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A new study reports a protective effect against the risk of sudden cardiac death in women who consume higher levels of dietary magnesium.
Researchers analyzed data from more than 88,000 women. Over the 26 year follow-up period, women whose magnesium intake was among the highest 25 percent of the subjects had a 34 percent lower adjusted risk of sudden cardiac death.
"Given that most Americans do not meet the RDA [recommended daily allowance] for magnesium, increasing intake of magnesium presents a potential opportunity for sudden cardiac death prevention in the general population."
Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a leading cause of heart-related deaths, especially in those over 40. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), SCD accounts for more than 250,000 deaths annually.
In a recent long-term study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers found that the relative risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) was significantly lower in women with the highest amounts of magnesium. Each 0.25-mg/dL increment in plasma magnesium was associated with a 41 percent lower risk of SCD.
A similar 15-year long study published last year found that people with the highest blood levels of magnesium had a 40 percent reduction in the risk of SCD, compared to those with the lowest magnesium levels.
There is in fact quite a bit of evidence supporting the link between magnesium and heart health, and back in the 1930s doctors used to prescribe magnesium for heart disease.
Magnesium may also be extremely useful if administered quickly, directly after a heart attack.
"A review of seven major clinical studies showed that IV magnesium reduced the odds of death by more than half in patients suffering acute myocardial infarction (heart attack).
One study developed a protocol for giving magnesium as soon as possible after onset of the heart attack and before any other drugs. If those criteria were followed, heart muscle damage was greatly reduced, and neither hypertension nor arrhythmia developed.
...Another smaller trial with only 200 people who were given IV magnesium at the onset of a heart attack, experienced a 74 percent lower death rate"
Unfortunately, magnesium is not properly utilized by conventional medicine.
In fact, many heart drugs, primarily diuretics, tend to deplete your body of magnesium, even though it's absolutely required for stabilizing heart muscle activity!
High blood pressure is yet another health problem that responds favorably to magnesium. According to a study published last year, the mineral significantly decreased both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in those diagnosed with hypertension in just 12 weeks. This lends further support to the immense role this mineral plays in your health.
Interestingly, one of the first papers I ever published in the medical literature, 25 years ago, was on the use of calcium supplementation to control high blood pressure. So I've known of the connection of important minerals like calcium and magnesium in the stabilization of blood pressure for nearly three decades.
If you decide to supplement with magnesium it is important to understand that its complementary partner is calcium. So ideally you should have a source of both. If you are having dairy though there is typically no reason for oral calcium supplementation.
Typically you would use twice as much elemental magnesium relative to the elemental calcium. That ratio seems to work quite well for most people.
Unfortunately, there's no lab test that will give an accurate reading of the magnesium status in your tissues. Only one percent of magnesium in your body is distributed in your blood, which makes a simple blood sample highly inaccurate.
That's why most doctors who rely on blood tests for magnesium, as opposed to looking for signs and symptoms of magnesium deficiency, will frequently miss an important diagnosis.
If you suspect you are low in magnesium, the best way to consume this mineral is through organically bound magnesium, which is found in organic green, leafy vegetables.
However, if magnesium and other minerals and micronutrients are not introduced through the soil, the plants may look healthy but will not be packed with the nutrition you need.
As a general rule, to get as much magnesium as possible in your diet, eat plenty of organic leafy green vegetables, nuts and seeds every day. Juicing your vegetables is an excellent option to ensure you're getting enough of them in your diet.
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