Food and Drink

Magnesium - Making Sure All that Calcium Goes to the Right Place

Another supplement recommended by my Sutter Health cardiologist was Magnesium.  I remembered being giving Milk of Magnesia as a kid for constipation, and already knew that Epsom salts baths were relaxing, but I really didn't know how it would help with heart health.  So - I decided to do some digging.

Magnesium is most often recommended for bone health, but is also key for 300 different metabolic processes across the body. Of prime importance to heart disease patients is that it is necessary for the assimulation of calcium into bone material.  If too much calcium is present in the blood stream, it can contribute to coronary artery disease as it can be deposited onto the artery walls.  A proper magnesium/calcium balance is also needed for a strong, regular heart beat.   In fact, taking calcium supplements without magnesium supplements has been shown to increase heart attack risk.

Bad news for most Americans - the average American diet only provides 40% of the needed magnesium (according to the Nutritional Magnesium Association).  This is most likely due to the lack of fruits and vegetables in this diet, as well as to modern farming methods which deplete our soils of minerals.   Also according to the Nutritional Magnesium Association, up to 80% of the US population has magnesium deficiency. 

What are some of the symptoms of magnesium deficiency?  Early symptoms include headache, nausea, fatigue and weakness.  As this deficiency progresses, there are up to 22 different conditions that can occur.  These include coronary spasms,  anxiety or panic attacks, blood clots, depression(as magnesium is a precursor to serotonin production), fibromyalgia, tooth decay, weak bones, diabetes and heart attacks.   It is also really hard to test for magnesium levels, so this is not usually identified by the standard yearly physical. 

The good news is that it is easy to supplement with magnesium.   One natural doctor I visited advised me to bathe in Epsom salts as magnesium can be absorbed through my skin.  Magnesium can also be found in good quality dark chocolate (no Hershey's doesn't count, it needs to be at least 70% cocoa), avocados, nuts like cashews and almonds, beans and seeds, tofu, and whole grains. 

The safest way to make sure you are getting enough magnesium is to supplement.  Be careful - too much supplementation may lead to diarrhea which is no fun!  

Here is a great supplement that I recommend that is chelated for good absorption and is a low enough dose that it doesn't cause any gastric distress.  I was taking these, but found that my Isagenix Isaflush (part of the 30 day weight loss program) also contains magnesium so didn't want to double dose.    


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Conversations with Cardiologists during Five Days in the ICU

Continuing the saga of my heart attack and experience - as they weren't able to put a stent in my heart, they kept me in the Cardiac ICU for five days. The first few days, I wasn't allowed to get out of bed, thanks to the wound in my groin where the angioplasty line was inserted.  This meant the lovely and unholy bed pan was my friend.  No fun, no fun at all.

I did enjoy my daily visits by the cardiologists on staff at the time - one in particular - I am not sure of his name and he is not pictured on the hospital website but I think it was Dr. Fisher - took the time to explain to me how our health is affected primarily by our diet.  He said that our veins and arteries are naturally smooth, but when "scratchy" excess sugar molecules are transported, they scratch the walls.  Then, when we eat fats, these fats can stick to the walls of our cardiovascular transport system instead of moving on through.   Excess carbs turn to sugar in our systems - and we become prediabetic and then diabetic with much damage to our hearts and arteries. 

He also explained that the "Big Food" companies control the entire life cycle of our human consumption -from what we enjoy as teenagers to the pharmaceuticals we will need at the end, once these junk foods wreak the desired havoc on our bodies.  A brilliant business model, yes, but with no humanity whatsover in it.   Most "Big Name" junk foods were produced with GMO crops heavily saturated with Roundup - a known endocrine disruptor and possible cause of the uptick in fatty liver disease and liver cancer in nonalcoholics.  Why do they get away with this?  Why does RJ Reynold's still make tobacco products with mounds of undeniable evidence that smoking causes a wide variety of diseases?  Because we are all dedicated to our free enterprise system and are taking the good with the bad.  It gives me chills that our current leadership wants to completely privatize our health care.  With no checks and balances, this portends having profits take precedence over human life.   Not good. 

I am in the process of cleaning out my pantry.  No more "Ritz" crackers (new studies show they are very high in Glyphosate, the active chemical in Roundup which California has just labeled as as a carcinogen after a HUGE fight with the mother company, Monsanto), no more high sodium soups, no more BBQ sauces with high fructose corn syrup( cheaper to produce than "real" sugar, widely found in popular American food products, and known to accelerate cancer cell growth), and in short, no more mass produced poisons.  

I am in my third week since my big event - the simple acts of measuring the amount of oil I am cooking with instead of just throwing it in the pan, eating NO poisonous mass produced American crap, and limiting my portion sizes has led to a 14 pound weight loss.  I look for even greater results in the weeks to come.  

This great cardiologist also recommended that I add four supplements to my daily routine; Magnesium, Vitamin D, COQ-10, and Fish Oil.  I will cover each of these in depth in subsequent posts.