Magnesium Health Watch

Natural Health Remedies provides tips on detox and solutions to common health problems.   They provided details of their experience with the Ancient Minerals Magnesium Gel, a transdermal magnesium (applied through the skin, not orally) made from pure magnesium chloride.

The article makes an interesting point about magnesium deficiency.  Oftentimes, doctors only measure the magnesium in blood serum, but it doesn’t necessarily indicate the cellular levels of magnesium.  The intracellular magnesium levels  are where transdermal gel or oil applications are particularly effective.

Here’s how she describes her experience with magnesium gel:

“The gel has a silken consistency and I found it ideal to massage into the skin. I have had some stiffness in the muscles around my hips (probably as a result of too much sitting at my computer!) so I decided to massage the gel into my hip muscles and legs every morning. After a few days I noticed they were much less stiff and after using it every day for 4 weeks the stiffness and also the soreness I had in the muscle on the outside of my shin has completely gone.”

Natural Health Remedies & Detox: Magnesium Gel Magic – A Natural Health Remedy to Boost Energy & Health.

If you’re an athlete, you may already be considering how vitamins and minerals affect your performance.  However, magnesium is often overlooked, despite being an important part of muscle contraction and relaxation, as well as metabolism.

One study found that as a result of magnesium depletion, people’s metabolism became less efficient.  Participant’s oxygen consumption increased, as did heart rate.  This starts to establish a connection between dietary magnesium and athletic performance.

“Even athletes, who might be expected to take greater care with their diets, are not immune from magnesium deficiency; for example, studies carried out in 1986/87 revealed that gymnasts, footballers and basketball players were consuming only around 70% of the RDA(14), while female runners fared even worse, with reported intakes as low as 59% of the RDA(15). Given magnesium’s vital role in energy production, two key questions emerge:

1. Can these all-too-common sub-optimum dietary magnesium intakes impair athletic performance?
2. Could extra magnesium intake, over and above RDA levels, enhance performance?

Bodybuilding.com – Magnesium: Why Magnesium Matters To Athletes! – Andrew Hamilton.

While we come across lots of studies on the health benefits of magnesium and magnesium supplements, we appreciate coming across people’s individual experiences with the products, particularly when they aren’t trying desperately to sell you something.  The writer seems to have found some success with magnesium supplements, which she originally took for insomnia and constipation issues.

The article provides a first-hand experience with several magnesium citrate supplements including Natural Calm, Bluebonnet-Liquid Calcium Magnesium Citrate, LifeTime Liquid Cal-Mag Citrate, as well as several other products.  The review includes information on flavors, formulations, advantages and disadvantages of particular magnesium supplements.

“I recommend the Natural Calm with the calcium since you should take calcium with magnesium. I also like that this product has boron in it since that was also recommended to me along with Vitamin D3. I like to show my three year old that it fizzes like a science experiment and I like that it is sweetened with Stevia and  prepared like a warm tea. I also prefer the lemon flavor to the lemon raspberry and haven’t sampled the plain or orange flavors. I also recommend starting with one teaspoon and increasing until you get your desired results. If stomach or intestinal cramping occurs in the morning it simply means too much was taken and the amount should be slightly decreased.  I found this to be momentarily uncomfortable but was nothing serious and a common side effect. The cost can be around $14-$24 depending on the size of the product and where you purchase. I think the larger size is 16oz and will last for about 3 months. There are also kid friendly formulas and one for pregnancy as well.”

CALM and other magnesium supplements « Viva Sano Canti.

Millions of Americans suffer from sleep problems.  It’s particularly common to experience changes in your sleep patterns as seasonal changes in sunlight can trigger sleep disorders.  We’ve been talking a lot about how to address sleep problems through your diet.  This includes B vitamins that promote wakefulness during the day found in foods like whole grain sand leafy greens.   Also, stay away from caffeine even several hours before bedtime.

Magnesium is one mineral that can help relax the body and help alleviate insomnia.

“Known as the “anti-stress” mineral, magnesium relaxes the body and calms the nervous system. Eat foods rich in magnesium–pumpkin seeds, almonds, and green vegetables–at or after dinner and take a magnesium supplement just before bed (combine with bone-builders calcium and vitamin D for best results). Begin with 150 mg of magnesium and increase if necessary.”

Eat Your Way to a Restful Sleep — baltimoresun.com.

It seems like magnesium supplements are being celebrated as the solution for just about everything these days.  But we hadn’t heard about this fascinating study, the first NIH-funded clinical trial involving the prevention of noise-induced hearing loss.

“Hearing loss commonly occurs, Green says, when loud noises trigger the formation of molecules inside the ear and these molecules cause damage to the hair cells of the inner ear. The cells then shut down and scar, and they cannot grow back.

The U-M researchers discovered that this new combination of vitamins, when mixed with magnesium, can prevent noise-induced damage to the ears by blocking some of these complex cellular reactions.”

Researchers test whether cocktail of vitamins and magnesium help prevent hearing loss.