If I had to choose the most important mineral on which we absolutely depend, it would have to be Mg.
Without it, the power plants in our cells, the mitochondria, could not move the ATP they make as a store of energy, out from inside the tiny organelles in our cells and off to where it is needed.
You Guessed It ...
We need it. Here's why.
But before I get into more specifics, let me quote from a review called:
Magnesium: Biochemistry, Nutrition, Detection and Social Impact of Diseases Linked to Its Deficiency.
Whew! What a title.
Magnesium plays an important role in many physiological functions. Habitually low intakes of magnesium and in general the deficiency of this micronutrient induce changes in biochemical pathways that can increase the risk of illness and in particular, chronic degenerative diseases.
Despite the well-recognized importance of magnesium, Mg availability is not generally determined and monitored in patients, therefore, magnesium has been called the “forgotten mineral”. Chronic magnesium deficiency, can result in disturbances in nearly every organ/body, contributing to or exacerbating pathological consequences and causing potentially fatal complications.
Signs of magnesium deficiency include:
weakness
loss of appetite
nausea
vomiting
muscle contractions and cramps
numbness
tingling
personality changes
coronary spasms
abnormal heart rhythms
seizures
These can occur as a progression as magnesium deficiency worsens.
A survey on the social impact of the principal diseases linked to magnesium deficiency is reported, focusing in particular on diabetes, osteoporosis, cardiovascular and neurological diseases and cancer.
Magnesium is involved in practically every major metabolic and biochemical process within our cells and is responsible for numerous functions in the body, including
bone development
neuromuscular function
signaling pathways
energy storage and transfer
glucose, lipid and protein metabolism
DNA and RNA stability
cell proliferation
Currently, there are over 600 enzymes with Mg as a cofactor listed by the enzymatic databases, while an additional 200 are listed in which Mg may act as an activator. This last point means the magnesium interacts directly with the substrate, rather than acting as a cofactor. It's like the bacon and the egg. The chicken (a co-factor) is involved but the pig (by directly interacting) is committed.
Here's a link to a Google docs site with some papers on magnesium
Three of the articles are very heavy going but are still worth scanning to get the 'flavour' of the research. The 4th (Mg - key to Ca absorption) is more palatable.
So. How much do I need and in what form should I take it?
The 1st question is that we need as much magnesium as calcium as a 1:1 ratio is widely recommended. The challenge here is that tablets of magnesium salts made in a lab from crushed rocks do not provide much absorbable magnesium. It could be as little as 2% of the 200mg they declare as the deliverable and that's only 4mg.
In comparison, foods come with a host of other minerals and phytonutrients, if we are talking plants and with animal meats, Mg is often in the mitochondria in muscle cells and this is highly bioavailable- more like 80%.
Also, the ratio of most Australians for their calcium to magnesium intake is closer to 20:1 than 1:1 and so much calcium actually reduces the amount of magnesium we can absorb while also increasing the excretion of magnesium.
Our Karuah Active Magnesium™ is at the top of the quality list and due to the seeds we use being cold pressed to remove some of their oils and the meal is very finely milled before being enhanced with activated mushrooms loaded with vitamin D made from sunshine and UV light.
Naturally, we add selected wild foods to boost the functionality that it delivers. So you get Mg along with good serves of Mn, Se, Zn, Cu and Fe. It's an active mineral soup in a scoop with all the trimmings relevant to the processes in which Mg is critical for our ideal health.
In contrast, magnesium supplements are often bulked out with magnesium oxide which is very poorly absorbed. Mg citrate is another common Mg salt but note that it is used as a laxative to clean out the gut before gastric endoscope procedures or surgery.
Here are some other comparisons:
Incidentally, do you take supermarket magnesium tablets and still get cramps at night? This is a sign of Mg deficiency and is a measure of the inadequacy of supermarket supplements which are made from crushed rocks. The inorganic Mg is so poorly absorbed and swamped by calcium in our diet that muscles still cramp from too much Ca without the Mg to balance and relax the muscle spasm.
And have you ever wondered why the pathology labs do CAC scores for calcium but nothing similar for Mg? A CAC analysis is a measure of the calcification of the coronary artery and unlike calcium, magnesium does not get deposited in our soft tissues causing a host of health problems, most of them ultimately lethal.
The calcium analysis in the CAC score is an indirect measure of calcium load and the risk of arterial blockage or is a number (of standard deviations} from coronary artery with no calcification. I have probably lost most people here but your doctor will tut-tut in disapproval and mock concern of a CAC score of 3 or more and then prescribe blood thinners and closer monitoring, maybe even a scan of some sort. He would also secretly be rubbing his hands in anticipation of surgery to implant a stent and all of its associated charges as income generating 'health management'.
If this is your situation, refuse the drugs and go whole food with our Mg-Ca Balance bundle. There's a whole load of biochemistry sorted with the correction of Mg deficiencies and Ca overload. So I ask you:
When would NOW be a good time to start?
Did you see the news report back in 2023 that Tom Sizemore (Saving Private Ryan, Blackhawk Down and a bunch of other tough-guy movies) died from a stroke followed by a brain aneurism at age 61. A calcium:magnesium balance of 1:1 along with Karuah ChancaPlus™, Karuah Active Magnesium™ and the other products in the Holy Grail to Health can get us back on track to perpetual youth (or at least reduce the risks of an early death).
