Magnesium – Learn How It Can Help You

Magnesium – What Is It?

magnesiumMagnesium is one of many ingredients in the Tikva product. Magnesium is one of many ingredients in the Tikva product. It is the fourth most abundant mineral in the body and is essential to good health. Approximately 50% of total body magnesium is found in bone. The other half is found predominantly inside cells of body tissues and organs. Only 1% is found in blood, but the body works very hard to keep blood levels of magnesium constant.

It is needed for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. It helps maintain normal muscle and nerve function, keeps heart rhythm steady, supports a healthy immune system, and keeps bones strong. It also helps regulate blood sugar levels, promotes normal blood pressure, and is known to be involved in energy metabolism and protein synthesis. There is an increased interest in the role of magnesium in preventing and managing disorders such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

-Office of Dietary Supplements

Magnesium Health Benefits

Control high blood pressure

magnesium blood pressureMagnesium is one of the body’s most important minerals. It is required as a cofactor in hundreds of enzymatic processes within cells. It is a major factor in relaxing the smooth muscles within the blood vessels, thereby reducing peripheral vascular resistance and high blood pressure. In addition, it reduces nerve and muscle excitability, stabilizes cardiac conductivity, and influences neurochemical transmission. It also affects circulating levels of norepinephrine and the synthesis of serotonin and nitric oxide.

Indeed, because of it’s primary role in blood pressure regulation, for decades scientists have called it “nature’s calcium channel blocker” because it directly offsets the constriction of blood vessels caused by calcium.

Because drug companies cannot make money from a natural substance like magnesium , they have developed a whole group of drugs called calcium antagonists or calcium channel blockers to do what magnesium does.

A 1989 study published in the journal Hypertension found that taking 625 mg daily produced significant reductions in blood pressure in 21 subjects. A study published in 1993 in the American Journal of Hypertension found that taking supplemental magnesium reduced average systolic blood pressure from 154 to 146 mm Hg and cut average diastolic blood pressure from 100 to 92 mm Hg. The authors commented: “For the first time in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, we have demonstrated that oral magnesium results in a significant dose-dependent reduction of systolic and diastolic blood pressure.”

A study published in the International Journal of Cardiology in 1996 found that taking 600 mg daily reduced systolic blood pressure by an average of 7.6 mm Hg and diastolic pressure by an average of 3.8 mm Hg. In another double-blind, placebo-controlled study published in the British Journal of Nutrition in 1997, subjects who took 411-548 mg daily experienced significant reductions in systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

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Angina and irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia)

arrhythmiaWithout adequate levels, your heart will suffer; The mineral helps coordinate the activity of the heart muscle as well as the functioning of the nerves that initiate the heartbeat. It also helps keep coronary arteries from spasming, an action that can cause the intense chest pain known as angina. If you have a deficiency of magnesium–often true of those with angina and abnormal heart rhythms–supplements may help.

One study of more than 230 people with frequent arrhythmias showed the likelihood of these abnormal rhythms dropped significantly within three weeks after the participants increased the amount of magnesium and potassium in their diets. Several studies have shown administering magnesium intravenously seems to improve arrhythmias. In addition, when given by injection in a hospital setting, it has been found to aid recovery from a heart attack by stabilizing heart rhythm, inhibiting blood clots, and expanding coronary arteries. Some studies even indicate that drinking “hard” water, which is high in magnesium, lowers the risk of death from heart attack.

-WholeHealthMD.com

Limit complications of congestive heart failure

Because it can help lower blood pressure and inhibit dangerous arrhythmias, two common complications in those with congestive heart failure, a weakened heart may benefit from extra doses of this mineral.

-WholeHealthMD.com

Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease resulting in insufficient production and/or inefficient use of insulin. Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas. Insulin helps convert sugar and starches in food into energy to sustain life. There are two types of diabetes: type 1 and type 2. Type 1 diabetes is most often diagnosed in children and adolescents, and results from the body’s inability to make insulin. Type 2 diabetes, which is sometimes referred to as adult-onset diabetes, is the most common form of diabetes. It is usually seen in adults and is most often associated with an inability to use the insulin made by the pancreas. Obesity is a risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes. In recent years, rates of type 2 diabetes have increased along with the rising rates of obesity.

magnesium insulinMagnesium plays an important role in carbohydrate metabolism. It may influence the release and activity of insulin, the hormone that helps control blood glucose (sugar) levels. Low blood levels are frequently seen in individuals with type 2 diabetes. Hypomagnesemia (low blood levels) may worsen insulin resistance, a condition that often precedes diabetes, or may be a consequence of insulin resistance. Individuals with insulin resistance do not use insulin efficiently and require greater amounts of insulin to maintain blood sugar within normal levels. The kidneys possibly lose their ability to retain magnesium during periods of severe hyperglycemia (significantly elevated blood glucose). The increased loss of magnesium in urine may then result in lower blood levels of magnesium. In older adults, correcting depletion may improve insulin response and action.

Several clinical studies have examined the potential benefit of supplementation on metabolic control of type 2 diabetes. In one such study, 63 subjects with below normal serum levels received either 2.5 grams of oral magnesium chloride daily “in liquid form” (providing 300 mg elemental magnesium per day) or a placebo. At the end of the 16-week study period, those who received the magnesium supplement had higher blood levels of magnesium and improved metabolic control of diabetes, as suggested by lower Hemoglobin A1C levels, than those who received a placebo. Hemoglobin A1C is a test that measures overall control of blood glucose over the previous 2 to 3 months, and is considered by many doctors to be the single most important blood test for diabetics.

-Office of Dietary Supplements

Magnesium improves insulin sensitivity. It helps correct impaired insulin sensitivity, the fundamental defect that characterizes pre-diabetes and metabolic syndrome. An intracellular enzyme called tyrosine kinase requires magnesium to allow insulin to exert its blood-sugar-lowering effects. In several studies, daily oral supplementation substantially improved insulin sensitivity by 10% and reduced blood sugar by 37%.

-Life Extension

Magnesium and Osteoporosis

magnesium osteoporosisBone health is supported by many factors, most notably calcium and vitamin D. However, some evidence suggests that deficiency may be an additional risk factor for postmenopausal osteoporosis. This may be due to the fact that magnesium deficiency alters calcium metabolism and the hormones that regulate calcium. Several human studies have suggested that supplementation may improve bone mineral density. In a study of older adults, a greater magnesium intake maintained bone mineral density to a greater degree than a lower magnesium intake. Diets that provide recommended levels of magnesium are beneficial for bone health, but further investigation on the role of magnesium in bone metabolism and osteoporosis is needed.

-Office of Dietary Supplements

Migraine headaches

In a study of 81 patients who received 600 mg trimagnesium dicitrate or placebo daily for 12 weeks, those taking the supplement reported a 41 percent reduction in frequency of migraines and significant improvement in the severity of migraines.

-WholeHealthMD.com

Relieve PMS (premenstrual syndrome) discomforts

Because deficiencies have been found in many women suffering from PMS, taking magnesium supplements may help this problem. Menstrual cramping, which is caused by hormone like substances called Prostaglandins made by the endometrial cells, may subside with supplemental doses of magnesium and calcium. Both minerals help to lower the production of prostaglandins. It’s muscle-relaxing properties probably have a beneficial effect on cramping of the uterine muscle as well. Taking it also seems to improve symptoms such as mood changes and fluid retention.

-WholeHealthMD.com

Reduce emotional irritability in chronic depression, anxiety, and panic disorder

magnesium depressionMagnesium and vitamin B6 are needed for the body to produce Serotonin, an important mood-enhancing brain chemical. When depression or a panic disorder is persistent–and especially when the usual drugs have limited effect–supplementing with magnesium and vitamin B6 may provide significant relief. It may take six weeks or more of treatment for effects to be felt. Taking calcium along with magnesium may also lessen an overreaction to stress that some research has linked to anxiety and panic attacks.

-WholeHealthMD.com

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