explanations of a subject, you may want to skip the next section & return to it later. But if you want know whether you have low magnesium you may want to begin with this:

MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY QUESTIONNAIRE
Circle each yes answer which is given a numerical value.
When you finish, total your score.
--With 30-50, you likely have low magnesium.
--Over 50 & you most certainly have low magnesium.

YES QUESTION...
2 Under excessive emotional stress
3 Irritable, or easily provoked to anger
2 Restless, or hyperactive
4 Easily startled by sounds or lights
2 Difficulty sleeping
3 Chronic headaches or migraines
2 Convulsions
3 Fine tremor or shakiness in your hands
3 Fine, barely noticeable muscle twitching around your eyes, facial muscles, or other muscles of your body
3 Muscle cramps
3 Muscle spasms in hands or feet
4 Gag or choke from spasms in your esophagus(food tube)
3 Have asthma or wheezing
2 Suffer from emphysema, chronic bronchitis, or shortness breath
5 Have osteoporosis
3 Have you ever had a kidney stone
2 Suffer from chronic kidney disease
4 Have diabetes
3 Have an overactive thyroid, or parathyroid gland
3 Have high blood pressure
4 Have mitral valve prolapse (“floppy heart valve”)
3 Have very fast heart beats, irregular heart beats, or arrhythmia
3 Take Digitalis (Digoxin)
5 Take any kind of diuretic
5 Recent radiation therapy or exposure
4 Have more than 7 alcohol drinks weekly
3 Have you ever had a drinking problem?
2 Have more than 3 servings of caffeine daily
2 Eat sugar containing food daily
2 Crave carbohydrates &/or chocolate
2 Crave salt
2 Eat a high processed food/ junk food diet
2 Eat a diet low in green, leafy vegetables, seeds, & fresh fruit
2 Eat a low protein diet
2 Pass undigested food or fat in your stools
3 Suffer from chronic intestinal disease, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s, irritable bowel syndrome
3 Frequent diarrhea or constipation
3 Suffer from PMS or menstrual cramps
2 Pregnant or recently pregnant
4 In previous pregnancy had high blood pressure or pre-eclampsia
2 Chronic fatigue
2 Muscle weakness
2 Cold hands &/or feet
2 Numbness in face, hands, or feet
2 Persistent tingling in body
2 Chronic lack of interest, indifference, or apathy
2 Poor memory
2 Loss of concentration
3 Anxiety
2 Chronic depression for no apparent reason
2 Feelings of disorientation as to time or place
2 Feel your personality is stiff or mechanical
2 Hallucinations
2 Feel that people are trying to harm or persecute you
2 Face pale, puffy, or lacking in color
2 Loss of considerable sexual energy or vitality
2 Been told by your Dr that your blood calcium is low
3 Been told by your Dr that your blood potassium is low
2 Take Calcium supplements regularly without magnesium
2 Take iron or zinc supplements regularly without magnesium
2 Know chronic exposure to fluorides
3 Frequently use antibiotics, steroids, oral contraceptives, Indomethacin, Cisplatin, Amphotericin B, Cholestyramine, synthetic estrogens
<--- TOTAL ...
Subtract 15 from your score if you daily supplement at least 600 mg of magnesium.

WHAT ARE THE FUNCTIONS OF MAGNESIUM?
You can infer much of this by the questionnaire above, but let’s go into more detail.

The most known functions are the following:

1- MAINTAINS THE HEART MUSCLE & BLOOD VESSELS

Magnesium deficiency is associated with an increased incidence of atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, heart attacks, & strokes.

Interestingly, Mg mimics many of the activities associated with a variety of cardiovascular medications. It thins blood similarly to Coumadin. It blocks Calcium uptake similar to Calcium Channel Blocker. It acts as a potent vasodilator by relaxing blood vessels as do the Ace Inhibitors, such as Vasotec. It inhibits platelet aggregation as does aspirin. Magnesium maintains the balance of the clotting mechanisms. It also increases the oxygen in the heart by improving heart muscle contractility.
Fifteen percent of the population have what is called mitral valve prolapse ( a floppy heart valve). This is associated with an increased tendency to anxiety, an irregular or fast heart rate, palpitations, & in general a hyper-irritable heart muscle. Studies have shown 62% of these people are Mg deficient & symptoms can be prevented by Mg administration.

Unfortunately, some widely used cardiac medications such as digitalis & the diuretics increase urinary excretion of Mg & contribute to the deficiency states. Thus Mg is an important anti-arrhthymic agent in treating digitalis toxicity. It also helps in treating atrial tachycardia & ventricular tachycardia when used intravenously in these emergency conditions.

2- MAGNESIUM IS INTEGRAL TO BONE STRUCTURE

Sixty percent of the body’s Mg is in the bones. With osteoporosis, there is significant skeletal Mg depletion.

A common mistake which distresses me the is the recommendation by many Drs & the belief by many people that one need only supplement calcium to prevent or to treat osteoporosis. Not only is magnesium essential for bone formation, but calcium supplementation without magnesium will contribute to metabolic imbalances & bone loss.!!

Magnesium assists in the metabolism & uptake of calcium. Magnesium depletion promotes abnormal crystallization of calcium in soft tissues, such as kidney stones, gall stones, atheroslerosis, microcalcifications in the breast & other soft tissue. Magnesium can help dissolve calcium phosphate kidney stones, & may prevent the formation of calcium oxalate kidney stones. Natural estrogen helps move magnesium into the bones, while certain synthetic estrogens deplete bodily magnesium.

The parathyroid gland is adjacent to the thyroid & has a major function of regulating calcium metabolism. Magnesium synergizes the secretion of parathyroid hormone. Also a magnesium deficiency decreases the ability of the body to respond to parathyroid hormone. Magnesium deficiency associated with low blood calcium levels may create symptoms of parathyroid hormone deficiency.

This low calcium level will not respond to parathyroid hormone, to Vitamin D, or to calcium supplementation, but is only corrected with magnesium therapy.

Both Mg deficiency & Mg excess are detrimental to bones & extreme Mg excess contributes to a rare softness & deformity of the bones called osteomalacia, which is far less common than osteoporosis.

3- MAGNESIUM MAINTAINS NORMAL NERVE, BRAIN, & MUSCLE FUNCTION.

While 60% of the Mg is in the bones, the rest is primarily in the cells where it functions to regulate the transmission of impulses between brain cells, & from nerves to muscles & organs. It also maintains normal muscle function & contractility.

Since Mg regulates the irritability or sensitivity of the nerves & muscles, a deficiency leads to neuromuscular hyperexcitability which can be associated with muscle cramps, twitches, & tremors, tension, tightness, or soreness. It is also associated with various spasms, such as the bronchospasm of asthma, esophageal spasm ( a lump in the throat with difficulty swallowing), the vascular spasm of migraines some forms of hypertension, chest pain & other chronic pain syndromes, the urinary spasms with some forms of urinary problems & bedwetting, the spasms of premature labor & menstrual cramps, & of course the spasms of seizures. The excitability can also be associated with an easy startle response, noise & light sensitivity, numbness & tingling & strange body sensations.
Some of the most dramatic effects of Mg deficiency may occur in the central nervous system such as with the DT’s (delirium tremens) of alcoholism, general anxiety & irritability, nervousness, confusion, tantrums, insomnia, depression, The symptoms can even progress to the point of psychotic proportions. Studies have shown lower Mg in the blood of those with active schizophrenia than in those in remission.

4- MAGNESIUM IS A CO-FACTOR TO ACTIVATE & REGULATE OVER 300 ENZYMES SYSTEMS IN THE BODY RELATING TO LIFE SUPPORTING BIOCHEMICAL REACTIONS

It is integrally involved in the production of energy in the cells via a biochemical reaction called the Kreb’s Cycle. It participates in the formation of the energy reserve of the muscles ( called Cyclic AMP) Many of these functions take place in combination with pyridoxal 5 phosphate (the co-enzyme form of vitamin B6). Thus deficiency can be associated with fatigue & weakness.

Through its’ co-factor functions, Mg participates in the synthesis of protein, & genetic material such as DNA. It is a binding agent for the genetic material called messenger RNA. Thus a deficiency can lead to poor growth or genetic defects. A Study in the Journal Of The American Medical Association reported a70% lower incidence of mental retardation, & a 90% lower incidence of cerebral palsy in children of mothers supplemented with magnesium during pregnancy.
Magnesium works with vitamin C to build collagen. It assists with temperature regulation. Magnesium also supports the function of the pancreas.

5- MAGNESIUM IS CRITICAL IN GLUCOSE METABOLISM, TOGETHER WITH VITAMIN B1

It plays a role in the breakdown & digestion of sugars & fatty acids.
It helps to maintain normal levels of blood fats. Magnesium deficiency is especially associated with increased triglycerides & the insulin resistance known as Syndrome X. Insulin resistance can be reduced by taking Mg.

6- MAGNESIUM ACTS AS A BUFFERING AGENT TO REGULATE THE ACID/ALKALINE STATE OF THE BODY.

it regulates intracellular fluid & supports the cell membrane, including permeability.

7- MAGNESIUM IS A CHELATING & DETOXIFYING AGENT & WORKS TO MAINTAIN PROPER LIVER FUNCTION.

WHAT DEPLETES OR INTERFERES WITH MAGNESIUM?
High stress contributes to Mg deficiency which exacerbates anxiety, fear weakness & physical complaints, leading to more stress & a vicious cycle. The decreased oxygen in the tissues related to stress , tissue injury, & an acid condition cause Mg to move out of the cells into the blood plasma leading to intracellular deficiency.
Excess sugar, caffeine, carbohydrates, low dietary protein, prolonged fasting, general malnutrition, chronic diarrhea, vomiting, excess zinc, vitamin D & calcium contribute to Mg deficiency. Aluminum, fluoride, & phosphate interfere with absorption.
Excess alcohol deserves its’ own paragraph as it is a common cause of low Mg. Multiple mechanisms are at play. Often those who drink excessively eat less than optimal diets. Then the alcohol causes increased urinary loss of Mg & increased gastrointestinal losses of Mg. The acidotic & alkalotic shifting states which accompany high alcohol intake further deplete the Mg stores. Many of the physical & mental symptoms of alcoholism are related to depleted Mg.
Those with diabetes, chronic gastrointestinal disorders, an overactive thyroid or parathyroid gland, or in the last 6 months of pregnancy are particularly prone to low Mg. Radiation causes large losses of Mg & Mg has a radiation protective action. Since high dose Mg antagonizes thyroid, I use high doses as part of my natural for hyperthyroidism & avoid high doses when there is a problem with low thyroid function.
Diuretics are a major villain in both Mg & potassium depletion, causing loss of both in the urine.
Potassium is the most abundant intracellular mineral with Mg ranking second. Magnesium assists in the cellular uptake of potassium so a Mg deficiency can lead to decreased potassium in the cells. Forty two percent of those with low potassium also have low Mg & will not respond to the administration of potassium until Mg is added. Unfortunately, normal serum levels of Mg & potassium do not necessarily indicate normal intracellular levels.
Medium chain triglycerides & the milk sugar, lactose enhance Mg absorption.

Magnesium supplementation is indicated for those with:

* Anxiety/nervousness/panic
* Insomnia
* Depression
* Emotional overreactivity Irritability/anger
* Hyperactivity/restlessness/squirming
* Short attention span & learning disabilities
* Hypersensitivity to sound & pain
* High stress Fatigue Muscle pain, spasms & tension
* Tics & tremors
* Asthma
* High blood pressure
* Migraine or other headaches
* High sugar, alcohol or caffeine intake
* Constipation
* Rapid pulse
* Heart irregularities
* Mitral valve prolapse
* Those with low potassium (potassium supplemental therapy may be ineffective without concurrent magnesium)

SYMPTOMS OF MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY BESIDES THOSE INFERRED FROM THE ABOVE LIST:

* Excessive perspiration
* Numbness & tingling
* Poor muscle coordination
* Increased startle response
* Decreased concentration & memory
* Confusion & disorientation
* Appetite loss
* Organic brain syndrome
* Kidney stones


HOW DO YOU MEASURE MAGNESIUM?
I am not thrilled with any of the available methods. Probably for blood tests, the Red Blood Cell Mg is the best. Urinary loss can be measured by a 24 hour urinary Mg level, but that doesn’t say much about what is I the cells. Though I may do the testing I prefer to make the decision based upon diet, symptoms, & medical history which suffices.

CAN YOU GET TOO MUCH MAGNESIUM?
Yes magnesium toxicity is possible, but not common & more likely to be associated with severe medical conditions such as liver or kidney failure. If one does not supplement beyond recommended dose should be no problem, but should not supplement if have the above conditions. Conversely mild kidney disorders contribute to Mg deficiency as one of the kidneys functions is to conserve Mg by reabsorbing it when needed rather than excreting it in the urine. With mild dysfunction there may be excess Mg loss in the urine & sometimes subsequent severe Mg deficiency symptoms.
The symptoms of Mg toxicity are a drop in blood pressure, skin flushing, nausea, vomiting, slowed heart beat & breathing, even leading to a coma or death in severe instances. The best treatment for this is intravenous Calcium which will antagonize the Mg & decrease the toxic effects.

WHAT FOODS ARE HIGHEST IN MAGNESIUM?
Listed in order of priority are re Mg content per 3 1/2 ounces: kelp, wheat bran, wheat germ, almonds, cashews, blackstrap molasses, brewer’s yeast, buckwheat, brazil nuts, dulse, filberts, peanuts, millet, wheat grain, pecans, walnuts, rye, tofu, beet greens, dry coconut, cooked soybeans, spinach, brown rice, dried figs, swiss chard, dried apricots, dates, collard leaves, shrimp, sweet corn, avocado, cheddar cheese, parsley, prunes, sunflower seeds, cooked beans, barley, dandelion greens, garlic, raisins, fresh green peas, potato with skin, crab, banana, sweet poet, blackberries, beets broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery, beef, asparagus.

WHAT ARE THE USUAL SUPPLEMENTAL DOSES?
Anywhere from 400 -2000 mg daily total in 2-3 divided doses depending upon symptoms & response. Magnesium is also quite laxative & this effect sometimes makes it difficult to take a high enough dose , so may do better with a time release form


Feel free to forward to anyone you feel would be interested.

Please tell me what you want to have in future newsletters.

Let us go about unselfishly scattering seeds of love, joy, peace, harmony, & healing.

Until then....
"Fear not to look upon the lovely truth in you."


Priscilla Slagle M.D.

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Mineral and Metal Neurotoxicology, ed. M. Yasui, M .J. Strong, K. Ota, & M. A. Verity, CRC Press: Boca Raton, New York, London, Tokyo, 1997
Chapter 20

Mechanisms of Action on the Nervous System in Magnesium Deficiency and Dementia
Jean Durlach and Pierre Bac

CONTENTS
20.1 Introduction
20.2 Mechanisms of Action of Magnesium Deficiency on the Nervous System
20.2.1 Electrophysiological Data
20.2.2 Biochemical Data
20.2.2.1 Factors Inducing NHE
20.2.2.2 NHE Compensatory Factors
20.2.3 Neuromuscular and Psychiatric Data
20.3 Magnesium Depletion and Dementias
20.3.1 Experimental Models of Mg Depletions
20.3.1.1 Neurological Degeneration Due to Al Load and Low Mg Intake
20.3.1.2 Mg Depletion Due to Kainic Acid Plus Mg Deficiency
20.3.2 Possible Links Between Dementias and Mg Depletion
20.4 Therapeutic Implications
20.4.1 Treatment of Magnesium Deficiency
20.4.2 Magnesium Therapy and Dementias
20.5 Conclusion
References



20.1 INTRODUCTION

Whatever the age, nervous forms of magnesium deficit represent the most commonly seen form in clinical practice.1 First of all, it seems very important to discriminate between the two types of magnesium deficit: magnesium deficiency and magnesium depletion. In the case of magnesium deficiency, the disorder corresponds to an insufficient magnesium intake: it merely requires oral physiological magnesium supplementation. In the case of magnesium depletion the disorder which induces magnesium deficit is related to a dysregulation of the control mechanisms of magnesium metabolism, either failure of the mechanisms which insure magnesium homeostasis or intervention of endogenous or iatrogenic perturbating factors of the magnesium status. Magnesium depletion requires more or less specific correction of its causal dysregulation.1 It should not be permitted today to extrapolate from physiological data observed in overt acute magnesium deficiency to physiological consequences of chronic magnesium deficiency. Although acute and chronic magnesium deficiencies are specifically reversible through oral magnesium supplementation with physiological doses, the experimental and clinical symptoms may differ. The typical pattern of chronic magnesium deficiency is latent whereas overt signs are observed in acute magnesium deficiency. The discrepancy between the patent and latent nervous forms of magnesium deficiency suggests that in the latent form there are compensatory factors which antagonize the nervous hyperexcitability observed in the overt form.

The aim of this review is to study:

1. The mechanisms of action of magnesium deficiency on the nervous system as demonstrated by
* Electrophysiological data testifying to diffuse nervous hyperexcitability (NHE)
* Biochemical data showing the mechanisms which may induce overt and latent NHE
* Neuromuscular and neurotic psychiatric data
2. The links between some types of magnesium depletions and dementias.
3. Therapeutical implications.

20.2 MECHANISMS OF ACTION OF MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY ON THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

We will analyze the mechanisms of action of magnesium deficiency on the nervous system successively through electrophysiological, biochemical, and clinical data.

20.2.1 Electrophysiological Data

Experimental and clinical electrophysiological procedures allow us to neurophysiologically examine the effects of magnesium deficiency on the cortical, subcortical, and peripheral levels of the nervous system.

Standard electroencephalography (EEG) in humans exhibits "diffuse irritative tracings" without focal lesions or paroxysmal discharges. The recordings contain spikes, a pointed appearance of alpha and/or theta waves, which is facilitated more often by hyperventilation than by intermittent photic stimulation. The polygraphic study of afternoon sleep may complete the data of standard EEG: brevity of the time required to fall asleep, superficial character of the sleep, frequency of awakening, hypnoagnosia.1 The EEG in the magnesium-deficient rat (electrocorticography) allows us to make observations similar to those found in humans. Mg deficiency induces electrocorticographic alterations in the rat analogous with those seen in Mg deficiency in humans. Sleep quality analysis shows particularly similar alterations of the hypnograms.1,2

Electronystagmography shows functional impairment at the level of the second vestibulo-ocular motoneuron which becomes apparent mainly as the variable association of "paroxysmal ocular states", i.e., a sequence of repetitive ocular movements with vertical predominance over a period averaging 20 s, irregularity of evoked nystagmic responses, excessive bilateral labyrinthine reflex activity, oblique or rotary nystagmus, prolonged latency during pendular tests, and differences between pendular nystagmic responses with the eyes open and closed. Alterations in optokinetic tests confirm the importance of subcortical functional disturbances.1

Moreover, behavioral changes in the Mg-deficient rats are due to hyperexcitability which first arises in deeper structures -- in the whole limbic system and in the hippocampus, particularly -- and which secondarily becomes generalized by projecting on the neocortices. 3

Electromyography (EMG) shows peripheral NHE. A series of autorhythmic events is observed (singlets, multiplets, complex tonicoclonic activity) beating for more than 2 min during one (or several) of the three facilitations tests: tourniquet-induced ischemia lasting 10 min, a postischemic phase measured 10 min after removal of the tourniquet, and finally hyperventilation for a maximum of 5 min. A repetitive EMG, whatever the intensity, constitutes the principal neurophysiological mark of NHE due to Mg deficiency.1

Skin conductance reflex might appear attractive as an investigation tool of diffuse NHE due to Mg deficiency,4 but this procedure still requires further validation.

These neurophysiological procedures, mainly EEG, ENG, and EMG, allow us to examine the effects of Mg deficiency on the nervous system: Mg deficiency causes diffuse neuromuscular hyperexcitability operating from the center to the periphery. NHE affects the nervous system as a whole, but comparing the impairments in its various sectors is less important than determining the intra- or extracellular origin of NHE.1,5

The long duration of experimental Mg deficiency required to produce manifestations of NHE has led to the hypothesis of concurrent reduction of intracellular Mg which represents "the bulk" of the Mg pool. In Mg deficiency induced in young rats, there is a direct correlation between the severity of hyperexcitability and the decrease in the brain Mg level. Clinical evidence includes patients with Mg deficiency but without abnormalities of extracellular Mg, hypo- or normomagnesemia in the same patient at different times, and a reduction of the mean erythrocyte or lymphocyte Mg contents, two forms of intracellular Mg. This demonstrates the possible role of intracellular Mg in NHE due to Mg deficiency.

This NHE is not always accompanied by low levels of cerebral Mg: these are only observed in severe Mg deficiency in young rats. Usually, no changes have been found in brain Mg concentrations during the course of Mg deficiency in adult rats.5-7 It should be stressed that in Mg deficiency there exist complex mechanisms to maintain normal, and even increased, Mg concentration in the tissue which are of vital importance in brain, liver, and brown fat.5-8 With reduced plasma Mg levels, an extracellular origin of NHE due to Mg deficiency may intervene, but plasma normomagnesemia has also been observed with some Mg deficiencies.

An analysis of the relationship between extra- and intracellular concentrations, clinical findings, and electronystagmographic tracings have shown that more symptoms of NHE occur when Mg deficiency predominates in one of the intra- or extracellular compartments rather than when it affects both equally.1,5 This electroclinical observation highlights the importance of Mg distribution disturbances in the physiopathological consequences of Mg deficiency on the nervous system.

20.2.2 Biochemical Data

During Mg deficiency, a complex neuroendocrinometabolic and renal regulation may intervene for compensating its systemic effects. The role of the blood-brain barrier which attenuates the effect of the systemic regulating factors of Mg status and of the humoral consequences of decompensated Mg deficiency in the nervous system must not be overlooked. The biochemical factors capable of increasing nervous excitability are essentially local.1,5

20.2.2.1 Factors Inducing NHE

Extrapolating from data observed in vitro, in situ, or in other pharmacological manipulations to the physiological basis of an Mg deficiency simply due to insufficient intake1 remains a methodological error.

Pharmacological Mg excess causes some systemic reactions which are not the opposite of physiological effects of Mg. For example pharmacological load of Mg increases release of calcitonin and nitric oxide (NO).9,10 In contrast, physiological Mg supplementation, far from acting similarly, reduces high levels of calcitonin1 (as well as of calcitonin gene-related peptide11and of NO12 released in the case of Mg deficiency.

The great stability of brain Mg during Mg deficiency particularly disagrees with the very notion of extrapolating from in vitro or in situ, extra- or intracellular Mg data1,5 to in vivo physiological data. This leads to suggesting an updated scheme of the factors which cause NHE5: Mg deficiency would induce a diffuse NHE through a neuronal depolarization which derives from the sum of its direct cellular effects in the neural cells and from several mediated reactions.5

20.2.2.1.1 Direct Cellular Effects

Mg deficiency results in three basic effects: disturbances in cellular Ca distribution, decreased second messenger nucleotidic ratio,5 and increased susceptibility to peroxydation.12-14 Through membranous and postmembranous alterations, Mg deficiency brings about a cellular Ca load with subcellular distribution modifications.5 Mg deficiency reduces 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) concentration and increases 3',5'-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) concentration, perhaps through inhibition of adenylate cyclase and activation of guanylate cyclase.5 Mg-deficient animals show an increased susceptibility to in vivo oxydative stress and the tissues of these animals are more susceptible to in vitro peroxydation, affecting lipid particularly.12-14 Protein oxydation in Mg-deficient rat brains occurs early. A significant increase of protein carbonyls is observed within 2 to 3 weeks of a Mg-deficient diet. These changes take place prior to any detectable tissue damage, dysfunction, or changes in cellular glutathione.15

Mg deficiency may increase formation of free radicals directly, but also indirectly through free-radical-triggered mechanisms.12 ,15

20.2.2.1.2 Mediated Local Effects

NHE due to Mg deficit is also linked to modifications in the turnover of various types of neurotransmitters: monoamines, amino acids, but also nitric oxide, neuropeptides, and cytokines.

Neurotransmitters - NHE due to Mg deficiency mainly depends on modifications in the turnover of several neuromediators and neuromodulators. They associate an increased turnover of the monoamines: serotonin (5HT), acetylcholine, catecholamines (dopamine and noradrenaline, mainly), and of excitatory amino acids (aspartic and glutamic acids, mainly) with a decreased turnover of inhibitory amino acids (γ-amino butyric acid and taurine, mainly).5 As a great number of in vitro studies on Mg and NMDA16 receptors have suggested that the latter had predominant and almost exclusive importance, their in vivo role has often been overestimated.2 If hyper NMDA receptivity enters into the mechanisms of NHE due to Mg deficiency as confirmed in vivo,17 a hyperreceptivity concerning other non-NMDA receptors of excitatory amino acids may also intervene.18 The genuine complexity of biology must not be disregarded just because the present trend is towards focusing on NMDA receptors at the expense of many other receptors.

Nitric oxide, peptides, and cytokines - An increased production of nitric oxide and of various inflammatory peptides - such as substance P, CGRP, and VIP - is observed in Mg-deficient rats. All these substances might directly intervene as neurotransmitters in the physiopathology of NHE due to Mg deficiency; but NO could also mediate an increase in cGMP whereas inflammatory neuropeptides might stimulate production of inflammatory cytokines and of free radicals.12-14 During the progression of Mg deficiency in a rodent model, dramatic increases of inflammatory cytokines were observed: interleukins 1 and 6 (IL1, IL6) and tumor necrosis factor (α(TNFα ). Increase of these various cytokines was neither concomitant nor constant, according to species and strains.12-14,19 So far, their importance in the physiopathology of NHE has not been clearly defined but we have observed with P. Maurois that audiogenic seizures in Mg-deficient mice might be correlated with possible TNFα release. According to the strains of mice, there is a parallelism between production of TNFα. induced by bacterial lipopolysaccharides and NHE. However, coexistence does not mean causality and further research focusing on the effects of specific TNFα antibody on the production of audiogenic seizures will be necessary. Opioid peptide activity could be reduced since, in the complex mechanisms of opioid action, Mg at the physiological level may be most often an agonist of δ, µ, and κ opioid receptors.5,20

The sum of these direct and mediated local factors may bring about overt NHE due to Mg deficiency. Frequency of latent forms of this NHE postulates the existence of local compensatory factors which may control NHE.5

20.2.2.2 NHE Compensatory Factors

The local compensatory factors instrumental in the latency of NHE due to Mg deficiency may also be direct and mediated.

20.2.2.2.1 Direct Compensatory Factors

Since Mg can more or less be replaced by a natural polyamine in many biochemical reactions, an "Mg-substitutive" increase in polyamines might decrease the direct cellular effects of Mg deficiency. This "Mg-vicariant" increase in polyamines may be a factor regulating the alterations of protein synthesis and particularly that of Ca2+ and Mg2+ binding proteins.5 Increased formation of free radicals may be antagonized by the cell antioxidant system: enzymes such as superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase, antioxidant vitamins such as E, A, and C, selenium, and sulfur compounds such as glutathione and taurine.8, 14-18

20.2.2.2.2 Mediated Compensatory Factors

Some types of adenylate cyclase-receptors may contribute to a compensatory increase in the cAMP/cGMP ratio.5 The main compensatory factors are mediated by the increase of several physiological neuroprotective agents: inhibitory aminoacids1,5,10,21-23 and perhaps melatonin.24 The particular efficiency of N-acetyl-amino compounds such as Mg N-acetyl-amino taurinate and melatonin might depend on a decreased activity of the Mg-dependent N-acetyl-amino transferase in the nervous system (EC 2.3.1.5.).10,21-24 The main mediated compensatory factor is taurine (TA) with the help of its peptidic congener: γ-L-glutamyl taurine (GTA).5

When these direct and mediated compensatory factors are effective, NHE remains latent. It is patent when compensatory factors are insufficient. Their failure may depend on several reasons:

1 . Sufficient amounts of amino acids - precursors of neuromediators and neuromodulators - must be available in the nervous system. It is important to have qualitatively and quantitatively a sufficient protein intake and sufficient amino acid transport across the blood-brain barrier, eventually facilitated by a homeostatic reactive hyperinsulinism. Both may be lacking.

2. If a compensatory high release of cAMP counteracts the decrease of cAMP/cGMP ratio, it inhibits the TA biosynthesis through the reduction of cystine dioxygenase activity.

3. Efficient brain metabolism and, particularly enzymatic activity, is necessary. However, Mg deficiency frequently alters protein biosynthesis and induces enzymatic hypoactivity.

4. Finally, the number of excitatory factors appears larger than that of compensatory factors during Mg deficiency in the nervous system.5

However, one should not overlook the schematic nature of this general pattern which covers both a homogeneous explanation of the diffuse character of the symptomatic NHE due to Mg deficiency and the possibility of the Mg deficient latent form.

Because of the heterogenicity of NHE due to Mg deficiency, a special study of each parameter of this scheme in each brain area is necessary to obtain a better understanding of these complex phenomena.5

20.2.3 Neuromuscular and Psychiatric Data

NHE due to Mg deficiency results in a nonspecific clinical pattern which associates peripheral and autonomic neuromuscular signs and central or rather psychiatric symptoms. Neuromuscular disturbances include acroparesthesias, muscle fasciculations, cramps, and myalgias occurring more frequently than tetanoid or tetanic attacks, and various autonomic functional complaints such as cardiac palpitations, precordial pain, extrasystolae, Raynaud's syndrome, hepatobiliary dyskinesia, gastrointestinal cramps and spasms, and asthma-like dyspnea.

Psychiatric symptoms consist of anxiety, hyperemotionality, asthenia, headache, insomnia, dizziness, nervous fits, lipothymias, and sensations of a "lump in the throat" and of "blocked breathing". On encountering this nonspecific pattern, the signs of neuromuscular hyperexcitability are of much greater importance. Chvostek's sign must be sought systematically. The sign is positive in 85% of cases examined. Trousseau's sign, less sensitive than Chvostek's sign, is observed only in cases of obvious hyperexcitability. The hyperventilation test can complete the search for Chvostek's sign and may give greater sensitivity to the Trousseau's sign (Von Bonsdorff's test).

Neurophysiological tracings and routine Mg assessment (at least plasma and red blood cell Mg; if possible evaluation of Mg intake and daily magnesuria, calcemia, and calciuria) may complete the clinical examination. However, the diagnosis of Mg deficiency mainly requires an Mg oral loading test. The dose of Mg to be administered is 5 mg/kg/day for at least 1 month. At this physiological dose level, oral magnesium supplement is totally devoid of the pharmacodynamic effects of parenteral magnesium. Correction of symptoms by this oral Mg load constitutes the best proof that they were due to Mg deficiency and may represent the beginning of its treatment. 1,4,10

Psychiatric forms of Mg deficiency have been well identified. Personality disorders are of the neurotic type. For example the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) finds a direct correlation between the "neurotic triad" (hypochondria, depression, and hysteria) and the EMG marks of NHE due to Mg deficiency.1,4 With all the psychometric evaluations, and with the DSM III R interview particularly, the clinical pattern induced through Mg deficiency was always neurotic (for example: generalized anxiety, panic attack disorders, and depression) but never psychotic. Mg deficiency never induces dementia.1,4,25,26 Although a neurosis pattern due to Mg deficiency is frequently observed and simply cured through oral physiological supplementation, neuroses are preeminently conditioning factors for stress. Neuroses may therefore very frequently produce secondary Mg depletion. They require their own specific antineurotic treatment and not mere oral Mg physiological supplementation, but both genuine forms of neurosis due to primary neural Mg deficiency and Mg depletion secondary to a neurosis may exist. These two conditions may be concomitant and reinforce each other. In these stressful patients it may be difficult to establish the primacy of one or the other. In practice, physiological oral Mg supplements may be added to psychiatric treatments, at least at the start.1,10

It is imperative to emphasize that the nervous consequences of Mg deficiency remain functional with anatomical integrity for a long time. They are completely reversible since they can be restored to normal with simple oral physiological Mg supplementation,1,5,10 but it should also be pointed out that a prolongation of untreated chronic Mg deficiency can produce irreversible lesions1,5 with histological changes: morphological changes in the rat hippocampus, degeneration of the Purkinje cells, glial aberration of positive Gomori cells, and neurovasculitis. When Mg deficiency secondary to alcoholism was corrected, no alcoholic encephalopathy was observed within a period of 5 years.1,5 These processes could account for the clinical and paraclinical data that persist after treatment of NHE due to Mg deficiency.1,5 They are especially of concern during the early development of the nervous system. The constitutional characteristics of the nervous forms of primary chronic Mg deficiency could arise from undetected maternal Mg deficiency.1,5 An early maternal Mg deficiency could be the fountainhead of more severe impairments: sudden infant death syndrome8,28 some forms of infantile convulsions or psychiatric disturbances,1,5 and even in adults, cardiovascular diseases and noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.28 The protocol of the multicenter trials of maternal Mg physiological supplementation should be followed not only on the mother, the fetus, and the neonate, but also on the child throughout life from infancy to older age.28

20.3 MAGNESIUM DEPLETION AND DEMENTIAS

Although Mg deficiency might not result in dementia, some types of Mg depletion can play a role in the physiopathology of several types of dementia.

20.3.1 Experimental Models of Mg Depletions

Various types of more or less severe Mg depletion are used: genetic models (in rats and mice) and acquired models: either secondary to an irreversible (or partially reversible) cause (such as traumatic brain injury) or reversible. In the latter case, the models associate a low Mg intake with diverse types of Mg stress.10,22,23 Two types of experimental Mg depletions will be highlighted because of their possible link with dementia.

20.3.1.1 Neurological Degeneration Due to Al Load and Low Mg Intake

Garden soil and drinking water in some Western Pacific areas with high incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and parkinsonism-dementia (ALS-PD) contain high concentrations of polluting metals such as Al, Fe, and Mn, and low concentrations of common metals such as Mg and Ca. Decreased exposure to traditional sources of foodstuffs and drinking water resulted in a dramatic decline in ALS-PD.

These data as well as the links between aluminum load, magnesium status, and dialysis encephalopathy -- more hypothetically, Alzheimer's disease -- highlight the interest of corresponding experimental studies. With a high Al diet alone, Al content in the nervous system in rats showed no difference with a control group although serum Al was high. No degenerative process was observed. However, with an insufficient intake of Mg the same Al load induced an increase in Al and Ca concentrations in the nervous system and neurodegeneration with precipitation of insoluble hydroxyapatites.28

20.3.1.2 Mg Depletion Due to Kainic Acid Plus Mg Deficiency

Hippocampal injury of ageing may originate from an increased calcium influx in pyramidal neurones resulting from the deleterious effects of increased release of excitatory aminoacids associated with a decrease of neuroprotective factors. Kainic acid acting through its specific receptors generates toxicity in the hippocampus, whereas Mg deficiency - a model of accelerated ageing - decreases Mg neuroprotection.23 In this model physiological Mg supplementation and pharmacological doses of Na acetyltaurinate were ineffective. On the other hand, Mg acetyltaurinate at pharmacological doses had preventive and curative effects in both the short and long terms.23

These two types of experimental Mg depletion models may be useful for screening various treatments of psychiatric disturbances possibly linked with Al load and ageing insults.21,23,29

20.3.2 Possible Links Between Dementias and Mg Depletion

Established links between some types of dementias and Mg depletion are presently scarce, but the experimental models of two types of Mg depletion, perhaps related to the physiopathology of some dementias, constitute promising tests for screening potentially efficient drugs both in these Mg depletions and in the related types of dementias.

20.4 THERAPEUTIC IMPLICATIONS

It seems obvious to contrast the specific, easy, and efficient treatment of the nervous form of Mg deficiency with the difficult problems set by the treatment of certain types of Mg depletion playing a possible role in the physiopathology of some dementias.

20.4.1 Treatment of Magnesium Deficiency

Physiological oral Mg supplementation (5 mg/kg/day) is simple and can be carried out in the diet or with Mg salts. To correct in vivo experimental or clinical Mg deficiency all Mg salts have a comparable bioavailability, but evidently their anions have their own importance. This treatment is totally atoxic since it palliates Mg deficiency by simply normalizing the Mg intake.1,10 It is able to cure all the functional symptoms of Mg deficiency: signs of neuromuscular hyperexcitability and psychiatric symptoms which frequently mimic a neurotic pattern. It prevents irreversible stigmata of NHE due to primary or secondary magnesium deficiency, alcoholic encephalopathy in chronic alcoholism particularly.1,5 It is necessary to highlight the curative and preventive importance of oral physiological maternal Mg supplementation, not only during pregnancy but also in the child throughout life from infancy to older age, to possibly prevent the so-called constitutional factor of neurolability, some cases of sudden infant death syndrome, infantile convulsions, or psychiatric diseases, and even in adult cardiovascular diseases and noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.1,5,8,10,28

20.4.2 Magnesium Therapy and Dementias

With perhaps the one exception of the treatment of autism through very high pharmacological doses of vitamin B6 and high doses of Mg1,5,10,25,30 we cannot presently control the dysregulations of Mg status in Alzheimer's disease, dialysis encephalopathy, and ALS-PD. We can only advise some prophylactic measures. However, if an insufficient Mg intake (i.e., Mg deficiency) would add up to depletion cases, then an Mg deficit would be observed associating deficiency and depletion. The correction of Mg deficiency through simple oral supplementation therefore constitutes an adjuvant treatment of this possible component of Mg deficit.1,10

In some cases, the interest of pharmacological Mg therapy may be discussed. However, pharmacological Mg therapy may induce toxicity since it creates Mg overload. High oral doses of Mg (10 mg/kg/day) are advisable for chronic indications and the parenteral route is suitable for acute indications. Mg infusions can only be envisaged in intensive care units with careful monitoring of pulse, blood pressure, deep tendon reflexes, hourly diuresis, and electrocardiogram and respiratory recordings. It is presently difficult to evaluate the chronic toxicity of long-term high oral Mg doses: they may bring latent complications which may reduce life span.1,10 Neuromuscular hypoexcitability due to hypermagnesemia only occurs when plasma Mg is more than twice normal levels. The blood-brain barrier gives priority to the peripheral action of Mg overload.1,10 In vivo, this neuroprotection seems essentially indirect through the beneficial effects on antithrombotic platelet and endothelial functions and on vasospasm, mainly by acting as a calcium antagonist.1,9,10 Except for a pathological disruption of the blood-brain barrier, direct neuroprotection is observed with massively increased plasma Mg which cannot be practically carried out in human beings.10 In experimental models, the best protective effects with pharmacological doses of Mg were obtained with Mg acetyltaurinate, an Mg salt of the N-acetylamino-derived compound from taurine, the most neuroprotective inhibitory aminoacid.21,23 Further study should evaluate its clinical therapeutic effects.

20.5 CONCLUSION

Two different types of links between Mg deficit and the nervous system should be emphasized.

1 . NHE due to Mg deficiency with neuromuscular and psychiatric symptoms is well recognized nowadays. Induced by insufficient Mg intake, the primary or secondary acute or chronic nervous forms of Mg deficiency remain reversible over a long period by simply normalizing the Mg intake. Untreated chronic forms may however bring about irreversible organic disorders. The psychiatric forms of Mg deficiency may fit into a neurotic pattern, but never result in dementia.

2. In contrast, the relationships between some types of Mg depletion due to various dysregulations of Mg status and some dementias have not been clearly defined yet. However, some epidemiological, experimental and clinical data are promising and new paths remain open in this very interesting field of neuroscience research.
REFERENCES

1. Durlach J: Magnesium in clinical practice. London-Paris, John Libbey Eurotext, 1988, pp.360.

2. Depoortere H., Francon D., and Llopis J.: Effects of a magnesium deficient diet on sleep in rats. Neuropsychobiology, 1993; 27:237-245.

3. Goto Y, Nakamura M, Abe S, et al: Physiological correlates of abnormal behaviors in magnesium-deficient rats. Epilepsy Res., 1993; 15:81-89.

4. Sandrini G, Ruiz G, Alfonsi E, et al: Effects of Mg salt administration on skin conductance response in neuronal hyperexcitability syndrome. Magnesium Res., 1989; 1/2:122-123.

5. Durlach J, Poenaru S, Rouhani S, et at: The control of central neural hyperexcitability in magnesium deficiency. In: Nutrients and Brain Function, Ed., W.B. Essmann, Basel, Karger, 1987, pp 49-71.

6. Poenaru S, Aymard P, Durlach J, et al: Regional distribution of magnesium in normal and Mg deficient rats (abst.). Magnesium Res., 1991; 4:246.

7. Lerma A, Planells E, Aranda P, et al: Evolution of Mg deficiency in rats. Ann. Nutr. Metabol., 1993; 37:210-217.

8. Durlach J, Durlach V, Rayssiguier Y, et al: Magnesium and thermoregulation. I. Newborn and infant. Is sudden infant death syndrome a Mg-dependent disease of the transition from chemical to physical thermoregulation? Magnesium Res., 1991; 4:137-152.

9. Kemp PA, Gardiner SM, March JE, et at: Effects of N6-nitro-l arginine methyl ester on regional haemodynamic responses to MGSO4 in conscious rats. J. Pharmacol., 1994; 111:325-331.

10. Durlach J, Durlach V, Bac P, et al: Magnesium and therapeutics. Magnesium Res., 1994; 7:313-328.

11. Weglicki WB, Tong Mak I, and Phillips TM: Blockade of cardiac inflammation in Mg2+ deficiency by substance P receptors inhibition. Circ. Res., 1994; 74 1009-1013.

12. Rayssiguier Y, Mazur A, Gueux E, et al: Mg deficiency affects lipid metabolism and atherosclerosis processes by a mechanism involving inflammation and oxidative stress (abst.). Magnesium Res., 1994; 7 (Supp. 1): 46-47.

13. Rayssiguier Y, Gueux E, Bussière L, et al: Dietary Mg affects susceptibility of lipoproteins and tissue to peroxidation in rats. J. Am. Coll. Nutr., 1993; 12:133-137.

14. Rayssiguier Y, Durlach J, Gueux E, et al: Mg and ageing. I. Experimental data: importance of oxidative damage. Magnesium Res., 1993; 6:369-378.

15. Stafford RE, Mak IT, Kramer JH, et al: Protein oxidation in Mg deficient rat brains and kidneys. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 1993; 196:596-600.

16. Smalheiser NR and Swanson DR,: Assessing a gap in the biomedical literature: Mg deficiency and neurologic disease. Neurosci. Res. Commun., 1994; 15:1-9.

17. Nakamura M, Abe S, Goto Y, et al: in vivo assessment of prevention of white-noise-induced seizure in Mg-deficient rats by NMDA receptor blockers. Epilepsy Res., 1994; 17: 249-256.

18. Nakamura M, Abe S, and Akazawa K: AMPA - but not NMDA - receptor blocker NBQX prevents seizure induction in Mg-deficient rats. Magnesium Res., 1995; 8:55-56.

19. Rayssiguier Y, Malpuech C, Nowacki W, et al: Evaluation of the inflammatory state during Mg deficiency in the rat (abst.). Magnesium Res., 1994; 7 (Supp. 1): 51.

20. Benyhe S, Szucs M, Varga E, et al: Cation and guanine nucleotide effects on ligand bindings properties of mu and delta receptors in rat brain membranes. Acta Biochim. Biophys. Hung., 1989; 24:69-8 1.

21. Durlach J, Durlach V, Bac P, et al: Mg and ageing. II. Clinical data: aetiological mechanisms and physiopathological consequences of Mg deficit in the elderly. Magnesium Res., 1993; 6 374-394.

22. Bac P, Herrenknecht C, Binet P, et al: Audiogenic seizures in Mg-deficient mice: effects of Mg pyrrolidone-2carboxylate, Mg acetyltaurinate, Mg chloride and vitamin B6. Magnesium Res., 1993; 6:11-19.

23. Bac P, Herrenknecht C, Binet P, et al: Effects of various Mg salts on the action of systemic kainic acid in Mg deficient rats: a new model of accelerated hippocampal ageing-like injury? (abst.). Magnesium Res., 1993; 6:300-301.

24. Velloso A: Magnesium, free radicals and longevity. Magnesium Res., 1994; 7 (Supp. 1): 48.

25. Galland L: Magnesium, stress and neuropsychiatric disorders. Magnesium Trace Elem., 1991-1992; 10:287-301,

26. Kirov GK, Birch NJ, Steadman P, et al: Plasma Mg levels in a population of psychiatric patients: correlation with symptoms. Neuropsychobiology, 1994; 30:73-78.

27. Durlach J: Death from infancy to older age and marginal Mg deficiency. How long should follow-up of the consequences of undernutrition in pregnancy be continued? Magnesium Res., 1993; 6:297-298.

28. Mitani K: Relationship between neurological diseases due to Al load, especially amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and magnesium status. Magnesium Res., 1992; 5:203-213.

29. Durlach J: Magnesium depletion and pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Magnesium Res., 1990; 3:217-218.

30. Tolbert L, Haigler T, Waits M, et al: Brief report: lack of response in an autistic population to a low dose clinical trial of pyridoxine plus magnesium. J. Autism Dev. Dis., 1993; 23:193-199.

Click to expand...

Sample Chapters: Recognizing Stress

Which of these is stress?

* You receive a promotion at work.
* Your car has a flat tire.
* You go to a fun party that lasts till 2:00 a.m.
* Your dog gets sick.
* Your new bedroom set is being delivered.
* Your best friend and his wife come to stay at your house for a week.
* You get a bad case of hay fever.
* All of the above.

which are stress?

ALL OF THESE ARE STRESS

If you are used to thinking that stress is something that makes you worry, you have the wrong idea of stress. Stress is many different kinds of things: happy things, sad things, allergic things, physical things. Many people carry enormous stress loads and they do not even realize it!
WHAT IS STRESS?

We are all familiar with the word "stress". Stress is when you are worried about getting laid off your job, or worried about having enough money to pay your bills, or worried about your mother when the doctor says she may need an operation. In fact, to most of us, stress is synonymous with worry. If it is something that makes you worry, then it is stress.

Your body, however, has a much broader definition of stress. TO YOUR BODY, STRESS IS SYNONYMOUS WITH CHANGE. Anything that causes a change in your life causes stress. It doesn't matter if it is a "good" change, or a "bad" change, they are both stress. When you find your dream apartment and get ready to move, that is stress. If you break your leg, that is stress. Good or bad, if it is a CHANGE in your life, it is stress as far as your body is concerned.

Even IMAGINED CHANGE is stress. (Imagining changes is what we call "worrying".) If you fear that you will not have enough money to pay your rent, that is stress. If you worry that you may get fired, that is stress. If you think that you may receive a promotion at work, that is also stress (even though this would be a good change). Whether the event is good or bad, imagining changes in your life is stressful.

Anything that causes CHANGE IN YOUR DAILY ROUTINE is stressful.

Anything that causes CHANGE IN YOUR BODY HEALTH is stressful.

IMAGINED CHANGES are just as stressful as real changes.

Let us look at several types of stress -- ones that are so commonplace that you might not even realize that they are stressful.......
Emotional Stress

When arguments, disagreements, and conflicts cause CHANGES in your personal life -- that is stress.
Emotional Stress
Illness

Catching a cold, breaking an arm, a skin infection, a sore back, are all CHANGES in your body condition.

illness
Pushing Your Body Too Hard

A major source of stress is overdriving yourself. If you are working (or partying) 16 hours a day, you will have reducedyour available time for rest. Sooner or later, the energy drain on your system will cause the body to fall behind in its repair work. There will not be enough time or energy for the body to fix broken cells, or replace used up brain neurotransmitters. CHANGES will occur in your body's internal environment. You will "hit thewall," "run out of gas". If you continue, permanent damage may be done. The body's fight to stay healthy in the face of the increased energy that your are expending is major stress.
Environmental Factors

Very hot or very cold climates can be stressful. Very high altitude may be a stress. Toxins or poisons are a stress. Each of these factors threatens to cause CHANGES in your body's internal environment.

environmental toxins
The Special Case of Tobacco Use

Tobacco is a powerful toxin!! Smoking destroys cells that clean your trachea, bronchi, and lungs. Smoking causes emphysema and chronic bronchitis, which progress to slow suffocation. The carbon monoxide from cigarette smoking causes chronic carbon monoxide poisoning. Tobacco use damages the arteries in your body, causing insufficient blood supply to the brain, heart, and vital organs. Cigarette smoking increases the risk of cancer 50 fold.

Chewing tobacco or snuff is no safe haven. It also damages your arteries, and it carries the same cancer risk. (Cancers of the head and neck are particularly vicious, disfiguring, and deadly).

Poisoning the body with carbon monoxide, and causing the physical illnesses of emphysema, chronic bronchitis, cancer, and arterial damage, tobacco is a powerful source of added stress to one's life.
Hormonal Factors

PUBERTY

The vast hormonal changes of puberty are severe stressors. A person's body actually CHANGES shape, sexual organs begin to function, new hormones are released in large quantities. Puberty, as we all know, is very stressful.

PRE-MENSTRUAL SYNDROME

Once a woman passes puberty, her body is designed to function best in the presence of female hormones. For women past puberty, a lack of female hormones is a major stress on the body. Once a month, just prior to menstruation, a woman's hormone levels drop sharply. In many women, the stress of sharply falling hormones is enough to create a temporary OVERSTRESS. This temporary OVERSTRESS is popularly known as Pre MenstrualSyndrome (PMS).

POST-PARTUM

Following a pregnancy, hormone levels CHANGE dramatically. After a normal childbirth, or a miscarriage, some women may be thrown into OVERSTRESS by loss of the hormones of pregnancy.

MENOPAUSE

There is another time in a woman's life when hormone levels decline. This is the menopause. The decline in hormones during menopause is slow and steady. Nevertheless, this menopausal decline causes enough stress on the body to produce OVERSTRESS in many women.
Taking Responsibility for Another Person's Actions

When you take responsibility for another person's actions, CHANGES occur in your life over which you have little or no control. Taking responsibility for another person's actions is a major stressor.
Allergic Stress

Allergic reactions are a part of your body's natural defense mechanism. When confronted with a substance which your body considers toxic, your body will try to get rid of it, attack it, or somehow neutralize it. If it is something that lands in your nose, you might get a runny, sneezy nose. If it lands on your skin, you might get blistery skin. If you inhale it, you'll get wheezy lungs. If you eat it, you may break out in itchy red hives all over your body. Allergy is a definite stress, requiring large changes in energy expenditure on the part of your body's defense system to fight off what the body perceives as a dangerous attack by an outside toxin.

STRESS SCALE FOR ADULTS

In the following table you can look up representative changes in your life and see how much stress value each of these changes is adding to your life. NOTE ANY ITEM THAT YOU MAY HAVE EXPERIENCED IN THE LAST TWELVE MONTHS. Then, total up your score.
(Adapted from the "Social Readjustment Rating Scale" by Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe. This scale was first published in the "Journal of Psychosomatic Research", Copyright 1967, vol.II p. 214. It is used by permission of Pergamon Press Ltd.)

STRESS

EVENT VALUE

DEATH OF SPOUSE 100
DIVORCE 60
MENOPAUSE 60
SEPARATION FROM LIVING PARTNER 60
JAIL TERM OR PROBATION 60
DEATH OF CLOSE FAMILY MEMBER OTHER THAN SPOUSE 60
SERIOUS PERSONAL INJURY OR ILLNESS 45
MARRIAGE OR ESTABLISHING LIFE PARTNERSHIP 45
FIRED AT WORK 45
MARITAL OR RELATIONSHIP RECONCILIATION 40
RETIREMENT 40
CHANGE IN HEALTH OF IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER 40
WORK MORE THAN 40 HOURS PER WEEK 35
PREGNANCY OR CAUSING PREGNANCY 35
SEX DIFFICULTIES 35
GAIN OF NEW FAMILY MEMBER 35
BUSINESS OR WORK ROLE CHANGE 35
CHANGE IN FINANCIAL STATE 35
DEATH OF A CLOSE FRIEND (not a family member) 30
CHANGE IN NUMBER OF ARGUMENTS WITH SPOUSE OR LIFE PARTNER 30
MORTGAGE OR LOAN FOR A MAJOR PURPOSE 25
FORECLOSURE OF MORTGAGE OR LOAN 25
SLEEP LESS THAN 8 HOURS PER NIGHT 25
CHANGE IN RESPONSIBILITIES AT WORK 25
TROUBLE WITH IN-LAWS, OR WITH CHILDREN 25
OUTSTANDING PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT 25
SPOUSE BEGINS OR STOPS WORK 20
BEGIN OR END SCHOOL 20
CHANGE IN LIVING CONDITIONS (visitors in the home, change in roommates, remodeling house) 20
CHANGE IN PERSONAL HABITS (diet, exercise, smoking, etc.) 20
CHRONIC ALLERGIES 20
TROUBLE WITH BOSS 20
CHANGE IN WORK HOURS OR CONDITIONS 15
MOVING TO NEW RESIDENCE 15
PRESENTLY IN PRE-MENSTRUAL PERIOD 15
CHANGE IN SCHOOLS 15
CHANGE IN RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES 15
CHANGE IN SOCIAL ACTIVITIES (more or less than before) 15
MINOR FINANCIAL LOAN 10
CHANGE IN FREQUENCY OF FAMILY GET-TOGETHERS 10
VACATION 10
PRESENTLY IN WINTER HOLIDAY SEASON 10
MINOR VIOLATION OF THE LAW 5
TOTAL SCORE ___________________________ (See below for meaning of your Stress Score)


STRESS SCALE FOR YOUTH

STRESS

EVENT VALUE

DEATH OF SPOUSE, PARENT, BOYFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND 100
DIVORCE (of yourself or your parents) 65
PUBERTY 65
PREGNANCY (or causing pregnancy) 65
MARITAL SEPARATION OR BREAKUP WITH BOYFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND 60
JAIL TERM OR PROBATION 60
DEATH OF OTHER FAMILY MEMBER (other than spouse, parent or boyfriend/girlfriend) 60
BROKEN ENGAGEMENT 55
ENGAGEMENT 50
SERIOUS PERSONAL INJURY OR ILLNESS 45
MARRIAGE 45
ENTERING COLLEGE OR BEGINNING NEXT LEVEL OF SCHOOL (starting junior high or high school) 45
CHANGE IN INDEPENDENCE OR RESPONSIBILITY 45
ANY DRUG AND/OR ALCOHOL USE 45
FIRED AT WORK OR EXPELLED FROM SCHOOL 45
CHANGE IN ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE 45
RECONCILIATION WITH MATE, FAMILY OR BOYFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND (getting back together) 40
TROUBLE AT SCHOOL 40
SERIOUS HEALTH PROBLEM OF A FAMILY MEMBER 40
WORKING WHILE ATTENDING SCHOOL 35
WORKING MORE THAN 40 HOURS PER WEEK 35
CHANGING COURSE OF STUDY 35
CHANGE IN FREQUENCY OF DATING 35
SEXUAL ADJUSTMENT PROBLEMS (confusion of sexual identitity) 35
GAIN OF NEW FAMILY MEMBER (new baby born or parent remarries or adopts) 35
CHANGE IN WORK RESPONSIBILITIES 35
CHANGE IN FINANCIAL STATE 30
DEATH OF A CLOSE FRIEND (not a family member) 30
CHANGE TO A DIFFERENT KIND OF WORK 30
CHANGE IN NUMBER OF ARGUMENTS WITH MATE, FAMILY OR FRIENTS 30
SLEEP LESS THAN 8 HOURS PER NIGHT 25
TROUBLE WITH IN-LAWS OR BOYFRIEND'S OR GIRLFRIEND'S FAMILY 25
OUTSTANDING PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT (awards, grades, etc.) 25
MATE OR PARENTS START OR STOP WORKING 20
BEGIN OR END SCHOOL 20
CHANGE IN LIVING CONDITIONS (visitors in the home, remodeling house, change in roommates) 20
CHANGE IN PERSONAL HABITS (start or stop a habit like smoking or dieting) 20
CHRONIC ALLERGIES 20
TROUBLE WITH THE BOSS 20
CHANGE IN WORK HOURS 15
CHANGE IN RESIDENCE 15
CHANGE TO A NEW SCHOOL (other than graduation) 10
PRESENTLY IN PRE-MENSTRUAL PERIOD 15
CHANGE IN RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY 15
GOING IN DEBT (you or your family) 10
CHANGE IN FREQUENCY OF FAMILY GATHERINGS 10
VACATION 10
PRESENTLY IN WINTER HOLIDAY SEASON 10
MINOR VIOLATION OF THE LAW 5

TOTAL SCORE _____________________________________


We have asked you to look at the last twelve months of changes in your life. This may surprise you. It is crucial to understand, however, that a major change in your life has effects that carry over for long periods of time. It is like dropping a rock into a pond. After the initial splash, you will experience ripples of stress. And these ripples may continue in your life for at least a year.

So, if you have experienced total stress within the last twelve months of 250 or greater, even with normal stress tolerance, you may be OVERSTRESSED. Persons with Low Stress Tolerance may be OVERSTRESSED at levels as low as 150.

OVERSTRESS will make you sick. Carrying too heavy a stress load is like running your car engine past the red line; or leaving your toaster stuck in the "on" position; or running a nuclear reactor past maximum permissible power. Sooner or later, something will break, burnup, or melt down.

What breaks depends on where the weak links are in your physical body. And this is largely an inherited characteristic.


Here are the common "weak links", and the symptoms of their malfunction


Brain OVERSTRESS
Fatigue, aches and pains, crying spells, depression, anxiety attacks, sleep disturbance.
Gastrointestinal Tract
Ulcer, cramps and diarrhea, colitis, irritable bowel.
Glandular System
Thyroid gland malfunction.
Cardiovascular
High blood pressure, heart attack, abnormal heart beat, stroke.
Skin
Itchy skin rashes.
Immune System
Decreased resistance to infections and neoplasm.

We have known for a long time that OVERSTRESS could cause physical damage to the gastrointestinal tract, glandular system, skin or cardiovascular system. But only recently have we learned that OVERSTRESS actually causes physical changes in the brain. One of the most exciting medical advances of our decade has been an understanding of how OVERSTRESS physically affects your brain. We now know that the fatigue, aches and pains, crying spells, depression, anxiety attacks and sleep disturbances of OVERSTRESS are caused by brain CHEMICAL MALFUNCTION.

Click to expand...

Depression Treatment: A Cure for Depression using Magnesium?

by George Eby
_george.eby@george-eby-research.com
George Eby Research, Austin, Texas
Copyright

Revised: September 25, 2008

Welcome! This is the first (and best) of millions of web pages listed in Google.com for "magnesium and depression".

NEW and INTERESTING!

* Beautiful views of this big blue earth - guaranteed to brighten your day! (1.7 MB)
* World's Best Health Cartoons - CounterThink!
* Preventing and Reversing Arteriosclerosis with vitamin K2
* Mercola's Complete Probiotics = anti Candida albicans & pro Vitamin K2
* Driving and Depression
* All of Eby's published medical journal articles
* Let the Sunshine In! - A 5 frame Opus cartoon
* Transdermal magnesium chloride treatment of ciprofloxacin side effects
* Eby's new medical journal article: Gallium treatment for arthritis
* Eby's new medical journal article: Rapid recovery from major depression using magnesium
* EBY's new medical journal article: Magnesium Deficiency as Cause of Most Major Depression and Related Mental Illness: A Review of the Neurobiochemistry, Animal and Human Evidence with a Suggested Treatment Protocol (with 92 literature references cited)





Forward: Although this depression treatment by magnesium essay was written originally to address the role of magnesium as a depression treatment, the role of magnesium deficiency as cause of vast other morbidity and mortality is also addressed. This essay is my "notes to myself", and you are welcome to visit and explore what I am finding and to discuss it with me by phone or e-mail. As much as possible, all depression treatment research presented is from primary medical research by others and personal observation. I am just a reporter who was very ill from depression and was interested in seeing why things are going wrong in American medicine. I am not a physician and, obviously, I do not practice medicine or give medical advice. I have researched nutrients as medicine since 1979 on a daily basis, and I have come to think that much is wrong with American medicine, but not American medical science. We need to look into the vast library of medical research to see our paths better, and not wait until organized medicine catches up. From this research, I am forced to believe that much of what is wrong stems from our practice of eating refined grain products and reliance on drugs for health, not nutrition. In centuries prior to the twentieth, bread was the "staff of life" primarily due to its mineral, protein and caloric content. Today, perhaps we need to think of bread and other refined grain products as the "staff of death" due to the absence or near absence of life-sustaining minerals and vitmins. As you read this essay, please ask yourself if it is actually possible that the entire foundation of modern medicine is built upon a foundation of quicksand (low magnesium and high calcium)? You may find some answers here.

Concerning the above figure, magnesium deficiency causes a large number of mental and other illnesses, and the following article discusses nearly all of these. However, a single picture is truly worth a million words.
NOTE: I started writing this page in 2000 and have updated it continually. In this page, there are over 1,200 external links to interesting and important pages. However, some of those pages have been terminated or moved, so there are dead links in this page. You can find the dead link on the Archive.Org website by copying the missing link address into the "Wayback Machine" address box at Archive.Org. If you will notify me of dead links by email, I will update this page to the archived page. BTW, there are about 270 versions of this page stored at Archive.Org and you can find the old pages here and the newer versions (2007 and more recent) here.

DEPRESSION REALLY SUCKS! It needlessly sucks happiness and joy out of a person and may even suck the life out too if it can't be brought under control. I believe that the cure for depression is often extremely simple and quick using magnesium rather than drugs for many people - fortunately! Read my story and check out the facts in the links. Many links are directly to medical articles in the National Library of Medicine (PubMed) and other authoritative sources. BE CERTAIN TO READ MY PENDING MEDICAL JOURNAL ARTICLE POSTED IN THE UPPER LEFT CORNER OF THIS PAGE, or at this link. You may find my story of a magnesium cure for depression to be important to you. Remember my point of view that depression, and particularly stress- and/or diet-induced depression, and many other "diseases" discussed below are often symptoms of magnesium deficiency (either directly or indirectly through excess stress) and not psychoses.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) reported in 2000 that a sign of magnesium deficiency is depression. NIH defined magnesium deficiency symptoms have three categories:

* Early symptoms include (one or more) irritability, anxiety (including Obsessive Compulsion Disorder (OCD) and Tourette syndrome), anorexia, fatigue, insomnia, and muscle twitching. Other symptoms include apathy, confusion, poor memory, poor attention and the reduced ability to learn. (NOTE: If this essay appears difficult to understand, consider your magnesium status.)
* Moderate deficiency symptoms can consist of the above and possibly rapid heartbeat, irregular heartbeat and other cardiovascular changes (some being lethal).
* Severe deficiency symptoms can include the one or more of the above symptoms and one or more severe symptom including full body tingling, numbness, and a sustained contraction of the muscles, along with hallucinations and delirium (including depression) and finally dementia (Alzheimer's Disease).

If the NIH knows this, why don't doctors use magnesium to treat depression and other mental (and physical) disorders??? In 1989, C. Norman Shealy M.D., Ph.D. demonstrated that 99% of depressed patients have one or more neurochemical abnormalities; and that depression is a chemical disease as is diabetes, not a psychiatric disease. It seems to me that not using magnesium to treat depression is pure malpractice! We could rebuild and save lives! Magnesium ions are shown involved at the very heart of neural synaptic activity in this figure. Are you magnesium depleted or deficient? See this wonderful quick quiz by Dr. Pricilla Slagle, M.D., a magnesium expert very interested in helping people with magnesium problems. Also, visit Dr. Herbert C.Mansmann, Jr., MD at THE MAGNESIUM RESEARCH LABORATORY, another very interested magnesium expert.

Magnesium deficiency is a major risk factor for heart problems and diabetes and many other health issues, including sudden death. "The Magnesium Factor" by Mildred S. Seelig, MD, MPH and Andrea Rosanoff, PhD is an outstanding new book by the world's leading magnesium researcher and is highly recommended reading for learning how to prevent high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. Many of today's "diseases" are actually "symptoms" of magnesium deficiency, and are not diseases. For another eye opener, see this amazing list and thorough documentation of hundreds of "diseases" that are often nothing more than magnesium deficiencies. What would happen to "medicine", pharmaceutical company income, and public health if these "diseases" were treated with magnesium before trying side-effect laden drugs? Wouldn't this approach to improving public health be more ethical? Unfortunately, for space reasons, this essay is restricted to mental health issues reasonably related to depression (and cardiology), but the health risks resulting from magnesium deficiency are very broad and need much exploration.
Depression Defined

Depression is an extremely common condition that affects more than 1 in 20 people in any one year in Western society. Depression used to be a rare condition, but as our consumption of magnesium has gone down over the last 100 years, or mental health has taken a serious hit as shown here. Depression is one of several hyperemotional states. A sudden loss of interest in life combined with a feeling of worthlessness may be associated with depression. Normally joy, sadness and grief are parts of everyday life. While a short period of depression in our response to daily problems is normal, a long period of depression and sadness is abnormal and is called "clinical depression". Depression can run in families, partly because families tend to eat the same foods and pass from one generation to the next similar eating patterns, and partly through genetics. Concerning genetics, I have found no evidence in the medical literature of a "depression" gene, but much evidence for a search for one. I suspect that the strong genetic component will be found to involve improper or inadequate magnesium metabolism.

Depression may be associated with a variety of symptoms, including but not limited to:

* Persistent sadness and pessimism
* Feelings of loneliness, guilt, worthlessness, helplessness, or hopelessness
* Loss of interest or enjoyment in nearly every aspect of life
* Diminished ability to think or lack of concentration
* Insomnia or oversleeping
* Poor appetite associated with either weight gain or loss
* Fatigue, lack of energy
* Physical hyperactivity or inactivity
* Loss of interest in sex
* Physical symptoms such as headache, backaches, stomach troubles, constipation and blurred vision
* Anxiety, agitation, irritability
* Thoughts of suicide or death (90% of suicides result from depression)
* Slow speech; slow movements
* Drug or alcohol abuse
* A drop in school performance

Most depressive episodes are triggered by stressful personal event such as loss of a loved one or change of circumstances, and depression over a short period is a normal coping mechanism. Long-term stress-induced depression often, if not always, results when magnesium levels fall to dangerously low levels in the body by biochemical stress reactions discussed below. Magnesium deficiency related depression is a fixable biochemical problem and not necessarily a physiological problem.

Depression can also be due to many other factors such as underlying disease (particularly hepatitis C), brain chemical imbalances requiring antidepressant drugs of one type or another, hormonal imbalance (particularly hypothyroidism and low testosterone), low cholesterol, Wilson's Disease, food allergy (particularly gluten intolerance), and adverse reaction to medications, each of which requires professional care. Magnesium deficiency is not necessarily the only cause of depression, but it can be very useful in recovering from depression because the blood and body often become depleted of magnesium in depression, particularly stress-induced or diet-induced depression. Often, depression that does not respond to SSRI's (classical antidepressants) will respond best to magnesium treatment.

Symptoms listed for paying for magnesium serum level tests to detect hypomagnesemia (low blood levels of magnesium) by a major United States insurance carrier include depression. However, magnesium is an intracellular cation, and its only valid measurement is through Intracellular spectroscopy testing, or red blood cell (not whole blood or serum) testing. This is because only one percent of all body magnesium is found in the serum, while the remainder is found inside cells. Consequently, serum testing, the routine clinical measure, makes as much sense as checking the carburetor bowl of a car to see if gasoline is needed. A huge list of diseases and health conditions meriting magnesium status testing is here.

Not too certain what your problem is? If you are interested in knowing generally about mental health issues generally, look through the Mental health Net site. If you are interested in what life as a manic depressive (bi-polar) is like, click here. You can test your own level of mania on the Goldberg Depression Inventory here, and depression here.



MY STORY

From early 2000 to summer of 2003, this essay focused upon magnesium glycinate as the preferred source of magnesium. In late summer of 2003, I shifted emphasis from magnesium glycinate to magnesium taurate (same as magnesium taurinate), which appeared to me at that time to be superior to all other forms of magnesium in treating treatment resistant depression due to its content of taurine (more on taurine here). However, I have had some complaints from various people about magnesium taruate as not being effective while they found magnesium glycinate and citrate were effective, as have I. I now emphasis magnesium glycinate plus taurine, and not magneisum taurate, since it appears too tightly bound chemically for some people to digest and utilize. After years of study, I remain truly amazed at the tremendous benefits of biologically available magnesium compounds and other nutrients in treating and preventing depression. In particular, I see magnesium as an important research topic for survival considering its limited (purposefully lowered) availability from our Western diets and due to its ability to inexpensively cure and prevent many expensive diseases, life threatening or not. As you will see from this essay, our dietary choices and our over consumption of certain foods are contributing to much illness, including depression.

Carleson's magnesium glycinateToday, in early 2008, I have re-emphasized magnesium glycinate in this essay. Each of magnesium, taurine and glycine are inhibitory neurotransmitters in the brain and all are often low in depression. Second, magnesium taurate is often difficult to find, while magnesium glycinate and (separately) taurine are usually easier to find. Why not take magnesium glycinate and taurine? It greatly simplifies treatment and appears to be the best way of treating depression using readily available nutrients. Another reason is that in my study of insomnia as a symptom of minor magnesium deficiency, I ran into a problem, that being magnesium taurate did not prevent my insomnia, while magnesium glycinate worked well. Why? There are great individual differences between people in their ability to absorb nutrients, and much of that difference results from the individual's ability to make stomach acid. If the stomach acid pH is too high, some metallic compounds will be too difficult to break down. I think this is the case for magnesium taurate in some people,at some times. For example, magnesium taurate may work well for a while, and then something metabolic might change in the person and then it won't work. Clearly it produces less diarrhea in most people (suggesting poor bioavailability or the effect of taurine - who can say?), but dose-for-dose magnesium glycinate appears easier to breakdown, absorb and utilize than magnesium taurate. The most readily absorbed magnesium compound is always magnesium chloride; simply add some taurine and some glycine and you have the best of all worlds. The problem with magnesium chloride is that it is nearly always sold as a liquid since it is too hygroscopic for use in tablets or capsules, unless it is plated onto a silica gel drying agent. The only example of magnesium chloride tablets are these 62 mg elemental magnesium (518 mg magnesium chloride) tablets by Alta. One would need 10 of these tablets per day to get 620 mg magnesium. I use large amounts of magnesium chloride (25 to 35% solutions) topically, but have never used magnesium chloride orally.

I have major PRECAUTIONS at this internal link concerning potentially harmful magnesium compounds and at this internal link concerning ineffective compounds of magnesium for treating depression. For brevity and simplicity: (a) magnesium oxide and magnesium hydroxide are ineffective and (b) magnesium glutamate and magnesium aspartate are always harmful to depressives.

I know how bad depression can be, because I spent September of 1999 through April of 2000, in a clinical depression that worsened from the beginning. First, I must mention that my life was at that time other-wise perfect. I had absolutely no financial, personal, physiological or other reason to be depressed. By Christmas the depression suddenly became much worse, nearly suicidal in intensity, and remained that way for four more months. I had always thought that I was a mild hypo manic-depressive, not a suicidal idiot. In my highs, I was capable of deep, insightful thought and amplified abilities in general which I considered to be a great advantage. Never did I think that things could go so wrong with my biochemistry that it would cause me to have suicidal thoughts and tendencies. How wrong I was. I had been taking Zoloft (an antidepressant) since 1987 which seemed to take care of my depression. I lived on Zoloft, but by September of 1999, Zoloft stopped working - and I knew that something was really wrong.

My depression was preceded by many years and accompanied by major stress from over-work (which I thought I loved), treatment responsive depression, anxiety, hypomania, infrequent panic attacks, anger, stress, poor diet, overwhelming emotional feelings, night time muscle spasms, paranoia, asthma, prickly sensations in hands, arms, chest and lips. I wanted to sleep all day and had trouble getting up in mornings. My wife said I was also uncooperative, withdrawn, apathetic, nervous. I had become a real pain to deal with according to those around me. Occasionally my lips felt that they were going to vibrate or tingle off my face. I even saw a spider disappear into my arm once. About 10 years earlier, I had a very painful bout with calcium oxalate kidney stones, a recognized sign of magnesium deficiency. A few weeks before I was hospitalized in January of 2000, I had very low energy, mental fogginess, depression with strong suicidal thoughts and I was under enormous stress, even though I felt like I had no reason to be depressed. Now, I can recognize these "mental" symptoms as symptoms of magnesium deficiency and/or calcium toxicity. I won't bother you with the details of my hospitalized depressive episode, except to say that I was put on nearly every antidepressant drug known and had severe side effects to all of them and felt sicker and sicker. None worked. I lost a lot of weight, and I was extremely constipated. I also had a cardiac arrhythmia. Being disgusted with the useless and apparently harmful treatment provided, I went home. My doctor told my wife, "Get his affairs in order". Gee! What an empathetic man! I couldn't work and about all I did was sleep, eat cheese, hard candy, fatty foods, bread, ice cream, tapioca pudding, drink a lot of milk, consume other bad-for-you high-calcium delicacies, watch TV and read. Maybe I secretly figured that if I didn't die slowly and agonizingly from depression, maybe I would die quickly with a heart killing diet.

My reading preferences are in the biomedical field. At home, I researched medical journals, books and everything medical that I could find on depression and manic depression. I learned nothing of usefulness, at least nothing that my doctor had not already told me. I did find that certain foods like wheat and high carbohydrate diets can trigger dysphoric rage and depression, so it seemed to me that correcting nutritional problems should be beneficial, and that nutritional research would be worthwhile. On April 12, 2000, I looked like I was dying to several people important in my life. My psychiatrist agreed and took me off all antidepressant medications and put me on a tiny amount of lithium carbonate (150 mg twice a day).

NOTE: At the end of each following section of this essay, I have placed a link concerning my rules for success, and the affirmation that "Depression is not a psychosis.". I apologize ahead of time for being terribly redundant. My rules and my understanding of mood disorders as a magnesium deficiency are so commonly ignored, that I decided they were too important not to heavily emphasize.
Cured with Lithium or Magnesium?

Shortly later, I picked up a 1975 copy of Nutrition Almanac, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, and happened to open it to the magnesium section. I was interested to find that magnesium was low in the serum of people who were suicidally depressed and others who were seriously depressed. The article indicated that magnesium dietary supplements had been effective in treating depression. Also, a person with a magnesium deficiency is apt to be uncooperative, withdrawn, apathetic, nervous, have tremors... essentially lots of neurological symptoms associated with depression. I was fascinated to notice that cardiac arrhythmias, heart attacks and kidney stones were also mentioned as magnesium deficiency related. Ah-ha! These looked like good clues, but definitely not convincing.

That same day, I found the next clue in my library. It was in a 1995 medical textbook in which I had a published article about zinc lozenges and the common cold. In Handbook of Metal-Ligand Interactions in Biological Fluids - Bioinorganic Medicine, volume 2, Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, there is a chapter by Durlach et al, entitled "Diverse Applications of Magnesium Therapy". Its authors assert that in their clinical and open trials they found symptoms of chronic magnesium deficiency in neuroses to include anxiety, hyper-emotionality (crying, grieving or other forms of depression), fatigue, headaches, insomnia, light-headedness, dizziness, nervous fits, lump in throat, blocked breathing and respiration, cramps, strong tingling, pricking, creeping feeling on the skin having no real cause, chest pain (either of a cardiac nature or not), palpitations, dysrhysthmias, Raynaud's syndrome, and more including latent tetany, constipation, and myocardial infarction. Some of these symptoms occurred as part of panic attacks, sometimes with the feeling of imminent death. In a paper by the same group, Durlach showed that aging was a risk factor for magnesium deficiency. In another Durlach article, magnesium deficiency and dementia were equated as being one and the same. In another paper, Singh et al. showed that magnesium status was inversely associated with prevalence of coronary artery disease. I had a calcium oxalate kidney stone a few years ago and was told that I needed to increase my dietary intake of magnesium. I didn't but now wish that I had because it is established that magnesium prevents calcium oxalate kidney stones.

In some ways, depression can be thought of as an aspect of aging or premature aging. Perhaps the best web site on the Internet related to anti-aging is the Center for Anti-Aging. Spend much time there, because that semi-medical site shows the close relationship between depression and aging, and premature aging. You will be amazed at the attention given to magnesium.

Of significant interest was Durlach's statement that chronic primary magnesium deficit affects about 15 to 20 percent of the Western population, while other sources more recently place the deficit much higher at nearly 70 percent. One reason given for the deficit is that magnesium-rich foods are rich in energy (fattening), and they are being avoided in an effort to maintain weight, and because we are eating more junk food void of magnesium.

Wow! This magnesium/depression hypothesis is coming together! Just a few months previous to the onset of my depression, I had been hospitalized for chest pains, cardiac dysrhysthmia and an inability to take in more than about 1/5 my normal breath (varient angina pectoris). The hospital found no cardiac problems, and the internist gave me an IV drip of magnesium sulfate solution. A few hours later all of those symptoms vanished as rapidly as they had come. What I was beginning to see was that nearly all illnesses in my adult life were magnesium deficit related.

From which foods do we get magnesium? According to my Nutrition Almanac, a cup of peanuts or almonds would satisfy the RDA for magnesium, while only 1/4 cup of kelp would be needed. Soy flour, bran flakes, whole wheat, raw brown rice, avocado, wheat bran, shrimp, tuna, Brazil nuts, cashew nuts, sesame seeds, walnuts and collard greens also supply significant dietary magnesium. In the audio Bible, Genesis 1:29 - "God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." I marvel at the similarity of Biblical teaching to the above list of foods containing large amounts of magnesium. Succeed! Depression is not a psychosis!
NIH Table of Food Sources of Magnesium

The National Institute of Health has prepared the following food table showing the best sources of magnesium in the U.S. diet. Look at it! They are nearly all highly fattening foods. I would rather not get fat and just take my magnesium supplements to handle my depression problems. The very idea of loading up on these fattening foods should make anyone depressed. The government is a robot saying over and over "cut down on fattening foods" for your health! BS! For us manic depressives and depressives, following the NIH dietary guidelines suggested in the NIH link on keeping magnesium intake low is suicidal, not just because they limit our intake of magnesium, but of other extremely critical nutrients including taurine, boron and Essential Fatty Acids (EFA) such as the Omega-3 and 6 EFAs, all of which are necessary to treat or prevent depression. Even so, the NIH admits that a sign of magnesium deficiency is depression. Even though the NIH list appears accurate, it may be misleading for us because many of these foods have much more calcium than magnesium. Excess calcium over magnesium inhibits absorption of magnesium from the diet. A list of foods in this web page having more magnesium than calcium is here.

Food
Milligrams

%DV
Kelp 100 grams (Warning! very high in glutamate)
760

190
Alfalfa 100 grams (Warning! Very high in glutamate)
230

58
Avocado, Florida, 1/2 med
103

26
Wheat germ, toasted, 1 oz
90

22
Almonds, dry roasted, 1 oz
86

21
Cereal, shredded wheat, 2 rectangular biscuits
80

20
Seeds, pumpkin, 1/2 oz
75

19
Cashews, dry roasted, 1 oz
73

18
Nuts, mixed, dry roasted, 1 oz
66

17
Spinach, cooked, 1/2 c
65

16
Bran flakes, 1/2 c
60

15
Cereal, oats, instant/fortified, cooked w/ water, 1 c
56

14
Potato, baked w/ skin, 1 med
55

14
Soybeans, cooked, 1/2 c
54

14
Peanuts, dry roasted, 1 oz
50

13
Peanut butter, 2 Tbs.
50

13
Chocolate bar, 1.45 oz
45

11
Bran (pure), 2 Tbs
44

11
Vegetarian baked beans, 1/2 c
40

10
Potato, baked w/out skin, 1 med
40

10
Avocado, California, 1/2 med
35

9
Lentils, cooked, 1/2 c
35

9
Banana, raw, 1 medium
34

9
Shrimp, mixed species, raw, 3 oz (12 large)
29

7
Tahini (from sesame seed), 2 Tbs
28

7
Raisins, golden seedless, 1/2 c packed
28

7
Cocoa powder, unsweetened, 1 Tbs
27

7
Bread, whole wheat, 1 slice
24

6
Spinach, raw, 1 c
24

6
Kiwi fruit, raw, 1 med
23

6
Hummus, 2 Tbs
20

5
Broccoli, chopped, boiled, 1/2 c
19

5

*DV = Daily Value. DVs are reference numbers based on the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA). They were developed to help consumers determine if a food contains very much of a specific nutrient. The DV for magnesium is 400 milligrams (mg). The percent DV (%DV) listed on the nutrition facts panel of food labels tells adults what percentage of the DV is provided by one serving. Even foods that provide lower percentages of the DV will contribute to a healthful diet.

Wow! I am lucky to be alive! My diet had excluded all magnesium rich foods for months. I wonder if people who go on diets delete these critical foods from their diet, start to feel a bit low, and rightfully decide to forget dieting. It is well known that some people must eat fattening foods simply to feel well. Is magnesium demand from fattening foods the link between fat people and depression avoidance? I know that I am not as hungry using magnesium supplements. Actually, I think the cure for hunger is magnesium, because the foods (mainly wheat) that used to be our main source of magnesium and other nutrients are no longer good sources for them.

A few days after digesting what I had learned, I checked MedLine for some backup. I looked up "magnesium" AND "depression". Sure enough it was there. Calcium/magnesium imbalances with magnesium being low were found in depressed patients that had attempted suicide. Other articles supported the concept too. For example, high serum and cerebrospinal fluid calcium / magnesium ratios were found in recently hospitalized acutely depressed patients. The further I looked on the web, the more exciting and proliferate the became - which, hopefully, is reflected in this page. Another book in my library, The Dictionary of Minerals, Thorsons Publishing Group, New York, point-blank read, "Therapy with magnesium has been used to treat ...mental depression...". Magnesium has recently been medically demonstrated to reduce severe therapy resistant mania. That was enough evidence for me. That same day I purchased magnesium glycinate, a non-toxic dietary supplement found in a local health food store. How much should I take each day? Was it safe? I really didn't know and didn't much care. I made a decision to start out with about 3 times the 400 mg/day RDA for magnesium, with 400 mg in the morning, 400 mg mid afternoon and 400 mg at bedtime. I used Carlson's chelated magnesium glycinate (200 mg magnesium elemental) product. I was an optimist by this time so I bought 3 bottles.

What did it taste like? To me the first few times I used magnesium glycinate it tasted strangely metallic. But taking it with milk it didn't taste metallic at all. This is an important observation that merits explanation. There are chemicals in milk fats and other food fats that bind magnesium and other bioactive minerals to biologically inactive state. That may be a reason why fatty foods are bad for the heart. One might consume enough magnesium to fulfill the RDA, but if the magnesium is bound so tightly to a stearate or oleate that it is non soluble and is excreted through the feces without being absorbed into the blood, what good is it? What happens to the heart? Heart attack! I think this is why some in the FDA think the RDA for magnesium should be raised to about 900 mg per day. Other people using magnesium glycinate have not noticed any strange metallic taste.

Within a few days to a short week, I felt remarkably better, my depression lifted noticeably, but I was getting a bit of diarrhea. Yeah! I didn't need that damned lithium corkscrew anymore!! (just kidding). Oh, the taste of those tablets! I needed some coated magnesium glycinate tablets. Actually, the taste was bad during the first few weeks only, after that the taste was not noticeable. Who knows what that means.

Within a week to 10 days of starting magnesium, I felt close to being well. I looked so well, that my psychiatrist thought I looked better than he had ever seen me. One interesting fact from The Dictionary of Minerals is that lithium intake is associated with an increase in magnesium, calcium and phosphate blood serum concentrations. A possible explanation for these findings is that Li+ displaces Mg2+ from intracellular binding sites. As I improved, I lowered my dosage of magnesium to find the best dosage for me. I lowered it too much and symptoms rapidly came back. Eventually, I stabilized the dosage at four 200-mg elemental magnesium (as magnesium glycinate) tablets a day. Four hundred mg is the RDA for magnesium for men. Succeed! Depression is not a psychosis!
June 7, 2000

My depression is completely, totally, absolutely gone, gone, gone! I am active and can function mentally, emotionally, and physically at my best again. My vision and bowels also returned to normal - finally. I consider myself to be back to my good old normal self - although my critics will never admit that I am normal and have never been normal. Whatever normal is. Yet, a strange anxiety that the depression would return remained unabated.

What caused my rapid recovery after being a treatment resistant, non-responder for many months? Why was my depression treatment resistant to everything except magnesium? Did going off those antidepressant meds cause it? Was it my imagination? Would I have gotten well anyway? Was it just the lithium? I seriously doubt it. My bet is on repletion of magnesium, both by dietary supplementation and action by lithium in increasing blood serum levels of magnesium. I can now see that my diet has been deficient in magnesium for years. My diet did not include high-in-magnesium foods listed above. Worse, I had been on a magnesium depleting diet from eating fatty foods and ingesting too much calcium. If I hadn't realized my magnesium problem, I probably would have died of a heart attack, like these guys warn. I repleted my body with magnesium, but did not use a great excess of magnesium as such might be toxic.

If you have time, search the above link's depression links, and do a search or two for "depression", "suicide" and "serotonin". When I conducted a mini search, I was overwhelmed with relating magnesium deficiency with mental illness. Succeed! Depression is not a psychosis!
Stress as Ultimate Cause of Depression

If you are a medical or science type you might like to read Mechanisms of Action on the Nervous System in Magnesium Deficiency and Dementia. One paragraph in this link is so important that I quoted it here: "Although a neurosis pattern due to magnesium deficiency is frequently observed and simply cured through oral physiological supplementation, neuroses are preeminently conditioning factors for stress (thus increasing demand for magnesium). Neuroses may therefore very frequently produce secondary magnesium depletion. They require their own specific anti neurotic treatment and not mere oral magnesium physiological supplementation, but both genuine forms of neurosis due to primary neural magnesium deficiency and magnesium depletion secondary to a neurosis may exist. These two conditions may be concomitant and reinforce each other. In these stressful patients it may be difficult to establish the primacy of one or the other. In practice, physiological oral magnesium supplements may be added to psychiatric treatments, at least at the start." I interpret this to mean that magnesium alone can prevent stress from resulting in neuroses.

Stress intensifies release of two major classes of "stress hormones", the catecholamines and corticosteroids, which normally greatly increase survival of well animals when their lives are threatened.

Catecholamines are chemically similar small molecules derived from the amino acid tyrosine. The major catecholamines are dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine (old name: adrenalin). Dopamine is a neurotransmitter (a chemical used to transmit impulses between nerve cells) found mainly in the brain. Norepinephrine is the primary neurotransmitter in the sympathetic nervous system (controls the "fight or flight" reaction) and is also found in the brain. Epinephrine is not only a brain neurotransmitter, but also a major hormone in the body. Epinephrine is secreted from the adrenal medulla in response to low blood glucose, exercise, and various forms of acute stress (in the latter case, the brain stimulates release of the hormone). Epinephrine causes a breakdown of glycogen to glucose in liver and muscle, the release of fatty acids from adipose tissue, vasodilation of small arteries within muscle tissue, and increases the rate and strength of the heartbeat. All of the catecholamines are metabolized by their target tissues or by the liver to become inactive substances that appear in the urine: For example, dopamine becomes HVA, norepinephrine becomes normetanephrine and VMA, and epinephrine becomes metanephrine and VMA. Consequently, a urine test for elevated catecholamines is both simple and available. If you want to test your brain neurotransmitters, you can get them tested by using a neuroscience test kit supplied by local physicians. To find a local physician that tests neurotransmitters, contact NeuroScience, Inc.

Corticosteroids are group of natural and synthetic analogues of the hormones secreted by the hypothalamic-anterior pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis, more commonly referred to as the pituitary gland. These include glucocorticoids, which are anti-inflammatory agents with a large number of other functions; mineralocorticoids, which control salt and water balance primarily through action on the kidneys; and corticotropins, which control secretion of hormones by the pituitary gland. They have been thoroughly researched and developed as drugs in the treatment of many diseases but not including depression treatment. Corticosteroids are used to provide relief for inflamed areas of the body. They are extremely strong drugs. They lessen swelling, redness, itching, and allergic reactions. They are often used as part of the treatment for a number of different diseases, such as severe allergies or skin problems, asthma, arthritis and certain cancers and leukemias. They have many well-known side effects.

When magnesium deficiency exists, stress paradoxically increases risk of cardiovascular damage including hypertension, cerebrovascular and coronary constriction and occlusion, arrhythmias, sudden cardiac death (SCD), asthma, anxiety and depression. Dietary imbalances such as high intakes of fat, sodium and/or calcium (Ca) can intensify inadequacy of magnesium, especially under conditions of stress. Thus, stress, whether physical (i.e. exertion, heat, cold, trauma - accidental or surgical, burns), or emotional (i.e. pain, anxiety, excitement or depression) and dyspnea (difficulty in breathing) as in asthma increases need for magnesium. Magnesium deficiency intensifies adverse reactions to stress that can be life threatening. Such reactions are mediated by excess release of the stress hormones, catecholamines and corticosteroids, which are increased by low magnesium and high calcium levels, and which further lower tissue magnesium in a feed back fashion, and suppress testosterone production.

Testosterone production may or may not return upon replenishing magnesium. If it does not return, low testosterone can be an additional source of depression, and testosterone creams, shots and pills are available. The creams are definitely the least likely to produce side effects. Shots and pills of testosterone can result in weird side effects that stimulate dangerously high female sex hormone production in men, which requires a female sex hormone suppressant treatment such as daily tablets of Arimedex. You can end up with more problems than before, thus they are prescription-only items.

VITAL LINK: See article: Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 13, No. 5, 429-446 (1994) Consequences of Magnesium Deficiency on the Enhancement of Stress Reactions; Preventive and Therapeutic Implications (A Review) Mildred S. Seelig, MD, MPH, Master ACN

More on the consequences of magnesium deficiency on the enhancement of stress reactions; preventive and therapeutic implications is here and in the following figure. Genetic differences in magnesium utilization may account for differences in vulnerability to magnesium deficiency and differences in body responses to stress. There are so many stressors in our active lives that adversely affect magnesium reserves; it is a miracle that we can live on our puny magnesium deficient diets without vastly more cardiac and psychiatric problems.

Magnesium is a required nutrient for people to handle stress in general and stress in neuropsychiatric disorders. Not getting sufficient dietary or supplemental magnesium during medical or depression treatment for stress related disorders such as anxiety and depression is bound to fail. A short and easy to read summary of magnesium and its stress relief action is presented here by Dr. Leo Galland. He points out that stress depletion of magnesium is often so intense that dietary sources are insufficient, and supplementation is required.

Measure your level of stress here. These effects and aggressive behavior are easily observed in the mouse model. Magnesium is now marketed as an anti stress mineral. Stress, diuretics, fluoride, refined flour, chemotherapy, too much sugar, antibiotics, large amounts of protein, and high fat foods decrease absorption of magnesium, as do foods high in oxalic acid (mainly fresh spinach and possibly tea in excess) which deplete magnesium in the body, which in turns lowers one's resistance to stress and depression (a feedback loop). Overweight and obese people are usually low in magnesium, a mineral necessary to metabolize (burn) fat. People working outside in high temperatures and high humidity often become magnesium deficient and have stress related problems.

What blows my mind is that there has already been an extraordinary amount of work collecting data that shows magnesium to be a profoundly important nutrient in preventing and treating hundreds of illnesses and conditions, particularly those illnesses related to stress. It seems that magnesium deficiency in our diet is responsible for many forms of bad health and early death. Don't take my word for it, rather visit Paul Mason's site and see his huge list of magnesium treatable disorders.

Also, the Health-World web site has a growing but still incomplete list of magnesium deficiency symptoms, which include (alphabetically) acute heart attacks, agoraphobia, anxiety, angina pectoris, asthma, back aches, breast tenderness, cardiac arrhythmias, chronic fatigue syndrome, can't take a deep breath, carbohydrate craving (especially of chocolate) and carbohydrate intolerance, chest tightness, chronic cardiovascular disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, coronary artery disease, cramps, depression, diabetes, difficulty swallowing, eclampsia of pregnancy, feeling uptight, frequent sighing, epilepsy, headaches, high blood pressure, hyperactivity, insomnia, jaw joint (TMJ) dysfunction, lump in the throat-especially provoked by eating sugar, menstrual cramps, muscle soreness, muscle tension, mitral valve prolapse, musculoskeletal disorders, neck pain, numbness, palpitations, panic disorder, pre-eclampsia, premenstrual irritability, photophobia, panic attacks, restlessness with constant movement, salt craving, tingling, twitches, urinary spasms, zips, zaps and vibratory sensations.

I remain amazed and perplexed that magnesium deficiency remains, for the most part, ignored, neglected, and forgotten. There is one medical journal Magnesium Research that reports the subject very well, but it is a very difficult journal to find in nearly all medical libraries. It is the official organ of the International Society for the Development of Research on Magnesium. Their first publication date was July, 1988, which makes it a johnny-come-lately among medical journals. The publisher is John Libbey and Company in London. Typically, magnesium researchers find that their work finds no interest by other journal editors, and they end up submitting their work to Magnesium Research simply to get it published, where it is totally ignored by establishment medical doctors and, until recently, remained the subject of academic curiosity. Fortunately, independent-minded physicians and citizens can research the National Library of Medicine's PubMed index and find these precious life-sustaining journal articles. Paul mason is trying to bring much original research on magnesium and health to the Internet. The full text of many vital magnesium and health articles can be directly viewed at this vital link. It seems to me that by ignoring these magnesium deficiency disorders, that medicine has a guaranteed retirement fund. What do I mean? Look at the above list, and other similar lists carefully and you will see that much of medicine is dedicated to developing medications for, and treating these specific symptoms and not treating the underling cause (magnesium deficiency). Consequently, patients remain ill and return to doctors' offices for more expensive pharmaceutical drugs. Folks, billions of dollars of Big Pharma drug company income and physician income is at stake! Be warned!

Can I be so obtuse as to say that magnesium supplementation had nothing to do with my recovery? Can I be so callous as to not recommend magnesium to others who are suffering from depression, bi-polar disorder, or any of the anxiety related symptoms listed above? Or any of the symptoms of magnesium deficiency listed here? Duh!!!

I am positive that all suffering from clinical depression want relief - NOW! No waiting for a med to kick in 4 to 8 weeks! You want it now!!! However, without sufficient magnesium, recovery will most likely be very difficult and prolonged. Succeed! Depression is not a psychosis!
January 19, 2001 Update and Miscellaneous Musings

Looking back over the last year, I now realize that the increases in lithium that I was prescribed (a gradual increase from 300 to 1050 mg lithium carbonate per day) was associated with progressive reductions in feeling of well being (sort of a placid zombie-like feeling) and pending damage to thyroid function (excess lithium causes hypothyroidism). On December 5, 2000, I decided that it was imperative for me to stop lithium because I did not want to have to be dependent upon thyroid extract for the rest of my life due to the toxicity of lithium. Even though lithium is a mineral element, it is not found in the human diet except in trace amounts (which are related to even temperament). However, magnesium is a vital to life essential human nutrient. I.E. there is no RDA for lithium (or any drug), but there is for magnesium! Actually, lithium is a drug that is being used to substitute for a nutrient, magnesium! How tricky of those docs! What a way to drum up business!

Surprisingly, I began to feel better, even better than I felt in June when I first started taking low-dose lithium and high-dose magnesium. After several months off of lithium, people say I look ten years younger. I feel much sharper and my mental capabilities have returned to what is normal for me. I hope that I will never again take lithium. I now strongly suspect that the main biochemical function of lithium is to raise magnesium levels in the blood as mentioned above, with the mental benefit coming not from lithium but from lithium induced increased magnesium blood levels. This idea could account for the 40 percent failure rate of lithium in preventing future depressive episodes. That is to say, if dietary magnesium intake is so low that not even lithium can return it to normal levels, then one succumbs to depression or other magnesium deficiency disorders.

I remember meeting people (in group therapy classes and elsewhere) that looking backward seem likely to have been magnesium deficient. I remember a bright young lady that was terribly suicidal. She was totally resistant to all known antidepressants. She was so thin that she was nearly skin and bones and obviously was malnourished. She wanted to commit suicide so badly that she was under constant supervision. I can't help but wonder if she was misdiagnosed, meaning that she was severely, gravely magnesium depleted. I remember meeting many other people who were depressed; one was a single female registered nurse, who was overwhelmed by her stressful hospital duties and her desperate family child care situation. I remember a lovely young suicidal woman whose favorite tune was the theme from M*A*S*H. Apparently, she had no idea of the lyrics to the song "Suicide is Painless". She had been pounding out that song on piano for years. I wonder if she would have been there had her favorite song been something else. A 40ish man who could no longer accept that he was, in his opinion, a failure in his business. A lawyer who couldn't handle further domestic abuse. An internationally acclaimed scientist and editor who was overwhelmed by his time-line oriented job. Young children who were sad all of the time for no apparent reason, even if they were given all the toys they wanted. There was a young gay who desperately didn't want to be gay. Each of these people, and I suspect most depressives, share one thing common in their lives. STRESS! Magnesium deficiency can be brought on by diet too. I know a wonderful young lady who felt that she was too fat for her husband and went on a 1-month starvation diet. She lost enough weight, but became extremely magnesium deficient; and developed very difficult to treat multiple cardiac and depression symptoms causing enormous stress in her life. The strange part about stress is that magnesium deficiency and stress reinforce and build upon each other, resulting in a difficult to manage, unstable downward spiral. Succeed! Depression is not a psychosis!

Click to expand...

FURTHER RESEARCH
Government Censorship of this Page

On 28 July 2006, a State Food and Drug Investigator for the Texas Department of State Health Services, previously the Texas Department of Health, in an inspection of my business, Eby Pharma LLC, found violations of federal law as follows: "A review of the firm's web site, http://www.coldcure.com, showed that the web site promotes and sells Cardiovascular Research Ltd., Magnesium Taurate, 60 capsules, as a product that is intended to prevent, diagnose, mitigate, treat, or cure a disease (disease claims). This is not an all-inclusive review of the web site and the products that the firm markets. For example the web site includes the following information: "...magnesium taurate is the preferred forms of magnesium for treating depression..." and "...magnesium taurate also is wonderful in helping to prevent the diarrhea normally resultant from high-doses of magnesium..." and "...this is also the form of magnesium best for heart and brain health...".

I promised the State of Texas investigator that I would stop selling Cardiovascular Research Magnesium Taurate. OK. No big deal, or is it? How have we as a nation come to legally forbid any reference to "nutrients" as being able to prevent, diagnose, mitigate, treat and cure any disease as mandated by United States law DSHEA - 1994? Can you imagine not treating scurvy with vitamin C? How about Prozac for scurvy? How about Prozac for depression? I am no legal expert, but a friend of mine, John Hammell, owner of the International Advocates of Health Freedom is a world-class expert and witness on what is going on in the Federal government concerning health freedom in the United States. I asked John the following questions:

John, why has there been no (apparently) effort to overturn DSHEA on grounds that it is overly broad? Seems to me that the US has often reversed "overly broad" laws that are not in the public interest. Seems to me that any law that would be in direct opposition to truth would be illegal too. Seems to me that someone needs to attack laws that make it illegal to claim that a nutrient can not be claimed to cure a nutritional deficiency disease. To say that nothing except a drug can cure, treat, prevent or diagnose a disease is "overly broad" because nutritional deficiency can not be cured, treated or prevented by anything except a nutrient. Doesn't make any sense to me that laws like this have not been attacked. Any comments?"

John responded with these words: "DSHEA was passed in direct response to an FDA rule making effort called "The Dkykstra Report". The Dkykstra Report was an Advance Notice of Proposed Rule making that showed exactly what FDA intended to do to DESTROY the dietary supplement industry in America, and they had a congressional mandate through the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 to do just that. NLEA was a stealth bill that was rammed through the House at High Speed during the summer when most people were on vacation. I didn't even know about it til August of 1989 when I jumped in with both feet in an effort to defend consumer access to dietary supplements. By the time I was aware of the bill, it was on its way to the Senate like a guided missile aimed straight for the heart of the dietary supplement industry. It would have had the exact same effect as Codex still could have unless we pull off a miracle and kill ratification in July through the last ditch campaign we are organizing. (Note: This may happen! CODEX dealt setback in June of 2005!) When I jumped into the fray to try to kill the NLEA, I was shocked and stunned to learn that the National Nutritional Foods Assn (NNFA) (the biggest vitamin trade association and the one which about half the health food stores belong to) was FOR this horrible bill. At the time, I was unaware that they were not enforcing their conflict of interest disclosure bylaw such that they were allowing pharmaceutical companies to be amongst their membership. NNFA didn't switch their position on this bill and turn against it til it was too late to stop its passage. I and millions of other people fought with every ounce of strength we had to try to kill it in the Senate, but it had too much momentum to stop. We failed, but we at least curbed some of its worst excesses, and we passed DSHEA as additional protection. No piece of legislation is perfect, any piece of legislation involves compromises due to its being shaped by a real diverse group of people including those on the other side. Our biggest opponents during those days were Henry Waxman and John Dingle. They both inserted language into DSHEA that to this day is causing us problems. When Milton Bass, JD; Clinton Ray Miller, Gerald Kessler of Natures Plus, and I attempted to rectify some of the bigger problems found in DSHEA by introducing legislation that could have filled some of the more onerous holes, we didn't get far at all because we were shot down by the pharma dominated vitamin trade associations and also by a controlled opposition group called Citizens for Health. I can't recall the bill number now, its been so many years, but you'll find it on the scroll bar at http://www.iahf.com to this day, I haven't removed it. (The bill we were unable to pass that would have filled some of the worst holes in DSHEA.) Trojan Horse language was inserted into DSHEA by a 5th column group led by controlled opposition group "Citizens for Health." At the time, CFH's biggest financial backer was Nature's Way. Natures' Way was part of a coalition called the "European-American Phytomedicines Coalition" which was actively attempting to harmonize US to German law. They were operating in the US and Canada via two controlled opposition groups Citizens for Health in the USA , and Canadian Coalition for Health Freedom in Canada. IAHF was the sole voice attempting to expose both groups and I had death threats and constant threats of legal trouble for my efforts to expose them and for trying to stop CODEX. DSHEA does allow the making of structure function claims for dietary supplements. While not full fledged health claims, we also won a first amendment victory via Pierson v Schalala that should allow for the making of full health claims except the Supreme Court has refused to hear an additional complaint brought by Pierson that FDA refuses to obey the law. Against this backdrop of FDA refusing to obey current US dietary supplement laws we have the FDA violating US law at Codex meetings in Germany to set us up for harmonization of our laws to outrageously restrictive international standards. IAHF is going to be sending out an updated alert on this in the next few days. In the meantime, please see Suzanne Harris' latest article on Codex at http://www.thelawloft.com We're in a desperate race against the clock. Due to our membership in the WTO, we're no longer living in America. For all intents and purposes, America no longer exists because Congress lacks the political will to get us out of the WTO or the UN and Codex is rolling on us like a runaway freight train with very few people even aware of its existence or the threat it poses due to spin that's been done against my message for the past several years. We're hoping to pull of a miracle. Stay tuned. A new alert is coming very soon.

John Hammell, IAHF

Hummm. OK, that is a fine history of what happened, what is happening and what will likely happen. To sum it up in a nutshell, we are loosing our freedom of speech and our freedom of press and the public's right to buy and sell healthy products, perhaps mainly to continue our 15% GDP tithe to Big Pharma (pharmaceutical companies). As you read this article remember what is actually going on in America, and be warned. For a brief overview of the law, read DIETARY SUPPLEMENT HEALTH AND EDUCATION ACT OF 1994 and for a full review of this matter see the FDA's Dietary supplements review page. Click here for a brief review of CODEX within this page.

BUT! There is more. Turns out that the Life Extension Foundation can advertise and sell tons of nutritional supplements and describe exactly for what indication they are for and the FDA does nothing about it. Why? The Life Extension Foundation's people have sued the United States Food and Drug administration 3 times over freedom of speech issues and won each time at the Supreme Court level. Thank God for the Life Extension Foundation! It seems to me that the FDA had laws written that were in conflict with the United States Constitution. Read about it here. This is why you recently are seeing advertisements for foods and nutrients to "prevent" disease. Next, the Supreme Court will be asked whether or not the FDA can prohibit people from marketing nutrients to "treat"diseases. So, If you carry a big enough stick, it is possible to make the FDA bend over.
Homeopathic Uses for Magnesium

Even though the Texas Department of Health doesn't like magnesium as a cure for depression, magnesium has a long record of use as a depression treatment and for many different disorders in homeopathy, including depression realated disorders. For example magnesium chloride (Magnesia Muriatica), magnesium carbonate (Magnesia Carbonica), magnesium phosphate (Magnesia Phosphorica), magnesium sulfate (Magnesia Sulphurica) are all listed for use in treating the many disorders (click on item of interest in left-hand columns). However, if we want to look only at "MIND", then magnesium chloride (Magnesia Muriatica) is listed as being suitable for treating:

MIND

* mind; aversions, dislikes; company;
* aversions, dislikes; indolence, aversion to work;
* aversions, dislikes; indolence, aversion to work; evening;
* aversions, dislikes; aversion to mental work;
* aversions, dislikes; to being spoken to;
* behavior; kleptomania; steals dainties;
* behavior; makes noises; growling like a dog;
* behavior; shrieking; during sleep;
* behavior; inclination to sit;
* conversation;
* dazed;
* delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions;
* delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions; creatures and animals; horses;
* delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions; visions of phantoms, figures, people; sees thieves;
* delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions; death; sees dead persons;
* delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions; death; corpse on a bier; mutilated body;
* delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions; environment and surroundings; clouds; before the fancy;
* delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions; environment and surroundings; clouds; clouds and rocks as if looking over;
* delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions; environment and surroundings; is on a journey;
* delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions; environment and surroundings; strange; familiar things seem strange;
* delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions; illusions of fantasy;
* delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions; illusions of fantasy; during heat;
* delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions; fire; visions of fire;
* delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions; hears sounds; growling, as of a bear;
* delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions; hears sounds; noise;
* delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions; delusions about other people; friends; being friendless;
* delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions; about self; circumstances; being friendless;
* delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions; unpleasant; sees mutilated bodies;
* delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions; visions or presence of phantoms, figures, people; someone is reading after her, which makes her read faster;
* delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions; visions or presence of phantoms, figures, people; thieves; sees;
* delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions; desire for open air;
* desires, wants; to kill; on waking;
* symptoms follow intense emotions; anger;
* excitement;
* excitement; during period;
* mental exertion;
* fantasies; of exaltation;
* fantasies; of exaltation; on reading;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; boredom, dissatisfaction (see loathing of life);
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; cheerful, happy; daytime;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; forsaken feeling;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; impulsive; capriciousness;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; indecisive;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; indifference, apathy, etc.;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; indifference, apathy, etc.; morning, on waking;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; indifference, apathy, etc.; to pleasure;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; irritability;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; irritability; morning;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; irritability; morning; after rising;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; irritability; morning; on waking;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; irritability; late morning;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; irritability; evening;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; irritability; after sexual intercourse;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; irritability; during headache;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; irritability; before period;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; irritability; during period;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; irritability; on waking;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; loathing;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; loathing; morning;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; mirth, hilarity, liveliness, etc.; morning;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; mood; repulsive, bad mood;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; morose; morning;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; sensitive, oversensitive;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; sensitive, oversensitive; to noise;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; sensitive, oversensitive; to noise; voices;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; sensitive, oversensitive; to reading;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; sulky;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; unfriendly humor;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; unhappy; despair; discouraged;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; unhappy; discontent, displeased, dissatisfied, etc.;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; unhappy; sadness, mental depression;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; unhappy; sadness, mental depression; morning;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; unhappy; sadness, mental depression; before eating;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; unhappy; sadness, mental depression; eating;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; unhappy; sadness, mental depression; during period;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; weeping, crying, tearful mood (lamenting);
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; weeping, crying, tearful mood (lamenting); after eating;
* emotions, feelings, attitude, disposition; weeping, crying, tearful mood (lamenting); in sleep;
* home-sickness (see desires home);
* hysteria;
* intellectual faculties; impaired thinking; chaotic;
* intellectual faculties; impaired thinking; difficulty concentrating;
* intellectual faculties; impaired thinking; confusion;
* intellectual faculties; impaired thinking; confusion; morning;
* intellectual faculties; impaired thinking; confusion; on rising;
* intellectual faculties; impaired thinking; confusion; open air;
* intellectual faculties; impaired thinking; confusion; after dinner;
* intellectual faculties; impaired thinking; confusion; after eating;
* intellectual faculties; impaired thinking; confusion; when lying down;
* intellectual faculties; impaired thinking; confusion; from mental exertion;
* intellectual faculties; impaired thinking; confusion; wrapping up head;
* intellectual faculties; impaired thinking; dull, sluggish;
* intellectual faculties; impaired thinking; dull, sluggish; morning; on rising;
* intellectual faculties; impaired thinking; dull, sluggish; in open air;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; anxiety;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; anxiety; morning;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; anxiety; morning; on waking;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; anxiety; afternoon;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; anxiety; afternoon; until evening;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; anxiety; evening;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; anxiety; evening; in bed;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; anxiety; evening; in bed; on closing the eyes;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; anxiety; night;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; anxiety; night; before midnight;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; anxiety; open air;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; anxiety; in bed;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; anxiety; on closing eyes;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; anxiety; during dinner;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; anxiety; after eating;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; anxiety; burping, belching;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; anxiety; during fever;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; anxiety; about health;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; anxiety; in house;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; anxiety; while reading;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; anxiety; before stool;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; fear;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; fear; evening;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; fear; after dinner;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; fear; after eating;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; fear; after food;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; fear; of robbers;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; frightened easily; starting, startled; like electric shocks; shocks through the body while wide awake;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; frightened easily; starting, startled; during sleep;
* insecure, uncertain, scared; frightened easily; starting, startled; during sleep; starting from sleep;
* perception; time; time passes too slowly;
* preoccupied; absorbed, buried in thought; introspection;
* restlessness, nervousness;
* restlessness, nervousness; evening;
* restlessness, nervousness; evening; in bed;
* restlessness, nervousness; night;
* restlessness, nervousness; night; before midnight;
* restlessness, nervousness; night; 2 a.m.;
* restlessness, nervousness; anxious, etc.;
* restlessness, nervousness; forcing out of bed;
* restlessness, nervousness; tossing about in bed;
* restlessness, nervousness; on closing eyes at night;
* restlessness, nervousness; during heat;
* restlessness, nervousness; internal;
* restlessness, nervousness; while lying down;
* restlessness, nervousness; during period;
* mental symptoms from sexual excesses;
* talking, conversation; aversion to answering;
* talking, conversation; aversion to answering; morning;
* talking, conversation; contrary (see obstinate, irritable);
* talking, conversation; obstinate;
* talking, conversation; dislike of talking, desire to be silent, taciturn;
* talking, conversation; dislike of talking, desire to be silent, taciturn; morning;
* talking, conversation; of others;
* talking, conversation; in sleep;
* thoughts (see preoccupied); thoughtful;
* unconsciousness;
* unconsciousness; evening; when lying down;
* unconsciousness; after eating;
* unconsciousness; while lying down;

Consequently, to the regulators that think that magnesium is a "new" drug treatment for depression, I say they are wrong. Magnesium has been around much longer than they, and humans have recognized it as treatment for many disorders and diseases much longer than the Food and Drug Administration and its lackeys have been in business. Fortunately, The Congressman who wrote the FDA law, the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1939, was a homeopathy supporter named Sabath, from Illinois, and he made certain that homeopathy would remain legal. Consequently, any governmental regulator that says that we can not make drug claims for magnesium as a treatment for depression, a depression treatment, cure for depression, or means to prevent depression and a wide variety of related mental condition is on legally shaky grounds. All we have to do is use the proper Latin words!
Back to My Story
Back to my history and how I learned to cure my depression. When I purchased my first bottle of magnesium glycinate, it was not from intelligence that I chose that particular compound of magnesium. It was just what was available on the shelf at the store I visited. After considerable research, I found that the store provided the best form of magnesium that I could have chosen to treat depression. Both glycine and taurine have been used to effectively treat depression, and both should be taken with magnesium while treating depression. Also taurine has been shown to be low or absent in 100 percent of people with depression and chronic pain according to Shealy.

I quit taking and quit recommending magnesium glycinate without additive taurine because glycine, in the doses taken and while taken for a protracted period of time, will damage its delicate balance with another amino acid, taurine (unless it is also taken). Taurine is vital to mental and cardiac health and must not be disturbed, while glycine is ubiquitous and appears highly unlikely to be bothered by too much taurine. For example, diets with up to 1% as taurine had no adverse effect on test animals. Long term high doses of glycinate may cause cardiac arrhythmias, and will never allow total recovery from depression or other mood disorders. However, most people will find that magnesium glycinate works miracles for them in the short-term. Also, both magnesium and taurine have been proven to be low in depression in about 80% and 100% of depression cases respectively, so why not take glycine and taurine and magnesium? Read Shealy's article starting here. See sentence immediately before the Discussion section. This does not mean magnesium glycinate is harmful in the short- or near-term, it just means one shouldn't use it year in and year out (without taurine), and it must be IMMEDIATELY stopped if side effects, particularly cardiac arrhythmias (PACs) occur. Taurine is the antidote to many cardiac problems. See this page for the first and only scientific discussion on how taurine prevents and treats experimental extra systoles (pre atrial contractions PACs) and many other serious heart conditions.

Glycine (the second component of magnesium glycinate) chelates (removes) mercury from the body. Citric acid and cysteine also remove mercury. The first stability constants for mercury binding with glycine or cysteine or citric acid are in the log 10 to log 14 range, which are vastly stronger bindings than can be broken by any natural biology or chemistry event occurring in the body. Glycine is a non-essential amino acid, but for people with mercury poisoning, it, cysteine and citric acid may be highly important. Because of these amazing chelating, sequestering or binding powers, if they reacted with mercury in any form in the body, they should be able to bind them much more tightly, making mercury biologically unavailable in the body. Perhaps, consumption of large amounts of these amino acids from high quality protein sources, and consumption of citrus help protect from the toxic effects of mercury. Mercury is extremely toxic and can cause depression and many symptoms associated with depression. These symptoms include, insomnia, nervousness, memory loss, dizziness, anxiety, loss of self-confidence, irritability, drowsiness, weight loss, tremors, paraesthesia (numbness and tingling), hallucinations, headaches, fatigue, muscle weakness, hearing difficulties, emotional instability, skin inflammation, incoordination and kidney damage. The common areas where mercury is found are: auto exhaust emissions, used motor oils, pesticides, fertilizers, dental amalgams (silver fillings), drinking water (tap and well), leather tanning chemicals, felt, bleached flour, processed foods, fabric softeners, fish (tuna, swordfish, shark, king mackerel and tile fish), calomel (mercury chloride contaminant in talc, body powder), paint pigments and solvents, cinnabar (mercury sulfide - used in red jewelry items), inorganic mercury laxatives, mercurochrome/methiolate anti-infectives, cosmetics (mascara), floor waxes and polishes, wood preservatives, water plumbing & piping, adhesives, batteries, used air conditioner filters (better here than in the air), broken thermometers, and some electronic equipment. Consequently, supplementing several grams of these chelating agents daily is a good idea regardless of current mental health. However, DMSA is the drug, apparently a harmless drug, of choice for removing heavy metals. Succeed! Depression is not a psychosis!
Collected Thoughts on Dosage

Now, more than 3 years after my very rapid recovery, I still ponder the correct dosage for magnesium, perhaps because this is the number one question asked by readers. What are the facts? There are some in the FDA who believe the U.S. RDA of 400 mg for men and 350 for women is too low, and that many persons need as much as 900 a day in their diet for a normal life. Canada, who pays for its citizen's health care, has a RDA of 600 mg magnesium for adults.

Dosage depends on the ligand, the thing to which the magnesium is attached. In the case of magnesium glycinate, the ligand is "glycinate or glycine". Absorption is largely a property of contact of the magnesium ion with the lining of the stomach and intestines. If magnesium is lightly bound to the ligand, then the acidity of the stomach can "ionize" the magnesium from its ligand and convert it to magnesium chloride (from the stomach acid hydrochloric acid) and finally into a positively charged ionic form for transfer into the blood where it is then picked up by various other ligands for transport to cells. Stomach acid can reduce the magnesium compound to the ionic form for metal complexes that have low to modest chemical stability, releasing both the magnesium ion and the ligand. The following magnesium compounds have sufficiently low stability that they offer very high absorption and are well tolerated. Magnesium acetate, chloride, citrate, gluconate, glycinate, lactate, malate, succinate and sulfate are all very good, ionizable sources of magnesium. Intravenously, hospitals give magnesium sulfate. Magnesium chloride would be best, but it is very hygroscopic and difficult to properly package, but it makes a wonderful oily skin lotion when present in more than 25% concentrations in water and is readily and beneficially absorbed.

On the other hand, magnesium oxide, magnesium hydroxide, magnesium stearate and magnesium carbonate are totally useless (and potentially dangerous) because they are too tightly bound together for the stomach acid to dissociate into ionic form and they will not benefit humans at all. If you rely on them for your daily magnesium, you will soon die or become so ill that you will change your ways. This medical journal article abstract reported that "taking magnesium citrate was best absorbed, and that magnesium oxide was no better than taking placebo." This medical journal article reported that "Results indicated relatively poor bioavailability of magnesium oxide (fractional absorption 4 per cent) but significantly higher and equivalent bioavailability of magnesium chloride, magnesium lactate and magnesium aspartate." Another article reported "The increment in urinary magnesium following magnesium citrate load (25 mMol) was significantly higher than that obtained from magnesium oxide load (during 4 hours post-load, 0.22 vs 0.006 mg/mg creatinine, p less than 0.05; during second 2 hours post-load, 0.035 vs 0.008 mg/mg creatinine, p less than 0.05). Thus, magnesium citrate was more soluble and bioavailable than magnesium oxide." This can be interpreted to mean that magnesium oxide raised blood levels of magnesium only 1 / 37 that of magnesium citrate. NOTE: I personally know someone that took 500 mg of magnesium from magnesium oxide every day for 40 years and died of a massive heart attack. These dirt cheap inorganic forms of magnesium will not work, except in very much larger doses, which greatly increase risk of diarrhea. In fact magnesium hydroxide is mainly useful to treat constipation (Milk of Magnesia). All of the useful, ionizable compounds of magnesium have a metallic, mildly unpleasant taste. On the other hand magnesium carbonate, oxide, stearate and hydroxide have no taste. These compounds are so tightly bound not even the taste buds are affected by them. Always taste-test each bottle of magnesium to detect improperly labeled products. Improperly labeled magnesium products do exist in the United States and they do cause many people to complain that "magnesium doesn't work". Obviously, neurotoxic-to-us ligands (glutamate and aspartate) and oxides, carbonate, stearate and hydroxides must be avoided. If I were writing the laws, they (the oxide, hydroxide, carbonate, stearate, glutamate and aspartate forms) would be illegal for human and animal consumption.

Actually, magnesium stearate has an important function in the manufacture of drugs and nutritional supplements, that being as a "tablet lubricant". Magnesium stearate is totally non reactive with all other chemicals, drugs and nutrients, and it has high lubrication properties. This lack of chemical reactivity and lubrication property makes it a necessary ingredient for inclusion in nearly all compressed tablets (but not gelatin capsules). Without magnesium stearate as an additive, machinery that make compressed tablets would not function correctly. The parts would stick together. Magnesium stearate prevents tablet-making machinery from sticking, and it allows tablets to be made by the millions per day without any damage to the equipment. Without magnesium stearate, the equipment could only make a few, perhaps less than 100 tablets per day, due to massive equipment failure from lack of lubrication.

Much of this essay relates to and asks why one needs so much supplemental magnesium to maintain mood? Normally, people don't consider magnesium as a part of their nutrition, even though magnesium is the second most prevalent mineral inside their cells (potassium is first). Have you ever seen magnesium on a food ingredient label? Not likely. I know I haven't, except for Planters® nuts and some General Mills cereals. Clearly people with mood disorders leak or do not properly absorb magnesium. Consequently, without supplements of magnesium we are in desperate condition. There is an important section in this essay that explores in depth the question of why we leak magnesium and can't properly absorb it. Please read that section to see which factors might be involved in your personal situation. You will probably need to discuss these factors with your physician. Briefly, there are two main reasons, kidney (urinary) and gastrointestinal (fecal) losses. Some losses are caused by damage to these two organs by common drugs, usually prescription drugs like steroids, birth control pills, antifungals, laxatives and antibiotics. Other causes of damage include poor diet, endocrine disorders, parasites, infection and many other shown in this link. In my case, I know medicines damaged my gut by treating a yeast infection first with prescription antibiotics (improperly prescribed) and then with steroids (a potentially dangerous medicine). Did that further predispose me to depression? I think so.

There are four very important dietary causes of low magnesium, which are: (1) "Leaky gut Syndrome" - inadequate intestinal bacteria, (2) insulin / sugar problems and (3) improper calcium / magnesium ratio, and (4) low bile production. During our youth, we are usually immune to each of these problems, but as we age (either in years or from toxins such as drugs or abuse of sugars and calcium), our ability to defend ourselves from these factors declines, sometimes to the point of illness. We will now discuss the main underling non-medical reasons for low intracellular magnesium, which cause depression (and many other common illnesses).
Could George be Wrong about Magnesium Oxide?

Heavens to Betsy! Could George be wrong about magnesium oxide? Throughout the entirety of this essay, except for this single section, I indicate that magnesium oxide is garbage, useless and not bioavailable. On the other hand, maybe for some special people, magnesium oxide could be just what the doctor ordered. Here are the facts. Some people can't absorb ionizable magnesium compounds since they have intestinal problems, such as candida albicans infection and other problems perhaps of a medical nature, and they develop diarrhea with relatively small doses of ionizable magnesium like magnesium chloride, citrate, lactate, glycinate and so on. I believe they can't absorb ionizable magnesium since ionizable magnesium first feeds candida albicans fungus or other infective agent in the guts, thus worsening intestinal health and diminishing absorption. I don't know if this condition is rare or common, but suspect it is rare in well people but more common in sick people such as depressives. Perhaps leaky gut syndrome is present. There are fascinating tidbits of information that suggests magnesium oxide will not be absorbed by candida albicans (my intuition only - no facts here), yet the human gut absorbs it. However, the amount of magnesium oxide needed to effect a benefit in treating depression may be as high as 2,000 to 4,000 milligrams a day (split the doses please)! Whoa! That much magnesium citrate or other ionizable compounds might cause serious health problems (or death?), so it greatly worries me that people may not remember that these huge doses are very tentatively described ONLY for magnesium oxide and such doses may or may not cause severe side effects. Benefits? Maybe! Why am I taking this position now? Last year I worked on magnesium throat lozenges for asthma, see the article here. Although I did not expect magnesium oxide to work, it did, but much larger doses were required compared to ionizable forms. Therefore, I had some personal evidence that magnesium oxide could be absorbed and could be useful in treating human diseases. Was it very convincing? NO! There are other tidbits of information too. In this 1986 unpublished article by Vinson, he shows that magnesium oxide produced urinary levels of magnesium in excess of that produced by magnesium glycinate. That means that for those several people in the Vinson study, magnesium oxide was absorbed better than magnesium glycinate. Look at this 2006 article in Gut, a journal associated with the British Medical Journal, it shows with clear laboratory evidence that a woman having had part of her intestinal tract removed from a previous surgery, absorbed magnesium oxide but not other forms of magnesium. Are these three tidbits convincing? NOT YET, but I am convinced that there must be a simple solution to the problem of absorption of magnesium for those people that are having trouble absorbing ionizable magnesium compounds. Therefore, with considerable humility, I suggest that as a last ditch effort to make magnesium work, try magnesium oxide, and let me know your progress. I will publish your results here.

Here is the first suggestion from Ryan H. that the above may be right for some select people.
"I know you get a ton of mail so I will keep this brief (love the site, btw). My intention is not to challenge your findings but to find the truth for myself. I have tried three different types of magnesium for anxiety (malate, citrate, and oxide) and, believe it or not, only oxide helps. Before you dismiss this email, let me provide you with some background info. When I take malate or citrate (bound to magnesium, of course) in daily doses larger than 600 mg (divided into 4 separate doses), I get terrible diarrhea and cramps and no relief for my anxiety. However, I can consume 2500 mg (or more) magnesium oxide without any repercussions and it further cures my anxiety completely. I have found a few reputable links that report that on RARE occasions, some individuals actually absorb magnesium oxide better than other chelated forms (the links are below). The vast majority of the research I have done reaches the same conclusion that you do - magnesium oxide is garbage. Please give me your feedback on this - I can't explain why oxide works best for me, it just does."

The links he mentioned are the two links about magnesium oxide that I have in my above text. Thanks, Ryan H. Had he not written, I would not have given any credibility to my magnesium oxide for asthma data, and would not have made the leap that there are gut issues here that may be positively influenced by low bioavailability magnesium compounds such as magnesium oxide. If you want to know how ionizable any given magnesium compound is, and don't mind a bit of chemical nomenclature see this page. However, I warn Ryan and anybody that will listen, that if your body changes, and you suddenly are able to easily absorb magnesium oxide, you could be in for a major overdose. See this internal link for signs and symptoms of magnesium toxicity. I think I would prefer people to use "non gut" methods of a taking magnesium, such as shots, IV, rectal, or topical described below rather than to overdose on magnesium oxide.

George,

So far, I only seem to have a positive response to magnesium oxide in very high doses (over 10 grams, > possibly 14+). Do you know the best way to get this without taking tons of pills & how to counteract that with > > taurine or anything else? It definitely overstimulates bowels-so I get to feel good only I can't be around others. I've suffered from severe chronic depression my whole life & eat an extremely healthy raw vegan diet. I have tried tons of supplements & natural remedies all of which has done nothing. I had tried magnesium taurate previously & it didn't do anything, probably because I needed much higher doses.

i appreciate your assistance.

Thank you,

Lori

Ahhhhhhh!!! You guys and gals are really scaring me! Those could be toxic doses if it were any compound other than magnesium oxide! WARNING!!!!!
"Leaky Gut Syndrome"

The answer to the question, "How much should I take to cure my depression?", closely relates to what caused the magnesium malabsorption or leakage. In nearly all cases severe stress (metabolic, psychological, environmental, physical) is involved as a predisposing factor. However, "Leaky Gut Syndrome" may be the most frequent cause of our inability to absorb magnesium. In nearly all cases, improving digestion by any means possible, such as use of stomach acidifiers (AC Vinegar), enzymes, CoQ10, soluble fiber, and correcting "Leaky Gut Syndrome" are easy and should be our highest priorities for rapid recovery. How? First, we must realize that insufficient stomach acid prevents absorption of minerals including magnesium, and that anything that irritates or damages our intestines impairs our ability to absorb magnesium. If magnesium is not absorbed through the walls of the stomach, in the large intestines magnesium ions attract vast numbers of molecules of water and promote retention of water - the usually accepted cause of its laxative effects. However, inadequate production of bile and the resultant diarrhea may be far more important in our inability to absorb sufficient magnesium. We must also realize that magnesium when present in the gut in sufficient concentration acts on our intestinal flora in the same way as an antibiotic - a definite gut irritant! This action may be because magnesium ions (especially as magnesium chloride - the form of magnesium present in our bodies as result of hydrochloric stomach acid) have strong, wide-spectrum antibiotic action. The antibiotic action of magnesium ion, using Epsom Salt, is well appreciated in veterinary medicine, and is used daily in treating topical wounds in animals, particularly abscesses in hoofs of horses. Also, Walter Last recounts its early use in humans as an antibiotic here. Why magnesium ion is not used as a broad spectrum antibiotic in people today is unclear, but probably has little to do with efficacy and much to do with economics. Regardless, if sufficient magnesium gets into the large intestines, it can and often does disrupt the normal flora of the gut causing a form of "Leaky Gut Syndrome" in the absence of adequate bile. This effect results in inadequate absorption of magnesium, calcium and many other nutrients which can cause many disorders including depression. Treating "Leaky Gut Syndrome" therefore becomes a novel way to treat depression.

How is "Leaky Gut Syndrome" treated? First, identify and avoid things that irritate the gut such as food allergens, alcohol, caffeine, sugar (excesses cause intestinal yeast overgrowth) and drugs. Second, probiotics (life-sustaining bacteria normal and required in the intestines) such as acidophilus lactobacillus (available at pharmacies, health food and grocery stores) are needed to maintain and replace intestinal flora killed by excess magnesium ion. Only the strongest, fresh (refrigerated) available should be used, in a sufficient amount (6+ billion viable microorganisms per dose) and at a frequency (3 to 5 doses a day) to terminate diarrhea nearly overnight. Taking probiotics at times of the day different from magnesium only makes sense. Just like we would never take antibiotics at the same time of taking probiotics, we must not take magnesium with probiotics. There seems to be zero risk of overdosage using quality products, but mixed probiotic cultures may not be useful particularly if un refrigerated, because they have the habit of killing each other in warm environments when stored for a long time. If you want to get really serious about GI health, do what I do, use refrigerated 450 billion bacteria VSL#3 packets several times a day. Gas may be a side effect until the body adjusts. Ask the store clerk which probiotics have been shipped and maintained in a refrigerated state and which are the strongest. Third, psyllium husk fibers or bars without added sugar are very helpful in providing intestinal bulk and harborage for the intestinal flora. Some researchers say that damage to the gut repairable using probiotics takes from 3 to 6 months, even though diarrhea can usually be terminated within a few days. Consequently, we must avoid the temptation of early withdrawal from these life- and health-sustaining agents. We need to remember that diarrhea is not necessary for there to be "Leaky Gut Syndrome". Diarrhea is only one symptom of this disorder. Learn more about how and why treating "Leaky Gut Syndrome" is vital to general health recovery, Kefir is vital in repopulating the intestines with friendly fungus after killing Albicans, an overgrowth of which is a potent cause of low magnesium.

The amount of magnesium that we ingest is not as important as the amount we absorb. Many times magnesium tablets do not quickly dissolve in the stomach, resulting in entire tablets getting into the intestines where they always cause diarrhea. Allowing a tablet to dissolve in a glass of water or in the mouth will reveal problems with tablet dissolution rates. In cases of slow dissolution, tablets can be crushed and dissolved in a small glass of water with soluble fiber. I have an indelicate pallet, and I chew the tablets to a powder. I don't know if others can do the same.

What is the result of curing "Leaky Gut Syndrome" (a form of magnesium wasting) in the treatment of depression with magnesium? Perhaps most importantly, the total daily amount of magnesium required to improve mood is lowered. On occasion, repair is so complete that supplemental magnesium may be discontinued after a few months without recurrence of depression. Importantly, if we can cure "Leaky Gut Syndrome" and our mood improves to normal, we can be assured that we have fixed a serious problem using a very simple and harmless technique that allows us to rule out more complicated causes for our problems with mood. Who could say that treating depression with probiotics is not better than treating depression with Prozac®?
Taurine - The Perfect-Poop Maker!

Inadequate production of bile, which is made in the liver and aids in proper digestion of fats, probably is five times more responsible for diarrhea and malabsorption of magnesium than any other single factor while taking therapeutic doses of magnesium. How can we get our bile production high enough to improve our absorption of magnesium? Cottage cheese, low in calcium and very high in taurine (1700 mg per cup), is a good food source. Taking taurine supplements along with various ionizable magnesium compounds (such as magnesium acetate, chloride, citrate, gluconate, glycinate, lactate, malate, succinate, sulfate, tartrate), seems to do the trick, because both often result in perfect poop. Loose stools normally attendant with daily 1200 mg magnesium dosage (split into 200 to 300 mg doses given 4 times per day), appeared completely preventable by taking six times the dosage of taurine with the magnesium doses (for example: for each 100 mg magnesium dosage, about 600 mg of taurine is ingested). Taurine is a conditional essential amino acid for humans, well known to be essential in human infants, but not in adults (except in aging, where its absence may be responsible for vast morbidity and early mortality). Its other main function is in preventing cardiac arrhythmias and palpitations, and regulating cardiac rhythm generally, by supporting potassium metabolism too. Since I have had an increasingly severe problem with cardiac arrhythmias (PACs), such is the reason I experimented with taurine. Although the arrhythmias were slowly benefited over a one month period and nearly disappeared, the poop issue became immediately evident the first morning after my initial taurine dosage. I searched the Internet and PubMed for and found only that "excess taurine acts as a diuretic and laxative". I disagree for the doses we are taking, but perhaps this is a problem for really large doses (much higher than our 6 grams per day). When I also add 2 to 5 grams of taurine with each meal and at bedtime to prevent bothersome cardiac arrhythmias (PACs), I do not notice any laxative effects from taurine. Here is an excellent 1998 article about the therapeutic value of taurine by Timothy C. Birdsall, ND, Executive Editor of Alternative Medicine Reviews. Here is the only scientific article on treating cardiac arrhythmias with taurine. This is a shame because cardiac problems nearly always involve low taurine, and taruine will keep you alive in many very severe cardiac illnesses.

Taurine is supposed to be one of the most abundant amino acids in the body. It is found in human and animal central nervous systems, skeletal muscles and is very concentrated in brain, heart and eye tissues. It is synthesized from the amino acids methionine and cysteine, in conjunction with vitamin B6. Animal protein (particularly seafood) is a good source of taurine, but it is not found in vegetable protein. Vegetarians with an unbalanced protein intake, and therefore deficient in methionine or cysteine will have great difficulty manufacturing taurine. Dietary intake is thought to be more important in women as the female hormone estradiol depresses the formation of taurine in the liver.

Taurine functions in electrically active tissues such as the brain and heart to help stabilize cell membranes. Taurine seems to inhibit and modulate neurotransmitters (like glycine and GABA) in the brain and helps to stabilize cell membranes. It also has functions in the gallbladder, eyes, and blood vessels and appears to have some antioxidant and detoxifying activity. Taurine aids the movement of potassium, sodium, calcium, and magnesium in and out of cells and thus helps generate nerve impulses. Zinc seems to support this effect of taurine. There have been reports on the benefits of taurine supplementation for epileptics. It has also been found to control motor tics, such as uncontrollable facial twitches. In Japan, taurine therapy is often used in the treatment of ischemic heart disease. In some people trying both magnesium and taurine for OCD, taurine seemed more effective, and some are saying that taurine cured their OCD.

Low taurine and magnesium levels have been found in patients after heart attacks. Like magnesium, taurine affects cell membrane electrical excitability by normalizing potassium flow in and out of heart muscle cells. Supplements decrease the tendency to develop potentially lethal abnormal heart arrhythmias after heart attacks. People with congestive heart failure have also responded to supplementation with improved cardiac and respiratory function. Taurine is necessary for the chemical reactions that produce normal vision, and deficiencies are associated with retinal degeneration. I call taurine my "heart lube".

Besides protecting the retina, taurine may help prevent and possibly reverse age-related cataracts. Low levels of taurine and other sulphur containing amino acids are associated with high blood pressure, and taurine supplements have been shown to lower blood pressure in some studies. Other possible uses for taurine supplementation include eye disease (including scleritis and retinal disease), cirrhosis, depression and male infertility (due to low sperm motility) and hypertension, and as a supplement for newborns and new mothers. It is vital in maintaining the correct composition of bile and the solubility of cholesterol. It has been found to have an effect on blood sugar levels similar to insulin.

Very interestingly, taurine and glycine exist in the presence of a time- and dose-dependent exchange mechanism. After administering glycine to rats, researchers discovered that it produced a notable suppression of hepatic taurine content in the liver. Yet, this taurine decrease was not found in other taurine-rich organs such as the brain, heart or kidney. The mechanism for hepatic concentration of these two amino acids serves to alter liver concentrations of these amino acids without adversely affecting the rest of the body. The significance of this is very high, because as glycine goes up and taurine goes down in the liver, bile production is impaired and intestinal absorption of magnesium becomes greatly impaired, helping to explain why diarrhea resulting from magnesium plus taurine is less prevalent than without taurine. In some people sensitive to this reaction, magnesium glycinate would be contraindicated, while magnesium taurate would be more helpful. Why not take magnesium glycinate plus taurine?

Like all nutrients, taurine enhances or decreases the action of other nutrients. Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of the amino acid glutamic acid. If glutamic acid supplementation is given, as is sometimes done with alcoholics, it tends to reduce taurine. MSG itself can also reduce taurine levels. The amino acids beta-alanine and beta-hypotaurine, as well as the B-vitamin pantothenic acid, may also interfere with taurine's functions. Zinc, on the other hand, enhances taurine's heart lube effects. Zinc deficiency and combined vitamin A and zinc deficiency are associated with an increased excretion of taurine in the urine and with depleted taurine levels in the tissues where it is normally found. Cysteine (found in meat) and vitamin B6 are the most critical nutrients to support the manufacture of taurine in the body of human beings or those species that are able to synthesize enough.

For me, my taurine levels were so consistently low that to totally prevent PAC (pre atrial contractions) cardiac arrhythmias (harmless but nerve racking extra beats), I required 2 grams of taurine with each meal Here is an article, actually the only article ever written on the ability of taurine to regulate the electrical activity of the heart.

Taurine (my heart lube) is an important regulator of cellular ion transport and osmotic balance, aspects that are pivotal to renal function. The kidney not only regulates body taurine status, but emerging information also suggests that body taurine status is of consequence for renal function. While reduction in endogenous taurine stores can attenuate renal excretory function, exogenous taurine supplementation is kidney-protective and augments kidney function in several conditions that are associated with reduction in diuresis and natriuresis. Thus taurine treatment may be of potential benefit in conditions that are associated with impaired kidney function and the accompanying dysregulation of body fluid and electrolyte homeostasis. I say that anything that improves kidney function is vital to us.

Taurine supplementation is now recommended for the prevention and treatment of diabetes. In order to determine the effects of taurine supplementation or depletion on the morphological changes of pancreatic beta-cells in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats, rats were fed diets supplemented with 1, 2 or 3% taurine or 5% beta-alanine in their drinking water for 7 weeks. After 3 weeks, diabetes was induced by streptozotocin injection (50 mg/kg body-weight). Pancreatic morphology was observed by transmission electron microscopy. The pancreatic beta-cell of the non-diabetic (CO) group had the many secretory granules, rough endoplasmic reticulum and rod shaped mitochondria. However, the beta-cells of non taurine-supplemented diabetic (EO) group were severely damaged, showing depleted secretory granules. In the 1% taurine-supplemented diabetic group, the beta-cells were less damaged compared to the EO group and had some apparently normal secretory granules, but most of rough endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria was destroyed. The beta-cell of 2% taurine-supplemented diabetic group had swollen rough endoplasmic reticulum, round-shaped mitochondria and some apparently normal secretory granules. The beta-cell of 3% taurine-supplemented diabetic group was little different from that of non-diabetic group. The pancreatic beta-cell of taurine-depleted diabetic group was not destroyed but had many small secretory granules which appeared immature. This was reflected in the blood glucose concentrations of this group. Therefore, taurine may prevent insulin-dependent diabetes by protection of the pancreatic beta-cell and may also preserve normal secretory granules. From these results, taurine supplementation may be recommended for prevention and treatment of diabetes. Beta-alanine worsened diabetes. Magnesium, however, plays an important role in the regulation of insulin secretion by altering the sensitivity of the beta cells of the Islets of Langerhans to glucose.

The MSGTruth.org site commented that taurine was the antidote for glutamate poisoning. I questioned Carol Hoernlein, the founder of the MSGTruth.org site about her point of view and she wrote me back writing:

George,
The MSG toxicity - taurine deficiency link theory is my own. I developed the theory over ten years ago. At first in my research of glutamate toxicity and its effect on cardiovascular health, most of the neuro scientific data at the time linked glutamate toxicity to its effect on the amino acid cysteine. (Glutamate and cysteine compete for uptake in the body.) I then was given an article about the amino acid taurine by a colleague. That was the link. Taurine deficiency symptoms are the exact same symptoms of MSG reaction. Particularly a racing heart. (Taurine is an amino acid that regulates heart beat.) When I realized that the body manufactures taurine from cysteine, the pieces fell into place. I then tested my theory. The next MSG reaction I had, I took taurine in pill form. The headache went away, the racing heart calmed down, the blood pressure went down, and I was able to sleep. Since that time, I have used it quite often and always keep some handy as an "antidote". It is interesting to note, that now taurine is being used in Japan to treat high blood pressure. It is also being studied to treat diabetes and epilepsy now. These are also two diseases impacted by glutamate. Glutamate triggers the pancreas to produce insulin, but too much insulin can result in insulin resistance, Type II diabetes, and obesity. Also, MSG is well known as an epilepsy trigger. All these facts point to the conclusion that ingested MSG somehow interferes with taurine formation in the body, perhaps by interfering with the uptake of the cysteine needed to make taurine. It is by no means an "official" theory, but we have had many reports of MSG sensitive persons who report relief of some MSG reaction symptoms by ingesting taurine. It is also interesting to note that the body uses Vitamin B6 to make taurine, and that Vitamin B6 deficiency makes MSG reactions worse.
I will be adding a page to the web site soon about taurine, as it is a fascinating amino acid.
Hope this explains things a bit better. If you more questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

Carol A. Hoernlein, P.E.
Founder MSGTruth.org

Carol's and my personal beliefs have major, scientific support. Taurine prevents glutamate excitotoxicity through regulation of calcium and mitochondrial energy metabolism according to scientists writing in the November 1999 issue of Journal of Neuroscience. They clearly and unambiguously point out that the control of intracellular calcium concentrations is a fundamental process in neuronal survival and function. This, prevention of glutamate excitotoxicity, is exactly what we need, and is a powerful reason I use magnesium glycinate plus taurine (not magnesium taurate since it is too tightly bound for many people). This importance of this point cannot be over emphasized. Additive taurine also is a potent sleep enhancer.

Aspartate, glutamate, and glutamine, among other amino acids, are excitatory. They are antagonistic to the functions of taurine, alanine, GABA and glycine according to a contemporary review of taurine by Richard Smayda, D.O.. Consequently, Carol is correct, taurine does detoxify glutamates. Dr. Smayda's review is of considerable importance to all of us interested in magnesium and depression. Dr. Smayda points out that major depression is marked by alterations in serum levels of the excitatory amino acids glutamate and aspartate, accompanied by deviations in levels of taurine, serine, and glycine as well. In patients who did not respond to depression treatment with classical SSRI antidepressants (treatment-resistant depression - like what we are discussing in this page), characteristically lower serum levels of taurine, aspartate, asparagine, serine and threonine, with a steep increase in glutamine, were noted. Consequently, magnesium glycinate plus taurine is my preferred form of magnesium for treating depression. These alterations may become valuable as diagnostic assessments to predict the response to treatment with antidepressants. I remain extremely cautious and worried about glutamates and aspartates due to toxicity that has been previously discussed. Here is a link to an important review of taurine in biological functions and food sources, with cottage cheese being low in calcium and high in taurine (1700 mg per cup).

According to Dr. Smayda, taurine is a necessary and integral element for optimal health. Oral supplementation poses no major threat of toxicity, and its presence in foods makes it widely available to people seeking nutrition-oriented ways to improve their health. The importance of taurine cannot be overstated and its greater therapeutic application awaits only further research. It truly is part of the team of nutrients that we require for maintaining optimal health and sustaining life. However, in those individuals who develop stomach ulcers with aspirin, for instance, large doses of supplemental taurine may be contraindicated. Some people may have side effect

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Anti-Candida Albicans Agents - Ways to Increase Magnesium Absorption
Further in this page, I have identified a large number of health conditions that prevent or reduce the absorption of magnesium from the diet. One of the most frequent, I am convinced, is overgrowth of Candida Albicans in the digestive tract, intestines. Therefore, in the following few sections I cover various antifungal agents, more or less in the order that I uncovered them. These are the anti-Candida Albicans agents that are discussed in the following sections. You will notice that I did not discuss the OTC and prescriptions antifungals, simply due to my general aversion to drugs. If you want to learn about them, see your physician, but none of them work longer than a week before the Candida morphs to a resistant strain, just like for coconut oil and garlic.

* Coconut oil Helpful and safe, but works only for a week.
* Garlic Helpful and safe, but works only for a week.
* Iodine Very helpful but may not be safe - thyroid issues
* Kefir Helpful and safe, and should be taken every day as our main source of calcium (greatly helps with magneisum wasting perhaps due to high content of inulin).
* Indole-3-Carbinol) Helpful and extremely safe, and is my main anti-fungal, anti-cancer agent and anti magnesium wasting agent. It also seems to greatly reduce diarrhea and improve bowel function particularly with use of high-dose magnesium.
* Mercola's Complete Probiotic plus biotin Whoa! This is the cat's meow! Finally some real efficacy! This is what I like the best. Read the link and see why.

Coconut Oil: Cure For Everything?

Is coconut oil the cure for everything? Another natural anti-yeast treatment is plain old ordinary coconut oil. This natural substance has been known for many centuries to prevent yeast infections in women in Pacific islands. Finally, the oils in coconut oil have been tested against Candida yeast. Both capric and lauric acid found in coconut oil in very large amounts, were totally, absolutely, completely lethal to Candida yeast. Bergsson and Thormar writing in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy wrote: "The susceptibility of Candida albicans to several fatty acids and their 1-monoglycerides was tested with a short inactivation time, and ultra-thin sections were studied by transmission electron microscopy after treatment with capric acid (found in coconut oil). The results show that capric acid, a 10-carbon saturated fatty acid, causes the fastest and most effective killing of all three strains of C. albicans tested, leaving the cytoplasm disorganized and shrunken because of a disrupted or disintegrated plasma membrane. Lauric acid (also found in coconut oil), a 12-carbon saturated fatty acid, was the most active at lower concentrations and after a longer incubation time. Read the full article here and the 1.03 mb PDF version here. It is interesting that people who eat a lot of coconuts live in areas where yeast and fungi are extremely plentiful, yet they are rarely troubled by infections. Only in more temperate climates where processed vegetable oils are the main source of dietary fat are yeast infections, skin fungus, acne, and other skin infections big problems. Much more research needs to be done on the effectiveness of coconut oil in curing Candida, but for now the evidence suggests a good quality Virgin Coconut Oil is one of the best weapons in killing Candida. Much information is on the internet concerning the use of coconut oil to treat yeast infections. It is also an excellent topical anti-yeast agent for treating vaginal yeast infections. Read why coconut oil is one of the most health promoting foods on Earth here. Bruce Fife reporting in his book: "The overall health of both groups of Pacific Islanders was extremely good compared to Western standards. There were no signs of kidney disease or hypothyroidism that might influence fat levels. There was no hypercholesterolemia (high blood cholesterol). All inhabitants were lean and healthy despite a very high saturated-fat diet from coconut oil. In fact, the populations as a whole had ideal weight-to-height ratios as compared to the Body Mass Index figures used by nutritionists. Digestive problems are rare. Constipation is uncommon. They average two or more bowel movements a day. Atherosclerosis, heart disease, colitis, colon cancer, hemorrhoids, ulcers, diverticulosis, and appendicitis are conditions with which they are generally unfamiliar." Enough said? Try 3 to 4 tablespoons per day. It will not make you fat, and best of all it is non-toxic, very much unlike many prescription antifungals. But, start out with a low dose until you find out what your side effects from the break down of yeast affects you. You may say, "Yuck, coconut oil is a saturated fat!" Yes, but it is one very healthy food, and this is another highly important food that we have been conned into believing is bad for us by the American Soybean Association, Center for Science in the Public Interest and others interested in promoting their own products without regard for our health (a trade war). Search for more information about this issue here. Read how coconut oil is the healthiest oil on Earth.

Safety! Just beyond the breakers! Is coconut oil the cure for many heart problems? YES! Why? Well, the biochemistry is interesting and fairly simple. Candida yeast breakdown products include acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde, (also a break down product of alcohol, and is found in ripe fruit, cigarette smoke and coffee) has been found to concentrate in the heart where it adversely affects heart cells, and has significant effects on cardiac contractility and function. Acetaldehyde can cause fibrosis and enlargement of individual heart cells. Also, Candidiasis (yeast overgrowth in the colon and mucous membranes) is well known to cause magnesium malabsorption, thus causing depression, heart trouble and colon cancer. Put these observations together, and presto, coconut oil looks like it is a cure for depression, cardiac arrhythmias, myocarditis, endocarditis and lone atrial fibrillations (LAF). I suspect all the other problems mentioned above not found in the Pacific Islanders are also largely preventable by daily use of coconut oil and not drinking alcohol, coffee, smoking, or eating ripe fruit. How many psychiatrists and cardiologists want you to know this? I suspect there are a few. However, as I previously mentioned, a low to zero carbohydrate diet is also required and the combination does produce temporary side effects. Systemic yeast die-off is so intense by orally taking a tablespoon of coconut oil morning and night, that most people have adverse reactions (Herxheimer effect) to the die-off products, worsening symptoms for a few days to a week. I liken this paradox being stranded in a boat seeing land, but finding one first must pass through the dangerous breakers, just off the coast. See what Dr. Mercola has to say about the fungal etiology of inflammatory bowel disease here. Clearly, anything that causes bowel problems will impair magnesium absorption.

Intestinal candida suprainfection. Do you have a yeast infection? Do you have: athlete's foot? jock itch, thrush, recurrent cystitis or other vaginal infections, endometriosis, fungal infections of the nails or skin, problems from exposure to chemical fumes, perfumes, tobacco smoke etc., food allergies, abdominal bloating, diarrhoea or constipation, pre-menstrual syndrome. depression, fatigue, lethargy, poor memory, food cravings, muscular aches, tingling, numbness, burning, unaccountable aches, swelling in joints, erratic vision, spots before the eyes, floaters?, tachycardia, impotence or lack of sexual desire, symptoms usually worse on damp days, persistent drowsiness / tired all the time, lack of co-ordination, headaches / migraines, Mood swings, loss of balance, rashes, mucus in stools, belching and /or flatulence, bad breath, dry mouth or throat, nasal itch and/or congestion, nervous irritability, prostatitis, tightness in chest, ear sensitivity or fluid in ears, heartburn and indigestion, cardiac arrhythmias, HIV/AIDS. I ask again, do you have a yeast problem? I have read that over eighty percent of us do, primarily because we have taken antibiotics and consume a high carbohydrate and sugar diet. Find out using this questionnaire from the Yeast Connection site. Learn more about the benefits of coconut oil and why it is good for you here.

Is it possible that the majority of diseases that we think of as being magnesium deficiency diseases are really manifestations of Candida suprainfections? If yes, could antifungals be the preventative or cure for a very large number of divergent chronic diseases? I think so. Walter Last also seems to think so in his new on-line book, 66 Natural Ways to Cure Diseases. See his section on Candida yeast as the cause of many widely different diseases and conditions including lack of energy, digestive disturbances, arthritic joint pains, skin diseases, menstrual problems, emotional instability, cancer and depression, including suicidal depression. Killing the Candida yeast is not enough, one must also replace the intestinal microflora as discussed here with kefir. I think that principal biological pathways in which Candida causes many diseases is through impaired magnesium metabolism and by diets that promote Candida yeast overgrowth. More on the fungusamongus problem at the FungusFocus web site. Look at the prostatitis page and you will notice that fungus-induced illness (prostatitis) has many symptoms identical to magnesium deficiency. In fact, the symptoms of Candida yeast overgrowth are essentially the same as magnesium deficiency. Candida allergy strongly depresses the body's ability to absorb magnesium, probably by inducing a leaky gut. Dr. Leo Galland observed this in 1985, although his emphasis was on latent tetany with normal serum calcium (low intracellular magnesium).

On the other hand, go to your physician and ask him if you have a Candida infection and unless you have a mushroom growing out of your nose, he/she is very likely to tell you that yeast infections nearly always occur in immunosuppressant people, and they do not occur in you. Ask him if you might be magnesium deficient, and he will likely tell you that no one is magnesium deficient except for drunks. Why the adverse opinions? Well, if your doctor prescribed magnesium or coconut oil every time you visited, why go? I think that it makes vastly more financial sense to dissuade us from looking for root causes of illnesses than to treat simple underlying problems with natural products. Does the idea that "Candida infection" is bogus have support on the Internet? Yes, some. There are a few sites that proclaim "Candidiasis hypersensitivity" to be bogus, but the main antagonist seems to be the QuackWatch site. The QuackWatch site is pretty clear that systemic yeast infection is bogus. Is it? I don't know, but if you find benefit from large doses of coconut oil in treating the bewildering variety of Candida-related illnesses, I imagine that you will suspect that the QuackWatch guy, Stephen Barrett, M.D., needs watching! I do know this much. Five years ago, I complained of a severe yeast infection, and after seeing many physicians, and after being treated with many antifungals and antibiotics in the intervening years, I continued to have the problem until I used coconut oil. Steven Barrett is entitled to his opinion, but this is free country and we can disagree in good faith. Who is Steven Barrett? He is reported to be a non-practicing psychiatrist in Allentown, Pennsylvania, working out of his basement, who is laughed at in this page. Why wouldn't he be practicing? Did he get busted by the state, like my previous psychiatrist (who is now taking magnesium) for self-prescribing psychiatric drugs?

What does George think about the disease causing potential of Candida yeast? I think Barrett is correct. Candida can not reach all these places to cause these other diseases, but its breakdown product, acetaldehyde, can and does. Acetaldehyde is an irritant, a toxin, a reproductive toxin, a mutagen and a carcinogen. It is a dangerous industrial chemical. It is also flammable, and five times more dangerous than the well known embalming fluid formaldehyde, of which it is a chemical relative. How do people detoxify this harmful chemical? Molybdenum is said to be vital in detoxifying acetaldehyde. In The Candida/Aldehyde detox pathway and the Molybdenum Connection, about 300 micrograms of the dietary supplement molybdenum, along with the B-vitamin pantethine (the active part of pantothenic acid), taken three times a day has been recommended to help people detoxify this truly harmful chemical. Alternatively, molybdenum is found in foods, with potatoes having about 600 micrograms per 100 grams. If potatoes are no longer eaten due to their high glycemic index, one might need a supplemental source for this vital nutrient. On the other hand, the Linus Pauling Institute reports that no healthy person has ever been reported to be deficient of this nutrient, although excesses are toxic .

How about HIV/AIDS? Candida yeast is found in nearly all of these patients. Would coconut oil and garlic help treat HIV/AIDS? Dr Mercola thinks so because these oils are also antiviral to a number of viruses including HIV, measles, herpes simplex (HSV-1), vesicular stomatitis virus, visna virus and cytomegalovirus (CMV). Dr. Mercola points out that lauric acid is a medium chain fatty acid, which has the additional beneficial function of being formed into monolaurin in the human or animal body. Monolaurin is the antiviral, antibacterial, and antiprotozoal monoglyceride used by the human or animal to destroy lipid-coated viruses such as HIV, herpes, cytomegalovirus, influenza, and various pathogenic bacteria, including listeria monocytogenes and helicobacter pylori, and protozoa such as giardia lamblia. Some studies are being conducted to see if lowering the yeast load in HIV can prevent the disease from becoming AIDS, with some success. Some studies have also shown some antimicrobial effects of the free lauric acid. Do you feel like we have been deprived of the truth for long enough? Do you think implementation of Codex will prohibit the sale of coconut oil too? Seems like it should if the main purpose of Codex is to protect pharmaceutical company income.

Want to know what that white stuff in your mouth is? Could it be candida? Dentists often find candida yeast infections in peoples' mouths. Here is a slide show about oral candida, which is likely to present more than you want to know. When your dentist chides you about not taking care of your gums by brushing better, he should be recommending antifungal treatments.

Warning! Too much magnesium has been known to cause diarrhea for at least 100 years. Each magnesium ion will attract about 800 molecules of water, which is usually believed to be the cause of the diarrhea. However, too much magnesium exponentially stimulates the growth of Candida yeast cells in vitro, which was preventable by added calcium. Consequently, large doses of magnesium without calcium may stimulate intestinal Candida overgrowth in the human. Consequently, magnesium should be taken using several antifungal agents, and especially garlic with coconut oil. Also, Indole-3-Carbinol will greatly help in detoxifying the intestines and inducing immunity to Candida, thus reducing diarrhea and reducing magnesium wasting. These antifungals will also amplify the absorption of magnesium and greatly accelerate recovery but may increase toxicity of magnesium due to increased absorption. Consequently, when magnesium (without calcium) and antifungals are being used therapeutically, potential for overdose should be considered.
Garlic: The Cure for Everything Else!

Garlic: The Cure for Everything Else The medical literature shows that garlic has important anticancer, antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal effects. I am experimenting in the spring and summer of 2004 with a heaping teaspoon of bottled, commercially prepared minced or ground garlic 4 times a day to add a second potent antifungal agent to my program to kill intestinal Candida yeast and other nasty critters in my intestinal tract. Fresh garlic extract has a greater efficacy than garlic powder extract. The antifungal effect of garlic lasts about one hour in the blood, but does not appear in urine. No physician is willing to tell me that I have a Candida yeast infection in my intestines, even though every time they prescribe an antifungal, I clearly feel better. You want to make a physician laugh? Tell him that garlic makes you feel better! They tend to hold their nose and giggle like crazy! So what! So far, garlic is helping quite a bit. It rapidly allowed me to reduce my magnesium intake by 75%, with no evidence of recurrence of any magnesium deficiency symptom. Currently, I only require 250 mg of magnesium supplements per day. My solid, 100 percent, totally convinced, no-questions-asked gut-feeling is that garlic in these large amounts contributed more to my feeling of true health and well being than anything else that I have ever tried outside of magnesium. Why? Because it really does the things claimed for it in terms of cleaning out the intestinal tract, improving digestion and allowing nutrients, and especially magnesium, to be properly absorbed.

I thank my easily irritated friend Denise from Glendale, Arizona for her persistence on garlic. Even if she did get irritated at me for not wanting to try garlic, I thank her repeatedly and with great humility. Denise fussed at me relentlessly to get me to try garlic. I had never before in my life eaten garlic, except as an accidental ingredient in some restaurant foods. Have garlic in the house? You gotta be nuts! Not us! Bad breath! Think about the consequences of having bad breath from eating garlic and compare the outcome with the absence of health from having an ineffective, fungally-infected digestive tract. The need-more-taurine-for-digestion issue pales in comparison to the need for garlic. There should be an RDA for garlic. If I had to set one it would be 12 to 16 cloves per day as commercially prepared minced or ground garlic, but then again some people react to garlic poorly. In fact, when I tried to eat a clove of fresh raw garlic (fresh enough that it could have grown a new garlic plant if I had planted it in soil), I was met with the most amazing mouth pain. Fresh, raw garlic will cause mouth pain akin to eating a very hot chili pepper. Eating fresh or raw garlic is fine only if it is minced and added to food. I could not chew on a fresh garlic clove like one could chew on a fresh onion or a fresh carrot, but could if I minced the same clove and immediately added it to food. In the later case, I could not taste garlic at all. Eating fresh garlic hurts! What about odor-free garlic? No. As far as I can tell most (if not all) commercial processes damage the ability of garlic to provide us with the effects we need. All those widely advertised brands, Kwai, Kyolic, Garlinase, Garlique, and others, simply don't provide much benefit. This is because garlic pills are missing the key ingredient (allicin) only found in fresh-crushed garlic cloves. It is possible to extract allicin, but such products have not yet been commercialized. Regardless, garlic is the subject of extensive research. It is allicin that kills germs (bacteria - including anthrax -, viruses, fungi, amoeba). Allicin is the primary anti-cancer agent in garlic. Allicin also lowers blood pressure, control blood sugar levels, even controls weight gain. Each of these physiologic benefits probably occurs by improving magnesium absorption. A fresh crushed clove of garlic will provide from 4-12 milligrams of allicin. Unfortunately, allicin is also the odorant in garlic. I used really large amounts of bottled, minced and crushed garlic to get beneficial effects (probably without any allicin due to manufacturing and aging - which leaves open the exact cause of garlic's benefit), but much less fresh raw garlic is needed to get the same effect. Now that I have been taking garlic for a little over a month, my wife does not fuss at me for bad breath, but she won't follow behind me, because I have this little garlic cloud that follows me.

Too much magnesium has been found to cause diarrhea for at least 100 years. Each magnesium ion will attract about 800 molecules of water, which is usually believed to be the cause of the diarrhea. However, too much magnesium exponentially stimulates the growth of Candida yeast cells in vitro, which was preventable by added calcium. Consequently, very large doses of magnesium without calcium might stimulate intestinal Candida overgrowth in the human, but such remains theoretical. Regardless, I think that therapeutic doses of magnesium should always be taken using several antifungal agents (because they can become resistant to individual antifungals), and especially garlic with coconut oil. These antifungals will also amplify the absorption of magnesium and greatly accelerate recovery but might increase toxicity of magnesium due to increased magnesium absorption. Consequently, when therapeutic doses of magnesium (without calcium) and antifungals are being used therapeutically, potential for magnesium overdose should be considered.
Iodine: The Candida Killer!

Perhaps the world's cheapest, most traditional, and best anti Candida agent is the simplest. It is iodine. Yes, I am describing the same iodine found in "tincture of iodine" that your mother used to treat your cuts and scratches when you were a child. Because Big Pharma drug companies have re-educated us to believe that the fancy new (expensive) antibiotics are better and safer than (dirt cheap) iodine, we have lost sight of the one truly miraculous and completely natural antiviral, antibiotic and antifungal agent. Nothing is likely to beat iodine in this regard. However, Big Pharma marketing has taught us that we shouldn't tolerate the deep, long lasting stain that iodine causes when applied to our skin. Yes, iodine will stain your skin, but when used properly that stain can be of enormous value to you in your battle against Candida. Scientists say that if you apply a several-inch round stain of iodine to your skin, say to your belly, that if it disappears within 24-hours, you are iodine deficient. Well, I tried that and my iodine stain always disappeared within 6 to 12 hours, and I am clearly not iodine deficient. Marketing has also taught us that iodine in excess is dangerous, that it can mess up our thyroid. Physicians, especially surgeons, for many years world-wide disinfected multiple square-foot size areas of skin with iodine prior to major surgery, sometimes resulting in toxic overdoses of iodine. Excess iodine can also damage our thyroid function causing either reversible hypothyroidism or reversible hyperthyroidism. However, the benefits of proper use of small amounts of iodine are so enormous that iodine must never be neglected or discarded or disrespected, or we will pay dearly! And we are paying that price.

How does one use iodine to battle Candida? If the Candida infection is intestinal, then we must treat the intestines either through the oral route or topically. That iodine is anti Candida is clear from this report. What I found works extremely well for me is to take 3 mg Prolamine Iodine tablets from Standard Processes with each meal and at bedtime for about 3 weeks, but never for longer than that. (Note: look for "Prolamine Iodine" in their Alphabetical List.) I repeat! Never take 3 mg iodine tablets for longer than 3 weeks because that dosage for longer than 3 weeks can interfere with thyroid function. I could not find this product when I first started to research iodine, so I added a few drops of Strong Tincture of Iodine 7% to a full glass of water and that worked well too. Iodine can never be swallowed straight (it is poisonous straight) and it must always be highly diluted. The taste of a single drop will provide clear evidence of that! From what we have read about Candida Albicans becoming resistant to various antifungals after a single week of treatment, one could hypothesize that such would also be true for iodine. Thus, there would be no need to treat for more than a week. However, in this article, are the words "All Candida Albicans strains tested showed similar susceptibility to the medicaments tested." This suggests to me that Candida Albicans is totally responsive to iodine, and that even if mutations occur, such is irrelevant to efficacy of iodine. However, in me after 3 weeks of 12 mg of iodine per day, I noticed that my body temperature has fallen a full degree, suggesting mild hypothyroidism. Worse, as one might expect from this figure concerning hypothyroidism and low magnesium, I notice a strange low level depression and malaise that just lingers and smolders, not evident to other people, but clearly evident to me. Time to get off of iodine and continue in the search for a perfect anti-fungal.

Recently, I became curious about a strangely colored large toenail. What was that strange coloring of the nail? It looked just like the sickening toenails on the Lamisil advertisements. The infected toenail looked different but did not hurt or feel different. Three-quarters of it was detached from the skin but not loose. They have a really sick advertisement on TV for Lamisil, the new toenail antifungal. The graphics at this site looked like my big toe. So, old George here being too curious to be smart and buy Lamisil, I used iodine to treat my toe and it soaked under my toenail and exactly showed the area no longer stuck to the toe with a dark brown iodine stain. Iodine is enormously antifungal. I repeated the toenail treatment for about a week each evening. My wife is really grossed out by my toenail and I can effectively ward her off now by taking off my sock and sticking my toe up in the air. She runs away. Ha Ha! It is so much fun I have a blackened toe from the iodine, but she warns me of a "blackened eye" if I am not good! Ha Ha, me? Be good? What about my arrhythmias? They have been greatly reduced since I treated my toe with iodine. This tells me that at least some benign cardiac arrhythmias are caused by fungal infections, or the breakdown products of the fungus. Cardiology simplified. There goes another unnecessary pharmaceutical (Lamisil) down the drain. After a year of iodine treatment, my big toenail looked 100% normal. There was no evidence that the toenail had ever been infected.

How about using iodine to treat other fungal infections? How about oral thrush? Well, scientists treating AIDS patients in Kenya, disappointed at the lack of efficacy and expense of antifungals (Contrimazole, Amphotericin B and Nyastatin) have turned to dirt-cheap two percent Povidine Iodine mouth washes (Betadine iodine) with astonishing success. Read the abstract here. All they did was gargle with it. How often is not stated, but it appears that they gargled for about 30 seconds whenever they noticed a return of mouth odor. Iodine is clearly their antifungal of choice, easily surpassing the efficacy of these expensive "FDA proven" anti-fungals. Here is a goggle.com link for "betadine gargle". Nearly all of these products warn "DO NOT SWALLOW". Too much iodine is toxic, so be careful. Here is a google search for "betadine" and "oral thrush". Bite the dust Nyastatin!

Obviously, after waiting a few months from stopping anti-candida treatment with iodine, one can return to use of iodine, perhaps as a 3 mg tablet / day as an irregularly-taken food supplement. Please note that the RDA for iodine is 0.150 mg/day (150 micrograms/day), although I personally believe that higher doses of iodine can be very beneficial to some but not all people. No one knows why some people can not tolerate large (therapeutic) amounts of iodine, but I believe that it is because they are too magnesium deficient to handle it. I am daily reminded that the Okinawans who live to be 120 years old eat much kelp, which is high in iodine (10 to 20 mg iodine per day) and taurine, and they also get very large amounts of magnesium from their foods. Another effective anti-Candida treatment is to apply tincture of iodine to the skin so that it can be absorbed from the skin and not the intestines in an equivalent dosage. I calculated each drop of Humco Strong 7% Tincture of Iodine to release 1 mg of iodine when applied to the skin using its special applicator. I am amazed at how fast 10 drops of iodine disappears into my skin (about 6 hours), while it seems to stay for several days on other people's skin. I am not certain that the "24-hour" test is valid. I think that if there were no other treatment available for Candida infection, iodine would be a fully acceptable choice, if the thyroid remains unaffected. Since there are other treatments that should be tried first (unless one is truly desperate), and because one can overdose on iodine, I mention it last. Obviously, if Candida infection is topical, perhaps genital, iodine might be used directly to treat the infection, but some experimenting with strength would be necessary. Bright red groin area rashes are usually Candida Albicans infections, and they should be aggressively treated with topical iodine in my opinion. Tincture of iodine is too strong for application to genitalia without stinging and possibly burning, and one must dilute it with water, perhaps in a 1 to 10 or 100 ratio. The only use of iodine (Lugol's solution) to treat genital Candida that I found in the literature was in mares. Be careful! Repeated application may be necessary. A final thought. Have you noticed that use of antibiotics causes Candida suprainfections? Have we made progress? Big Pharma thinks so. Check google for "iodine" and "candida". Eckerd's Drug stores in the United States carry Povidone iodine as a topical anti-fungal.

Ionic zinc is also antifungal, and dietary supplements of zinc can also be helpful in treating candida infections. According to this article, it works synergistically with iodine. How much zinc? You won't believe my theories without substantial evidence, consequently I will refer you to my theoretical article on treating extremely dangerous disorders (smallpox and brown recluse spider bites) with extremely large amounts of zinc here. OK. Forget that, just don't take more zinc than will make you nauseous or more than one milligram per pound of body weight a day (2.2 mg/kg) for more than a month.
Kefir: The Candida Crusher

Previously I have discussed agents that "kill" Candida to prevent magnesium wasting. Is that sufficient? I say no, it is not. Think of a pleasant green pasture with lots of horses, cows, pigs, goats and sheep happily foraging (analogous to the healthy intestinal tract with its myriads of symbiotically living bacteria and fungi). Next, consider the pasture becoming overgrown with weeds. What happens to these lovely critters? They don't do as well, and dependent upon the weed (toxic or non-toxic) their lives will be impacted, and in some cases prematurely terminated. Think of Candida Albicans as being a toxic weed. What do you do? Is it sufficient to kill the weeds? Is it sufficient to just kill the Candida Albicans? In both cases the answer is no. Why? They both come back later, and may even come back with a vengeance. Farmers know this all to well. What does a good farmer do? He will first stop fertilizing the weeds. This is exactly analogous to stopping the consumption of carbohydrates like sugar, colas, pastries, doughnuts and so forth. The next step for the farmer is to try to kill the weeds, by tilling the soil (the analogy here is surgery) and applying selective herbicides. Clearly we do not want surgery! There are many antifungal agents and I have previously described them. OK. Is it sufficient to stop feeding Candida and then kill the remaining Candida with fungicidals? NO! There is a third step, and in the case of both the pasture and our intestines, it is to re-seed. The farmer will plant whatever grass or crop seeds he wants, and we must repopulate our intestines with fungi and bacteria that will prevent the regrowth of Candida Albicans. Only by use of these three steps do we have a chance of defeating these aggressors. Also, it is absolutely insufficient to simply "eat yogurt" for its acidophilus lactobacillus content. These little bacteria just get eaten by any remaining Candida Albicans. Yummy!

What must be done to assure victory over Candida Albicans is to use Kefir after killing Candida Albicans with antifungals, not while killing them, because the good guys in Kefir can easily be killed by antifungals, defeating the purpose of Kefir. I had never heard of Kefir until May of 2004, but after a few weeks of drinking Kefir, I became very willing to offer glowing praise for this old Turkish "feel good" product. Kefir is rich in gut friendly bacteria and yeasts. The friendly yeasts in Kefir repopulate the intestinal tract, replacing the dangerous Candida Albicans, allowing vastly improved digestion, terminating magnesium wasting and and improving intestinal health.

According to Dr. Mercola, "While both Kefir and yogurt are cultured milk products, they contain different types of beneficial bacteria. Yogurt contains transient beneficial bacteria that keep the digestive system clean and provide food for the friendly bacteria that already are present. Kefir actually colonizes the intestinal tract -- a feat that yogurt cannot match. Additionally, Kefir contains several major strains of friendly bacteria not commonly found in yogurt: Lactobacillus Caucasus, Leuconostoc, Acetobacter species, and Streptococcus species. It also contains beneficial yeasts, such as Saccharomyces kefir and Torula kefir, which dominate, control and eliminate destructive pathogenic yeasts in the body by penetrating the mucosal lining where unhealthy yeast and bacteria reside -- forming a virtual SWAT team that house-clean and strengthen the intestines. Consequently, the body also becomes vastly more efficient in resisting pathogens like E. Coli and intestinal parasites. Kefir's active yeast and bacteria provide more nutritive value than yogurt by helping digest the foods that you eat and by keeping the colon environment clean and healthy. The curd size of kefir is smaller than yogurt, so it's also easier to digest, making it an ideal food for babies, the elderly, and anyone with digestive disorders, and especially magnesium wasting.

Kefir is also rich in lactic acid and calcium. Although we must use Kefir to win the war against Candida Albicans, each 8 oz of the Lifeway brand kefir milk product that I used, contained 300 mg of calcium, which certainly has the potential for increasing depression and injuring us as discussed here. I used about 3 oz with each meal for the first 4 days. I strongly believe that we should not consume so much that it will injure us from excessive amounts of calcium. I suggest a long-term dosage not to exceed 6 to 9 oz per day, and perhaps even less when Candida overgrowth symptoms can be kept under control. Lifeway Kefir also contains inulin (not misspelled), which greatly increases absorption of magnesium, and to a lesser extent, calcium. As we advance our knowledge of Kefir and our skill in using Kefir, we can use Kefir "Starter kits" from Dr. Mercola, and perhaps by making our own Kefir drinks, we can use milk that is lower in calcium.

For the Candida sufferer, following these three steps will very likely solve the Candida problem, as surely as victory over the weedy pasture. Without following these three steps, no real victory will occur.

For the person with genital or skin Candida Albicans issues, frequent and regular daily topical (both internal and external) Kefir application is a vastly more effective and safer Candida albicans treatment than any prescription or OTC drug. Take a teaspoon or two of Kefir to the bathroom with you and ... If you let it sit on the counter top for a day or two, both its viscosity and efficacy increase.

Also, sacchararomyces boulardii has long been used to treat diarrhea in Europe and is now becoming common in the United States. It is drawing attention in HIV/AIDS as a means to stop diarrhea from over use of antibiotics. Sacchararomyces boulardii is an anti Candida Albicans fungus that will repopulate the intestines and greatly improve digestion and absorption of magnesium. It can support gut function under many adverse conditions, including food allergies, parasites, Crohn's disease, Candida, Salmonella, travelers diarrhea, HIV diarrhea and Pseudomonas. Clinical studies also demonstrate the protective effect of S. boulardii in intestinal infections, including Clostridium difficile and cholera. The protective effect of S. boulardii involves several types of activity in the epithelial tissue of the digestive tract, including inactivation of bacterial toxins, stimulation of intestinal immune response, and release of polyamines. The best known brands are Jarrow and Allergy Research. They are available at the best health food stores, but may not be widely available except over the Internet.
Indole-3-carbinol
Perhaps the greatest and best kept health secret of all time is Indole-3-Carbinol. This is my next to favorite anti-candida (and anti-cancer) agent, which makes it wonderful in stopping magnesium wasting. It is NOT an anti-candida agent like OTC antifungals, prescription antifungals, coconut oil or garlic. It does not repopulate the intestinal tract like Kefir does in its action. Indole-3-Carbinol greatly improve the function of the intestinal immune system, thus making us temporarily immune to Candida Albicans. For those of us that are hypersensitive to Candida Albicans, increasing our immunity to Candida is absolutely and indisputably vital, and is the only way to go! Indole-3-Carbinol is effective in intestinal toxemia, especially for detoxifying the bowels and vastly improving bowel function. In fact, oncologist recommend Indole-3-Carbinol to their colon cancer patients, ostensibly to "improve the odor of their feces", but another very important effect is to induce apoptosis (programmed cell death) of colon cancer cells.. One can now find indole-3-Carbinol tablets with up to 300 mg Indole-3-Carbinol per capsule at most health food stores in the United States and elsewhere. I am taking one 200 mg capsule of indole-3-Carbinol with each meal and at bedtime now that I have found it to be available locally from various manufacturers. It is also available over the Internet. See this google search.

Indole-3-Carbinol helps directly protect against free radicals and indirectly to stimulate the body to help protect it against free radicals - the highly unstable oxygen molecules that damage cell matter, including DNA. Indole-3-Carbinol stimulates the body's own defense system for neutralizing harmful substances. Although many agents, like vitamin-C have this function, Indole-3-Carbinol does it in a readily observable manner. No need for statistics here! Agents such as indole-3-Carbinol and sulforaphene are also found in Spanish and Russian black radishes. These two substances stimulate two of the body's most powerful detoxification mechanisms - the cytochrome P450 and the Phase II enzyme systems - the body's biochemical pathways for converting toxins into harmless or easily excretable substances. If you click on these two links, you will be taken to over four hundred medical journal articles espousing the value of these two ingredients in protecting against intestinal breast and uterine cancer, but nothing on their role as antifungal agents. This makes me ask if Candida Albicans intestinal overgrowth is a prelude to colon cancer? I don't know, but there is nothing that I have found that is more effective in controlling sensitivity to candida albicans than indole-3-Carbinol. It works in conjunction with the liver in the body's natural efforts to detoxify. It is claimed to mobilize and help detoxify heavy metals.

How on earth did I come up with the idea of Indole-3-Carbinol? Or even more mysterious, how about "Spanish Black Radish" for candida albicans? I didn't. I walked into People's Pharmacy on South Lamar in Austin, Texas and complained to the pharmacist/CCN on duty, Laura, and she said in one sentence: "Spanish Black Radish - 3 tablets, 4 times a day". I looked at her and thought, "Well, if that isn't the dumbest idea...", but I went along with her since I was "up the creek without a paddle". I took the little Standard Process Inc. bottle of Spanish Black Radish home, and well the rest is history. It worked perfectly from the first day I used it. How did I know that it "worked"? My most irritating health issue has been benign cardiac arrhythmias called pre atrial contractions (PACs), and they are caused by a weird combination of low taurine and candida albicans. (Later, upon analyses, I found that the active ingredient in Spanish Black Radish is Indole-3-Carbinol.)

As discussed elsewhere in this essay, taurine in very high doses (3 grams, 4 times a day) would work for a while, but the fungal growth would max out in a week and wow! A real mess occurs and massive amounts of iodine (dangerous) were the only way to kill off the Candida. But, when Spanish Black Radish was also used with moderately high doses of taurine, my arrhythmias were better controlled than by any other agent. I may mention other treatments for my cardiac arrhythmia problem elsewhere in this 126 page report, but nothing works better for me than Indole-3-Carbinol as of August of 2005. Are the other antifungals still necessary? I suspect that they are to some degree, and daily garlic and Kefir remain extremely important. We must greatly reduce our intake of "fuel" for candida albicans. Fuel? Yes, the primary role of candida albicans is to help digest carbohydrates like sugar.

If you are interested in cardiac arrhythmias, then my article "Taurine Role in Cardiology and Cardiac Arrhythmias" featuring the fabulous 1974 medical journal article "Taurine and Electrical Activity of the Heart" by Chazov et. al is the place for you. The Chazov article is the only article in the medical literature - that I could find - to scientifically discuss the role of taurine in controlling and preventing certain cardiac arrhythmias. To my way of thinking, to ignore taurine and taurine deficiencies in cardiology is medical malpractice, and must be stopped.
Mercola's Complete Probiotic plus Biotin

I found this treatment on the Mercola site in early 2008. I really didn't believe it at first, thinking it was just commercial hype. Here is the link to his product. BUY IT AND LIVE WELL!!!!!

Be certain that your volume is turned on and that you listen to Dr. Mercola. This may be the most important health care product ever marketed. I suppose that everyone, or nearly everyone knows that lactobacius acidophilus found in yogurt and pills is good for our digestion. Well, that is dead wrong in my opinion, and for some of us it could mean the difference between life and death. Quoting Dr. Mercola's page, "Recently, Bacillus coagulans strain was found to produce the beneficial lactic acid that improves probiotic shelf life and survival issues in your stomach. This is different from the very popular Lactobacillus acidophilus strain which has major issues with shelf life, and does no good at all. Unlike other lactobacilli, Lactobacillus sporogenes (Bacillus coagulans) exists as a spore and is wrapped in a protective coat. Spores exist like plant seeds - they can stay alive for years. And when conditions exist for optimal growth, they open up and become a new plant in our intestines. Taken orally, the spores' protective coat helps them survive the rigors of stomach acid. The spores get activated due to the low pH, mechanical churning of the stomach, and water in the gastric environment. As the spores absorb water, they swell and move faster, propelling them into the small intestine. Once in the small intestine, they germinate, proliferate and multiply rapidly into viable bacilli to persist in their beneficial life activities. In the intestinal tract, they continue their metabolic activities, producing lactic acid to assist in digestion and absorption of vitamins and minerals. In turn, the lactic acid levels on the inner surface of the intestinal tract maintain a micro-ecological balance in the GI tract. As I'm convinced these spores will make it to the small intestine where they do you the most good, this process of spore formation makes Complete Probiotics my top probiotic choice."

If you want to read some of the medical literature on this see this PubMed search.

If you want to do a google search for Bacillus coagulans, click this link.

Here is another product that I like, Lactospore(R).

How much of the Complete Probiotic a day? I take a serving (two of the Mercola capsules) with each meal and at bedtime and my poop don't stink no more!

What about biotin? Biotin prevents non-harmful yeast from becoming harmful and invasive. Biotin is the weapon in our hand. Biotin taken in the amount of at least 3 Milligram daily will cut the transformation cycle from the yeast to the fungus form. In normal health, (a low sugar diet), a primary source of Biotin is the healthy bacteria in the intestinal tract. Because these are often compromised by a Candida Albicans overgrowth, candida sufferers are particularly prone to a Biotin deficiency. From "Candida, The Symptoms, The Causes, The Cure" by Dr. Luc DeShepper "in order....to avoid the spreading to the bloodstream, and thus giving the opportunity for the yeast cells to invade almost all of the organs, the interruption of the vicious cycle by supplementation of at least 5 milligrams of biotin daily is a must and a priority." Biotin is so cheap and readily available, I take 5 mg with each meal and bedtime. Yes, I feel better! If I keep feeling better, I may never die! This link is a google search for biotin and candida Albicans.
Killer Sugars

No carbohydrates are good carbohydrates. Regardless of the ability of antifungals and probiotics and biotin to increase digestion and help absorb magnesium by control of Candida yeast, excessive amounts of carbohydrates, sugar and specifically dextrose (glucose), interfere with magnesium metabolism to a grave extent, and feed Candida yeast often preventing recovery. Abnormally high urinary losses of magnesium can also be caused by a number of kidney conditions discussed here. Perhaps the easiest and most important to deal with issue is excessive glucose (sugar), which flushes magnesium from cells and into the urine. High glucose sugars also greatly promote Candida yeast infections of the intestines (and the vagina), death of beneficial intestinal bacteria, and malabsorption of nutrients (such as magnesium). There may be no greater health problem facing the West than improper magnesium / glucose ratios. We love candy, sugar, sweet drinks and rich carbohydrate products. They are the same heavily commercialized products that make us fat, cause heart attacks, hypertension, strokes, diabetes, impair our immunity and cause many other diseases, all treatable by expensive medicines and medical specialists to the delight of the pharmaceutical drug pushers and physicians who will not tell you the truth. We can now add depression, and mood disorders to the list. High carbohydrate consumption causes intracellular magnesium deficiency and high intracellular calcium, the exact intracellular conditions causing depression. High carbohydrate consumption (doesn't matter if it's starches or sugars including high fructose corn syrup - which is being use to replace sugar to avoid the Atkins flack) results in high insulin levels throughout the day, and interferes with sleep at night and obviously greatly increases obesity. This report [Barbagallo, Renick 1994] shows that high blood glucose levels cause the flushing of different minerals from cells, among which is magnesium. Calcium, on the other hand, is not affected. These effects have also been seen by Delva et al. in 2002. Delva showed that only the man made dextrose molecule, the D-dextrose caused problems, while the natural form L-Dextrose, did not cause the problem. This is reminiscent of the problem with man-made D-glutamates. Guerrero-Romero and Rodriguez-Moran reported low serum magnesium in diabetes in 2002. Barbagallo reported altered cellular magnesium responsiveness to hyperglycemia in hypertensive subjects in 2001, finding: For all subjects, ionized magnesium responses to hyperglycemia were closely related to basal ionized magnesium levels with the higher the ionized magnesium, the greater the response (n=26, r=0.620, P<0.001). Thus, (1) erythrocytes from hypertensive vis-a-vis normotensive subjects are resistant to the ionic effects of extracellular hyperglycemia on ionized magnesium levels, and (2) cellular ionic responses to glucose depend on the basal ionized magnesium environment. Altogether, these data support a role for altered extracellular glucose levels in regulating cellular magnesium metabolism and also suggest the importance of ionic factors in determining cellular responsiveness to non hormonal as well as hormonal signals. These problems may result from inadequate insulin, and resultant loss of magnesium though kidneys. This paper shows that insulin is required inside the kidneys to prevent magnesium wasting. If nearly all of your insulin is being used to handle glucose in your blood, and there is little left over for use by the kidneys, frank magnesium wasting occurs, followed shortly by depression, anxiety and various states of hyper emotionality discussed here. Consequently, conserving insulin by dietary means (low glucose consumption) can prevent depression. There are many other causes of renal magnesium wasting, mostly drug and disease related. Increasing levels of magnesium were found to cause a marked depression of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion at fixed calcium levels, particularly at levels which bracketed the concentration of ultra filtrable magnesium found in normal rat plasma (1.3 meq/l), i.e., increasing magnesium from 0.6 to 1.2 meq/l depressed insulin secretion, and increasing magnesium from 1.2 to 2.4 meq/l resulted in a further depression.

Glucose lowering of magnesium (but not calcium) poses problems because calcium is the antagonist of magnesium. This means that resultant higher calcium levels will further lower magnesium levels throughout the body. After eating a high-carbohydrate diet for years, magnesium deficiency and high calcium is often inevitable, perhaps from inadequate insulin. This relationship will not show up in blood magnesium tests, because 99% of magnesium is stored inside the cells, intracellularly, while much calcium is found external to cells. Only the Exatest or red blood cell magnesium (not whole blood or serum) tests will tell you the truth about your intracellular magnesium / calcium ratios. If intracellular magnesium is low and calcium is high, there is little doubt that high glucose / high calcium / low magnesium is the main cause of depression. The reduced intracellular magnesium alters the way cells open the door for glucose. The low-magnesium and high-calcium ratio causes the insulin-key to not fit in cellular-locks. Also, the intracellular magnesium and calcium content of the pancreas cells change. This makes the pancreas overshoot insulin. The next time you eat carbohydrates, the same events occur and it gets worse and worse. Eventually the pancreatic cells stop making insulin and frank diabetes results, requiring insulin shots. Consequently, the high incidence of diabetes occurring in depression and vise versa is explained.

Further, type-2 diabetes is caused by magnesium deficiency, and can be cured even in the very elderly with magnesium in dosages like are used to treat depression. See this case report of an 86-year old woman, deeply depressed, cured of her diabetes using magnesium. See this Google.com search for "magnesium" and "diabetes" for the latest news.

from Natural Health Magazine December, 2002 A diabetic's diet (avoiding foods with a high glycemic index) may be recommended for most people, but the main dietary culprit for those of us with borderline diabetes is simply to eliminate all candy, sugar, wheat breads, potatoes, beans and especially high dextrose content sweet products from our diets, getting us back to a diet more suitable to our paleolithic digestive system. Very briefly, we really, really need to get back to a paleolithic diet. Here is a google.com search for "diet" AND "diabetics". Here are some recommended books concerning getting back to natural diets. Here is some on hypoglycemia and magnesium relationships. Here are over 200 links on google.com, wherein Dr. Mildred Seelig MD (a world-class magnesium expert) warns of the Western catastrophe of too much sugar and too little magnesium. In Mildred S. Seelig, MD, MPH and Andrea Rosanoff, PhD's new book (The Magnesium Factor), there is a 3 page list of alternate names for "sugar", requiring careful reading of labels on processed foods. I prefer to avoid all processed foods, simply because sugar is in nearly everything processed by man. Diabetes increases myocardial (heart) calcium 400 times normal causing severe problems including many heart attacks through calcification of heart tissues. Eating regularly when not hungry can create a state of hyperinsulin secretion. Insulin increases appetite because it signals the need to transport sugar from the blood into the cells. The only known "remedy" for hyperinsulin secreters is hard exercise (60 minutes at 65% maximum heart rate capacity at least 4 times weekly). Seems like snacking on comfort foods would be helpful in depression and who of us can resist a chocolate bar when we feel bad. But snacking, particularly on high glycemic index foods like chocolate and other candies will always cause insulin to elevate, which will lower intracellular magnesium levels and worsen depression. Remember chocolate and candies are not natural foods but are processed foods.

On the other hand, there are some instances wherein a food has a low GI value but a high "insulin index" value. This applies to dairy foods and to some highly palatable energy-dense "indulgence foods" such as jelly beans, Mars bars and yogurt. Some foods (such as meat, fish, and eggs) that contain no carbohydrate, just protein and fat (and essentially have a GI value of zero), still stimulate significant rises in blood insulin. At the present time, scientists don't know how to interpret this type of response (low glycemia, high insulinemia) for long-term health. It may be a good outcome because the rise in insulin has contributed to the low level of glycemia. On the other hand, I think it may be not-so-good, because the increased demand for insulin contributes to beta-cell "exhaustion" and the development of type 2 diabetes. Until studies are carried out to answer these types of questions, the glycemic index remains a proven tool for predicting the effects of food on health. Perhaps all that is needed to "safety" foods like these is additive magnesium. Clearly, carbohydrates require much more magnesium for their proper utilization than other foods.

Here is a list of common foods by glycemic index thanks to the Integrative Healthcare web site. The index implies an equal weight of foods. A larger file of 1200 foods is available. This file is taken from the University of Sydney Glycemic Index web site, which seems to be the most authoritative source available.

GLYCEMIC INDEXES OF COMMON FOODS
Breads & Grains
waffle - 76
doughnut - 76
bagel - 72
wheat bread, white - 70
bread, whole wheat - 69
cornmeal - 68
bran muffin - 60
rice, white - 56
rice, instant - 91
rice, brown - 55
bulgur - 48
spaghetti, white - 41
whole wheat - 37
wheat kernels - 41
barley - 25

Cereals
Rice Krispies - 82
Grape Nuts Flakes - 80
corn Flakes - 77
Cheerios - 74
shredded wheat - 69
Grape Nuts 67
Life - 66
oatmeal - 61
All Bran - 42
Fruits
watermelon - 72
pineapple - 66
raisins - 64
banana - 53
grapes - 52
orange - 43
pear - 36
apple - 36

Starchy Vegetables
potatoes, baked - 83
potatoes, instant - 83
potatoes, mashed - 73
sweet potatoes - 54
green peas - 48

Legumes
baked beans - 48
chick peas - 33
butter beans - 31
lentils - 29
kidney beans - 27
soy beans - 18

Dairy
ice cream - 61
yogurt, sweetened - 33
milk, full fat - 27
milk, skim - 32
Snacks
rice cakes - 82
jelly beans - 80
graham crackers - 74
corn chips - 73
life savers - 70
angel food cake - 67
wheat crackers - 67
popcorn - 55
oatmeal cookies - 55
potato chips - 54
chocolate - 49
banana cake - 47
peanuts - 14

Sugars
glucose - 100
corn syrup - 100
honey - 73
sucrose - 65
lactose - 46
fructose - 23

Beverages
soft drinks - 68
orange juice - 57
apple juice - 41
Foods listed from highest to lowest glycemic index within category. Glycemic index was calculated using glucose as the reference with GI of 100. Modified from Foster-Powell and Brand Miller (1995).

Concerning me, I used to get cardiac palpitations (up to one each 10 beats) from certain "high glycemic index" foods. I found that eating chocolate, candy, eggs or potatoes in large amounts started palpations within an hour, and avoiding these foods prevented them or lessened them. Meat, peanuts and fish had no effect. As an experiment, I used a few "pinches" of magnesium sulfate crystals (with an equal amount of fructose for flavor) dissolved and held in the mouth over a half-hour to stop these palpitations very rapidly, but they continued unabated if not treated with magnesium, probably due to my long-term habit of using sodium bicarbonate as a mouth wash to decrease oral acidity as I previously mentioned. Palpitations in me seemed to be a sensitive indicator of my immediate cardiac magnesium status, which, in-turn, seemed to be highly dependent upon my sodium intake. Magnesium ingested in this manner probably is picked up by the lymphatic and venous systems surrounding the oral cavity area and is transported directly to the heart - much like nitroglycerin or sodium bicarbonate when used as a mouth wash. Magnesium supplementation is well known to terminate palpitations which are accompanied by mitral valve prolapse. In this same article, they showed that 54% of patients with emotional symptoms (anxiety and depression) had these symptoms resolve using magnesium. The literature does support the concept of imbalances between calcium and magnesium as causal for many episodes of cardiac palpitations and most more serious and deadly heart conditions. In my case, my cardiac magnesium status was adversely affected by my long-term use of powdered sodium bicarbonate while brushing teeth to de-acidify my mouth in the interest of preventing caries. As soon as I stopped using pure baking soda, my cardiac problems stopped.

Perhaps Majid Ali, MD in his wonderful article entitled "Lions, Hypoglycemia, Insulin Roller Coasters, Heart Attacks" from his book What Do Lions Know about Stress says it best in his 5 faces of sugar-insulin dysregulation thesis. He writes of his conversation with his God-like-in-wisdom friend Choura, "Sugar is the primary villain in human metabolism. Excess sugar in food stresses human energy systems in many ways and causes the dysregulation of carbohydrate metabolism. Sugar-insulin dysregulation has five faces," says Choura. "What are those faces?" Ali asked. Choura replies, "First, sugar creates sudden surges in blood glucose levels - a condition called hyperglycemia. Second, sudden hyperglycemia triggers the rapid release of large amounts of insulin from the pancreas - a condition called hyperinsulinemia. Third, the insulin response to high blood sugar overshoots its mark and drives the blood sugar level below the normal range - a state of low blood sugar called hypoglycemia. The fourth face of glucose-insulin dysregulation is the insensitivity of insulin receptors at cell membranes (peripheral insulin resistance). The fifth face of glucose-insulin dysregulation is too much adrenaline -a state you may call adrenergic hypervigilance. When an insulin surge drives sugar below the desirable range, the adrenal glands kick in and dispense blasts of adrenaline to counter the insulin. Adrenaline is one of the most -if not the most -potent oxidant in the human body. The oxidative fires lit by adrenaline overdrive the heart causing arrhythmias, tighten arteries producing high blood pressure, rev up nerve-muscle conduction sites causing stiff muscles, jitters and sweating. And that sugar-insulin-adrenergic dysregulation is what the stress specialists call the 'STRESS RESPONSE'." I am breathless in the face of this wisdom-of-the-ages. I can't help but realize, here we are again; right back at the stress response that we know drives down magnesium levels and causes our depression. We now also see that sugar drives intracellular levels of magnesium down, which independently causes depression - counter to what we intuitively believe. What are we to do about our love affair with sweets? Are we doomed to a life without sweets to avoid depression, heart attacks and most of the other illnesses that plague Western society?

Many people have a sweet tooth, brought on by the opiate-like activity of sweet carbohydrates. Yes we are talking about addiction. Complete elimination of sweetness from our diet is not desirable or practical. Fortunately there is a very sweet food, fructose (not high fructose corn syrup), that is extremely low on the glycemic index. Fructose (GI 20) is a natural sugar, a monosaccharide and the mirror image of glucose. Fructose has exactly the same amount of energy, 4 kcal/gram as sugar or dextrose but it is up to twice as sweet as sugar therefore much less is required for sweetness. Fructose, fruit sugar, is the natural sweetener found in all fruits. Orally ingested fructose travels to the liver and can be used there without the need for much insulin. Fructose is converted to glucose in the liver and contributes to an increase in blood glucose, rather than being stored as glycogen. Unlike sucrose and glucose which cause quick changes to the blood glucose levels and disrupt the metabolic control of a per

Click to expand...

High Fat Dairy and Whole Grains Cause Brain Lesions

High High fat dairy and whole grains cause brain lesions in depressed people and in people who have recovered from depression. What? Wait a minute, I can understand how calcium from milk could cause depression, but high fat milk causes brain lesions, little holes in my brain? Never heard of such a thing! Whole grains are good for us! Everyone knows that, so how can they cause holes in my brain? Beats me, but that is the startling conclusion of a group of Duke University scientists led by Martha E. Payne, PhD writing in 2007 in the journal International Phychogeriatrics. Here is excactly what their abstract says: "Studies indicate that diet may be related to the occurrence of brain lesions. The cross-sectional association between food intake and brain lesion volumes in late-life depression was examined in a cohort of elderly individuals with current or prior depression. Food intake was assessed in 54 elderly vascular depression subjects (vascular depression defined by presence of hyperintensities on brain MRI)using a Block 1998 food frequency questionnaire. Food and kilocalorie intake were determined. Brain lesion volumes were calculated from MRI. Subjects were aged 60 or over and were participants in a longitudinal study of major depression. All subjects received psychiatric assessment and treatment, and medical comorbidity assessments. High-fat dairy and whole grains were significantly positively correlated with brain lesion volume, while other food groups were not significantly associated with lesion volume. In multivariable analyses, controlling for age, sex, hypertension, diabetes and total kilocalories, the positive association with lesion volume remained significant for both high-fat dairy and whole grains. High fat dairy and whole grain consumption may be associated with brain lesions in elderly subjects with depression." Read their entire article here. In a later unpublished article, these writers showed that excessive calcium and vitamin D caused brain lesions too, apparently from calcification of brain arteries.

What can we conclude from the totality of the evidence on grains as foods? I say they are poison for depressives, and we should not eat any grains, either refined grains or whole grains. That has been my objective now for about 5 years. It works well for me, and really keeps the weight down.
What's Left To Eat?

natural food pyramid After reading what not to eat (mainly calcium, grains and sugar), you are probably wondering what is left to eat. The natural food pyramid on the right shows what I eat every day. It is different from the USDA fodder pyramid in that no man-made refined carbohydrates are eaten, as per the strictest version of the Atkins diet (without the "eat all you want of meat and fat attitude"). I hardly ever (about once or twice a year - when trapped at someone's party) eat refined wheat products (white flour), breakfast cereals, waffles, pancakes, bread, cake, candy, French fries, pasta, rice or other starchy foods of any kind. These highly refined carbohydrate foods are heavy in the bottom row of the USDA fodder pyramid and are the main cause of obesity and ill health in America. Even though fats have twice the calories of carbohydrates, fat people have eaten vastly more carbohydrates than fats, often in an ill advised attempt to prevent or control depression. The entire bottom row of the antiquated USDA fodder pyramid is essentially "processed (man-made) foods", and many are also high in neurotoxic glutamates and very low in magnesium, manganese, potassium and vitamins found in the raw grains from which they were made. Incidentally, refined wheat leaves in the toxic cadmium while ridding the product of essential nutrients. I avoided them entirely for a few months and lost ten pounds per month during the first 5 months. I now feel much better about my weight. Then, my weight stabilized at a very fit 165 pounds for my 5 foot 10 inch frame. Now, I have the flat belly of an 25-year-olds! Here is a web site that shows what the body of a really fit nutrition teacher looks like following these guidelines. He interests me when he equates "white flour" with insecticide. Turns out that white flour is so low in nutrition that insects and rodents cannot survive in it. This was the original reason to "refine" wheat into white flour. In the early 1900s, they did not have a way of storing grain without it becoming infested with insects and rodents. We now are living with "depleted wheat" made by refining, which is an effective insecticide and rodenticide. How come we can survive on depleted grains when the insects and rodents can not?

The benefits of the natural food pyramid include weight loss, high vitamin and mineral content, lower food cost, low insulin requirements, very few heart attacks and absolutely no food craving. Better yet, my blood pressure fell to 100/60 and my blood sugar fell to 84 mg/dL. Why no craving? Because the carbohydrate foods that I no longer eat have an addictive property due to insulin production. Once a person stops eating them, the cravings disappear. Fish? Absolutely yes! Popcorn? Tacos? Yes! Anytime! Cheese? Not for me, except for cottage cheese, which is low in calcium and wonderfully high in taurine (1700 mg per cup). Meat? Yes, bring it on buddy! Fish? Of course! Salmon? Yes, this is to die for! Fresh beans, tomatoes, pears, apples, dates, raisins, grapefruit, eggs, nuts, peanuts, cashews, vegetables of all kinds (except potatoes), yes! WARNING: An alternate sources of potassium, which is high in potatoes, is needed if potatoes are eliminated from the diet to avoid serious health problems. Foods high in potassium include fresh tomatoes, bananas, beet greens, dates, raisins, grapefruit, soybeans, Lima beans and other foods shown on this USDA list of foods (by their potassium content), or on this easy to read table. When you think "bananas are high in potassium", remember that it would take about ten of them a day to give the RDA for potassium. Processed foods like cakes, Twinkies, doughnuts, puddings, Jell-O, beer, chocolate or candy? No. Once my carbohydrate intake dropped, my craving for them disappeared too, and I now look at them like other people look at globs of fat! Yuck! Vitamins, minerals and balanced sodium and potassium (Morton's Lite-Salt) salt? Yes, of course! One would need be an idiot not to consume an adequate supply of repair parts for one's mind and body!

I have mentioned the notion that excessive monosodium glutamate stimulates appetite and is a principal cause of obesity and short stature (got short kids mom?). There is now clinical evidence that this is correct, and governmental policies need to be changed to prohibit MSG and its cousins from being added into human foods. Here is the abstract from Hermanussen et al in an article entitled: "Obesity, voracity, and short stature: the impact of glutamate on the regulation of appetite. "World-wide obesity has risen to alarming levels. We present experimental support for a new and very challenging hypothesis linking obesity, voracity, and growth hormone (GH) deficiency, to the consumption of elevated amounts of the amino-acid glutamate (GLU). Supraphysiological doses of GLU are toxic for neuronal cells. METHODS: Human data were obtained from 807,592 German conscripts born between 1974 and 1978, and from 1,432,368 women of the German birth statistics (deutsche Perinatalerhebung) 1995-1997. The effects of orally administered monosodium glutamate (MSG) were investigated in 30 pregnant Wistar rats and their offspring. Pregnant animals either received no extra MSG, or 2.5 g MSG, or 5 g MSG per day, up to the end of the weaning period. In all, 2.5 g, respectively 5 g, MSG accounted for some 10%, respectively 20%, of dry weight of the average daily food ration. After weaning, MSG feeding was continued in the offspring. FINDINGS: Morbid obesity associates with short stature. Average stature of conscripts progressively declines when body mass index increases above 38 kg/m2. Also morbidly obese young women are shorter than average though to a lesser extent than conscripts. Oral administration of MSG to pregnant rats affects birth weight of the offspring. Maternal feeding with 5 g MSG per day results in severe birth weight reduction (P<0.01). Weight increments remain subnormal when MSG feeding to the mothers is maintained during weaning (P < 0.01). GH serum levels are affected in animals that received MSG during prenatal life via maternal feeding. Animals that are kept on high MSG diet (5 g MSG per day) continue to show serum GH levels that are as low or even lower than those of MSG injected animals (P < 0.05), both at day 30 and at day 90 of life. Animals that were kept on medium MSG diet (2.5 g MSG per day) showed low serum GH levels at day 30 of life (P < 0.01), but seemed to partially recover before day 90. Almost identical results were observed in IGF-1 serum levels. Oral MSG resulted in dose dependent voracity. The animals fed 5 g MSG per day increased water uptake by threefold (P < 0.01), and food uptake by almost two-fold (P < 0.01). The influence of MSG is in general more marked in males than in females. Interpretation: GLU is a widely used nutritional substance that potentially exhibits significant neuronal toxicity. Voracity, and impaired GH secretion are the two major characteristics of parenterally administered GLU-induced neuronal damage. GLU maintains its toxicity in animals even when administered orally. Males appear to be more sensitive than females. The present study for the first time demonstrates, that a widely used nutritional monosubstance--the flavoring agent MSG--at concentrations that only slightly surpass those found in everyday human food, exhibits significant potential for damaging the hypothalamic regulation of appetite, and thereby determines the propensity of world-wide obesity. We suggest to reconsider the recommended daily allowances of amino acids and nutritional protein, and to abstain from the popular protein-rich diets, and particularly from adding the flavoring agents MSG.

NOTE: The Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion of the U.S. USDA has taken note of the problem of obesity and low magnesium in our diets and is considering changes to the "food pyramid". Watch for changes here. There will be emphasis on "whole grains" only, and refined wheat products and sugar will likely take a very substantial hit. Will they do the right thing and get MSG out of human food?

We are what we eat, and I am built mainly of protein, not carbohydrate. Why would anyone build their body with excess carbohydrates (or fat) to become fat? Sure, we need some carbohydrate for fuel and amino acid production, but an excess will always be stored as fat. If you want carbohydrates as well as wonderfully balanced minerals, try cashew nuts. Interestingly, significant avoidance of dangerous trans fatty acids (trans fats) occurs on this diet. These are the man-made fats (shortening, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and hydrogenated vegetable oils). Eat butter and use olive oil and coconut instead! They won't hurt you! Remember that the USDA's main role is to promote agriculture, not necessarily human health. Read Marion Nestle's eye-opener book Food Politics. Did Atkins discover something new? No. Apparently, the high carbohydrate diet was first found to cause obesity in 1863 by William Banting, and a diet very similar to this diet was found effective in weight loss and appetite suppression.

According to Carol Hoernlein of the msgtruth.org site, we all must be very careful when restricting carbohydrates, because an imbalance of certain amino acids is possible with unintended, adverse consequences. Tyramine is an amino acid that can be deadly to some taking certain medications like MAOI inhibitors. The blood pressure can raise dangerously high. It is usually a medicine - food interaction when it is deadly. In cases of folks who are sensitive to MSG, tyramine usually just gives them a headache, but it is quite upsetting. The other problem with tyramine is that amino acids like it and tyrosine compete for uptake into the brain with tryptophane. Foods that were found to have high (possibly dangerous) concentrations of tyramine included chicken liver, air-dried sausage, soy sauce, draft beer, aged-cheese, tofu, sauerkraut and others. When you don't eat enough carbohydrates (complex carbs are best) - and eat just protein (a perversion of the Atkins diet), tyrosine wins the battle and gets to the brain first where it acts as an "upper". Tryptophane is the loser in the race, but the brain needs tryptophane to make serotonin - the feel good calming stuff the brain needs to keep us from getting depressed. Too much protein and tyramine and not enough carbs = depression and agitation. Also, too much protein depletes magnesium. These reasons are probably why famed psychiatrists Judith Wurtman and her husband Richard Wurtman of MIT recommend carbohydrates for depression, and in particular, PMS related depression. Unfortunately, abuse of this technique causes enormous illness in the U.S. and Western culture. Please do not accept what I have written above to mean "no carbohydrates"; rather, please accept it as meaning one should eat foods that are not refined. Body fat develops because the body does not have sufficient minerals to burn the carbohydrates. That is why, IMHO, people can best loose weight consuming diets low in refined carbohydrates, supplemented with large amounts of magnesium and other minerals like manganese and zinc. Tyrosine imbalance is the reason people - who have misinterpreted Atkins to mean "eat all the steaks you want, but cut out all carbohydrates" - become acutely ill.

After preparing the above natural food pyramid, I realized that the bottom level foods (vegetables, meats and fruits) were the first foods eaten by primitive humans millions of years ago, at the time our digestive systems were designed. Only recently (relatively) were dairy products added to the human diet. Even more recently people learned how to bake bread, prepare high carbohydrate fancy-foods, and separate out fats and oils from foods. Clearly vitamins and mineral supplements are a twentieth century invention. Consequently, this is a reasonably "natural" food pyramid. What can be learned here?

Warning! Following the dietary and supplement recommendations outlined here will have the effect of preventing or correcting hyperinsulinemia, which will result in life extension of between 30 and 50 years, and much better health. These effects may ruin your personal relationship with your physicians and nurses, reduce profits of major drug companies, reduce the profits of processed food manufacturers, reduce hospital admissions, reduce employment opportunities in those industries and otherwise adversely affect our national Economy. Worse yet, you will be purposefully contributing to the failure of Social Security. Prevention of hyperinsulinemia by following these dietary suggestions will consequently prevent most cases of atherosclerosis, vascular disease, diabetes type 2, impotence, kidney failure, heart failure, liver damage, stroke, obesity, neuropathy, retinopathy, gangrene and other illnesses. Proceed with these dietary recommendations only if you agree that these "economic" side effects and Social Security health are irrelevant to you and that you accept the risk of longevity attendant with eating right. Be warned that if you accept these guidelines you will be out of step with national health care policy, that policy being that you should die before you injure Social Security. Read more about these horrific economic side effects and prospects for longevity at the Healing Matters site.

Save Social Security! Kill Americans before they reach Social Security age!CHICAGO -- U.S. life expectancy will fall dramatically in coming years because of obesity, a major shift in a long-running trend toward longer lives. Obesity likely will shorten the average life span of 77.6 years by at least five years. That's more than the impact of cancer or heart disease, said lead author Jay Olshansky, a longevity researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "We think today's younger generation will have shorter and less healthy lives than their parents for the first time in modern history unless we intervene," he said. With obesity affecting at least 15 per cent of American school-age children, "it's not pie in the sky," Dr. Olshansky said. "The children who are extremely obese are already here." If the projections proved true, they would reverse the mostly steady increase in U.S. life expectancy that has occurred over the past two centuries and would have tremendous social and economic consequences that could even inadvertently help "save" the national Social Security program, Dr. Olshansky and colleagues contend.

Fun today! protest! Everyone knows that primary hypertension (high blood pressure) and high cholesterol cause heart attacks (myocardial infarctions). Incidentally, "primary" hypertension means "high blood pressure from unknown causes". We have been taught that we must use diet and expensive statin drugs to lower our bad cholesterol if we don't want a heart attack. We have been taught that we must get our blood pressure down by diet (reduce our salt and fat intake and to exercise more) and to take a variety of expensive drugs including diuretics (lowers blood volume), beta-blockers (inhibits adrenaline), alpha-blockers (makes heart beat with less force and relaxes blood vessels), ACE - angiotensin-converting enzymes (spares magnesium and potassium, but looses sodium, and relaxes arteries), vasodilators (relaxes arteries), central adrenergic inhibitors (blocks certain signals from brain), calcium-channel-blockers (relaxes arteries). As hard as we try, improvements to our diets by reducing salt and cholesterol and fats have not worked. Also, these drugs are marketed almost exclusively to benefit cardiac risk factors, not extend life. Do they also prevent death from these cardiac-risk factors?

Magnesium deficiency is the real disease I believe, and heart disease is a symptom of years and years and years and years of magnesium deficiency. We do know what causes "primary" hypertension, and it is often magnesium deficiency. This may seem wrong and certainly different from what we have been told, but it is a fact either well hidden by pharmaceutical drug pushers or just not known by them - who knows. Yet, scientists say magnesium deficiency must be corrected to save patients. It is vital to your heart health that you verify this claim by reading The Magnesium Factor . Briefly stated, all of the above medicines are poor substitutes for magnesium, because magnesium naturally does each of these "drug" functions better than the drugs themselves. How much magnesium? That is the catch. We must take enough magnesium each and every day to combat the effects of stress in its action in depleting magnesium, and this amount is higher than has been historically true. Our "modern" way of life is very stressful, and we all leak magnesium because of stress, some more than others. I can't personally see how we can get our blood pressure down to 100/60 (like it was when we were teenagers) with less than about 500 to 750 mg of supplemental magnesium per day. Wouldn't that be expensive? NO! Certainly not compared to the cost of these drugs, and certainly not when compared to the life-extending properties of magnesium compared with these drugs. Expensive to Social Security? Maybe. Expensive to Medicare? NO. Your health care expenses will plummet downward, and you may forget the name of your doctor!

Death rate from heart attacks over 20th century I was not particularly satisfied with the Figure above by Seelig and Rosanoff, because it does not consider changes in population. Therefore, I used the United States Census data for the decennial years from 1900 to 2000, plus their 2003 population estimate and recent death rate data for 2003 from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention as reported by Maureen Rouhi in Chemical and Engineering News to modify their figure. Notice again that the death rate per million Americans is ten times what it was in 1900, before grain refining got going. I wonder if Al Qaeda had a hand in "refining grain" to make nutrient depleted foods for us to starve on so slowly and painfully? Nah! We did this to ourselves! We are just really, really stupid. As time went on, the deaths from low magnesium/high calcium increased from nearly zero in 1900 to what they are today. Notice that after 1970 the death rate started downward, but the data for 2003 shows progress has recently been lost. I wonder why the cardiac drugs are not working as well as before? Drs. Seelig and Rosanoff suggest that the statins are depleting magnesium, and coupled with our increased intake of calcium in the last 5 to 10 years to "prevent osteoporosis", we see the effect in an great increase in deaths by heart attack. "Modern" science is failing us, and killing us, all for the want of magnesium. Remember that the government has laws and regulations that prohibit nutrients from being marketed to treat, cure and prevent diseases. The pharmaceutical drug pushers can not patent magnesium (or other nutrients), so they will not mess with it. Wow! What a way to run a country! Actually, companies can market nutrients to treat, cure, prevent disease, but only after they have had a New Drug Application approved by the Food and Drug Administration at the cost of a half billion dollars. No company will spend that kind of money on a non-patentable substance. Consequently, the impasse remains, and the law stands - until a more reasoned Congress figures out what is going on and puts a stop to the murder. What is likely to happen is that Congress will approve the CODEX treaty and allow the pharmaceutical drug pushers to have a total monopoly on nutrients like magnesium so that they can mark up the price 10 to 100-fold and bill Medicare. I say why do that? All we need is for the government to pass realistic laws that promote the fortification of "depleted flour" with nutrients including magnesium to the amount naturally found in grains, make calcium supplements without an equal amount of magnesium ILLEGAL, and add magnesium back into drinking water and soft drinks. That would be a much cheaper means of restoring health to America than to impose a heavy-handed treaty like CODEX which will mainly benefit the big pharmaceutical drug pushers and not the American people.

Men's death rate falls while women die more frequently - calcium consumption for osteoporosis Take a look at the American Heart Association statistics (6 mb file) here. You will recognize Drs. Seelig's and Rosanoff's figure on page 4. Perhaps the most startling finding in this data is the reduction in death rate for men in the last 20 years while the death rate for women has increased. I say the reason for this difference is because women supplement their diets with calcium to ward off osteoporosis, and men do not.

Look at what Dr. Mildred S. Seelig, MD, and Andrea Rosanoff PhD say about magnesium and statins in their 2004 article in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition article titled Comparison of mechanism and functional effects of magnesium and statin pharmaceuticals..

Here is the abstract: "Since Mg(2+)-ATP is the controlling factor for the rate-limiting enzyme in the cholesterol biosynthesis sequence that is targeted by the statin pharmaceutical drugs, comparison of the effects of Mg(2+) on lipoproteins with those of the statin drugs is warranted. Formation of cholesterol in blood, as well as of cholesterol required in hormone synthesis, and membrane maintenance, is achieved in a series of enzymatic reactions that convert HMG-CoA to cholesterol. The rate-limiting reaction of this pathway is the enzymatic conversion of HMG CoA to mevalonate via HMG CoA. The statins and Mg inhibit that enzyme. Large trials have consistently shown that statins, taken by subjects with high LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) values, lower its blood levels 35 to 65%. They also reduce the incidence of heart attacks, angina and other nonfatal cardiac events, as well as cardiac, stroke, and total mortality. These effects of statins derive less from their lowering of LDL-C than from their reduction of mevalonate formation which improves endothelial function, inhibits proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells and macrophages, promotes plaque stabilization and regression, and reduces inflammation, Mg has effects that parallel those of statins. For example, the enzyme that deactivates HMG-CoA Reductase requires Mg, making Mg a Reductase controller rather than inhibitor. Mg is also necessary for the activity of lecithin cholesterol acyl transferase (LCAT), which lowers LDL-C and triglyceride levels and raises HDL-C levels. Desaturase is another Mg-dependent enzyme involved in lipid metabolism which statins do not directly affect. Desaturase catalyzes the first step in conversion of essential fatty acids (omega-3 linoleic acid and omega-6 linolenic acid) into prostaglandins, important in cardiovascular and overall health. Mg at optimal cellular concentration is well accepted as a natural calcium channel blocker. More recent work shows that Mg also acts as a statin." Why bother taking the pharmaceutical company junk when magnesium works better?

Boiling frog jumps to safety I am reminded of the story of the boiling frogs. In biology, there is a famous experiment using frogs. A frog suddenly dropped into hot water will jump out instantly! Saving his life. On the other hand, a frog placed in warm water will enjoy the warmth and not jump out. If the heat is slowly increased to higher and higher temperatures, the frog will unknowingly cook to death. In this respect, we are like boiling frogs, slowly dying of an unknown and unrecognized threat. We responded as a nation instantly to the Al Qaeda attack on America. We are very good at this, but we are dying at the rate of a 9/11 every day from high calcium/low magnesium and can't see it. Do you enjoy the warmth?

More. I am 68 years old and my blood pressure is 100/60. Who cares what the other cardiac risk are when one has this "teenager" blood pressure! I do keep my salt, carbohydrate and fat intake low and never smoke or drink. I do take 500 mg of magnesium as magnesium citrate (or glycinate) every day and I am not overweight, but can't stand to sweat, so I don't work out, although I regularly do manual labor on my central Texas ranch. Enough said?

If you are on cardiac drugs and decide to do nature's magnesium plan, then you need the help of a willing-physician (good luck) to do it carefully. However, the best thing to do first is read "The Magnesium Factor" by Mildred S. Seelig, MD, MPH and Andrea Rosanoff, PhD. On pages 77 through 84, they state the following (much abbreviated) plan:

* Read Dr. Seelig's book before taking any major action.
* Make certain that you have primary hypertension.
* Trust your doctor on the immediate need for drugs, but start with magnesium for the long term.
* Consider metabolic syndrome X (other low magnesium deficiency symptoms). They will likely vanish too.
* Be careful if you are using potassium sparing diuretics or beta-blockers, because potassium can go dangerously high (or low if on thiazide or some of the stronger loop diuretics).
* Determine your potassium and magnesium levels. Use red blood cell testing or Exatest for magnesium.
* Replenish your potassium and magnesium levels gradually.
* Over the following few weeks, gradually lower your medication.
* Consider a good multi-vitamin, multi-mineral supplement, and increase magnesium and potassium intake to high doses gradually.
* If this works, but insufficiently, try alternate methods of magnesium administration.
* If diarrhea develops, control it immediately using these tips.
* Again, read Dr. Seelig's book before taking any major action.

Add to that the following lesser known facts. Inflammation is a silent killer. One of the most significant markers, or indicators, predictive of who will get a heart attack is a substance known as C-reactive protein. C-reactive protein is a marker of chronic inflammation, which is a primary indicator of heart attack and diabetes risk. C-reactive protein management is a major goal of pharmaceutical drug pushers. It is a marker of "inflammation", not a cause of heart attacks. Clearly, inflammation and fibrosis are involved. That high magnesium blood levels is associated with low C-reactive protein and reduced cardiac inflammation is one of the most carefully guarded secrets of health. The effect of magnesium on reducing C-reactive protein and inflammation could only have been reported by researchers having a vested interest in improving peoples' health, and not improving corporate income. This is exactly what happened, and this critically important work was first published in 2002 by the team of F. Guerrero-Romero and M. Rodriguez-Moran working at the Medical Research Unit in Clinical Epidemiology, General Hospital of the Mexican Social Security Institute, Durango, Mexico. Do you really believe that Pfizer would support and publish such research? Not me! The abstract for the Guerrero-Romero and M. Rodriguez-Moran article reads: "OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between serum magnesium levels and C-reactive protein (CRP) in non-diabetic, non-hypertensive obese subjects. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS: A total of 371 subjects, 101 men and 270 women. Of them 138 lean (37.2%), 133 (35.9%) overweight, and 100 (26.9%) were obese, matched by age. MEASUREMENTS: Fasting and 2 h serum glucose following a 75 g oral glucose load. Fasting serum total cholesterol, HDL- and LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, C-reactive protein (CRP), albumin; and magnesium levels; urinary protein excretion; body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and blood pressure. RESULTS: The presence of CRP was documented in four (2.9%) lean, 13 (9.8%) overweight, and 20 (20.0%) obese subjects, and decreased magnesium levels (equal or less than 1.8 mg/dl), in 2 (1.45%) lean, 7 (5.2%) overweight, and 19 (19%) obese subjects. The lowest serum magnesium levels and the highest CRP concentrations were documented in the obese subjects. Twenty-three (82.1%) of the subjects with low serum magnesium (five overweight and 18 obese) showed CRP concentration equal or more than 10 mg/l. There was a graded significant decrease between CRP concentration and serum magnesium levels (r = -0.39, P = 0.002). The odds ratio (CI95%) between magnesium and CRP adjusted by age, sex, BMI and glucose tolerance status for the subjects within the low quartile of magnesium distribution was 2.11 (1.23-3.84). CONCLUSION: The results of this study show that low serum magnesium levels are independently related to elevated CRP concentration, in non-diabetic, non-hypertensive obese subjects."

Calcium crystals spear heart mitochondria - killing it. More. You know what mitochondria are? They are the energy source of the cell. Without functional cellular mitochondria, the cell cools to room temperature and dies. If too many cells die, the organ dies. Consider the human heart. We need to do everything possible to keep our heart cells' mitochondria healthy. Certainly we shouldn't purposefully spear them with tiny daggers to kill them. Right? Low magnesium and high calcium creates tiny spears that kill the mitochondria from within. Remember Dr. Burt Silver, owner of Exatest.com, the intracellular magnesium testing company? In 1975 he showed in this original report that this exact situation occurred. Too much calcium in the presence of too little magnesium forms crystals that are mitochondria-killing spears. In the 3,000 reference 1980 book "Magnesium in Health and Disease" by Dr. Mildred S. Seelig, MD, (soon to be featured at the Magnesium Water site by Paul mason), Bert Silver and L. A. Sordahl shows microphotographs of these tiny calcium "spears", and that article is here. How about a tasty double cheese pizza for supper? Served hot with hundreds of billions of tiny heart-killing mitochondria-killing calcium spears! Sounds delicious to me!

More on what causes a lethal heart attack, at least the calcification of heart and arterial tissues that leads to most lethal heart attacks. Fibrosis is another factor. In 1997, Emile Mohler MD, et al. at the University of Pennsylvania, published an article concerning a "bone building" protein found in calcified aortic valves. Mohler and colleagues found "osteopontin", a protein that makes up the molecular scaffolding to which calcium sticks in the formation of bone, in calcified hearts. "We're the first group, to my knowledge, to directly isolate osteopontin in calcified valves," notes Mohler. "Identifying the molecular mechanisms underlying ossification of valves could lead to novel therapies to prevent or treat valve disease." In addition, the work may help to determine how calcium deposits form in the arteries of people with atherosclerosis and other vascular diseases. Cardiac valve calcification often results in obstruction of blood flow, which eventually leads to valve replacement. Collagen and specific bone matrix proteins are thought to provide the framework for ectopic tissue calcification. Osteopontin was present in both heavily and minimally calcified aortic valves and absent in noncalcified aortic valves. Osteopontin also localized with valvular calcific deposits, and macrophages were identified in the vicinity of osteopontin. These results, in addition to showing that osteopontin is present in calcified human aortic valves, suggest that osteopontin is a regulatory protein in pathological calcification. OK. Sounds interesting. George says, I wonder if magnesium... So, I searched PubMed. If we go to this Japanese group's work on osteopontin formation in kidneys, we find that osteopontin is eliminated when magnesium supplements are given. This should not be too difficult to understand and interpret in terms of cardiology too. Although osteopontin is absolutely necessary for bone formation, osteopontin formation in soft tissues, like in the heart and arteries as well as the kidneys, leads to deposition of calcium, which leads to narrowing of arteries, heart attacks, kidney disease and a wide variety of calcification health issues. A very popular book is The Calcium Bomb which proposes nanobacteria as cause of calcium buildup in cardiac tissue. Perhaps this is true, but is osteopontin buildup the mechanism by which nanobacteria construct their calcium shells? If yes, then magnesium may likely prevent their buildup.

The only other agent that I know of that inhibits osteopontin formation in soft tissue (but annihilates hypercalcemia, restores bone and generally heals tissue injuries) is gallium, an element that is normally found in the human to the extent of less than 0.2 milligrams. Gallium has clinical use in treating some serious bone loss diseases. I use a lot of gallium nitrate in the treatment of a bone/joint condition in horses called "navicular disease" with great effect. I have also postulated that gallium is an essential nutrient for survival of the 21st century. Gallium nitrate is effective in treating an otherwise incurable horse disease. I also give my horses large amounts of magnesium dietary supplements. My old horses run around like spring chickens! Magnesium and gallium really make them act young. Late in 2006, I published a veterinary journal article on gallium and the cure for navicular disease, which is located on the web here.

Getting back on track, we remember that mitral valve prolapse can be totally reversed in about one year with daily supplements of 1,000 mg of magnesium as magnesium orotate (probably any other form of biologically available magnesium too). Also, look at these graphics of "calcified hearts" on Google. To me, if your physician has told you that you have calcium deposits in your arteries and/or heart, you would be totally insane not to take about 1,000 mg of magnesium every day, twice what I must take, in hope that in about a year you might become free of this silent killer. The benefits are believed to start immediately, but complete clearance will take a while, perhaps a long while. If you must take that much supplemental magnesium, be prepared for gut problems, and study tips on this page on how to deal with magnesium-induced diarrhea.

Here is an example of a mouse poison made by Tomcat, which uses Vitamin D3 as a mouse poison. Still think lots of vitamin D3 is good for you? Dr. Mercola adds, "This is a major point: excess vitamin D will cause, not prevent, osteoporosis and hardening of your arteries. Please be very careful with cod liver oil. If you are unable to obtain vitamin D testing, then please do not exceed one to two teaspoons of cod liver oil or switch to plain fish oil (no vitamin D) immediately." According to this Wikipedia article, the exact long-term safe dose of bottled (supplemental) vitamin D is not entirely known, but dosages up to 250 micrograms (10,000 IU) /day in healthy adults are believed to be safe, and all known cases of bottled vitamin D toxicity with hypercalcemia have involved intake of or over 1,000 micrograms (40,000 IU)/day[37] of bottled Vitamin D. The U.S. Dietary Reference Intake Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) of vitamin D for children and adults is 50 micrograms/day (2,000 IU/day), with evidence that this value is too low by a factor of 5. In adults, sustained intake of 2500 micrograms/day (100,000 IU) can produce toxicity within a few months. For infants (birth to 12 months) the tolerable UL is set at 25 micrograms/day (1000 IU/day), and vitamin D concentrations of 1000 micrograms/day (40,000 IU) in infants has been shown to produce toxicity within 1 to 4 months. In the United States, overdose exposure of vitamin D was reported by 284 individuals in 2004, leading to 1 death.[39] The Nutrition Desk Reference states "The threshold for toxicity is 500 to 600 micrograms [vitamin D] per kilogram body weight per day." One point universally agreed, is that sunlight-derived vitamin D is harmless since the body shuts off production before it can become toxic. This is why sunlight is the best source of vitamin D.

Even snake keepers know too much calcium and bottled vitamin D will cause heart failure. Here is Fred's story. He was a python that died of a calcified heart. Apparently, some snakes are extremely sensitive to even small amounts of supplemental calcium, and bottled vitamin D.
The Lethal Hypothyroid - Low Magnesium Axis

Near the beginning of this essay, I reported that hypothyroidism can cause depression and that it must be treated and/or ruled out as cause of depression. Now there is clear evidence as shown in this figure that one of the thyroid hormones (T4) is directly related to magnesium serum levels in major depression, particularly in women. For more information see this clinical report. Levels below 0.9 mMol magnesium are considered low. We can extend this observation to say that hypothyroidism causes low serum magnesium, which appears to be the actual mechanism by which hypothyroidism causes depression. Interestingly, hypothyroidism does not affect calcium blood levels. Low magnesium caused by hypothyroidism also contributes heavily to cardiovascular disease and it must be corrected for longevity.

The simplest of all clinical tests, the use of a glass (not digital) thermometer held in the mouth far back under the tongue remains the gold standard for detecting hypothyroidism. The temperature should be taken over a full ten minute time and repeated for about a week each morning before warming up. An oral temperature below 97.5 degrees should be considered an 80% probability of hypothyroidism. While men can check their temperature any day of the month, women have a menstrual cycle that must be considered. The only accurate time of the month for determining true body temperature (as it relates to hypothyroidism) in women is while they are not menstruating. Some of the signs of hypothyroidism include: Fatigue, depression, difficulty concentrating, difficulty getting up in the morning, cold hands and feet or intolerance to cold, constipation, loss of hair, fluid retention, dry skin, poor resistance to infection, high cholesterol, psoriasis, eczema, acne, premenstrual syndrome, loss of menstrual periods, painful or irregular menstrual periods, excessive menstrual bleeding, infertility, fibrocystic breast disease, and ovarian cysts. There are many good web pages on thyroid disease, and I encourage you to examine them. The Father of thyroid disease research is Broda O. Barnes, MD and his web site is at http://www.brodabarnes.org/. His book "Hypothyroidism: The Unsuspected Illness" is both a standard and a classic, and it reports that untreated hypothyroidism is the cause of enormous amount of morbidity and mortality, often through heart attacks.

In fact, Dr. Barnes' research suggested that many heart attacks have a hypothyroid component, apparently via lowering magnesium serum levels, strongly suggesting that the American Heart Association figure cited by Seelig and Rosanoff is, while accurate, it and its many derivatives are misleading. The point that Dr. Barnes made in his Chapter 11 is that although few people died of heart attacks pre-1900 (as is clearly shown by the misleading American Heart Association figure), they died of infectious diseases, usually tuberculosis, before they had a chance to die of heart failure. His review of 70,000 autopsy records of Graz, Austria showed that a very large number of people dying early of non-cardiac deaths also had the same cardiovascular lesions and cholesterol buildup that are known to cause heart attacks and death. They simply died of something else earlier, and theoretically would have died of heart failure later.

Since Dr. Barnes' practice primarily addressed thyroid issues, he was baffled as to why his patients did not develop heart disease. He looked into his patients records and discovered the cause of many heart attacks! On his page 180, he showed that it was easy to prevent heart attacks in his patients - if and only if - hypothyroid issues were solved. His Table 1 shows the number of heart attacks in two different but essentially equivalent populations. The groups showed sex and age of patients, number of his patients treated with thyroid, total man-years patients were treated with thyroid, the resultant expected coronary cases (heart attacks) according to the Framingham study (not treated with thyroid) and coronary cases in the thyroid-treated patients of Dr. Barnes. He also showed that if hypothyroidism were corrected, high cholesterol issues would also go down. Further, he showed that hyperthyroidism would even further lower cholesterol! He strongly emphasized that only whole thyroid (Armour thyroid) was of value in this regard, suggesting that not everything is known about "thyroid". Any doubt that hypothyroidism does not have a major role to play in heart attack?

According to Barnes, if T4 thyroid hormone is low and you have a low magnesium concentration, you are in deep trouble and you must resolve your thyroid issues first and keep them corrected for the rest of your life, or it will be shortened, and perhaps greatly shortened. Why? Here is how I see it. Thyroid T4 governs the blood levels of magnesium, which in turn governs cholesterol levels, which in turn governs the incidence of heart attacks. I knew an elderly woman that took large amounts of magnesium for her heart for many years, and she very greatly limited her intake of sodium chloride by only using potassium chloride. Sounds like a good idea, but in the United States Morton's Salt Substitute (potassium chloride) does not contain iodine like other salts, which in the United States is a primary source of dietary iodine. She died of a massive heart attack, as one would predict for low iodine-induced hypothyroidism, resulting in low serum magnesium. Remember that hypothyroidism can be essentially symptom-less, other than for the low body temperature. Interestingly enough, the thyroid researchers indicate that this is a typical death-pattern for elderly women. Elderly women are often hypothyroid and never know it, and they die of cardiovascular disease disproportionately to men as can be seen here. Only upon correcting thyroid issues will one see efforts in raising magnesium concentrations and eliminating depression succeed and cardiovascular disease related death prevented. I know of no research to show that low magnesium would cause hypothyroidism, but anything is possible.

What causes hypothyroidism? Many things including some psychiatric drugs such as lithium and tricyclic antidepressants. I encourage you to avoid these drugs for obvious reasons. In the United States, our consumption of iodine and magnesium are both low and, if iodine is very low (considerably under 150 micrograms per day - the RDA), then hypothyroidism is likely caused by low iodine intake. Thus, one could extend the argument to say that low iodine causes low magnesium, which causes... . This single cause of low magnesium may very well explain some failed clinical trials, wherein magnesium supplementation failed to prevent heart attacks. For example, if hypothyroid patients were equally represented in both the placebo- and active-treated groups, then hypothyroidism would have prevented magnesium supplementation from having the desired and predicted beneficial effects.

In the United States, high iodine (over 1 milligram per day by many reports), may also cause hypothyroidism, and may also cause hyperthyroidism. Too much iodine can raise body temperature, and may either mask hypothyroidism or cure it. In Okinawa, Japan, hypothyroidism from too much iodine doesn't occur until intake is in the 10 to 20 milligrams or higher per day range. Okinawans commonly have an intake of iodine in this range from their custom of ingesting large amounts of kelp, which is the best food source of iodine. They also have much higher intake of magnesium and taurine (also from kelp), and live to be 120 years of age with vastly greater frequency than short-lived Americans. They eat a lot of conch which is a major source of taurine.

Clearly, we have much to learn about the optimal intake of iodine to prevent hypothyroidism, and much to learn about how to prevent hyperthyroidism from too much iodine. In my humble opinion, I believe that the principal cause of heart attacks is an inadequate supply of both iodine and magnesium. What we must understand in this instance is that in the United States, physicians tend to treat symptoms without much consideration of underlying causative factors, like hypothyroidism. Yes, low magnesium / high calcium remains the principal cause of lethal heart attacks, but we must dig deeper and find out what is causing the low magnesium issue. There is much more about the thyroid and the rationale for using Armour thyroid extract at the http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/ site.

Ho Hum George, you are really getting a little on the hysterical side. What you are saying has been known, more or less, for a hundred years in homeopathy. In homeopathy, magnesium is suitable for a large number of CHEST symptoms, especially pain, palpitations and heart pain. Just go to this page and see what homeopaths have known about magnesium and chest illnesses since they discovered Epsom Salts in England over a hundred years ago. Ho Hum. This "magnesium for hearts" stuff is boring it is so old. But! It has become hidden and has fallen into disuse, while it should have been made into national and international health policy by our leaders. Our only solace is that they die of heart attacks too.
Other Cardiac Risk Factors

Copper sources in diet There as some other dietary factors which can contribute to lethal heart attacks. Too little synthesis of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) in the liver (or too little consumption of supplements of CoQ10), and too little fish oil (Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids), and especially too little copper contribute to death from heart failure as shown in this review of the copper/heart literature. These three nutrients are vital in aging, and are particularly necessary in aging/stressed hearts. Salmon is high in both copper and omega-3 EFAs, and it is difficult for me to see which of these two nutrients is the more important in preventing heart attacks. Perhaps it is both together that makes salmon such a wonderful heart food. According to Charles Weber's review, women may have greater resistance to heart attacks due to estrogen's ability to keep copper levels from falling. Copper works to keep connective tissues pliable and properly functioning. Some food sources of copper are also listed here, but my favorite is liver. Some scientists have devised a regimen of "metabolic therapy" to protect the senescent (aging) heart against stress. Their metabolic therapy involves treatment with CoQ10, alpha lipoic acid, magnesium orotate, and omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids with physical exercise and mental stress reduction. They found that damage to mitochondrial DNA from aging was less predictive of impaired response to stress (death) than age alone. They concluded that the aging heart has a diminished capacity to recover from stress that is not readily predictable by cardiac content of intact/damaged mitochondrial DNA, and that this recovery can be improved by metabolic therapy combined with physical exercise and mental stress reduction. Realize that low magnesium is THE major contributor to inability to withstand stress, and that low magnesium must be corrected to survive with an aging heart.

Magnesium is vitally important to prevent aging of heart muscle for genetic reasons too. No other than world-famous scientist Bruce Ames of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Berkeley found that magnesium deficiency accelerates cellular senescence (aging) in cultured human fibroblasts, by noting that magnesium deficiency caused telomere attrition. Thus, the long-term consequence of inadequate magnesium availability was accelerated cellular senescence (aging), which may be a mechanism through which chronic magnesium inadequacy could promote or exacerbate age-related disease. Consequently, if we are deprived of magneisum for a long period of time, we will age much faster than had we sufficient magnesium. Ever wonder why people taking magnesium look younger and act younger than their age? Fountain of youth anyone???

Lest I trick you into believing that magnesium is the cure-all, I want to bring up something that I discovered in 1981 while doing my zinc lozenge and common cold research. Dr. William W. Halcomb and myself discovered that zinc could be used to stop, prevent and effectively treat angina pectoris, even when severe. Although we discovered this effect in 1981, we never published it except on the web at _http://george-eby-research.com/html/angina.html. In 1985, serum zinc was shown to be low in unstable angina. An old man (seemed old to me at the time) came into our clinical trial with a bad cold and he received zinc gluconate lozenges for his cold. He was taking 23 mg of zinc each two wakeful hours. His cold did not benefit from zinc treatment, but his angina pectoris went away for the first time in over 15 years. He had been on a railroad disability and was considered totally disabled. He had been unable to walk across a room without major chest pain for many years. He had previously used nitroglycerin like candy all day long with some benefit. While taking zinc, he required zero nitroglycerin. He had no cardiac pain for the first time in 15 years and was ecstatic. He had always wanted to go snow skiing in the Rockies, and he did and brought us back home movies! We had a big beer bust. Life for him was good. We lost track of him because he moved to Chicago where I last heard he had a new job working for a railroad. I have several other friends that took zinc effectively for angina, and Dr. Halcomb immediately made it part of his clinical practice with success, finding that on average 160 mg of zinc a day would prevent over 50% of cases of angina pectoris. Now, with people weighing so much more, a better dosage would be 2.2 mg of zinc per kilogram of body weight (1 mg zinc per pound of body weight). One man, the father of a racing car friend of mine, was a large man aged 76 with horrible angina. He took 160 mg zinc a day for a week, and it did not help him, so he took 300 mg. (Old race car driver trick - if something won't work, use a bigger hammer.) In 30 days of zinc treatment at 300 mg per day, his angina suddenly subsided and he was pain free for the first time in many years. He became active again and started riding his son's horse. He took the horse on a cattle drive and rounded up cows for several days. He was a happy man like that for about a year. Then, he had a cardiologist appointment, and although he was in vastly better health than ever, his cardiologist forced him to stop the zinc since it was known to "slightly raise bad cholesterol" in young healthy students. About a month latter he developed congestive heart failure and died. We know little about the biochemistry of zinc and cholesterol in older, unhealthy people such as those with angina pectoris. However, it is clear that there is more depression and cardiac failure in elderly people with low zinc. Seems to me that we probably need to look at zinc much more closely for cardiovascular health. How can zinc work? Who knows, but zinc in these doses over extended periods of time would antagonize iron, a buildup of which is well known to be injurious to the heart. People believe that loss of iron in menses protects menstruating women from heart disease, and that once they become menopausal, that benefit is lost. Supplements of zinc to counter iron in the aging heart seem reasonable. I think a daily dose of 2.2 mg per kilogram body weight would work very well to demonstrate the effect of zinc in treating angina pectoris, if given for a minimum of 7 to 30 days. We used zinc gluconate in our clinical trial, which usually upsets the stomach if doses are greater than 20 to 50 mg per dose. However, if a person is zinc deficient, the upset stomach probably will not develop. I certainly would have periodic zinc blood levels done to insure that increases beyond the normal upper range do not occur because they can be immunosuppressive if taken out of the normal range over a one month period. Zinc. A wonderful element, which is also removed from whole grain during the refining process to make "depleted" wheat. Look at this data. The grain refiners were / are really looking out for the pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Halcomb and I decided to publish our thoughts about high dose zinc to cure angina pectoris (and by implication arteriosclerosis caused by cholesterol buildup in arteries) in Medical Hypotheses, a medical journal dedicated to new ideas that have sound theoretical support. We submitted our article and it was approved the same day we submitted it. Perhaps you don't see the significance of that timely acceptance, but it is close to miraculous to me. Our accepted article is here.
Stupidity Runneth Over

In the United States, Uncle Sam has officially (and stupidly) proclaimed that 1200 mg of calcium and 400 mg of magnesium to be necessary daily intakes (RDA). I say, yes that is true only for doctors and hospitals that benefit from you and me having heart problems! (Remember that this is a multi-trillion dollar industry.) Seems to me that if you don't want your heart and arteries to calcify and turn to stone, take 400 to 600 mg of magnesium a day, never take calcium supplements, and carefully watch your dairy consumption (particularly cheese). Leave it to Uncle Sam to kill us all before we start drawing Social Security checks! Additionally, this screw up causes most of the chronic ill health in America today, creating vast wealth for pharmaceutical drug pushers. Take a look at this list of low magnesium symptoms (doctors call them diseases). Yes, folks, just keep spearing your mitochondria with calcium crystals! For more information on chronic illnesses treatable by magnesium, read the book by Dr. Norman Shealy, MD, PhD titled "HOLY WATER, SACRED OIL; THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH". Here is his index to diseases that are magnesium deficiency symptoms, or are responsive to magnesium treatment (on pages) of his book.

Allergies- 151, 159, 146
Alkalyzing Spondylitis- 164, 165
Age Reversal- 137, 138, 143, 147, 161, 162, 163, 184, 201, 203, 207, 211,
212, 213, 214 through 217
Angina Pectoris- 119
Anxiety- 118
Anorexia- 119
Arrhythmia- 119
Arthritis- 166,171,177, 181, 203, 146
Attention Deficit Disorder- 118, 119
Asthma- 119
Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy- 119
Atherosclerosis- 119
Bulimia- 119
Babies (problems)- 179, 201
Bug Bites- 202, 203
Burns- 202
Bronchitis (chronic)- 119
Cancer- 119, 161, 163, 175, 181, 182
Cardiomyopathy- 119
Cellulite- 147, 149
Cartilage Restorer- 202
Chronic Fatigue- 119, 151, 164, 168, 170, 171, 174, 181, 184
Cirrhosis- 119
Congestive Heart Failure- 119
Confusion- 118
Constipation- 118
Depression- 118, 119, 123, 181
Detox- 150, 153, 147, 171
Diabetes- 119, 121, 178, 179, 180, 184, 185
Diabetic Neuropathy- 178, 179, 180
Diarrhea- 118
Dry Skin- 202
Eclampsia or Pre-eclampsia-119
Edema (water retention)- 170
Emphysema- 119
Faintness- 118
Fibromyalgia- 119, 123, 148, 150, 153, 175, 176, 181
Gall Bladder Infection and Stones- 119
Gastrointestinal Problems- 156, 201, 203
Headaches- 119, 152, 167
Hearing Loss- 119
Hair Color Restorer- 140, 202
Hyperactivity- 119, 179
Heart Attack- 119

High Cholesterol- 119
Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)- 120, 122, 161, 185
Hyperventilation- 118
Hypoglycemia- 119
Incoordination- 118
Ingrown Toenails- 180
Insomnia- 147, 160, 169, 171, 174, 180, 181, 184
Immune Deficiency- 119
Infections (Viral & Bacterial)- 119
Intermittent Claudification-119
Interstitial Cystitis- 149, 152
Kidney Stones- 119, 171
Lumbar Scoliosis- 149
Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack)- 121
Migraine- 119, 122
Mitral Valve Prolapse-119
Multiple Sclerosis- 166, 174, 178, 181
Muscle Spasms- 147, 172, 173
Menstrual Cramps- 152
Narcolepsy- 162
Osteoporosis- 119, 123, 124, 202
Pain (all types)- 147, 146, 148, 150, 154, 163, 164, 167, 169, 170, 171,
172, 173, 174, 177, 178, 179, 181, 184, 203
Panic Attacks- 119, 124
PMS- 119
Poor Memory- 119
Psoriasis- 148, 175, 176, 180, 181, 182
PVC's- 120
Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy- 121, 124
Seizures- 119
Skin Rash- 147, 148, 170, 171, 173, 175, 176, 180, 181, 203
Strokes- 121, 178
Stress- 203
Sunburn- 147, 153, 180, 202
Tinnitus- 119
Toe Fungus- 180
Tooth and Gum Problems- 160
Vertigo- 119
Water Retention (Edema)- 170
Weight Loss- 139, 147, 159, 161, 181, 184
Wounds & Welts- 151, 154, 174, 177, 179, 184, 202, 203
Wrinkles- 137, 147, 150, 151, 164, 174, 175
Yeast Infection- 202

Clearly the response to solving most of America's health problems with an inexpensive, readily available nutrient will be the banning of all sources of supplemental magnesium by the U.S. FDA in the interest of "protecting our health", unless we take action and influence the Congress. Clearly the pharmaceutical drug pushers have much to loose. They are responsible only to their shareholders (see the movie The Corporation for the low down on this pathological pursuit of profit and power), and the combination of the FDA wishing to protect its regulatory turf, and protect pharmaceutical company income (regardless of the human and animal consequences - because the pharmaceutical drug companies offer really great salaries for ex-FDA officials) is really overwhelming. Don't believe me? Here comes CODEX! Read it and weep. Sorry.

Also, listen to this: "The FDA, through its abandonment of public health and its collusion with profit-prioritized drug companies, has achieved the dubious distinction of proving itself far more dangerous to the health and safety of everyday Americans than any terrorist group. Terrorist-related deaths in the USA: < 4,000, while FDA-related deaths since 2001 are over 750,000" - Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, July 2008.

Physicians and researchers will want to review some of Drs. Seelig's and Rosanoff's 1,512 references in their book, The Magnesium Factor bearing witness to their findings.

I have been puzzling over the relationship of Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids to magnesium in the cardiac risk issue. Here is an interesting link - I think. We know that glutathione is important to increasing or maintaining or enhancing intracellular magnesium, but it is an expensive supplement. We also know that Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids (from fish oil) are important to cardiac health, they relax cells like magnesium does. Now, there is a link between Omega-3s and glutathione, which translates into a need for Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids to maintain intracellular magnesium. See this Russian article . I do know that my bronchitis and arrhythmias are much relieved with supplements of Omega-3s, and now I can see why. Also, in 1985 Galland showed that in latent tetany (a magnesium deficiency disorder), Omega-3 EFA was also low.
Exercise

Perhaps every person that has seen a psychiatrist for depression is told to exercise. I wonder how many follow the doctor's advice. Exercise is good for you, but not too much or it will stimulate appetite. Why? The fact is that exercise changes the way our cells react with insulin. Exercise makes our cells less resistant to insulin, and therefore more able to hold magnesium. Exercise is mandatory for diabetics for the same reason. How much exercise? Well, the doctors suggest brisk walking, and we all know that we feel better after a walk. But the good feeling doesn't last. Why? Quite a number of papers show that resistance training for insulin resistance is better than aerobic training. Resistance training is referring to muscular exercises, body building and heavy, but not exhausting exercise. If you just do a bicep curl, you immediately increase the insulin sensitivity of your bi

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