Magnesium

Requirements:

• RDA:
  
  350 mg. for males
  300 mg. for females
  250 mg. for children
• Daily Optimal Intake:
  
  500 - 750 mg. for both males and females

Supplement Forms:

• Chelated magnesium: magnesium bound to an amino acid
• Magnesium acetate
• Magnesium carbonate: 40% magnesium
• Magnesium gluconate
• Magnesium oxide: 60% magnesium, purest form
• Magnesium sulfate

Labs:

• Hair magnesium - too variable
• Magnesium challenge - intravenous magnesium (.2 mEq./kg. over 4 hours)
• Serum and RBC levels inaccurate unless severe depletion and can alter depending on age of RBCs
• WBC magnesium - better indicator of tissue magnesium

Food Sources:

• 200 - 400 mg./100 gm.:
  
  Buckwheat
  Nuts - almonds, cashews, brazil
  Seeds - sunflower, sesame, pumpkin
  Wheat bran
  Wheat germ
• 100 - 200 mg./100 gm.:
  
  Barley
  Brown rice Carrots
  Corn
  Nuts - walnuts, pecans, filberts
  Oats
  Peas
  Rye
  Wheat

Signs and Symptoms of Deficiency:

• Apathy, fatigue
• Arrhythmias
• Cerebrovascular attack
• Hypertension
• Hypocalcemia - soft tissue calcification
• Hypokalemia
• Infants - convulsions
• Ischemic heart disease
• Muscle cramping
• Muscle weakness
• Nausea
• Tetany and heart failure
• Tremor

Causes of Deficiency:

• Chronic laxative abuse
• Decreased intake
• Diabetes
• Diuretics, thiazide (including digitalis toxicity)
• Excess purified fiber intake
• High calcium may increase the requirement for magnesium
• High fat
• High phosphate
• High salt
• Poor absorption
• Severe respiratory problems

Adverse Effects and Toxicity:

• Contraindicated in kidney problems
• Generally large doses of one mineral may cause deficiencies in other minerals. A single mineral supplement should be backed up by a multiple mineral supplement.
• Large doses may cause diarrhea
• May cause a persistent lump at the injection site when given IM
• May cause hypotension when used IV

Drug/Nutrient Interactions:

• Caffeine, phosphorous, sugar, high sodium increase urinary excretion of magnesium
• Drugs which may cause magnesium deficiency:
  
  Alcohol
  Amphotericin B
  Bleomycin
  Bumetanide
  Cargenicillin
  Chlorthalidone
  Chronic laxative abuse
  Cis-platimun
  Cortisone and related drugs
  Cyclosporine
  Digoxin
  Furosemide
  Gentamicin
  Hydrochlorothiazide
  Some antiasthmatic drugs
  Thiazide diuretics
  Vinblastine
• Increases of calcium or vitamin B6 may increase requirement of magnesium

Biochemical Functions:

• 55 % in bone. 27% in muscle - mainly an intracellular ion
• Antispasmodic effects on smooth muscle
• ATPase - for normal excitability and muscle contraction
• ATP - phosphokinases, cAMP formation, phosphatase
• Can act as a calcium channel blocker
• Decreases death rate following myocardial infarction
• Decreases risk of arrhythmia, angina in cardiac patients
• Dilates blood vessels
• Enhances immune function
• Increases HDL cholesterol levels
• Inhibits platelet aggregation
• Magnesium helps balance sodium, potassium, and calcium levels
• Needed for calcium mobilization from bone
• Protein synthesis
• Required to activate B vitamins

Clinical Indications:

• Asthma
• Atherosclerosis
• Attention deficit disorder
• BPH
• Cholecystitis
• Chronic fatigue syndrome - IM or IV
• Congestive heart failure
• Crohn's disease
• Depression
• Diabetes mellitus
• Dysmenorrhea
• Endometriosis
• Fibrocystic breast disease
• Fibromyalgia
• Headaches
• Hypertension
• Insomnia
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Menopause
• Multiple sclerosis
• Osteoarthritis
• Osteoporosis
• PMS
• Psoriasis
• Ulcerative colitis
• Anxiety
• Chronic lung disease
• Kidney stones - calcium oxalate
• Migraine
• Mitral valve prolapse
• Reactive hypoglycemia
• Stops false labor
• Toxemia of pregnancy

Copyright 1998 - 2008 by Natural Opinion, LLC. All rights reserved (ISSN 1527-0661).