Knowing the vast benefits that magnesium confers on our bodies, I’ve always wanted to report on this remarkable mineral . . . and now the time has come!

I was first introduced to the wonders of magnesium during my obstetrical training where I saw, up close and personal, how effective magnesium sulfate was in preventing seizures and restoring normal blood pressure in pregnant women suffering from toxemia. Years later, I often gave my patients magnesium intravenously (along with a series of other vitamins) as part of an IV mix known as Meyer’s formula. I found that this mixture frequently relieved muscular pain and also promoted speedy healing from surgery, sprained ankles, and the like. It also appeared to boost immunity. My colleagues and I at “Women to Women” [a medical clinic founded more than 20 years ago by Dr. Northrup and several of her colleagues, which is devoted to health care for women, by women] sometimes gave it to each other when we were coming down with a cold or were feeling fatigued. It worked every time!

An astounding number of studies have documented the effectiveness of intravenous magnesium in helping prevent cardiac damage and even death following a heart attack—roughly half of all sudden deaths from heart attack are the result of spasm in the arteries, not blockage from clots or arrhythmias!¹ And magnesium allows coronary artery muscles (and all other muscles) to relax.

Most of us don’t require intravenous magnesium, of course. We can get all the benefits we need just by making sure that we get enough of it in our diets or through supplements. Here’s what everyone needs to know about getting optimal benefits from this essential (but often overlooked) mineral.

Why We Need Magnesium

Magnesium is essential for the functioning of hundreds of different enzymes in the body, particularly those that produce, transport, store, and utilize energy. Magnesium is essential for the following optimal benefits:

• Protein synthesis: DNA and RNA in our cells require magnesium for cell growth and development.
• Sparking the electrical signals that must travel throughout the miles of nerves in our bodies (including the impulses for our brain, heart, and other organs).
• Normal blood pressure, vascular tone, transmission of nerve-cell signals, and blood flow.
• Functioning of all nerves and muscles.
• Release and binding of adequate amounts of serotonin in the brain.

In short, living with suboptimal levels of magnesium is like trying to operate a machine with the power turned off.

The Magnesium/Calcium Connection

Though there’s been an enormous amount of media hype about calcium, very few people realize that without its partner, magnesium, calcium doesn’t serve the body nearly as well as it should. In fact, too much calcium can actually impede the magnesium’s uptake and function, creating further imbalance. When it comes to building healthy bones, magnesium is as important as calcium and vitamin D!

Magnesium and calcium are designed to work together. For example, magnesium controls the entry of calcium into each and every cell—a physiological event that happens every time a nerve cell fires. Without adequate magnesium (which is also a natural calcium-channel blocker), too much calcium gets inside the cell. This can result in muscle cramping, blood-vessel constriction, migraine headaches, and even feelings of anxiety.²

Magnesium also keeps calcium dissolved in the blood so that it won’t produce kidney stones. In fact, taking calcium without magnesium for osteoporosis can actually promote kidney-stone formation.

Magnesium Deficiency on the Rise

In 1997, the National Academy of Sciences found that most Americans are deficient in magnesium.³ There are a number of reasons for this:

• Food processing depletes magnesium, and the vast majority of Americans eat mostly processed foods. When wheat is refined into white flour, 80 percent of the magnesium in the bran is lost; 98 percent is lost when molasses is refined into sugar. Similarly, magnesium is leached out of vegetables that are boiled in water or frozen. Additives such as aspartame and MSG, as well as alcohol, also deplete magnesium stores.
• Indigestion and antacid use: Insufficient stomach acid impedes magnesium absorption. Unfortunately, a refined-food diet is a potent recipe for indigestion. Antacids—the number one over-the-counter drug in the U.S.—further deplete hydrochloric acid in the stomach.
• Farming practices: Magnesium and other minerals have been depleted from much of the soil that we grow today’s produce in.
• Medications: Many drugs—including common diuretics, birth-control pills, insulin, tetracycline and other antibiotics, and cortisone—cause the body to waste magnesium.

Selected Foods Rich in Magnesium

(In mg per 100 grams [3-1/2 oz] servings)

·        Kelp 760

·        Wheat bran 490

·        Wheat germ 336

·        Molasses 258

·        Dulse 220

·        Almonds 270

·        Peanuts 175

·        Collard greens 57

·        Cooked beans 37

·        Tofu 111

·        Millet 162

In general, organically grown whole grains and vegetables are rich in magnesium, as are good quality sea salt and sea vegetables (such as kelp, dulce, or sea lettuce).

¹Eisenberyg, M. J., 1992. Magnesium deficiency and sudden death. American Heart Journal124:2:544–549;  also Turlapaty, P. D., and Altura, B. M. Magnesium deficiency produces spasms in coronary arteries: relationship to etiology of sudden death ischemic heart disease. Science 208(4440):198–200; also Altura, B. M., 1979. Sudden death ischemic heart disease and dietary magnesium intake: Is the target site coronary vascular smooth muscle? Medical Hypotheses 5(8):843–848.

²Levine, B. S., et al. 1984. Magnesium, the mimic/antagonist of calcium. New England J. Medicine 310:188–193.

³Institute of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intake for Calcium, Phosphorous, Magnesium, Vitamin D, and Flouride. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.. 1997.

About the Author:

Christiane Northrup, M.D., a board-certified ob-gyn physician, is today’s leading expert on women’s health issues. Her new Menopause and Beyond: New Wisdom for Women special airs in March 2007 on PBS. She just published The Wisdom of Menopause Journal. Check out the latest health news or sign up for her newsletter:www.DrNorthrup.com

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