Posted on 08/18/2024 9:21:47 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
A study has identified why a diet rich in magnesium is important for our health, reducing the risk of DNA damage and chronic degenerative disorders.
Scientists measured blood samples from 172 middle aged adults, finding a strong link between low magnesium levels and high amounts of a genotoxic amino acid called homocysteine.
This toxic combination damages the body's genes, making people more susceptible to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, gastrointestinal diseases, a range of cancers, and diabetes.
Whole grains, dark green leafy vegetables, nuts, beans and dark chocolate are all magnesium-rich foods, which help the body produce energy, build teeth and bones, regulate blood sugar and blood pressure, and ensure that the heart, muscles and kidneys all work properly.
UniSA molecular biologist Dr. Permal Deo says a low intake of magnesium (less than 300mg per day) can increase the risk of many diseases, but its role in preventing DNA damage has not been fully studied until now.
"Our study showed a direct correlation between low magnesium levels in blood (less than 18mg/L) and increased DNA damage, even after adjusting for gender and age," Dr. Deo says.
"Blood levels of magnesium, homocysteine (Hcy), folate and vitamin B12 were measured, showing an inverse correlation between magnesium and Hcy and a positive correlation between magnesium, folate and vitamin B12. This indicates that sufficiently high magnesium levels in the blood are essential to protect our genes from toxicity caused by homocysteine, which is increased when folate and vitamin B12 are deficient."
Professor Michael Fenech says chronic magnesium deficiency is likely to disrupt the body's ability to produce energy and power cells, causing accelerated tissue aging and making people more susceptible to early onset of many diseases.
More than 600 enzymes require it as a co-factor and almost 200 require it to activate critical processes.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
The studies on this go back a bit. I encourage anyone to do the same.
If dark chocolate has it why wouldn’t milk chocolate? Isn’t it the same thing only with more dairy and sweetener?
Honest question. I don’t know. Just wondering.
Milk chocolate has a much smaller amount of cocoa in it.
We take it daily as well as potassium and a gazillion other supplements. We never get sick.
This…
“More than 600 enzymes require it as a co-factor
and almost 200 require it to activate critical processes
in the body.”
Low magnesium levels can cause jumpy/restless legs, leg cramps, A-fib and a myriad of other issues.
Recently my Mg levels dropped to zero in the middle of the night. It was caused by a UTI. I couldn’t move a muscle in my body. They thought I had a stroke and rushed me to the hospital.
That happened to a friend the same week. He lives alone, and he laid on the floor for three days before some buddies broke into his home and found him.
180mg of mg liquid per day, plus a lot of leafy greens.
It’s the sugar and fat. Dark chocolate has less of both than milk chocolate. But milk chocolate does have mg just not as much per gram as dark because of the added stuff. Plus, the sugar and fat aren’t considered good for you.
I have read that standard blood tests are not a reliable measure of magnesium status. An intracellular test is preferable.
From Wikipedia:
“Deficiency of magnesium can cause tiredness, generalized weakness, muscle cramps, abnormal heart rhythms, increased irritability of the nervous system with tremors, paresthesias, palpitations, low potassium levels in the blood, hypoparathyroidism which might result in low calcium levels in the blood, chondrocalcinosis, spasticity and tetany, migraines, epileptic seizures, basal ganglia calcifications and in extreme and prolonged cases coma, intellectual disability or death. Magnesium deficiency is strongly associated with and appears to contribute to obesity, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes, although the causal mechanism is not fully understood.”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesium_deficiency
My Dr. has me on two 400 mg of magnesium oxide twice daily. That’s a total of 4 tablets of magnesium 240 mg daily. It’s been like that since my transplant.
I take 2-3 magnesium pills daily. (If i go to the sauna, I’ll pop a magnesium and potassium pill afterwards.)
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