Hearts and Blood Vessels Need Magnesium to Stay Healthy
Of the more than half a million Americans who will die this year from heart disease, many don't have to die.
Of the millions taking expensive medications - some of which have potentially serious side effects - to treat conditions that increase the risk of heart disease, many could be just as healthy taking lower doses - or not taking them at all.
Of the millions struggling with no-fat, low-fat, high-fat, low-salt decisions, and feeling guilty when they regularly miss the mark, many could keep their hearts and blood vessels healthy without all of this dieting stress.
Most Modern Heart Disease is Caused by Magnesium Deficiency
The solution to heart disease has been with us all along, and it is nutritional. Most modern heart disease is caused by magnesium deficiency. A vast and convincing body of research, largely ignored, has convinced us and many of our colleagues of this fact. The diet of the industrial world is short on magnesium, and this is causing an epidemic of heart disease in the modern world. There is real evidence to support this claim. Evidence from placebo-controlled, double-blind research studies - the highest standard for medical research. We hope the evidence in this web site and in the book "The Magnesium Factor" will help you decide for yourself whether, and how, taking supplemental magnesium may help you, your family, your friends and/or your patients.
Magnesium is Depleted From Our Soils, Our Foods and Our Water
Hearts and blood vessels need magnesium to stay healthy. Yet, this vitally important nutrient is depleted from our soils and is inadequate in much of our processed foods and water supplies, just when our stressful lifestyles demand that we have more. The effects of a low intake of magnesium can be worsened by the high levels of fat, sugar, sodium (salt) and phosphate in our diets as well as, ironically, by the overuse of calcium supplements, which has become widespread because of our awareness of calcium's value for bone health.
Low Magnesium and Heart Disease
Clinical studies have shown that chronic magnesium depletion has direct consequences for both the heart and the blood vessels. These include the following:
- Arrhythmias (irregular heart rhythms) and tachycardia (too rapid heartbeats) due to abnormal shifts of the mineral potassium into and out of heart cells.
- Abnormal electrical activity in the heart, shown by electrocardiagram (EKG or ECG) results.
- Arteriosclerosis (stiffening and inflexibility of the blood vessels). This can develop even in children.
- Constriction of the arteries and spasms in blood vessels.
- High blood pressure.
- Angina (chest pain due to heart disease).
- Myocardial infarction (damage to heart cells - better known as a heart attack) due to ischemic heart disease (an insufficient flow of oxygenated blood to the heart) that is associated with too much calcium and not enough magnesium in heart cells.
- Sudden death due to arrhythmia or infarction.
- The formation of blood clots within blood vessels, which can lead to heart attack or stroke.
- Heart valve disorders such as mitral valve prolapse.
Treating Symptoms Rather Than Causes
The medical profession has responded to this myriad of symptoms by treating each symptom individually with drugs or surgery or both. The result is high-tech, expensive chasing after symptoms that may stave off death but does not restore health. How much better it would be to prevent much of the damage from heart disease by treating the magnesium deficiency that underlies all of its symptoms, giving the body the simple nutrient it needs for healthy hearts and blood vessels.
Clinical studies show that treatment with magnesium, taken at the right time and in the right amount, can lessen heart disease risk factors and even save lives. Adequate magnesium nutrition may lessen the need for heroic surgeries and may lessen the need for or even replace, high cost medications with their adverse side effects. Drug and surgical therapies could then be reserved for people with heart disease for whom adequate magnesium nutrition is not enough.
| ©2008 Center for Magnesium Education & Research |