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Magnesium Filled Chocolate

Benefits of Chocolate

Magnesium in Chocolate

One of the benefits of chocolate is significant amounts of magnesium. Peter Meisel, of the Department of
Pharmacology, Ernst Moritz Arndt University Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany, says “a bar of this chocolate supplies the recommended daily allowance of magnesium.”

Jean Mayer, of the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (J.B.B.), Tufts University, Boston, Mass., said “Consumption of flavanol-rich dark chocolate (DC) has been shown to decrease blood pressure (BP) and insulin resistance in healthy subjects.

Estimates range from over 100 mg of magnesium per 100 grams of chocolate, but lets start with the cocao bean. At 131 mg per 100 grams, raw cocoa powder, which is extracted from the cocao bean with the fats removed, would seem to be the richest natural source of magnesium we know of. That’s great…but who eats raw cocoa powder? It’s more reasonable to look at 25-30 mgs of magnesium in your chocolate, the kind you buy at the store, and that all depends on the cocoa content. 70% or higher cocoa content chocolate is a good snack. This applies specifically to dark chocolate, not milk chocolate.

Milk chocolate only has about 25% of the magnesium that dark chocolate does.

That hot cocoa you drink on a cool morning does more than just satisfy a sweet tooth, as long as it is rich in cocoa powder. (In fact coconut milk with cocoa is another super magnesium concoction-and tasty!)

This would seem to be to good to be true, but it has been sufficiently verified to gain the acceptance of the medical community.

A new study, which involved a review of three prior studies, suggests eating about a bar of chocolate a week can help cut the risk of stroke and lower the risk of death after a stroke. Neurologist Gustavo Saposnik at St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto says the evidence is still limited, but he suggests further investigation.

One study they looked at found that 44,489 people who ate one serving of chocolate per week were 22% less likely tohave a stroke than people who ate no chocolate. Another study found that 1,169 people who ate 50 grams of chocolate once a week were 46% less likely to die following a stroke than people who didn’t eat chocolate.

Going back a little farther, Jean Calment lived to the age of 122, healthy to the end in 1997. She attributed herlongevity to olive oil, two cigarettes a day and a kilo (2.2 pounds!) of chocolate per week. Admittedly, this is liking asking someone why they have a full head of hair. Ms. Calmert was blessed with longevity, and at the veryleast we can say that 2 kilos of chocolate a week didn’t likely shorten her life.

Still, there’s enough here to say that dark chocolate covered almonds are one doozy of a magnesium boost. Almonds are high in magnesium as well.

The only question here is this: Can we make up for our magnesium deficiency by indulging in daily chocolate binges?

Well….maybe that’s not such a good idea.

Here’s the bad news (you knew there had to be a catch, right?)

Chocolate is still a junk food. While the magnesium in chocolate will be a benefit, as will the anti-oxidants in it, you are getting a lot of other stuff you might be better off without. Sugar, for one. Fatty calories for another. While magnesium works to prevent the onset of adult Type II diabetes and reduce inflammatory diseases, the sugar will be working to screw up your insulin levels and increase inflammatory conditions.

Chocolate also has high copper levels, which can bring on a number of problems over years. Accumulated copper levels actually worsen many of the conditions that magnesium makes better.

This is not meant to scare you, as chocolate is a pleasurable food. Just keep in mind that it’s not a cure-all, and shouldn’t be overindulged in.

So, if you want something sweet and fun, buy all means make sure it’s chocolate with a high cocoa content. Mixed with almonds is even better. While your main source of magnesium shouldn’t be the magnesium in chocolate, there’snothing wrong enjoying the benefits of chocolate at your usual dessert or snack time.

Magnesium deficiency keeing you awake?

Magnesium Deficiency – What are the Signs?

A magnesium deficiency is very hard to detect without a visit to the doctor for an actual test of your blood levels. However, there are some factors in your life that may suggest deficiency in magnesium that are worth looking at first. These factors fall into two categories:

1- Symptoms of magnesium deficiency
2- Things you are doing or drinking that leach magnesium from your body

Let’s look at the symptoms first, varied as they are:

Insomnia-
Tiredness and insomnia (funny how there go hand in hand) are the earliest signs of a deficiency. You are restless at night, and may wake up frequently. During the day, you’re just tired. Any reason for this? It could be stress, yet stress itself is know to use up the body’s magnesium.

Nausea and vomiting, with loss of appetite-
Another early sign.

Later stage signs of numbness, muscle twitching, irregular heartbeat and coronary spasms-
These are scarier. Nothing like laying awake at night with insomnia, and feeling your heart struggle. It certainly was enough for me to start looking at sources of magnesium in food.

There are numerous other signs that cover just about everything you can imagine, including depression, mood swings, jumpiness and more.

Remember, even before you consult with a doctor, there is no harm in increasing your natural intake of magnesium. It is only with supplements that you need to be careful of dosage.

Now…take the symptoms above and consider what you are doing to your body that might be draining you of magnesium.

Stress, both mental and physical, excess coffee, sugar, salt, alcohol and sweetened sodas all have an effect. So does tobacco and excess sweating. Various medications are also know to deplete the magnesium in your body.

Moreover, there’s the big issue of excess calcium. Yes, it’s possible to take in too much calcium, which ironically has the effect of making your bones weaker. Excess calcium depletes your magnesium. Osteoporosis and fragile bones can actually be caused by calcium rather than prevented.

On the other hand, too much magnesium is simply not possible when you source it naturally from food.

If you can identify with some of the signs above, it’s a very good idea to start increasing your magnesium intake immediately. Follow the links above to see what foods you need, and get ahead of any magnesium deficiency that may be dragging you down in every area of your life and health.

USA                             Canada

Infants up to 3 years old:         40-80 mg                20–50 mg
Children 4 to 6 years old:         120 mg                    65mg
Children 7 to 10 years old:      170 mg                    100–135 mg
Adolescent to adult males:      270–400 mg        130–250 mg
Adolescent to adult females:   280–300 mg        135–210 mg
Pregnant females:                        320 mg                    195–245 mg
Breast-feeding females:             340–355 mg         245–265 mg

This chart is for “normal” people. If your body is expelling more magnesium than it should, you will need higher doses.

But taking supplements, you should consult a doctor. It is possible to get too much magnesium when you are using most supplements. Also, if you are taking any medication at all, you should confirm with your doctor that magnesium supplements with not interfere with them. If you have heart disease or kidney problems, check with your doctor as well about these.

With that in mind, lets look at how to add magnesium to your body.

First off, most magnesium supplements can be enhanced by taking additional vitamins that aid in magnesium absorption. Starting with chelated magnesium (the kind that is best absorbed by the body) you can aid your magnesium supplements by the following:

? Calcium (one or two parts calcium for one part magnesium)
? Vitamin C (helps your body utilize magnesium)
? Take your supplements with food
? Avoid taking vitamin D, which can interfere with magnesium

If you miss a does of magnesium, take it as soon as possible. However, if it is almost time for your next dose, just skip the missed does. In other words, do not double dose.

Next up….which supplements to take?

For comparison, Crystal Geyser has 6mg per liter.

San Pelligrino has enough magnesium for me...

That expensive water from Fiji? Only 13mg.

Vittel? 19.9mg
Evian? 24mg
San Pellegrino? 55.9mg (Not too bad. Comes with bubbles, too!)
Perrier? A miserable 3.2mg!

Want to look for your favorite water and see how it measures up? Head over to this comprehensive bottled water guide and check it out.

Buckwheat Soba Noodles

Buckwheat tastes great. This didn’t used to be a secret, as buckwheat pancakes were a southern staple. But, somehow it all got lost to us. So, buckwheat tastes great… even though it’s maybe the best source of natural magnesium out there. One cup of buckwheat gives you about a third of your magnesium needs for the day. It also gives you as much protein as eggs….but actually reduces your cholesterol and blood sugar levels! A study published in a study published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology that covered 16 years and 69,000 women demonstrated a 13% to 17% reduction in gallstones. Another study, in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry reported in success in controlling diabetes through increased buckwheat consumption. Heart and colon conditions have also been known to respond favorably to buckwheat’s goodness.

Moreover, buckwheat is not technically a cereal grain. It’s a fruit seed. That means it can be eaten by people who cannot tolerate grain or gluten foods.

So why isn’t the whole world raving about this food? Well, in Japan (where buckwheat is called soba), this is nothing new. There is delicious buckwheat noodle soup, cold buckwheat noodle salads (zarusoba), fried buckwheat noodles (yakisoba) and many other variations -  all of them delicious.

You can use buckwheat flour to make your pasta at home, or buy already prepared buckwheat noodles at the shop. Buck wheat grains can be added to soups for a hearty flavor, used in place of oatmeal, added to whole wheat to make fantastic bread, or used to make muffins and pancakes. It is also often added to rice to give it extra flavor, texture and color.

And of course, you can fry up the noodles yakisoba style, which means throwing in all your favorite stuff and making a very filling meal.

However you do it, once you start to add buckwheat to your diet, you won’t want to stop. And your body will thank you.

ADHD and magnesium

There are suggestions that children suffering from attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be in fact displaying the results of a mild magnesium deficiency. The deficiency may cause irritability, decreased attention spans, and mental confusion. The clinical study below observed 116 children with ADHD, and found a striking 95% to be magnesium deficient. In a separate clinical study, 75 magnesium-deficient children with ADHD were chosen at random to receive either magnesium supplements in addition to standard treatment or just standard treatment without the supplements for a period of 6 months. Those who received the magnesium supplements displayed significant improvements in behavior, while those who received only the usual therapy, without magnesium supplements, were observed to display deteriorating behavior.

These results suggest that magnesium supplementation, or at least high amounts of magnesium in the diet and magnesium rich foods, may prove to be beneficial for children with ADHD.

Source-

Starobrat-Hermelin B, Kozielec T. The effects of magnesium physiological supplementation on hyperactivity in children with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD): positive response to magnesium oral loading test. Magnesium Research. 1997; 10(2):149-156.

Mary joked that she felt as though she was constantly being run over by a slow-moving bus. Cramping in her legs startled her awake at night, making her an insomniac, and she had heart palpitations daily. Her doctor also found that she had high blood sugar — not bad enough to need injections of insulin, but he prescribed pills to try to stimulate more insulin production. Finally, frightening panic attacks came out of nowhere and made this vibrant, fun-loving woman afraid to go outside.

To try to relieve her leg cramps, Mary began taking calcium at night, having read that it was good for cramps and sleep. At first, the calcium seemed to help, but after a week or two, the pains got worse. If she yawned and stretched in bed, her calf muscles would seize up and catapult her to the floor, where she would lie frantically massaging her muscles to try to release the spasm. All the next day, she would limp about with a very tender, bruised feeling in her calf.

Although Mary’s heart palpitations had improved somewhat after she’d given up her three cups of coffee a day, they too resumed after a few weeks. Every time the palpitations occurred, which was several times a day, they made her cough slightly and catch her breath. She found it frightening, even though her doctor said her stress tests for heart disease were fine and she didn’t need further testing with an angiogram.

Both Mary’s parents had adult-onset diabetes, and Mary knew that she should watch her diet, but she was overweight and craved sugary and high-carbohydrate foods that were hard to resist. When the panic attacks hit on top of everything else, Mary knew she had to seek help, and came to my office. She was only fifty-three, far too young to be feeling so bad, and was worried about her future health.

Sam was only forty-nine and experiencing chest pains. At first, he thought they were indigestion, but sometimes the pains would occur in the middle of the night. Concerned, he went to a cardiologist, who found two slightly blocked arteries, not serious enough for bypass surgery. Sam’s cholesterol was somewhat elevated, as was his blood pressure, which he attributed to his high-stress occupation and the fact that he had not exercised regularly for the past six months, when he was sidelined with back pain. The cardiologist observed that his arterial blockage would almost inevitably worsen over time and eventually necessitate surgery. The doctor offered him medication for his high cholesterol, told him not to eat butter or eggs, and gave him nitroglycerine to take whenever he had the pain. If the symptoms got worse, he would prescribe other medications. Sam couldn’t imagine having to wait to get worse before doing something about his chest pain; he knew there must be something more he could do to avoid surgery and came to me for advice.

At thirty-five, Jan had actually begun to look forward to going through menopause. That’s how bad her PMS symptoms were. As soon as those horrible feelings lifted, she was hit by the sledgehammer of menstrual cramps. She also had migraines, which for years had come before her period but now were occurring once or twice a week. She was so miserable that she was considering a complete hysterectomy, with removal of her hormone-producing ovaries, but wondered whether the migraines, since they were happening all month, were not hormonal.

Different as their symptoms are, Mary, Sam, and Jan all suffer from magnesium deficiency. While women and men seem equally susceptible to magnesium deficiency, women may become deficient faster than men due to hormonal fluctuations because pound for pound, they have fewer circulating red blood cells, which carry magnesium, and so perhaps less magnesium available. There are a few other gender differences. Because of magnesium’s effect on hormonal regulation and vice versa, women can have deficiencies in pregnancy, when breast-feeding, with premenstrual syndrome (PMS), and with dysmenorrhea (painful periods). Osteoporosis, which affects more women than men, is evidence of a deficiency of both calcium and magnesium. An overactive thyroid, which afflicts more women than men, increases the metabolic rate, which uses up magnesium-requiring ATP (adenosine triphosphate — the energy packets made in each cell in the body). Without magnesium, ATP would not be produced.

Let’s follow Mary, Sam, and Jan and see how they overcame their magnesium deficiencies.

When Mary visited me, I charted her health history in detail, according to procedures commonly used by naturopathic doctors, and found several symptoms of magnesium deficiency. In her case it had been made even worse by too much calcium, so simple magnesium supplementation wouldn’t be enough for Mary. Her diet and lifestyle needed a complete overhaul.

I gave Mary a list of magnesium-rich foods that she needed to start eating, which included nuts, beans, greens, and seeds such as sunflower and pumpkin. Mary realized that she’d been avoiding almost all of these foods: She thought nuts were fattening, beans gave her gas, and greens never seemed fresh enough at the supermarket. She had never even thought about eating seeds.

After a week of enthusiastically eating a lot more magnesium-rich foods, Mary felt somewhat better. To make sure she could get fresh organic greens regularly, she tracked down a local community-supported agriculture (CSA) program and bought a share in a neighboring organic farm. Mary also learned how to soak and cook beans to prevent them from causing gas, and began eating nuts and seeds rich in magnesium and healthy oils, such as almonds, walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds.

After her second visit I recommended that she begin taking magnesium supplements. Starting with a dosage of 200 mg a day, we added another 200 mg every two days to build slowly to 600 mg. I cautioned her that it could take months to eliminate magnesium deficiency symptoms and that not all her symptoms would necessarily respond. Within two months, however, Mary was singing the praises of magnesium. Her palpitations and panic attacks had disappeared. Her cravings for sweets were fewer, she was able to control her blood sugar with diet alone, and tests for blood sugar were normal. Her leg cramps were gone, and with them her insomnia. At three months we added calcium along with magnesium so that she would not develop an imbalance of the two. Mary’s internist was quite surprised at her improved health and told her to keep up the good work with her diet and supplements.

Sam had an inquiring mind, and I encouraged him to start reading about heart disease. He found that up to 30 percent of angina (chest pain) patients do not have badly blocked arteries but may be suffering from an electrical imbalance that is driven by mineral deficiency, most commonly magnesium. An astonishing 40 to 60 percent of sudden deaths from heart attack may occur in the complete absence of any prior artery blockage, clot formation or heart rhythm abnormalities, most likely from spasms in the arteries (magnesium is a natural antispasmodic). Moreover, he found that magnesium deficiency has been linked to sudden cardiac death. Sam didn’t want to wait around for that to happen to him; he was determined to find out what was causing his problem and treat the cause. The more he read, the more intrigued he became. When he read that magnesium deficiency is also associated with muscle pain, especially back pain, that really got his attention, since he had begun having back pain four or five months before he began to develop chest pains.

With a packet of information on magnesium, Sam went back to his cardiologist. Before the doctor saw him, however, a nurse took Sam’s blood pressure; it was unusually elevated, even though at home it was usually only a few points above normal. (Doctor-induced hypertension is commonly reported by patients.) The cardiologist swept into the room and immediately began talking about blood pressure medication. Sam countered with magnesium. The cardiologist visibly cooled and said that magnesium was used to control hypertension that occurred in pregnant women because there were no side effects, but that there were plenty of effective drugs for everyone else. When Sam said he would rather not have side effects either, the cardiologist gathered up his file and told him to come back when he was ready to take medications for his heart disease.

When Sam came back to see me, he was still pretty upset by this encounter; he didn’t like the specialist refusing to discuss a possible magnesium deficiency as part of the picture. Sam and I agreed that magnesium seemed the best treatment for him to initiate at this time since he was not willing to take medications.

Sam began adding magnesium to his diet by eating magnesium-rich foods. After a week he felt much calmer, but he still had chest and back pain. So he added magnesium and calcium supplements, and in about three months he felt almost normal.

Among the studies Sam read was one that looked at the correspondence between type A personalities and magnesium deficiency. From the description, Sam realized he was a type A, an aggressive guy who lived on adrenaline, time pressure, and stress. This type of behavior drains the body of magnesium and can lead to disorders such as heart disease, muscle spasms, hypersensitivity, and irritability. Prolonged psychological stress raises adrenaline, the stress hormone, which depletes magnesium. Both Sam’s back and chest pain would hit when he was under stress. So Sam worked on ways to control his stress and added more magnesium when he knew he couldn’t avoid it. On days when he exercised, Sam added an extra 200 mg of magnesium to his diet, since sweat loss during heavy exercise (cycling and jogging) and working in the heat deplete magnesium. Just drinking water won’t replace all the minerals lost. By paying attention to the many factors that affected his mind-body health, Sam lowered his cholesterol and stress levels and reduced his chance of a heart attack and of needing surgery to unblock his arteries.

Jan heard that yoga might help her PMS and painful periods, and she really needed to learn to relax, so she took classes at a local health club. The teacher also ran regular detox and cooking classes, which Jan decided to join when she realized she didn’t have to “give up everything” and become a vegetarian. One of the first things Jan learned in the detox class was the importance of having regular bowel movements. Jan was lucky if she had one a week. If the bowel doesn’t empty once a day, toxins can be reabsorbed back into the body from the colon. The longer debris sits in the colon, the more fluid is reabsorbed, making stools solid and difficult to pass. PMS and endometriosis, which causes painful periods, are considered by some natural health experts to worsen with constipation and toxicity.

During cooking classes, Jan faced the fact that she was a junk food addict. Magnesium is necessary in hundreds of enzymes in the body but is almost totally lost during the processing of packaged and fast foods. The older women in their class were suffering from a variety of problems that included cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis. Is that how she would end up in ten or twenty years if she didn’t take care of her health now? Learning how many basic nutrients she lacked in her diet made her marvel that she wasn’t even more ill. Her new diet included greens, beans, nuts, and seeds, which cleared up her constipation and almost eliminated her PMS and painful periods. When she came to see me on the advice of her yoga teacher, it was clear she was on the right track. I recommended that she begin taking a magnesium supplement along with calcium and a multiple vitamin; with all her lifestyle changes, she felt like a new person.

The Body is Electric
The impulses for any and all movement in the body arise from electrical transmission. These microcurrents of electricity that pass along the nerves were first measured in 1966. Scientists soon discovered that the conductor for these bodily electrical currents was calcium and that magnesium was necessary to maintain the proper level of calcium in the blood. More recent research indicates that calcium enters the cells by way of calcium channels that are jealously guarded by magnesium. Magnesium allows a certain amount of calcium to enter a cell to create the necessary electrical transmission, and then immediately helps to eject the calcium once the work is done. Why? If calcium accumulates in the cell, it causes toxicity and disrupts cell function. Too much calcium entering cells can cause symptoms of heart disease (such as angina, high blood pressure, and arrhythmia), asthma, or headaches. Magnesium is nature’s calcium channel blocker.

About 60-65 percent of all our magnesium is housed in our bones and teeth. The remaining 35-40 percent is found in the rest of the body, including muscle and tissue cells and body fluids. The highest concentrations are in the heart and brain cells, so it is no wonder that the major symptoms of magnesium deficiency affect the heart and brain. These are also the two organs that have considerable electrical activity measured by EKG (electrocardiogram) and EEG (electroencephalogram). Our blood contains only one percent of the body’s total magnesium.

Magnesium mostly works inside our tissue cells, producing ATP energy packets for our body’s vital force and triggering production of all the body’s protein structures by revving up messenger RNA. It is also a requirement for the production of DNA, our genetic code. Both of the basic building blocks of life, RNA and DNA, are dependent on magnesium to maintain stable genes. In addition to its stabilizing effect on DNA and the structure of chromosomes, magnesium is an essential cofactor in almost all enzyme systems involved in the processing of DNA. Research shows that without sufficient magnesium, DNA synthesis becomes sluggish.

What Does Magnesium Do?
Magnesium’s hundreds of activities in the human body can be divided into five essential categories:

1. Magnesium is a cofactor assisting enzymes in catalyzing most chemical reactions in the body, including temperature regulation.

2. Magnesium produces and transports energy.

3. Magnesium is necessary for the synthesis of protein.

4. Magnesium helps to transmit nerve signals.

5. Magnesium helps to relax muscles.

1. Cofactor in Chemical Reactions – Enzymes are protein molecules that stimulate every chemical reaction in the body. Magnesium is required to make hundreds of these enzymes work.

2. Producing and Transporting Energy – Magnesium and the B-complex vitamins are excellent examples of energy nutrients, because they activate enzymes that control digestion, absorption, and the utilization of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Because magnesium is involved with hundreds of enzymatic reactions throughout the body, deficiency can affect every aspect of life and cause a score of symptoms. Of the 325 magnesium-dependent enzymes, the most important enzyme reaction involves the creation of energy by activating adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the fundamental energy storage molecule of the body. ATP may be what the Chinese refer to as qi or life force. Magnesium is required for the body to produce and store energy. Without magnesium there is no energy, no movement, no life. IT is that simple.

3. Synthesizing Protein – Magnesium is used in synergy with dozens of other vitamins and minerals to create structural components of the body. Under the direction of magnesium, enzymes and nutrients modify the building blocks from food to create the body. Without magnesium, there is no body. RNA and DNA, which contain the genetic blueprints for the formation of all the protein molecules in the body, are also dependent on magnesium.

4. Transmitting Nerve Signals – Magnesium permits calcium to enter a nerve cell to allow electrical transmission along the nerves to and from the brain. Even our thoughts, via brain neurons, are dependent on magnesium.

5. Relaxing Muscles – Calcium causes contraction in skeletal muscle fibers, and magnesium causes relaxation. When there is too much calcium and insufficient magnesium, you can get sustained muscle contraction: twitches, spasms, and even convulsions. Smooth muscles directed by too much calcium and insufficient magnesium can tighten the bronchial tract, causing asthma; cause cramping in the uterus and painful periods; and cause spasms in blood vessels, resulting in hypertension.

The Dance of Calcium and Magnesium
Calcium and magnesium share equal importance in our bodies. Newton’s law says that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, and calcium and magnesium dance within this law. Neither can act without eliciting a reaction from the other. At the biochemical level, magnesium and calcium are known to act antagonistically towards each other. Many enzymes whose activities critically depend on a sufficient amount of intracellular magnesium will be detrimentally affected by small increases in levels of cellular calcium. Growth of cells, cell division, and intermediary metabolism are also absolutely dependent on the availability of magnesium, which can be compromised if excess calcium is present.

To understand how you can create a calcium/magnesium imbalance in your own body, try this experiment in your kitchen. Crush a calcium pill and see how much dissolves in 1 oz of water. Then crush a magnesium pill and slowly stir it into the calcium water. When you introduce the magnesium, the remaining calcium dissolves; it becomes more water-soluble. The same thing happens in your bloodstream, heart, brain, kidneys, and all the tissues in your body. If you don’t have enough magnesium to help keep calcium dissolved, you may end up with calcium-excess muscle spasms, fibromyalgia, hardening of the arteries, and even dental cavities. Another scenario plays out in the kidneys. If there is too much calcium in the kidneys and not enough magnesium to dissolve it, you can get kidney stones.

All the muscles, including the heart and blood vessels, contain more magnesium than calcium. If magnesium is deficient, calcium floods the smooth muscle cells of the blood vessels and causes spasms leading to constricted blood vessels and therefore higher blood pressure, arterial spasm, angina, and heart attack. A proper balance of magnesium in relation to calcium can prevent these symptoms. Calcium excess, stimulating the cells in the muscular layer of the temporal arteries over the temples, can cause migraine headaches. Excess calcium can constrict the smooth muscle surrounding the small airways of the lung, causing restricted breathing and asthma. Finally, too much calcium, without the protective effect of magnesium, can irritate delicate nerve cells of the brain. Cells that are irritated by calcium fire electrical impulses repeatedly, depleting their energy stores and causing cell death.

The Calcium Distraction
The irony of the calcium-magnesium story is that without magnesium calcium will not work properly. Both our current diet and tendency to oversupplement with calcium, however, make getting enough magnesium almost impossible. Research shows that the ratio of calcium to magnesium in the paleolithic or caveman diet — the ancient diet that had evolved with our bodies — was 1:1, compared with a 5:1 to 15:1 ratio in present-day diets. With an average of ten times more calcium than magnesium in our current diet, there is no doubt about widespread magnesium deficiency in modern times.

(The Miracle of Magnesium is available at Amazon.com in an updated version entitled Magnesium Miracle)