Magnesium Health Watch

This site is a great resource for information on nutrition and wellness.  It includes ‘fact sheets’ on topics, providing basic information on things like minerals.  For example, the magnesium fact sheet includes symptoms of deficiency, levels of toxicity, sources, recommended daily allowance and its physiological functions.

“Magnesium has roles in energy metabolism, muscle contraction, and nerve impulse transmission, and bone mineralization. It is a required cofactor for an estimated 300 enzymes. Among the reactions catalyzed by these enzymes are fatty acid synthesis, protein synthesis, and glucose metabolism. Magnesium status is important for regulation of calcium balance through parathyroid hormone-mediated reactions. Secretion of parathyroid hormone and end-organ responsiveness to the hormone are dependent on availability of the mineral.

As a positively charged divalent cation, magnesium acts as a calcium antagonist at the cell membrane level which is necessary to maintain normal electrical potentials and to coordinate muscle contraction-relaxation responses. In muscle, increased intracellular calcium concentration triggers contraction while increased intracellular magnesium concentration counteracts this effect resulting in relaxation. Magnesium is also involved in metabolism of ATP which enables release of energy stored in the high-energy phosphate ester bond. It is also a potent vasodilator. Magnesium and calcium coordinate the constriction/relaxation of capillary blood vessels which contributes to regulation of blood pressure.”

Nutrition Fact Sheet: Magnesium, Nutrition, Feinberg School of Medicine.

This helpful article provides a much-needed overview of vitamins and minerals, supplements, diet and how we get our nutrients.   It addresses questions like “Are supplements really necessary when you can get the nutrients through food?”   It also discusses whether vitamin and mineral pills are safe to consume.  It also provides examples of the different situations where you might need a vitamin or mineral supplement in addition to a healthy diet.  For example, breastfeeding women are sometimes advised to take calcium and iron supplements to reduce the chance of anemia and to continue building strong bones. (more…)