Magnesium question.....

[mammo]

I keep reading about magnesium.  How does one know if they need to take it? I read that 90% of the population is deficient??? If I need it, what is best to take and can anyone advise me on the dosage?
Thanks!

[painbrain]

I just ordered this magnesium supplement.  I have no experience with magnesium and I have never taken it before so I do not know if this is a good brand or dosage or what have you...  It is backordered so I wont get it for a few weeks, but once I get it and start taking it I will try to set up a journal about it and let everyone know if it makes a difference for my muscle spasms, anxiety, insomnia, etc etc.


Supplement Facts
Serving Size: 3 Tablets
Servings Per Container: 60

Amount per Serving


Calories Total 10

Amount per Serving % Daily Value+


Sodium 5 mg <1%

Total Carbohydrate 3 g 1%

% Daily Value


Magnesium (as magnesium malate) 425 mg 106%


Malic Acid (as magnesium malate and malic acid) 2.5 g*

* Daily Value not established.
+ Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

I am also trying to do epsom salt baths for dermal absorption.  I figure if Fentanyl and nicotine can be absorbed dermally, why not try it for magnesium too. :)  Plus I know I should be taking better care of myself, so perhaps taking nightly baths will have additional benefits for me.

With the epsom salt...Does anyone know how much I should be adding to a full bath to get the full benefits?  Like a handfull or more than that?

[compnet]

Another problem is that the soil in the US is mineral depleted in many places, so the food grown in it is depleted, too.  Plus, people already eat less vegetables, leafy food, and fruit than their bodies need.

White sugar and white flour is awful.  It's been stripped of most of the healthy minerals and vitamins.  So people are eating "junk food" or "empty food."  There's very little nutritional value.

There are also so many things going on these days that deplete your body of nutrients.  Stressors of all kinds -- fast paced living, over work, loud noises, bright lights, emotional/mental stress from people/music/TV, oxidative stress, etc.

[margypops]

hi Sheila I think it depends where your daughter went ...where I live In California and dalso many states we  do eat a lot of veg and fruits I have them growing in my yard , plums, apricots, oranges and lemons also grapefruit.as a whole I find most  Americans have a healthy diet .Maybe your daughter was a tad unlucky with her hotel ......

[peggy64]

As I posted earlier, the dermal route is the best route for epsoms salt. It is really better for you than drinking it. It will not give you diarrhea as it bypasses the stomach and goes straight to the blood system. And taking it this way bypasses the liver as well, giving it a much needed rest.

[enzymelover]

I don't think the sulfate form is better than other forms of magnesium. I just wanted to share that it is possible to get magnesium by soaking in epsom salts. This isn't new information. People used to go to mineral springs and natural sulfur pools for rejuvenation therapy with various illnesses. These were natural sources of magnesium and sulfate.

You said you take extra magnesium because you have an absorption problem. That's the right thing to do. But my son will not take a magnesium supplement (or many other supplements) in any oral form, so I make him get extra magnesium the only other way I can - by soaking in it. If he would eat properly he would get more magnesium that way, but he will not eat fruit or many vegetables, and he has a carbohydrate metabolism problem.

Oral magnesium supplements are great. I take them myself. I have a stubborn, sick child who is sick and tired of taking nasty tasting supplements and has self-limiting food choices, so I do whatever I have to do to get needed nutrients into his body.

[Paxiled]

I don't see why the sulfate form would be any better than any other form.  In fact, digested, it isn't.  The reason the sulfate form is used for injections and topically is because sulphur absorbs through the skin very well whereas magnesium doesn't, so the sulphur is there to carry the magnesium to a specific spot in cases of emergency deficiency or specific muscle cramps.  This isn't to say that if it's working, great with me, or that I'm against epsom salts, just that the best way to get one's magnesium needs is through a balanced diet.  And the magnesium in food isn't a chelated sulfate.  Neither are any of the most recommended supplements.  But sulfate just being one of dozens of possible chelations and the body having to shed any of those chelations in order to utilize the magnesium where it's needed, I still don't see long-term benefit in using it topically vs. eating it the way nature intended.    I have to take excess magnesium because medication I take interferes with its absorption -- this is a common problem.  Otherwise, I wouldn't be supplementing it at all beyond my multi because I eat a lot of green vegetables and whole grains, excellent sources of magnesium, and I avoid dairy, an excess source of calcium.  But to each his or her own; that's what makes baseball, and I always say there's a lot more information than fact out there.  So while I'm the outlyer here, I can't claim to be right or you to be wrong.  It's fun to discuss, though, and you've given me an angle on it I really hadn't confronted before in anyone.  Thanks for the insight.