Magnesium- Before I start let’s just make one thing very clear. This is NOT some home remedy, witch Dr idea, or crazy health nut plan! This is ALL about truth and scientific proven facts(for skeptics and my sister). Magnesium is one of the most important and essential things you can have and are supposed to have in your body! Today I want to talk about the importance of magnesium for women and more so for those that are pregnant or women trying to get pregnant. ( In my family alone their are 5 pregnancies right now and some trying to get pregnant:) Before I go into that though, let me give a good breakdown on what magnesium is and why it’s important overall.
MAGNESIUM is one of the most depleted minerals, yet one of the most important. Quick-fix medical solutions are all around us via T.V, the Internet, radio, and infomercials. In a world of rapid change and extreme stress, our bodies are going through peaks and crashes every day. We rely on double cappuccinos in the morning, powerbars for lunch and load up with energy drinks and caffeinated colas to get us through the day. We are exhausting our natural physical stores of energy, straining our bodies’ capacity to function and heal.
Magnesium regulates more than 325 enzymes in the body,the most important of which produce, transport, store, and utilize energy.Many aspects of cell metabolism are regulated by magnesium, such as DNA and RNA synthesis, cell growth, and cell reproduction. Magnesium also orchestrates the electric current that sparks through the miles of nerves in our body. The physiological roles consist of, control of nerve action, activity of the heart, neuromuscular transmission, muscular contraction, vascular tone, blood pressure,and peripheral blood flow! Whew! That’s alot of stuff. But we aren’t through yet, one of the most important functions, especially for women is how magnesium modulates and controls the entry and release of calcium from the cell, which determines muscular activity. Without magnesium the body is basicly trying to run with the power turned off!!
So what the heck does all that mean? Well, do you ever have muscle twitches, cramping, charlie horses or migraines? You are experiencing symptoms of magnesium defficiency, in fact with all the processed food and sugars in our diet 90-99% of Americans are defficient! Yikes!
Well, before I get carried away lets get into why magnesium is not only important but essential to women who are pregnant or those trying to get pregnant. To read more about all the symptoms and causes of magnesium deficiency please read some previous articles I wrote, here:http://mylinkfit.com/blog/2009/08/magnesium-the-miracle-oil/ and http://mylinkfit.com/blog/2009/09/magnesium-could-save-your-life/.
Magnesium and Infertility The Pottenger Cat Study is very instructive on the absolute requirement of good nutrition in pregnancy. Francis Pottenger, M.D., ran a 10 yr nutritional study on several groups of cats. He fed one group heat-processed food and another group raw meat and raw milk. The cats fed cooked processed foods became infertile by the 3rd generation!
This simple study brings to light the importance of not just magnesium but of all nutrients in producing a viable pregnancy. We all know that heating food past the boiling point destroys vitamins and burns of magnesium and enzymes.
Dr. Sherry Rogers says that,” just as migraines (I will do another whole post on just magnesium and migraines:) are caused by spasms in the brain arteries, spasms in the fallopian tubes cause infertility. ”
Many women who are experiencing infertility become pregnant when they go on a whole food diet and supplement with magnesium. Magnesium is required in higher amounts during pregnancy, so taking it to enhance conception also creates a healthier pregnancy! Male infertility is also associated with magnesium deficiency. Both magnesium and zinc are found in very very significant amounts in seminal fluid and when men with infertility problems where tested for magnesium deficiency, their levels came back very low!
Magnesium and Pregnancy - I would like to share a true story about a woman named Marie, and would like all those who are currently pregnant or who have been pregnant see if you can relate!
Marie was not having an easy pregnancy. She had gained to much weight, had headaches, and her ankles and hands were swollen.She also felt a tightness in her head and chest and had shortness of breath. At her 8 month visit, her blood pressure was elevated, she had hyperactive reflexes, and her urine showed protein- all symptoms of preeclampsia( also called pregnancy-induced hypertension or toxemia) Preeclampsia occurs in 7% of all pregnancies and is responsible for at least 76,000 maternal deaths worlwide per year! When this condition escalates it is called Eclampsia- This condition can cause premature labor, premature birth, and cerebral palsy in the newborn.
Marie’s Dr. siad that bed rest was the best way to lower her blood pressure and if it was still high around the time of delivery he would give her intravenous magnesium ( A widely succesful treatment for eclampsia that’s been in use for 75yrs!). Unfortunately he did not have her current magnesium levels tested. Many researchers and clinicians reccomend pregnant women have an EXATest done and supplement with 300-600mg of magnesium ( most prenatal vitamins have very little to zero magnesium, WHAT?)
Clinical trials have shown that mothers supplementing with magnesium oxide have larger, healthier babies and lower rates of preeclampsia, premature labor,SIDS, and birth defects including cerebral palsy. Fortunately for Marie she checked her prenatal supplement and saw it only contained 150mg ( not even enough magnesium for a 4yr old, let alone a mother giving life to a baby)! Her nutritionist increased her magnesium supplementation to 400mg. On this new regimen, Marie noticed significant, positive changes. She had less back and neck tension, was no longer constipated ( a common, often painful side effect of pregnancy), had more energy, and lost her edema and puffiness.Finally, the tightness in her head and chest lessened and her blood pressure went down!
The best ways to get your magnesium is in magnesium rich foods- such as- sunflowers seeds, nuts, beans, etc… and also through supplementation orally and even better transdermally. Magnesium used transdermally is more easily absorbed and used by the body. In my family alone we have seen the use of magnesium completely illiminate migraines, help the metabolism regulate itself in thyroid diseased individuals, illiminate muscle spasms and cramping, help my children sleep better, and achy soreness in the muscles of a pregnant cousin go away…..etc and trust me the list goes on and on!
Consult with your obstitrician or health care provider or even better yet get tested for magnesium defficiency, it is painless and easy and covered by all insurances( although most dr’s dont even know how to do this, so print off this link and take it with you, we just had our children tested at St. Marks here in Utah). The testconsists of a sublingual scrape ( a quick swab underneath the tongue, and thats it).
MAGNESIUM DOSAGE To individualize your magnesium dosage, the rule of thumb is:
WOMEN and MEN- 3-4.5 mg/lb of body weight per day.
CHILDREN- 5-6 mg/lb of body weight per day.
If you have anymore questions or have any success stories please comment or email me!
The following is a guest post about why you may actually be doing more damage than good with those calcium supplements you are taking – this post comes straight from the desk of Dr. Carolyn Dean (visit her fantastic website by clicking here). Leave your comments and questions below! 
