What is the number one biggest nutritional deficiency in America?  As you might guess from the title of this article, the correct answer is magnesium.  It is estimated that 60% of Americans are deficient in magnesium.  Magnesium is essential for normal muscle and nerve function, immune function, heart rhythm, and building bones.  We need about half a gram of magnesium each day from our diet because unlike calcium, the body does not store magnesium.  We need a fresh supply every day.

What are the best foods for getting magnesium into our diet.  The most concentrated source of magnesium is seeds like hemp, pumpkin, and squash, with goodly amounts in flax, sesame, and chia seeds.  The next highest magnesium foods would be certain nuts like Brazil nuts, cashews, and almonds.  Curiously a favorite concentrated food source of magnesium is dark chocolate, really dark.  A 3 1/2 oz bar of 85% cocoa chocolate has 54% of our daily need of magnesium.  So I am thinking a medically necessary food is dark chocolate bars with hemp seeds and Brazil nuts in them.

Other good magnesium sources are dark leafy green veggies like spinach and chard, some legumes like Lima beans and white beans, and some “grains” like quinoa, buckwheat, and brown rice.  You can see why Americans might be low in magnesium, since none of these foods ever show up on the average Joe’s plate.  But what about chocolate?  The average Joe eats crap chocolate that is only 11% cocoa solids (sometimes as low as 7%), so not much help there.

What is magnesium useful for medically?  One cool study I found said that 50% of migraines were found to have a low magnesium issue as the cause, and when magnesium was infused into the blood stream the migraine went away and stayed away. Here    Another cool study showed that magnesium reduces stress by activating the  GABA receptors and inhibiting the NMDA receptors in the brain, which reduces the feeling of anxiety.  Here I have recommended magnesium taken for the 10 days before a woman’s period as a powerful way to decrease PMS symptoms for 35 years.  Magnesium speeds post workout recovery, improves sleep, lowers blood pressure, and is essential in building bones.

The actual reason I got stimulated to write this article, however, was a piece I found online about using magnesium oil for joint pain.  Magnesium is not especially a nutrient for joints, so my curiosity got going.  What I found is brilliant.  The pain nerve fibers for joints function like most nerves on the movement of calcium.  Nerve fibers create signals by allowing calcium into the nerve which then creates an electro-chemical wave we call a nerve impulse.  In the case of pain fibers, that wave travels up to the brain and fires into our pain awareness area.  But when you spray magnesium oil onto the joint, that magnesium soaks into the area and replaces a lot of that calcium.  Without the calcium levels in that area, the nerves can’t fire an impulse to our brain to tell us our joint hurts.  Users report that magnesium oil reduces pain better than ibuprofen or Tylenol, and does this without all the negative side effects.  Pain levels go down 60% to 80%.  That is pretty darn good for such a simple remedy.

Is there a downside to magnesium?  You know that nasty drink they have you take the night before you get a colonoscopy to clean you out?  That is magnesium at high concentrations.  Too much magnesium will give you diarrhea and possibly nausea along with it.  If you already have low blood pressure, then you probably don’t want to take a bunch of magnesium as it will lower it even more.  There is the occasional person that has opposite reactions to drugs that will actually get more restless or anxious on magnesium, so if you are one of those people then don’t use it.

Finding that information of reducing joint pain was really exciting, since I deal with a lot of patients that have joint pain.  How do you use it?  Make sure the area you want to apply is clean, as the oil will react to soap or salt in perspiration and not absorb well.  Just spray the area several times and let it dry.  If your skin is new to magnesium, it may tingle for a few minutes then settle down.  As the magnesium penetrates into the joints it begins to reduce the pain.  Most people find immediate results, but some people have to use it for a couple weeks for the full effect.  Generally an application in the morning and another before bed is all that is needed.  That’s it.  The spray gets a high dose of magnesium right where the pain is, which is much more effective than simply taking magnesium orally.

How else is magnesium used typically?  If you tend toward constipation, 400 to 600 mg of magnesium orally before bed is a good way to get things moving.  Since calcium and magnesium are very similar chemically, they compete for absorption in the gut.  So it is best to take them at different times of day.  I like to take calcium in the morning as it stimulates the brain chemistry for being awake.  Magnesium stimulates more relaxation and readiness for sleep so I take it before bed. 

There are many types of magnesium forms found in pills.  Some are well absorbed and others are poorly absorbed.  The worst are the oxide and carbonate forms for absorption.  Most of the others are fine for general purposes, although for brain impact one particular type is especially good, magnesium threonate.  The one I keep in the office is magnesium malate because of its extra benefit in helping our mitochondria form more energy for our body.  The malic acid fills in a weak spot in the energy creation cycle, giving this type of magnesium a two-for-one benefit for the body. 

So as a final thought, magnesium is used in over 300 different essential chemical reactions in our bodies.  We really can’t be healthy if we are deficient in magnesium.  Either eat a very different diet like I do that includes high magnesium foods, take a supplement, or use magnesium oil topically.  Any of these will get the magnesium you need into your system.

Take care,

David      

 
Ellen update:    

It was time for our yearly neighborhood 4th of July barbecue.  The old timers like us were there as well as a few newcomers to the neighborhood.  We all get together a couple times each year just to say hi and get to know each other.  It makes for a nicer tiny community, and help us all know who is who so we can keep an eye out for each other.  I made my usual famous 12 hour barbecue ribs - a favorite for every there.  The kids are all rolling around on their skate boards with fireworks streaming our behind them thanks to generous amounts of tape and parental supervision.  Ellen and I mostly sit in the big circle and just chat with people.  Occasionally we can find something we can eat without too big of an impact on our weight.  Ellen only gained 1 pound while I gained 3 pounds.  My body loves to get super thirsty whenever I eat anything tasty and just doesn't let the water go.