Magnesium Thirst Magnesium Hunger
We thirst for magnesium rich water.
Magnesium deficiency is often misdiagnosed because
it does not show up in blood tests – only 1% of the body’s magnesium is
stored in the blood.
Most doctors and laboratories don’t even include magnesium status in
routine blood tests. Thus, most doctors don’t know when their patients
are deficient in magnesium, even though studies show that the majority
of Americans are deficient in magnesium. Consider Dr. Norman Shealy’s
statements, “Every known illness is associated with a magnesium
deficiency” and that, “magnesium is the most critical mineral required
for electrical stability of every cell in the body. A magnesium
deficiency may be responsible for more diseases than any other
nutrient.” The truth he states exposes a gapping hole in modern medicine
that explains a good deal about iatrogenic death and disease. Because
magnesium deficiency is largely overlooked, millions of Americans suffer
needlessly or are having their symptoms treated with expensive drugs
when they could be cured with magnesium supplementation.
One has to recognize the signs of magnesium thirst or hunger on their
own since allopathic medicine is lost in this regard. It is really
something much more subtle then hunger or thirst but it is comparable.
In a world though where doctors and patients alike do not even pay
attention to thirst and important issues of hydration it is not hopeful
that we will find many recognizing and paying attention to magnesium
thirst and hunger which is a dramatic way of expressing the concept of
magnesium deficiency.
Few people are aware of the enormous role magnesium plays in our
bodies. Magnesium is by far the most important mineral in the body,
After oxygen, water, and basic food, magnesium may be the most important
element needed by our bodies, vitally important yet hardly known. It is
more important than calcium, potassium or sodium and regulates all
three of them. Millions suffer daily from magnesium deficiency without
even knowing it
In fact there happens to be a relationship between what we perceive
as thirst and deficiencies in electrolytes. I remember a person asking,
“Why am I dehydrated and thirsty when I drink so much water?” Thirst can
mean not only lack of water but it can also mean that one is not
getting enough nutrients and electrolytes. Magnesium, Potassium,
Bicarbonate, Chloride and Sodium are some principle examples and that is
one of the reasons magnesium chloride is so useful.
Magnesium Torment (Deficiency)
You know all those years when doctors used to tell their patients its
all in your heads were years the medical profession was showing its
ignorance. It is a torment to be magnesium deficient on one level or
another. Even if it’s for the enthusiastic sport person whose athletic
performance is down magnesium deficiency will disturb sleep and
background stress levels and a host of other things that reflect on the
quality of life. Doctors have not been using the appropriate test for
magnesium – their serum blood tests just distort their perceptions.
Magnesium has been off their radar screens through the decades that
magnesium deficiencies have snowballed.
Symptoms of Magnesium Deficiency
The first symptoms of deficiency can be subtle – as most magnesium is
stored in the tissues, leg cramps, foot pain, or muscle ‘twitches’ can
be the first sign. Other early signs of deficiency include loss of
appetite, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and weakness. As magnesium
deficiency worsens, numbness, tingling, seizures, personality changes,
abnormal heart rhythms, and coronary spasms can occur.
A full outline of magnesium deficiency was beautifully presented in a
recent article by Dr. Sidney Baker. “Magnesium deficiency can affect
virtually every organ system of the body. With regard to skeletal
muscle, one may experience twitches, cramps, muscle tension, muscle
soreness, including back aches, neck pain, tension headaches and jaw
joint (or TMJ) dysfunction. Also, one may experience chest tightness or a
peculiar sensation that he can’t take a deep breath. Sometimes a person
may sigh a lot.”
“Symptoms involving impaired contraction of smooth muscles include
constipation; urinary spasms; menstrual cramps; difficulty swallowing or
a lump in the throat-especially provoked by eating sugar; photophobia,
especially difficulty adjusting to oncoming bright headlights in the
absence of eye disease; and loud noise sensitivity from stapedius muscle
tension in the ear.”
“Other symptoms and signs of magnesium deficiency and discuss
laboratory testing for this common condition. Continuing with the
symptoms of magnesium deficiency, the central nervous system is markedly
affected. Symptoms include insomnia, anxiety, hyperactivity and
restlessness with constant movement, panic attacks, agoraphobia, and
premenstrual irritability. Magnesium deficiency symptoms involving the
peripheral nervous system include numbness, tingling, and other abnormal
sensations, such as zips, zaps and vibratory sensations.”
“Symptoms or signs of the cardiovascular system include palpitations,
heart arrhythmias, and angina due to spasms of the coronary arteries,
high blood pressure and mitral valve prolapse. Be aware that not all of
the symptoms need to be present to presume magnesium deficiency; but,
many of them often occur together. For example, people with mitral valve
prolapse frequently have palpitations, anxiety, panic attacks and
premenstrual symptoms. People with magnesium deficiency often seem to be
“uptight.” Other general symptoms include a salt craving, both
carbohydrate craving and carbohydrate intolerance, especially of
chocolate, and breast tenderness.”
Magnesium is needed by every cell in the body including those of the
brain and is one of the most important minerals when considering
supplementation because of its vital role in hundreds of enzyme systems
and functions related to reactions in cell metabolism, as well as being
essential for the synthesis of proteins, for the utilization of fats and
carbohydrates. Magnesium is needed not only for the production of
specific detoxification enzymes but is also important for energy
production related to cell detoxification. A magnesium deficiency can
affect virtually every system of the body.
Like water we need magnesium everyday. There is an
eternal need for magnesium as well as water and when
magnesium is present in water life and health are enhanced.
One of the principle reason doctors write millions of prescriptions
for tranquilizers each year is the nervousness, irritability, and
jitters largely brought on by inadequate diets lacking magnesium.
Persons
only slightly deficient in magnesium become irritable, highly-strung,
and sensitive to noise, hyper-excitable, apprehensive and belligerent.
If the deficiency is more severe or prolonged, they may develop
twitching, tremors, irregular pulse, insomnia, muscle weakness,
jerkiness and leg and foot cramps.
If magnesium is severely deficient, the brain is particularly
affected. Clouded thinking, confusion, disorientation, marked
depression and even the terrifying hallucinations of delirium
tremens are largely brought on by a lack of this nutrient and remedied
when magnesium is given. Because large amounts of calcium are lost in
the urine when magnesium is undersupplied, the lack of this nutrient
indirectly becomes responsible for much rampant tooth decay, poor bone
development, osteoporosis and slow healing of broken bones and
fractures. With vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), magnesium helps to reduce and
dissolve calcium phosphate kidney stones.
Magnesium deficiency may be a common factor associated with insulin
resistance. Symptoms of MS that are also symptoms of magnesium
deficiency include muscle spasms, weakness, twitching, muscle atrophy,
an inability to control the bladder, nystagmus (rapid eye movements),
hearing loss, and osteoporosis. People with MS have higher rates of
epilepsy than controls. Epilepsy has also been linked to magnesium
deficiencies.
[1]
Another good list of early warning symptoms is:
Suggestive early warning signs of magnesium insufficiency:
Physical and mental fatigue
Persistent under-eye twitch
Tension in the upper back, shoulders and neck
Headaches
Pre-menstrual fluid retention and/or breast tenderness
Possible manifestations of magnesium deficiency include:
Low energy
Fatigue
Weakness
Confusion
Nervousness
Anxiousness
Irritability
Seizures (and tantrums)
Poor digestion
PMS and hormonal imbalances
Inability to sleep
Muscle tension, spasm and cramps
Calcification of organs
Weakening of the bones
Abnormal heart rhythm
Severe magnesium deficiency can result in low levels of calcium in
the blood (hypocalcemia). Magnesium deficiency is also associated with
low levels of potassium in the blood (hypokalemia). Magnesium levels
drop at night, leading to poor REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep cycles and
unrefreshed sleep. Headaches, blurred vision, mouth ulcers, fatigue and
anxiety are also early signs of depletion.
We hear all the time about how heart disease is the number one health
crisis in the country, about how high blood pressure is the “silent
killer”, and about how ever increasing numbers of our citizens are
having their lives and the lives of their families destroyed by
diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and a host of other chronic diseases
Signs of severe magnesium deficiency include:
Extreme thirst
Extreme hunger
Frequent urination
Sores or bruises that heal slowly
Dry, itchy skin
Unexplained weight loss
Blurry vision that changes from day to day
Unusual tiredness or drowsiness
Tingling or numbness in the hands or feet
Frequent or recurring skin, gum, bladder or vaginal yeast infections
But wait a minute, aren’t those the same symptoms for diabetes? Many
people have diabetes for about 5 years before they show strong symptoms.
By that time, some people already have eye, kidney, gum or nerve damage
caused by the deteriorating condition of their cells due to insulin
resistance and magnesium deficiency. Dump some mercury and arsenic on
the mixture of etiologies and pronto we have the disease condition we
call diabetes.
Magnesium deficiency is synonymous with diabetes
and is at the root of many if not all cardiovascular problems.
Magnesium deficiency is synonymous with diabetes and is at the root of many if not all cardiovascular problems.
Magnesium deficiency is a predictor of diabetes and heart disease
both; diabetics both need more magnesium and lose more magnesium than
most people. In two new studies, in both men and women, those who
consumed the most magnesium in their diet were least likely to develop
type 2 diabetes, according to a report in the January 2006 issue of the
journal Diabetes Care. Until now, very few large studies have directly
examined the long-term effects of dietary magnesium on diabetes. Dr.
Simin Liu of the Harvard Medical School and School of Public Health in
Boston says, “Our studies provided some direct evidence that greater
intake of dietary magnesium may have a long-term protective effect on
lowering risk,” said Liu, who was involved in both studies
.
The thirst of diabetes is part of the body’s response to excessive
urination. The excessive urination is the body’s attempt to get rid of
the extra glucose in the blood. This excessive urination causes the
increased thirst. But we have to look at what is causing this level of
disharmony. We have to probe deeper into layers of cause. The body needs
to dump glucose because of increasing insulin resistance and that
resistance is being fueled directly by magnesium deficiency, which makes
toxic insults more damaging to the tissues at the same time.
When diabetics get too high blood sugars, the body creates “ketones”
as a by-product of breaking down fats. These ketones cause blood acidity
which causes “acidosis” of the blood, leading to Diabetic Ketoacidosis
(DKA), This is a very dangerous condition that can lead to coma and
death. It is also called “diabetic acidosis”, “ketosis”, “ketoacidosis”
or “diabetic coma”. DKA is a common way for new Type 1 diabetics to be
diagnosed. If they fail to seek medical advice on symptoms like
urination, which is driving thirst they can die of DKA.
Oral magnesium supplements reduce erythrocyte
[2] dehydration.
[3]
In general optimal balances of electrolytes are necessary to maintain
the best possible hydration. Diabetic thirst is initiated specifically
by magnesium deficiency with relative calcium excess in the cells. Even
water, our most basic nutrient starts having a hard time getting into
the cells with more going out through the kidneys.
Autism and Magnesium Deficiency
When dealing with autism spectrum and other neurological disorders in
children it is important to know the signs of low magnesium: restless,
can’t keep still, body rocking, grinding teeth, hiccups, noise
sensitive, poor attention span, poor concentration, irritable,
aggressive, ready to explode, easily stressed. When it comes to children
today we need to assume a large magnesium deficiency for several
reasons. 1) The foods they are eating are stripped of magnesium because
foods in general, as we shall see below are declining in mineral content
in an alarming way. 2) The foods many children eat are highly processed
junk foods that do not provide real nutrition to the body. 3) Because
most children on the spectrum are not absorbing the minerals they need
even when present in the gut. Magnesium absorption is dependent on
intestinal health, which is compromised totally in leaky gut syndromes
and other intestinal problems that the majority of autism syndrome
disorders. 4) Because the oral supplements doctors rely on are not
easily absorbed, because they are not in the right form and because
magnesium in general is not administered easily orally.
Modern medicine is supposed to help people not hurt them but with
their almost total ignorance of magnesium doctors end up hurting more
than they help for many of the medical interventions drive down
magnesium levels when they should be driving them up. Many if not most
pharmaceutical drugs drive magnesium levels into very dangerous zones
and surgery done without increasing magnesium levels is much more
dangerous then surgery done with.
The foundation of medical arrogance is actually medical ignorance and
the only reason ignorance and arrogance rule the playing field of
medicine is a greed lust for power and money. Human nature seems to be
at its worst in modern medicine when it should be at its best. It is sad
that people have to suffer needlessly and extraordinarily tragic that
allopathic medicine has turned its back on the Hippocratic Oath and all
that it means.
[2]
Red blood cells are also known as RBCs, red blood corpuscles (an
archaic term), haematids or erythrocytes (from Greek erythros for “red”
and kytos for “hollow”, with cyte translated as “cell” in modern usage).
The capitalized term Red Blood Cells is the proper name in the US for
erythrocytes in storage solution used in transfusion medicine.
[3] J. Clin. Invest. 100(7): 1847-1852 (1997). doi:10.1172/JCI119713. The American Society for Clinical Investigation
