Magnesium 101 – why chocolate may be meeting a need, rather than being a simple addiction!

Want an excuse for those chocolate cravings? Having trouble sleeping? Are you bothered by cramps? What about muscle twitches under the eyes? Been a bit edgy lately? Feeling the effects of stress?

All of these symptoms could well be directly related to a magnesium deficiency. So this week, we examine what magnesium does; why so many of us are deficient and what to do about it. Then news of the Winter Webstore sale where downloads and CDs can be purchased more cheaply for the next 2 weeks, but first

             Thought for the day


You must not lose faith in humanity. 

Humanity is like an ocean;

If a few drops of the ocean are dirty,

The ocean does not become dirty.


               
                       Mahatma Gandhi 







WHAT CAUSES MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY?
The soils of Australia and New Zealand are notoriously deficient in magnesium. Therefore our food chain can easily be deficient making for an inherent problem. Processing of food, particularly food refining along with inadequate farming practices exacerbate the issue and in the USA around 30% of people are deficient. However, of equal concern with magnesium is that we tend to burn it up, particularly when tired, stressed or nervous.

WHAT DOES MAGNESIUM DO?
Magnesium is essential to every cell in our body. It acts as a cofactor for over 300 enzymes many of which play a vital role in both aerobic and anaerobic energy production.

Then there is the impact magnesium has on our nervous system. As most will know, our nervous system is made up of nerves that radiate out across our bodies much like power lines radiating out from a power generator. Nerves are only so long, so as one ends, it needs to connect to the next. The connection is called a synapse and magnesium gets used up as it facilitates the nervous impulse crossing each and every synapse.

Hence magnesium’s connection to the nervous system and our nervous state. When our nervous system is active, we need more magnesium. When it is overactive, such as when we are worried, stressed, anxious or tired, it seems we burn more magnesium. If the diet is low, if the nervous energy/demand is high, then deficiencies can easily occur.

WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY?
Severe signs of magnesium deficiency are relatively rare, but neurologic or neuromuscular problems are relatively common. Being overly irritable or hyper-excitable is a common sign, as is difficulty getting to sleep. Muscular weakness and tiredness, muscle spasms (including the very characteristic twitching of muscles under the eye), even loss of appetite, anorexia, nausea, and weight loss are not uncommon.

Irregular heartbeats can be a consequence of magnesium deficiency and high blood pressure can be aggravated by it. Some have recorded constipation as another sign.

In extreme cases tetany and even convulsions can follow.

HOW MUCH MAGNESIUM DO WE NEED? 
Formal Australian recommendations are for adult women 310 – 320 mgm/day; for adult men 400 – 420mgm/day.

WHAT TO DO FOR A MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY

1. Improve the dietary intake – always the best option if it works.
There are many good dietary sources of magnesium, given that the foods in question have been grown on magnesium rich soils. For the gardeners, the best source of magnesium for your garden is dolomite. Dolomite is a natural substance similar to lime, but whereas lime is calcium carbonate, dolomite has roughly equal amounts of calcium and lime. So dolomite is good for alkalinising soils as well as adding the much needed magnesium.

Have a chocolate craving? Many causes for that! But one you might feel better about is that cocoa is rich in magnesium and a deficiency in this vital mineral can have you chasing chocolate. Remember, cocoa has many good properties and can be used freely. Chocolate comes with added issues, particularly sugar and saturated fats, so a little dark chocolate as part of an overall healthy diet is fine.

Next comes chlorophyll which is rich in magnesium, making any green vegetable a good source. In fact most well grown vegetables have good magnesium levels, as do most nuts and spices. Most unrefined cereals are reasonable sources, but most refined foods such as refined flour have little.

2. Consider a magnesium supplement
There are many of these but the cheapest and most common, magnesium oxide is poorly absorbed and really not worth taking when there are so many better options.

Basically, you need a biologically available form of magnesium and this requires taking magnesium orotate, aspartate, chloride, citrate or glycinate; all of which have about 4 times the bio-availablity of the oxide. Check the labels!

A basic supplementation level is 200mgm/day, but practitioners often recommend 400mgm/day for people confirmed as having a deficiency. Check with your practitioner.

If sleeping is problematic, taking your magnesium half an hour or so before retiring can be very helpful.


WEBSTORE WINTER SALE – Ends Monday 22nd June

Yes it is on again. With winter here and the natural inclination to turn inwards upon us, the webstore is making it easier for you to have some fuel for introspection!

All downloads are heavily reduced along with the Healing series of CDs.
Make yourself a cup of tea, stoke up the fire, climb into the comfy chair and away you go. Enjoy your chocolate; or should I say magnesium???   Connect here

NOTICEBOARD
MEDITATION POSSIBILITIES IN QUEENSLAND – Coming soon

Brisbane day workshop - Sunday, June 14th, 2015

A Relaxing, Regenerative Meditation Intensive 

Designed for experienced meditators, but definitely open to those newer to meditation

Date        Sunday, June 14th, 2015 from 10am (arrive 9.30) to 5pm
Venue     The Relaxation Centre, 15 South Pine Rd, Alderley, Brisbane
Enquiries and Bookings    The Relaxation Centre        Telephone: 07 3856 3733
                                                                                         www.relaxationcentreqld.com.au

Cairns weekend meditation intensive – June 20 and 21 – Non-residential

Meditation is the greatest gift you can give to yourself, or someone you care for

Date              Saturday, Sunday 20th and 21st June. Starts 10am (arrive 9.30) to 5pm
Venue           Khacho Yulo Ling Buddhist Centre, 348 Severin Street, Cairns
Enquiries      Call  07 4041 5556    or email   info@yuloling.com
Bookings      Online, go to :  www.yuloling.com     or call Rinchen    07 4041 5556


Medicine of the Mind – Cairns Evening Public Lecture – June 23

For everyone interested in the power within 

Date                Tuesday 23rd June, 2015      Starts 7pm (arrive 6.30) to 10pm
Venue             Khacho Yulo Ling Buddhist Centre, 348 Severin St
Enquiries        Call  07 4041 5556    or email   info@yuloling.com
Bookings        Online, go to :  www.yuloling.com     or call Rinchen    07 4041 5556

Is magnesium cramping your style?

Many people I have helped over the years have suffered from muscle cramps. So many said they were attempting to treat them with common salt. However, in my experience salt does little, while magnesium often works wonders.

But then magnesium does much, much more. So this week, off we go, Out on a Limb to examine this hugely significant mineral, how it works, where it comes from, what it does and why it may well be one of the most useful supplements to consider taking.

But first





Thought for the day

The whole problem with the world 
Is that fools and fanatics are so certain of themselves, 
And the wiser full of doubts

              Bertrand Russell








Magnesium functions
Magnesium is one of the most common elements in the world and in our bodies. It has many functions, perhaps the most significant being to do with enzyme activity, energy production, muscle activity and nervousness.

Magnesium is essential for the healthy function of the enzymes and co-enzymes that are essential for energy production throughout the body. It is also plays a vital role in relaying nervous impulses across the synapses (gaps) between our nerve cells and is crucial for healthy bone development and on-going bone metabolism.

Healthy muscle function including contraction relies on adequate magnesium and it is important for exercise performance.

Magnesium plays an important role in the prevention of osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.  Magnesium supplementation is well known for its use in the prevention and treatment of atrial fibrillation.

To date studies have been inconclusive about the role of magnesium in lowering blood pressure, although a recent meta-analysis suggests magnesium supplements may have a small but significant effect in lowering blood pressure.

Stress burns up magnesium and in turn low magnesium aggravates the adverse consequences of stress. - both physically and psychologically. Anyone with irritability, anxiety or depression would be wise to consider their magnesium levels. The stress of surgery or chronic illness also warrants consideration of extra magnesium.

Magnesium deficiency
Fact is most Australian and New Zealand soils are naturally deficient in magnesium. This deficiency flows through into our food chain, meaning many people are low in this crucial element. Add to this another fact – a junk food diet, high in processed foods and short on vegetables is even lower in magnesium and it is no wonder so many people are magnesium deficient.

In the USA, it is claimed that the average adult obtains only 66% of the daily requirement for magnesium from their food intake, leaving their intake about 100-125 milligrams short each day.

Signs of deficiency

You may like to read a formal summary of magnesium deficiency symptoms, (LINK HERE) but in my experience, things that respond well to magnesium supplements are muscle cramps and twitches (including, almost especially, those that occur at night), nervousness, poor sleep and bone disorders (I was particularly aware of this in my veterinary days).

Also, not enough people know how important magnesium is for healthy uterine contractions and that deficiencies amongst woman giving birth (just as with animals) can lead to uterine fatigue and birthing difficulties. This is something every pregnant woman needs to discuss with a suitably trained doctor or nutritional authority. Magnesium is commonly used for uncontrollable hypertension in pregnancy.

Of course you also need to consult your doctor if any symptoms are severe, such as if cramps take longer than a few minutes to disappear, but magnesium is one of the supplements I have recommended most often and one that is often associated with rapid and significant positive changes.

Sources of magnesium in the diet 
There are no “stand out” sources of magnesium but the best dietary sources of magnesium include nuts, seeds, green leafy vegetables, legumes and unrefined grains. Eat plenty of these, particularly well grown organic ones and you should be OK.

If you are a home gardener, be sure to add dolomite regularly to vegetables and fruits as this mineral powder contains magnesium as well as calcium.

Testing your magnesium levels
This is not as easy as you might hope or expect. Problem is that the body goes to great effort to keep blood levels of magnesium stable, and so if you are deficient, the deficiency will be in the tissues and it needs to be fairly extreme before it shows up in a blood test.

It may well be best to consider your intake and symptoms, maybe in collaboration with a trained professional, in order to assess your situation.

One common feature of fairly large magnesium deficiency is muscle ticks, particularly under the eye. If you have this symptom, a magnesium supplement is almost certainly required and it is likely to clear that tick in a few days.

Magnesium supplementation
For best results, it is recommended that magnesium be taken in an easily absorbed powdered form. It is often taken with other nutrients that are also involved in the maintenance and repair of muscle tissue, such as folic acid and vitamins C and B12.

Magnesium oxide is one of the most common forms of magnesium dietary supplements available because it has high magnesium content per weight, Unfortunately, however, the oxide has been reported to be the least bioavailable (that means it is poorly taken up by the body). Magnesium citrate has been reported as more bioavailable than the oxide or amino-acid chelate (glycinate) forms and so read labels and if you do need a supplement, choose one containing magnesium citrate.

Magnesium overdose 
Excess magnesium in the blood is filtered out by healthy kidneys. This makes it difficult for most people to overdose on magnesium from dietary sources alone. With supplements, however, overdose is possible, in particular in people with poor kidney function. I must say in all my years i have never seen or even heard of anyone having an overdose on magnesium.

While high doses of magnesium are most commonly associated with stomach upsets, diarrhoea and abdominal cramps, too much magnesium can cause several serious health problems including nausea, vomiting, severely lowered blood pressure, confusion, slowed heart rate, respiratory paralysis, deficiencies of other minerals, coma, cardiac arrhythmia, cardiac arrest, and even death.

Obviously, avoid magnesium supplementation in renal failure due to risk of magnesium toxicity.

Medical caution
If you experience cramping pain in the chest that radiates to the shoulder, arm or neck, it is possible you are having a heart attack. Call for an ambulance immediately, as it is better to be safe than sorry.

References
Dickinson HO et al. Magnesium supplementation for the management of primary hypertension in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2006, Issue 3. Art. No.: CD004640. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004640.pub2

Kass L et al. Effect of magnesium supplementation on blood pressure: a meta-analysis. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2012 Feb 8. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2012.4.

RELATED BLOG
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NOTICE BOARD

MEDITATION RETREAT  – PRE-EASTER in the YARRA VALLEY

Meditation in the Forest : April 11 – 17, 2014

This is the regular Pre-Easter retreat Ruth and I present in the Yarra Valley each year.
This retreat is designed to meet the needs of a broad range of meditators. It is well suited to beginners as well as the more experienced, those who are interested in teaching meditation (we hold specific sessions through the retreat for these people), those on the healing path and anyone keen to rest, reflect and deepen their meditation.

For details CLICK HERE 

Cancer, Healing and Wellbeing - Auckland, New Zealand: May 16 - 23 , 2014

This 8 day cancer recovery program residential program is evidence based and will be highly experiential. We will cover the full range of Integrative Medicine options, with the emphasis on what people can do for themselves – therapeutic nutrition, exercise and meditation, emotional health, positive psychology, pain management, the search for meaning and so on.

I will personally present the majority of the content but along with Ruth, participants will have the additional support and experience of Liz Maluschnig and Stew Burt; two very experienced and committed New Zealanders.

For details on this and the other cancer related residential programs for 2014 CLICK HERE