What are the Functions of Magnesium?

Calcium-magnesium partnership

Both calcium and magnesium are necessary for a healthy body - please note: in the right balance with each other, as well as with other necessary minerals. The envisaged biochemical antagonists cannot act without revealing the opposite reaction of the other. Nevertheless, calcium and magnesium must both be present in balanced quantities for both to function normally in the body.

Some researchers suggest that the healthy ratio of calcium and magnesium in the diet should be 2:1. Others consider reflecting 1:1 ratios, which we evolved based on our diet prior to the advent of agriculture. In modern industrialised countries, the ratio of a diet is from 5:1 to 15:1. The imbalance of these two very important minerals has many huge consequences in the body which are often overlooked by doctors, during the treatment of the illnesses caused by it.

In addition to the complicated "electric dance" that calcium and magnesium perform together, magnesium is necessary to keep calcium soluble in the body and prevent inappropriate deposition in soft tissue. As long as we have enough hydrochloric acid in our stomach, we can dissolve the calcium in the food we eat. After calcium leaves the acidic environment of the stomach and enters the alkaline environment of the small intestine, magnesium is what is needed to keep calcium soluble. Without sufficient magnesium, a mass of physiological disturbances can occur with serious health consequences.

As Dr. Carolyn Dean, author of "The Magnesium Miracle", explains:"In the large intestine, the repelled calcium mixes with astringent muscles, resulting in blockage. When calcium is released to the kidneys and mixed with phosphorus or oxalic acid, kidney stones are formed. Calcium can settle itself on the bladder wall and thus prevent the organ from completely relaxing and therefore also its full capacity. This leads to frequent urination problems, especially in older people.

Calcium can repel from the blood and deposit itself on the artery wall, which causes hardening - arteriosclerosis. It can form a layer, stiffen, form a plate in the arteries and can cause increased blood pressure, as well as increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Calcium can even deposit in the brain. Many scientists diagnose it as a possible cause of dementia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Calcium can also penetrate the wall of the respiratory tract and cause asthma symptoms. Calcium, in extracellular liquid, can reduce the permeability of cell membranes. This makes it even more difficult for glucose (a large molecule) to penetrate the cell membrane to be converted into ATP (a potent source of energy for cellular reactions) in the mitochondria of the cells. High glucose levels, which are created by excessive calcium, can lead to misdiagnosis in the form of diabetes.

Magnesium is a powerful detoxifier

Magnesium is used by the body for all kinds of detoxification methods and is necessary for the neutralization of harmful substances, excessive acidic conditions that arise in the body, and for protection against heavy metals: it plays an essential role in our protection against the attack of artificial chemicals in our environment.

Glutathione, an antioxidant that is normally produced by the body and a detoxifier of mercury, lead and arsenic, among other things, requires magnesium for its synthesis. According to Mark Sircus, in Transdermal Magnesium Therapy, in Transdermal Magnesium Therapy, magnesium deficiency increases free radicals in the body and causes glutathione loss, which is not favorable, because glutathione helps to protect the body from damage from cigarette smoking, exposure to radiation, cancer chemistry, and harmful substances such as alcohol and almost anything else.

When our body is full of magnesium (and in balance with the other essential minerals), we are protected from heavy metal deposits and the development of associated neurological diseases. As Dr. Carolyn Dean explains,"research results suggest that a generous magnesium content will protect brain cells from the harmful effects of aluminium, beryllium, cadmium, lead, mercury and nickel.

We also know that low levels of magnesium in the brain contribute to the deposition of heavy metals that Parkinson's and Alzheimer's are introducing. It seems that the metals compete with magnesium for access to brain cells. With a low magnesium level, the other harmful metals get easier access.

There is also competition in the small intestine for mineral absorption. If there is enough magnesium, aluminum is not absorbed.

Magnesium deficiency in tooth decay and osteoporosis

You can ask anyone - your neighbor or even your dentist or doctor - what it takes to keep bones and teeth strong and healthy, and you will probably hear the following answer:"A lot of calcium". Bones and teeth certainly require calcium - as well as phosphorus and magnesium, but without sufficient amount of the latter, calcium will not be processed in these hard tissues, and structures will not be optimal. When you recharge your system with excessive calcium,"writes William Quesnell, in" Minerals: the Essential Link to Health "," you close the ability of magnesium to activate thyrocalcitonine, a hormone that would send calcium to your bones under normal conditions. Instead of providing benefits to the body, it is actually getting wrongly placed calcium poisonous, causing problems in the soft tissue, such as the species we have already discussed.

In fact, numerous studies have shown the fact that dietary magnesium, not calcium (and certainly not fluoride) is, that vitreous hard tooth enamel that is resistant to spoilage, and creates strong resilient bones. Regardless of the amount of calcium you consume, your teeth can only form hard enamel if magnesium is available in sufficient quantities.

According to J. I. Rodale, in "Magnesium: the Nutrient that Could Change Your Life","For years it was assumed that high intakes of calcium and phosphorus slow down decay, by strengthening the enamel. However, recent evidence suggests that an increase of these two elements is useless unless we increase our magnesium intake at the same time.

It is even noted that tooth structures can dissolve under the surface when extra amounts of calcium and phosphorus spread over the enamel in different proportions. Thus, magnesium-poor milk, rich in the other two elements, not only disturbs magnesium-metabolism, but it also inhibits the minerals, which are responsible for preventing spoilage.

To quote Deaf Smith County, Texas-USA, and the very famous residents, whose teeth refuse to succumb to spoilage, Rodale quotes the observations of Dr. Lewis Barnett, published in a newspaper for the Texas Medical Association in Dallas, 1952. Dr. Barnett, an orthopaedic surgeon, responded to the low incidence of tooth decay and rapid healing of broken bones among these people, and offered this explanation:"Local water and food has a very high magnesium and iodine content and recently we have proven that all trace minerals known to be essential are present in the water and crops grown in that area."

Dr. Barnett had also found that the magnesium content of the average Deaf Smith County resident's bones was up to five times higher than that of a Dallas resident, while calcium and phosphorus concentrations were similar in both groups. His observations led him to state that "one of the most important aspects of the disease osteoporosis has been almost completely overlooked. That aspect is the role played by magnesium.

Rodale emphasizes the fact that Dr. Barnett gave a high value to the high magnesium content of the local water for these health benefits, and observed many signals of superior bone development among the people in the area.

Dr. Barnett said that people in older years often have fractures in the upper part of the thighbone, and these are very difficult to heal in many places. However, he noted that this fracture rarely occurs in Deaf Smith County, while it occurred regularly in Dallas County, Texas, where he also practiced. When a fracture actually occurred in Deaf Smith, it was easy and quick to heal even in people aged between eighty and a hundred years. In contrast, fractures in Dallas were regular and very difficult to heal, if not impossible.

More than fifty years ago, Dr. Barnett tested the magnesium levels of five thousand people and discovered that sixty percent of them had a deficiency. If we take into account all the current negative circumstances which contribute to that deficit, the deficit in today's population has certainly been exacerbated?

What is the difference between mild and severe magnesium deficiency?

It is well known that low magnesium levels are difficult to detect in a clinical setting. It is even so bad that sometimes magnesium deficiency itself is referred to as "asymptomatic" or "no external signals".

When using these terms, the researchers emphasize that conditions often deteriorate before clinical open signals are available - ultimately as a warning to health professionals to be alert to signs of magnesium deficiency.

So the question is not "How can we distinguish mild deficit from severe deficit?", but" Due to the difficulty in recognising a chronically low magnesium level, how can we prevent the development into serious symptoms and chronic disease "?

The monitoring of magnesium levels in the people at risk of this appears to be a solution, but the most commonly used magnesium test, blood serum magnesium, is considered to be inaccurate in clearly identifying marginal magnesium deficiency.

Dr. Ronald Elin of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Louisville, makes this point clear:

"The definition of magnesium deficiency seems simple, but it is made difficult by the lack of available clinical trials for assessing magnesium levels. Ideally, we would define magnesium deficiency as a reduction of the total magnesium content in the body. Tests should be available for identification, which tissues are deficient and what the state of magnesium in these tissues is. Unfortunately, this definition is not compatible with current technology.

In the light of the evidence that subclinical magnesium deficiencies can increase calcium imbalance, exacerbate blood vessel calcification and potentially lead to type 2 diabetes, the World Health Organization raised the question in 2009 for improved and more scientific methods for the establishment of daily magnesium requirements and more accurate and accessible methods for the assessment of magnesium deficiency.

The many consequences, diseases and disorders of magnesium deficiency:

Source: Primal Body, Primal Mind, door Nora Gedgaudas.

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