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The Essential Nutrient Magnesium - Key to Mitochondrial ATP Production and Much More

By Andrea Rosanoff, www.prohealth.com June 8th, 2009

"While it was estimated in 1968 that magnesium was a required cofactor for over 300 enzyme systems, that number is now more reliably estimated at 700 to 800.”

Magnesium is an essential nutrient for all living things.

• In plants it holds the central position in the all-important chlorophyll molecule which transforms sunlight’s energy into life’s form of chemical-energy, ATP (adenosine triphosphate).

• Along with calcium and phosphorus, magnesium (Mg) is considered a major element in human nutrition, as opposed to the trace elements such as iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), chromium (Cr), selenium (Se), etc., and is one of the four electrolytes along with calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), and potassium (K). [Electrolytes are minerals in body fluids that carry an electrical charge and conduct electrical impulses in the body. A balance is essential to control the amount of water in the body, blood acidity, muscle action, and more.]

Biochemically, a large part of magnesium’s essentiality comes from its combination with ATP - life’s high energy chemical battery.

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This Mg-ATP complex is required for the cells’ energy-producing structures (mitochondria) to produce ATP; the breakdown of food energy (glucose and fat) into water, carbon dioxide and energy as ATP.

When glucose and/or fatty acids are metabolized, the end products are ATP, water, and carbon dioxide. We breathe out the carbon dioxide. The water goes into our system, as we are 90+% water.

The metabolism requires oxygen, which we breathe in; protein synthesis for growth and enzyme production; DNA replication, and RNA synthesis. While it was estimated in 1968 that magnesium was a required cofactor for over 300 enzyme systems, that number is now more reliably estimated at 700 to 800.

At the cellular level, magnesium joins with the other electrolyte ions in a cell-controlling dance.

These ions are carefully and meticulously separated in living cells:

• Calcium and sodium ions, for the most part, are kept outside cells,

• While magnesium and potassium ions are kept mainly inside cells.

Energy in the form of the Mg-ATP complex is necessary to maintain this ionic “packaging” as well as to alter it in a regulated way when warranted. Magnesium has been called “nature’s physiological calcium channel blocker.” [Blocking calcium from getting inside cells.]

When this “blocker” function is breached or when magnesium becomes depleted within the cell from its normal level, calcium rises inside the cell. This altered state results in a change in the intracellular Mg:Ca ratio, which appears to have an impact on cell function.

For example, a lower-than-normal Mg:Ca ratio:

• In blood vessel smooth muscle cells - causes vasoconstriction, arterial stiffness, and/or hypertension;

• In heart cells - causes enlargement (hypertrophy);

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• In blood platelet cells - causes increased aggregation, stickiness and clotting;

• Makes fat and skeletal muscle cells less able to respond to insulin (insulin resistance);

• Causes pancreatic beta cells to produce more insulin, causing hyperinsulinemia [which may lead to hypoglycemia and sodium retention/hypertension];

• Increases nerve cell activity as well as the response of endocrine tissues.

In a life-threatening crisis, such reactions are warranted, necessary, and can be life-saving as they allow an animal to perform with unusual strength and speed. Indeed, all these cellular responses to a low Mg:Ca cellular ratio can be aspects of the stress response or “fight-or-flight” reaction.

In healthy individuals, when the stress or crisis is over, magnesium increases inside cells to its normal level, its calcium blocker function is restored, calcium moves back outside cells, reestablishing normal electrolyte “packaging,” and the stress response subsides.

However, when these responses to a lower-than-normal Mg:Ca ratio are a result of a magnesium nutritional deficiency state, some predictable disease states can occur.

These include:

1. Cardiovascular Diseases. All the usual markers (or risk factors) for heart disease such as hypertension (high blood pressure), high total cholesterol, low HDL (‘good’) cholesterol, high LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol, high homocysteine, and high C-reactive protein, can be the result of low magnesium status.

Recent studies show that high anxiety and depression (symptoms of human magnesium deficiency) can predict heart disease even more than the traditional risk factors.

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2. Hypertension. Chronic high blood pressure (essential hypertension) can be caused both directly and indirectly by a magnesium deficiency.

• Low magnesium:high calcium in blood vessel muscle cells cause them to contract, which results in a hypertensive state.

• In addition, a low cellular magnesium impedes a healthy sodium to potassium ratio, which is necessary for normal blood pressure.

3. Type 2 Diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is seen as part of a syndrome, Syndrome X or metabolic syndrome, which includes hypertension, obesity, unhealthy blood cholesterol levels, and high blood sugar coupled with cells’ inability to properly respond to insulin (insulin resistance).

These, with the exception of obesity, have been linked to low Mg:Ca cellular ratio, and the type of obesity most predictive of this syndrome, abdominal obesity, has been shown to be assuaged with a long term diet containing high magnesium foods and a regime of regular exercise.

4. Osteoporosis. Many people take calcium supplements to prevent depletion of minerals from bone that can lead to osteoporosis. To properly use this extra calcium, a body needs to have a healthy magnesium status.

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If magnesium is low, extra calcium can increase the severity of the magnesium deficiency, which causes improper calcium metabolism as one of its symptoms. One of the first signs of a magnesium deficit can be low blood calcium.

Other disease states that may be associated with a magnesium deficiency include:

• Asthma,

• PMS,

• Pregnancy induced hypertension,

• Migraine headache due to constriction of blood vessels in the head,

• Depression,

• High anxiety.

Some of the initial problems seen in people who have or are developing magnesium deficiency are neuromuscular.

These are presumably due to the abnormal muscular contraction-nerve firing states brought on by a low Mg:Ca cellular ratio, which can be a result of:

• Chronic low magnesium intake,

• Very high calcium intake,

• Or a combination of the two.

Quantifying human magnesium status and the degree of magnesium deficiency in populations of the industrialized world is difficult given the current lack of a widespread biomarker. Commonly available tests of serum and red blood cell magnesium have not reliably been associated with overall nutritional magnesium status. [As Dr. Paul Cheney has suggested, blood tests don't tell the whole Mg story, because they are not sensitive to intra-cellular magnesium.]

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Most health professionals are taught and many believe that magnesium deficiency is rare, occurring mainly in alcoholism or with general malnutrition, and that most diets give a person enough magnesium given that magnesium is widespread in foods.

The research does not support this widespread view.

Diets of the industrialized world can be quite low in magnesium. [The large majority of Americans (65%) get much less magnesium than is required for health, according to a national USDA survey.]

Refined grains and refined sugar are among the lowest foods in Mg content, so when these are high in the diet, Mg intake can be quite low.

Given the wide use of refined sugar and flour in processed foods, the widespread use of calcium supplements, and the increased practice of fortifying foods with calcium, daily magnesium supplements can be protective. Magnesium supplements can be found in various forms such as inorganic MgO and MgCl2, in tablets and capsules and in a better-absorbed organic form such as water soluble Magnesium Citrate.

Note: Individuals with kidney disease (renal failure) must not take any magnesium supplements. ____

* This article is reproduced with kind permission from Peter Gillham’s Natural Vitality website. Peter Gillham is a clinical nutritionist, chemist, and pioneer in magnesium research. Dr. Andrea Rosanoff is directing scholar for the Hawaii-based Center for Magnesium Education & Research, and coauthor of the book titled The Magnesium Factor.

Note: this information has not been reviewed by the FDA. It is generic and is not meant to prevent, diagnose, treat or cure any illness, condition, or disease. It is very important that you make no change in your healthcare plan or health support regimen without researching and discussing it in collaboration with your professional healthcare team.

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According to The National Institutes of Health the following intake dosage should be considered.

Recommended Intakes

Intake recommendations for magnesium and other nutrients are provided in the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) developed by the Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) at the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (formerly National Academy of Sciences) DRI is the general term for a set of reference values used to plan and assess nutrient intakes of healthy people. These values, which vary by age and sex, include:

Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): average daily level of intake sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all (97%–98%) healthy individuals.

Adequate Intake (AI): established when evidence is insufficient to develop an RDA and is set at a level assumed to ensure nutritional adequacy.

Estimated Average Requirement (EAR): average daily level of intake estimated to meet the requirements of 50% of healthy individuals. It is usually used to assess the adequacy of nutrient intakes in population groups but not individuals.

Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL): maximum daily intake unlikely to cause adverse health effects.

Table 1 lists the current RDAs for magnesium. For infants from birth to 12 months, the FNB established an AI for magnesium that is equivalent to the mean intake of magnesium in healthy, breastfed infants, with added solid foods for ages 7–12 months.

Table 1: Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for Magnesium

Age Male Female Pregnancy Lactation

Birth to 6 months 30 mg* 30 mg* 7–12 months 75 mg* 75 mg* 1–3 years 80 mg 80 mg 4–8 years 130 mg 130 mg

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9–13 years 240 mg 240 mg 14–18 years 410 mg 360 mg 400 mg 360 mg 19–30 years 400 mg 310 mg 350 mg 310 mg 31–50 years 420 mg 320 mg 360 mg 320 mg 51+ years 420 mg 320 mg

*Adequate Intake (AI)

Sources of Magnesium

Food

Magnesium is widely distributed in plant and animal foods and in beverages. Green leafy vegetables, such as spinach, legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains, are good sources. In general, foods containing dietary fiber provide magnesium. Magnesium is also added to some breakfast cereals and other fortified foods. Some types of food processing, such as refining grains in ways that remove the nutrient-rich germ and bran, lower magnesium content substantially . Selected food sources of magnesium are listed in Table 2.

Tap, mineral, and bottled waters can also be sources of magnesium, but the amount of magnesium in water varies by source and brand (ranging from 1 mg/L to more than 120 mg/L).

Approximately 30% to 40% of the dietary magnesium consumed is typically absorbed by the body.

Table 2: Selected Food Sources of Magnesium

Milligrams Food (mg) per serving Percent DV*

Almonds, dry roasted, 1 ounce 80 20 Spinach, boiled, ½ cup 78 20 Cashews, dry roasted, 1 ounce 74 19 Peanuts, oil roasted, ¼ cup 63 16 Cereal, shredded wheat, 2 large biscuits 61 15

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Soymilk, plain or vanilla, 1 cup 61 15 Black beans, cooked, ½ cup 60 15 Edamame, shelled, cooked, ½ cup 50 13 Peanut butter, smooth, 2 tablespoons 49 12 Bread, whole wheat, 2 slices 46 12 Avocado, cubed, 1 cup 44 11 Potato, baked with skin, 3.5 ounces 43 11 Rice, brown, cooked, ½ cup 42 11 Yogurt, plain, low fat, 8 ounces 42 11 Breakfast cereals, fortified with 10% of the DV for magnesium 40 10 Oatmeal, instant, 1 packet 36 9 Kidney beans, canned, ½ cup 35 9 Banana, 1 medium 32 8 Salmon, Atlantic, farmed, cooked, 3 ounces 26 7 Milk, 1 cup 24–27 6–7 Halibut, cooked, 3 ounces 24 6 Raisins, ½ cup 23 6 Chicken breast, roasted, 3 ounces 22 6 Beef, ground, 90% lean, pan broiled, 3 ounces 20 5 Broccoli, chopped and cooked, ½ cup 12 3 Rice, white, cooked, ½ cup 10 3 Apple, 1 medium 9 2 Carrot, raw, 1 medium 7 2

*DV = Daily Value. DVs were developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to help consumers compare the nutrient contents of products within the context of a total diet. The DV for magnesium is 400 mg for adults and children aged 4 and older. However, the FDA does not require food labels to list magnesium content unless a food has been fortified with this nutrient. Foods providing 20% or more of the DV are considered to be high sources of a nutrient.

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We Want to Emphasize the Importance of Magnesium Chloride We have cut it up in small important points to really bring it home

Significance of Magnesium

From the point of view of orthomolecular medicine, magnesium is the most important mineral for human beings, because it cannot be accumulated, like calcium for example, but must be taken on a daily basis. Magnesium plays a key role in our hectic lifestyles. How we feel, whether we are able to master our daily challenges, and how much energy and strength we have – both physically and mentally – largely depends on the magnesium availability in our body.

Magnesium and Metabolism

Every chemical reaction in our body, from temperature regulation to cell formation, depends on enzymes. Magnesium is an activator and component of over 300 enzymes responsible for metabolizing carbohydrates and proteins, and is thus the most important metabolic manager of our cells. Magnesium regulates the transmission of stimuli to muscles and nerves, thereby ensuring problem-free functioning of our entire muscle apparatus.

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Magnesium and Energy Generation

The more magnesium is available, the better the function of our inner power structure – the mitochondria – which produce energy in the form of ATP. ATP (adenotriphosphate) are tiny energy storage molecules in the body that release energy when splitting. Energy production in the muscles and the heart is really only at its best if magnesium is present. Professional athletes know this: It is impossible to win a competition without additional magnesium. More magnesium allows athletes to run faster, maintain their energy for longer and recover more quickly.

Magnesium and Protein Production Magnesium is indispensable for the production of proteins. The DNA that contains our genetic code uses a particular enzyme and magnesium to form a blueprint. For this, the DNA spiral untwists and forms an RNA string, in which the information is stored as to the sequence in which the individual amino acids should bind for the various proteins. All these processes can only occur in the presence of magnesium. Proteins fulfill a range of functions in our body. This could be structural proteins, such as musculature or connective tissue, although antibodies or enzymes are also proteins and consist of amino acids.

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Magnesium in Bones and Teeth

Magnesium is as important for healthy bones and teeth as calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D3. It is only through magnesium that bones become truly hard and stable. Consequently, an adequate supply of magnesium is particularly important for children and teenagers, whose bone structure and teeth are developing.

Older people can also benefit from additional intake of magnesium, as our ability to extract minerals from our diet decreases with age. Up till now, it has always been thought that calcium is the most important building block for strong bones. New research has shown however, that magnesium plays a significantly more important role in bone stability than was previously assumed. For example, the body cannot utilize calcium correctly where a magnesium deficiency exists. Healthy bones appear to be dependent on magnesium as well, and not only on calcium, as was previously assumed.

This also applies to teeth. Research has shown that teeth resistant to cavities contain twice as much magnesium as those susceptible to cavities. In this regard, the hardness of teeth is directly dependent in the magnesium concentration in the teeth. Magnesium and the nervous system

Magnesium is partially responsible for the transmission of impulses to muscles and nerves, and in so doing ensures smooth functioning of our entire muscle apparatus. It is the job of our nerve cells to forward the impulses recorded in the sensory cells as stimuli to the brain, which then forwards the corresponding stimuli to the muscles to allow them to react appropriately. Magnesium controls the electrical voltage inside and outside the cell membrane by means of the channels in the cell membrane. This process is used in the production of energy, and translates thoughts into actions. Thoughts are nothing more than electromagnetic vibration frequencies. Magnesium is partially responsible for forwarding these vibration frequencies to the muscles that perform the actions.

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Magnesium and Relaxation

Magnesium and calcium are opposing players in terms of their effects on muscles. While calcium causes a contraction in muscle fibers, magnesium has the effect of relaxing the musculature. Where too much calcium and too little magnesium is present in the cell, twitches and muscle cramps result.

The smooth musculature is also affected by this. A magnesium deficiency can constrict the muscles in the vascular wall as well as bronchial tubes, causing hypertension or breathing difficulties such as asthmatic attacks. The relaxing effect of magnesium is particularly important in the activity of the heart muscle, that is, in the stimulus conduction in the heart. Magnesium prevents the heart from being overloaded, and in so doing supports healthy cardiac activity.

Magnesium and Fat Burning

Magnesium is not only important for high-performance athletes. If you want to lose fat while working out in a fitness studio or when jogging, magnesium will support you. It kick-starts the enzymes for reducing fat and at the same time ensures increased endurance.

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Magnesium deficiency Who needs additional magnesium? Everyone – because we all have too little magnesium. In 2006 the World Health Organization (WHO) established that most people worldwide suffer from a magnesium deficiency.

How Does a Magnesium Deficiency Arise?

How does it happen that people in wealthy countries, where they lack nothing, also suffer from magnesium deficiencies? On the one hand our food contains less and less magnesium; and on the other, our bodies require more and more magnesium due to our stressed lifestyles and unhealthy eating habits.

This results in chronic magnesium deficiency that affects the entire world’s population. A number of complaints and illnesses are directly related to a deficiency of magnesium. Acute magnesium deficiency manifests itself in muscle twitches, cramps and cardiac irregularities.

Reasons for Magnesium Deficiency

Increased Stress

In stress situations the need for magnesium increases and additional adrenaline and noradrenaline, the stress hormones, are released, which simultaneously constrict the vessels. This results in increased blood pressure and cardiac pulse frequency. Since magnesium impacts on the release of stress hormones, a magnesium deficiency can aggravate the stress symptoms even more.

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Increased Magnesium Need During Sport

Physical activities cause the body to require significantly more magnesium due to increased muscle actions. In addition, increased perspiration means that more magnesium is exuded. Sufficient magnesium prevents muscle cramps, a build-up of lactic acid, which is also responsible for sore muscles, and at the same time increases endurance.

Poor Diet

Our ancestors ingested foodstuffs rich in magnesium for thousands of years. Their main source of food comprised nuts, whole grain and vegetables, all of which are rich in magnesium. As a result there was no need for the body to store magnesium, which means that the body never learned how to store magnesium, which in turn means that we still have to take magnesium as a supplement today. So, what type of diet do we have today? White bread, fast food and sweet treats practically contain no more magnesium.

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Depleted Soil

Even people who make a conscious effort to eat a healthy diet do not receive the required amount of magnesium from the food they consume, the reason being that our soil is depleted. Monocultures and the use of pesticides prevent the soil from regenerating naturally. Sour rain containing nitric acid reacts with magnesium, reducing the freely available magnesium. And even if magnesium is present in the soil, it cannot be absorbed by the plants, as the farming sector makes use of cheap, potassium-based fertilizers. Potassium is much more easily absorbed by plants than magnesium or calcium, resulting in only a low magnesium content in plants.

Poor Absorption

Absorption of magnesium in the gastro-intestinal system is problematic, as magnesium is an extremely reactive substance and always loses out compared to other minerals. Magnesium absorption is inhibited by a high absorption of calcium, phosphorus, fat, protein and alcohol, as well by a deficiency in the vitamins B1 and B6. Even under the most optimal conditions, a maximum of 50% of the magnesium content of food is absorbed.

Taking magnesium orally in the form of tablets or liquid results in an absorption of only approx. 20 percent.

Tannin in tea, oxalic acid in spinach or physic acid in bran or soya beans block the absorption of magnesium in the intestines. The magnesium is excreted again without having unfolded its effect in the cell. If the stomach does not produce sufficient hydrochloric acid, as is often the case in older people, the magnesium salt cannot even split into its absorbable form.

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Which brings us to Why Transdermal Magnesium

Most of us are very familiar with taking medicines and supplements orally though there are also many medicines now given transdermally (direct absorption through the skin).

Popular examples are nicotine patches, hormone patches and many others. The advantages of transdermal absorption are varied including the direct application of medicine over an area of pain, the more rapid entry into the bloodstream, bypassing the digestive tract where it can be reduced in its effect by enzyme and acid actions, and increased absorption and bioavailability. In the case of magnesium it can reduce the common side effect of diarrhea that is the single-most limiting factor to increasing our magnesium levels sufficiently. Taken orally, only 30-40%% of the magnesium is actually absorbed possibly less Dr. Jay Cohen, MD, states that "When you take magnesium tablets or capsules, your body absorbs only 30 percent of the magnesium they contain. With many top-selling products, absorption is much less, as little as 10 percent."

Note: this information has not been reviewed by the FDA. It is generic and is not meant to prevent, diagnose, treat or cure any illness, condition, or disease. It is very important that you make no change in your healthcare plan or health support regimen without researching and discussing it in collaboration with your professional healthcare team.

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