Magnesium

My daughter goes to a Holistic doctor in Florida. They were talking about Magnesium, my daughter used the spray mag. a few years ago she said that she was using it morning and night, one morning she awoke and could hardly make it down the stairs she was dizzy and nauseous and didn't feel too well that day. She stopped using the mag. everyday, just once in a while when she had her toes kink up, she is ok but cannot take a lot of mag.

Her Holistic doctor said that the body can build up an intolerance to mag. and if you take too much and have a reaction, the body remembers. They used an electoral magnet on her, poked her finger/toes etc., tied to a computer this test is supposed to be able to tell if there is intolerance.

Now I have never heard of that kind of testing and I suppose the body can build up an intolerance to anything, I do know that I cannot take a lot of magnesium but I do take some everyday. I have heard that a lazer can be used to help the intolerance.

Any thoughts?

Liz

Hi Liz good to hear from youQ

It is true that some folks can only take a certain amount of supplemental magnesium without getting too quick a transit time for food passing through their GI track taht can cause a whole host of symptoms from a nutrient deficiency, and thus such folks often cannot take more than around 250mg a day of supplemental magnesium orally without manifesting problems. Also, anyone can get a frank overdose of magnesium if they take too much for their system over a relatively short period of time.

This kind of overdose can manifest in the kind of symptoms your daughter describes.

However, I seriously doubt people develop a classic 'intolerance' to magnesium which is so fundamental of an essential nutrient for survival and basic health, as if with an allergic response to magnesium, simply from taking two much on occasion. That does not make much sense biochemically.

And I have seen any number of 'magical testing machines' touted by certain 'holistic' docs that strain credulity at many of hte functional/integrative medicine conferences I have attended. And these type of universal diagnostic 'machines' based on various theories that are often used to diagnosis any and every possible condition under the sun (supposedly that is :-) often turn out to offer far more hype than promise.

I don't know this particular doctors process or use of an electro-magnetic device, but some of these similar sounding methods are more hype than consistently reliable as diagnostic tools in my experience, and seeing so many variations of such systems touted at the large integrative natural health conferences I have attended and often work has not made me a big fan. A slew of these kind of machines are usually round on the back row of booths at tthe large exhibit halls of such conferences and rarely, if ever, do I see any of the most respected functional and integrative practitioners using or touting such devices.

I am a big proponent of evidence-based functional/integrative medicine, and always am interested in looking at new insights in this growing area of medicine. But the field is also poorly regulated, and thus, is rife with a lot of speculative hype as well as really useful, well-vetted and progressive insights. As such, I just caution that one needs to approach such things with an open-minded yet healthy skepticism as well when evaluating such claims for a catch-all diagnostic tool that supposedly can tell just what the problem is with any kind of ailment.

In any event, I'm not saying this is definitely bogus here at all, as I don't know precisely what this doctor is doing, but am just adding in a word to the wise from my long in-depth experience in this field to approach such claims with a grain of salt until the process or device has clearly been proven of consistently replicable value beyond simply a possible placebo effect.

Be well,

Shannon



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2017 02:06AM by Shannon.

Liz,

I can only comment on my experience. I've taken lots of mag for over 12 years. At times around 5.5 g/day. Now around 2.4g/day. No sign of intolerance. Early on, I'd had two years with no afib (after an initial 2 1/2 month episode). I thought I was "cured." I stopped all supplements including mag. I had afib within 48 hours (might have been 24 hrs). I've not repeated that experiment. Currently I'm at 3 episodes totaling 2 hrs 10 minutes in 3 3/4 years. So I'm very disinclined to experiment quitting my mag intake.

This seems very individual.

George

George:

I know you take a lot of magnesium and it has stopped your Afib, I also believe it is very individual. I do take mag but only around 400 mg./day, i can't take any more than that. I do eat meat, nuts, foods which have magnesium.

Liz

Shannon:

This holistic doctor is in the Orlando area, he has written a number of books his last one is "let food be your medicine" People come from all over to see him. He believes in the modified Mediterranean diet, I was surprised when my daughter told me about the tools he is using and it seemed to me to be rather strange. His name is Dr. Don Colbert perhaps some on here might have heard of him?

Liz

Quote
Elizabeth
George:

I know you take a lot of magnesium and it has stopped your Afib, I also believe it is very individual. I do take mag but only around 400 mg./day, i can't take any more than that. I do eat meat, nuts, foods which have magnesium.

Liz

The phrase about "I do eat meat, nuts foods which have magnesium" seems profound to me. It's probably been covered here before, but the body probably absorbs Mg better if its in the food we eat vs pills. And when people say "I take 400mg" or "I take 800mg of Mg/Day", its doesn't describe the whole picture, unless the Mg content in persons diet was also included.

Anti-Fib - while it's always preferable to get nutrients from food sources, with magnesium, it's difficult to get enough....that's one of the reasons why there are so many reports indicating that 80% of the population is found to be Mg deficient.
Check these results from a search: [search.yahoo.com]

And, as you have read here, it's also important to note that while this is commonly known, traditional testing for magnesium does not disclose the deficiency and that's also why so many people go undiagnosed for an underlying factor in so many ailments. Hence, we recommend the ExaTest for Afibbers.

When checking nutrition charts for food values of magnesium, the results are widely varied by reference sources but collectively, not many foods have abundant magnesium so to get enough to satisfy the body's large Mg requirement, means eating a lot of those foods.

Your point, though, is important. If you do consume a large amount of Mg-containing foods, then when supplementing with magnesium, the bowel tolerance issue may show up more quickly. (or it could be the supplement form of the Mg isn't easily or well-absorbed into cells for use but is just excreted quickly rather than going to work in the body). People who have blocked or damaged cellular receptor sites will excrete rapidly as well and those with damaged intestinal portal transfer sites also will be rapid excretors. Again, emphasizing the value of ExaTest to determine the intra-cellular content of Magnesium.

For readers new to our website.....

Among the search reports, these from Mark Sircus and Life Extension are good examples.
[drsircus.com]
[www.lifeextension.com]
[www.lifeextension.com]

and, of course, Paul Mason's whole website is devoted to magnesium's importance.
[www.lifeextension.com]
[www.mgwater.com]

And remember, also, that there are many substances that block or deplete magnesium rapidly. One is most Rx drugs so even though one is taking in magnesium, the drug factor could be offsetting count. Many factors interfere with optimizing IC Mg content including alcohol, calcium and stress... just a few of many.

Jackie

Since we're on the very important magnesium topic, thought I'd post this as useful information. First is a fairly recent study by well-known magnesium researcher, Andrea Rosanoff, PhD, co-author and research associate of the late Mildred S. Seelig, MD, MPH and the book, The Magnesium Factor: How One Simple Nutrient Can Prevent, Treat, and Reverse High Blood Pressure, Heart Disease, Diabetes, and Other Chronic Conditions (2003)

Following that is a study review Titled Why all migraine patients should be treated with magnesium which states why routine blood tests do not reflect body stores of magnesium which emphasizes the reason why routine tests are not reliable for magnesium levels.


Abstract Title:
Suboptimal magnesium status in the United States: are the health consequences underestimated?
Source: Nutr Rev. 2012 Mar ;70(3):153-64. Epub 2012 Feb 15. PMID: 22364157

Abstract Author(s): Andrea Rosanoff, Connie M Weaver, Robert K RudeCenter for Magnesium Education&Research, Pahoa, HI 96778, USA.

Study Type : Human Study

Abstract:
In comparison with calcium, magnesium is an"orphan nutrient" that has been studied considerably less heavily. Low magnesium intakes and blood levels have been associated with type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, elevated C-reactive protein, hypertension, atherosclerotic vascular disease, sudden cardiac death, osteoporosis, migraine headache, asthma and colon cancer. Almost half (48%) of the US population consumed less than the required amount of magnesium from food in 2005-2006, and the figure was down from 56% in 2001-2002. Surveys conducted over 30 years indicate rising calcium-to-magnesium food-intake ratios among adults and the elderly in the United States, excluding intake from supplements, which favor calcium over magnesium. The prevalence and incidence of type 2 diabetes in the United States increased sharply between 1994 and 2001 as the ratio of calcium-to-magnesium intake from food rose from<3.0 to>3.0.
Dietary Reference Intakes determined by balance studies may be misleading if subjects have chronic latent magnesium deficiency but are assumed to be healthy. Cellular magnesium deficit, perhaps involving TRPM6/7 channels, elicits calcium-activated inflammatory cascades independent of injury or pathogens.

Refining the magnesium requirements and understanding how low magnesium status and rising calcium-to-magnesium ratios influence the incidence of type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, osteoporosis, and other inflammation-related disorders are research priorities.

Pubmed-Cite:
Andrea Rosanoff, Connie M Weaver, Robert K Rude. Suboptimal magnesium status in the United States: are the health consequences underestimated? Nutr Rev. 2012 Mar ;70(3):153-64. Epub 2012 Feb 15. PMID: 22364157

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Abstract Title:
Why all migraine patients should be treated with magnesium.

Abstract Source: J Neural Transm. 2012 May ;119(5):575-9. Epub 2012 Mar 18. PMID: 22426836
Abstract Author(s): Alexander Mauskop, Jasmine Varughese
Article Affiliation: New York Headache Center, 30 East 76 Street, New York, NY 10021, USA.

Abstract:
Magnesium, the second most abundant intracellular cation, is essential in many intracellular processes and appears to play an important role in migraine pathogenesis. Routine blood tests do not reflect true body magnesium stores since<2% is in the measurable, extracellular space, 67% is in the bone and 31% is located intracellularly. Lack of magnesium may promote cortical spreading depression, hyperaggregation of platelets, affect serotonin receptor function, and influence synthesis and release of a variety of neurotransmitters.

Migraine sufferers may develop magnesium deficiency due to genetic inability to absorb magnesium, inherited renal magnesium wasting, excretion of excessive amounts of magnesium due to stress, low nutritional intake, and several other reasons. There is strong evidence that magnesium deficiency is much more prevalent in migraine sufferers than in healthy controls.

Double-blind, placebo-controlled trials have produced mixed results, most likely because both magnesium deficient and non-deficient patients were included in these trials. This is akin to giving cyanocobalamin in a blinded fashion to a group of people with peripheral neuropathy without regard to their cyanocobalamin levels.

Both oral and intravenous magnesium are widely available, extremely safe, very inexpensive and for patients who are magnesium deficient can be highly effective. Considering these features of magnesium, the fact that magnesium deficiency may be present in up to half of migraine patients, and that routine blood tests are not indicative of magnesium status, empiric treatment with at least oral magnesium is warranted in all migraine sufferers.

Jackie



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2017 02:03PM by Jackie.