Not long ago, my 86 year old grandmother was rushed to the hospital. Although she's never had heart problems, she was experiencing shortness of breath, tightness in her chest and palpitations.
The doctors in the ER thought she was having a heart attack. They watched her vital signs closely, while administering electrolytes by IV. After three days of tests and monitoring, my grandmother was released from the hospital... and referred to a cardiologist.
How an Intelligent and Forward-Thinking Doctor
Saved My Grandmother's Life
Instead of immediately putting her on a heart medication - as most doctors would do - my grandmother's physician did something that I believe saved her life. She did something that's rarely done in acute care within "mainstream" medicine. She checked my grandmother's mineral levels.
The result showed that she was suffering from an acute magnesium deficiency. She left that day with only one prescription - for a daily magnesium supplement.
And to think that for less than $0.05 per day, my grandmother could have avoided a near-death experience... and a $20,000 hospital visit.
But the issue my grandmother faced is all too common.
Some studies have shown that over 80% of the U.S. population is deficient in magnesium, to one degree or another. That means there is a good chance that YOU are deficient.
And that can be serious business. It has been estimated that magnesium deficiency is largely responsible for up to 20 million deaths worldwide every year, including nearly 600 per day in the U.S. alone!
This Mineral is Vital to Your Existence
Do You Have Enough of It?
Magnesium plays hundreds of crucial roles in your body.
It helps regulate the rhythm of your heartbeat (the greatest stores of magnesium in the body are found in the heart). It helps control your blood pressure and maintain insulin sensitivity. It controls the uptake and release of many hormones and neurotransmitters. And it is vital for more than 400 different enzyme reactions in the body (more than any other mineral).
It is also required for normal nerve and muscle function. In fact, 7 out of 10 steps to produce ATP (your body's energy fuel) require magnesium. It's no surprise that some of the most common signs of deficiency are cramping, muscle twitching and fatigue.
Magnesium deficiency can also be associated with anxiety and depression, asthma, autism, chronic fatigue, constipation, diabetes, fibromyalgia, heart attack, headaches, high blood pressure, IBS, kidney stones, metabolic syndrome, obesity, PMS, stroke, and acid reflux, just to name a few.
Most people used to get about 500 mg per day of magnesium. These days, due to soil depletion and the modern diet, most of us are lucky to get just 200 mg.
Processed foods - which make up about 90% of the money Americans spend on food - contain almost none of this vital mineral. We further deplete our body's magnesium stores with the phosphoric acid in colas and coffee, by consuming, table salt, excess alcohol, diuretics, antibiotics and other drugs. We also lose magnesium as we age.
Consumption of sugar and carbohydrates also contribute to magnesium depletion. It takes up to 272 molecules of magnesium to break down just 1 molecule of glucose!
To Keep Your Magnesium Levels in a Healthy Range
Be sure to enjoy dark leafy greens (like spinach and Swiss chard), nuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, wild salmon and halibut, black beans and navy beans, and don't forget the most decadent source of magnesium - delicious dark cocoa!
Because magnesium deficiency is potentially so threatening, you may want to consider a supplement. But be aware that all magnesium is not created equal...
On the following page, you'll discover the importance of full-spectrum magnesium. Plus you’ll learn what’s the best way to take it and at what times during the day is optimal for proper absorption.
To Your Health,
Kelley Herring
Healing Gourmet
REFERENCES
Turlapaty PD, Altura BM. Magnesium deficiency produces spasms of coronary arteries: relationship to etiology of sudden death ischemic heart disease. Science 1980;208:198-200.
Caspi J, Rudis E, et al. Effects of magnesium on myocardial function after coronary artery bypass grafting. Ann Thorac Surg 1995;59:942-947.
Eisenberg MJ. Magnesium deficiency and sudden death. Am Heart J 1992;124: 544-9.
Rude RK, Singer FR. Magnesium deficiency and excess. Ann Rev Med 1981;32: 245-59.
http://www.mgwater.com/calcs.shtml
