What is the cause of the low mangesium epidemic?

Having identified that researchers believe there is an epedemic of low magnesium causes by our diets and lifestyles.  So what is it we are doing that is the cause of  the low magnesium epedmic.

1. Sweet foods

Refined sugar found in pastries, cakes, desserts, sweets etc contains no magnesium and causes the body to excrete magnesium.

2. Physical and emotional stress

Physcial stress e.g. surgery and emotional stress e.g. moving house, grief can cause a magnesium deficiency. In studies, adrenaline and cortisol by products of the “fight or flight” stress reaction assoicated with stress and anxeity were associated with decreated magnesium.  This is because stressful situations require more magnesium use by the body which can lead to a deficiency.  A lack of magnesium tends to magnify the stress reaction, worsening the problem.

3. Medication

The effects of certain drugs

  • Diuretics
  • Heart medications
  • Asthma medications
  • Birth control pills
  • Estrogen replacement therapy

have been shown to reduce mangesium levles in the body be increasing the loss through excretion by the kidneys.

References

Dean C. The Magnesium Miracle. New York: Ballantine Books; 2007.

 

Related Posts

  • Does nature restore you? – Part 2

    In my previous post, I shared the evidence of how nature can restore you.  I appreciate that not everyone in London lives within easy access to a green space, and it turns out that it may not be necessary to visit the green space just look at a green space. This first occurred to me a few weeks ago, when I was in Manchester.  In the hotel reception they had screens playing a short video clip of a roaring log fire.  A roaring log fire just happens to be another of those things that I find both calms me, reduces my stress levels and restores me.  What I noticed is that I had a positive response to the video clip, even though it was just a film of a log fire rather than an actual log fire.  So this made me think, would just looking at a picture of nature on your PC have the same positive impact as going out in nature. Li & Sullivan in a randomised controlled experiment demonstrated that views to green landscapes promote attention restoration and help individuals to recover from stress.  In another study, researches in China, have discovered that viewing nature based scenes were restorative and those with more openness but no people were more lived to reduce stress.  So maybe you could just look at a picture instead. So for those of you where its not practical to spend 5 minutes in nature per day, why not look at a picture of a green landscape (without people) on your mobile phone  or tablet or pc, and see if it boosts your attention levels and restores you. References D Li and W C Sullivan, Impact of views to school landscapes on recovery from stress and mental fatigue.  Landscape and Urban Planning, vol 148, 2016, pp 149 - 158.

    Wang et al Stress recovery and restorative effects of viewing different urban park scenes in Shanghai, China.  Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 2016, 15, pp 112- 122

  • A surprising benefit of HIIT

    Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are the standard approaches to slow the growth of colon cancer  - but high intensity exercise can have the same positive effect - a new study has found. Even a short session of high intensity interval training (HIIT) can induce changes in blood cells that slow the growth of colon cancer cells or even kill them off completely. These positive effects were seen after just one exercise session, although the colon cancer patients went on to complete 12 HIIT sessions over a month. Even after the first session, blood samples showed an increase in markers of inflammation, and when cancer cells in the lab wehre exposed to these samples they started dying, researchers at the University of Queensland have discovered. Although earlier studies have shown that intesntive exercise can dlow the growth of cancer cells, the researchers were surprised to see it was also reducing the number of cancer cells, suggesting they were beign killed off. Reference James L. Devin, Michelle M. Hill, Marina Mourtzakis, Joe Quadrilatero, David G. Jenkins, Tina L. Skinner. Acute high intensity interval exercise reduces colon cancer cell growth. The Journal of Physiology, 2019

  • So massage is safe for pregnant women, but is it effective?

    Last week we established that massage is safe for pregnant women.  A scientific review of studies of pregnancy in massage fond that pregnant women who received massage had

    • decreased depression
    • decreased anxiety
    • decreased leg and back pain
    In addition pregnant women who received massage had reduced
    • reduced cortisol levels
    • reduced excessive fetal activity
    • lower rate of prematurity (a baby being born before its 37 weeks old)
    For pregnant women who received massage during labour they
    • experienced less pain
    • required less medication
    • had shorter labours (on average 3 hours shorter)
    The study concluded massage is effective for pregnant women. Reference Field T. Pregnancy and labor massage. Expert review of obstetrics & gynecology. 2010;5(2):177-181. doi:10.1586/eog.10.12.