<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">10 Things You Need to Know About Magnesium </span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: large;">to Ensure a Healthy Vibrant Life</span></strong></p>
If you follow my blog you probably know that since I was introduced to Magnesium over a year ago, she has become my BFF!  I even call her "she" now thanks to Magnesium Man - Morley Robbins - who is an expert on Magnesium.  <span style="font-size: small; line-height: 18px;">You are going to have the pleasure of meeting and getting to know my BFF over the next several weeks as Morley shares some amazing insights into the mineral he refers to as "Maggie".   </span><span style="font-size: small;">And while Magnesium isn't a hormone, you are going to learn a lot about why she is so crucial to your health. - Sonya</span>

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<p align="center"><b><i>“You can trace every ailment, every sickness, and every disease to a mineral deficiency…”</i></b></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Linus C. Pauling, PhD (1901–1994) - Two-time (unshared) Nobel Laureate</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;"><img class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-1390" alt="Magnesium Deficiency Chart" src="http://www.hormonesoup.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Magnesium-Deficiency-Chart-150x114.jpg" width="150" height="114" /></span></strong></p>
Any Organic Farmer knows that it’s dangerous to create a mono-culture farm. And parallels can be drawn about advice on nutrition – it, too, can be dangerous to base them on a mono-nutrient. Sort of… Let me explain.

We’ve all been trained over the last 40 years to “up our Calcium!” --  being told by our Doctors, our Nutritionists, our Trainers, our Food Grocers, and our Public Health officials that it is essential to ensure proper health, and especially important to avoid Osteoporosis. America complied, dutifully. Despite this protocol, the rate of this dreaded bone disease has risen almost 700% during the last <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=stafford%2C%20rs%20Trends%20in%20Osteoporosis">period studied</a>. Worse yet, the research is now showing that this dietary policy is not just <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/13/health/calcium-and-vitamin-d-ineffective-for-fractures-us-preventive-services-task-force-says.html">doubtful</a>, it is down-right <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20671013">dangerous</a>.

Missing in all this discussion has been any meaningful information or focus about Calcium’s biological “antagonist": Magnesium.

Magnesium? I get that in my greens and my daily supplement, right? Possibly, but is it getting absorbed? Here are 10 important facts to know about Magnesium (Mg) that might just surprise you, and may, in fact, extend your life:
<ol>
	<li><b>Magnesium regulates Calcium</b>.
All three hormones (Calcitonin, PTH [Parathyroid Hormone], and Vitamin-D) are <a href="http://www.mgwater.com/gacontro.shtml">dependent upon Mg</a> for their proper production and regulation. Yeah, I was surprised, too, when I learned that. But it turns out that excess, unregulated Calcium is a harbinger of many problems in the body, and is the prime cause of “brittle bones” in our skeletal structure, which happens when there is insufficient Mg in our body.</li>
	<li><b>Magnesium activates Vitamin-D</b>.
There is no more misunderstood hormone on this planet than Vitamin-D. I will side-step the bulk of that confusion (for now), but will point out that our bodies <a href="http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/news-archive/2009/magnesium-and-vitamin-ds-co-factors/">require Mg to convert storage Vit-D</a> (the form of the supplement you are likely taking) to active Vit-D (the form of the hormone that does so many amazing things in our body.) It’s possible that your Doctor doesn’t even know this – most don’t.</li>
	<li><b>Magnesium regulates the Electrolytes.  </b>
The what? It turns out, we are giant batteries that run on electricity. The source of that electricity is minerals, especially the four key electrolytes: Calcium, Sodium, Potassium, and of course, Magnesium. We’ve covered Calcium above, but know that the Sodium/Potassium (Na/K) pump that is in all 100 trillion cells of our body, and is central to our overall well-being, is <a href="http://www.mgwater.com/schroll.shtml">totally dependent on Mg</a> to run properly and keep these minerals in balance.</li>
	<li><b>Magnesium is essential for digestive enzymes</b>.
The macro-nutrients we eat daily (proteins, fats and carbohydrates) each require a different set of enzymes to ensure proper metabolism and use in our bodies. It turns out that Mg is key to the production of all three classes of <a href="http://nutritionalmagnesium.org/health/frequently-asked-questions.html">enzymes</a>.</li>
	<li><b>Magnesium prevents Sudden Cardiac Death</b>.
Since the pioneering work of Chipperfield and Chipperfield (<b><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Lancet</span></b>, 1973), medicine has <b><span style="text-decoration: underline;">known</span></b> that severe Mg deficiency was <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=chipperfield%20and%20chipperfield%20heart%20muscle%20magnesium%201973">the cause of sudden death</a> related to heart events. This fact was recently re-confirmed in a study this <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=chiuve%20plasma%20and%20dietary%20magnesium%202011">past year</a>, just to amplify the point for the latest generation. Heart disease is a <b><span style="text-decoration: underline;">symptom</span></b> of Mg deficiency. Readers beware.</li>
	<li><i></i><b>Magnesium regulates the enzyme that makes Cholesterol</b>.
The body makes Cholesterol for a reason. All steroid hormones that run our bodies (i.e. stress hormones, sex hormones, etc.) are made ultimately <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=seelig%20rosanoff">from Cholesterol</a>. Hmmmm. So, high Cholesterol means I’m stressed out? Likely. So what’s a better way to deal with stress? <i>Get more Mg in your diet and take more Mg supplements.</i></li>
	<li><b>Magnesium is essential for energy production</b>.
We derive our energy from the Krebs Citric Cycle (sorry to go geek on you…) Every molecule of Glucose that gets metabolized, requires 28 molecules of Mg to make it happen. In fact, every transaction in the body that <a href="http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/using-magnesium-to-improve-your-exercise-performance-39415">requires energy</a> (most do, btw) requires the presence of Mg-ATP – it’s that central to our energy status, as well as our health status.</li>
	<li><b>Magnesium is essential for proper Insulin levels</b>.
You cannot produce Insulin, you cannot secrete Insulin, and your cells cannot recognize Insulin without proper levels of Mg. Study, after study, after study, after study has proven <a href="http://www.mgwater.com/diabetes.shtml">the central role of Mg</a> in controlling blood sugar levels. Your Doctor has told you that, right? And if you’re “pre-diabetic” (as 75 million Americans now are) you’ve had your Mg levels checked, right?</li>
	<li><b>Magnesium prevents depression</b>.
Scientists have <a href="http://george-eby-research.com/html/depression-anxiety.html">known since 1926</a> that excess Calcium, and too little Mg, causes people to feel “depressed.” You mean it’s largely a mineral imbalance? Yup. The fact that 7 of the <a href="http://www.forbes.com/2006/02/27/pfizer-merck-genentech-cx_mh_0224topsellingdrugs.html">top 20 selling drugs</a> in America are SSRIs (aka, anti-depressants) is indicative of how imbalanced our bodies have become. (see #1, above…)</li>
	<li><b>Magnesium is deficient in most Americans’ bodies</b>.
Numerous studies over the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12949381">last several years</a> have confirmed what the Mg-oriented health practitioners and researchers have known all along: we are missing sufficient levels of this critical nutrient. How did that happen? Ah, a subject of a future post…</li>
</ol>
Space and time prevent me from going into more detail at the present time, but rest assured, in future posts I look forward to sharing even more vital information about Mg, it’s relationship to overall nutrient status, overall hormonal balance, and health status, as well as definitive ways to restore its presence in our tissues. Yes, it is but one nutrient. But it happens to be the “Teacher in the Classroom” of the cell.

So how do we know if we’re <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9556074">deficient in Mg</a>? Here’s a brief listing of key symptoms (in addition to the conditions noted above…) that indicate that your body is looking for more Maggie, as I like to call it:
<ul>
	<li>Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS)</li>
	<li>Muscle Cramps, esp. in the night</li>
	<li>Facial ticks and twitches</li>
	<li>Pre-menstrual Syndrome (PMS)</li>
	<li>Migraines (~70% are related to Mg deficiency &amp; imbalance)</li>
	<li>High Blood Pressure</li>
	<li>Low Blood Sugar</li>
	<li>Indigestion</li>
	<li>Poor sleep patterns</li>
	<li>Raynaud’s Syndrome</li>
</ul>
There are actually more than a hundred different signs, but these are simple definitive indications of a Mg deficiency.

What to do? In subsequent posts I plan to indicate exactly what to do, how best to measure Mg deficiency, what foods are the best &amp; most bio-available sources, as well as what supplements offer the best recovery, etc.

My intent is to make this interactive and shed important light on the true origin of the biological dysfunction that is ravaging North America. It is epidemic, but it is also reversible.

I invite your questions, your comments, but most of all, your open minds to the truth about the stealth factor in disease in America. We have been mislead. We are being misfed. I will pull back the curtain for all to see…

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<td><a href="http://gotmag.org/about-mag/about-morley-robbins/"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-1392" alt="Morley Robbins" src="http://www.hormonesoup.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Morley-Robbins.jpg" width="93" height="89" /></a>Morley Robbins has been actively serving the healthcare field for the last 32+ years, as a hospital executive, healthcare consultant, and now Wellness Coach. Following a successful career managing and consulting to hospitals and health care systems, he realized that he could no longer stand the revolving door mentality of these “sick care” centers.He is dedicating the balance of his career to “saving one starfish at a time” by coaching clients about how to eat “real food,” restore their mineral balance, especially their Magnesium status, and thereby, facilitate the process of natural healing. He has discovered the “fountain of youth” in his newfound persona of <i>“Magnesium Man!”</i> and is proud of his efforts to raise the country’s awareness about the importance of magnesium via the efforts of Magnesium Advocacy Group (<a href="http://www.magfor.org">www.magfor.org</a>).He is delighted to be preaching to others what he has practiced for the last 30 years. He can be viewed on Youtube, reached online at <a href="mailto:morley@MagnesiumMan.com">morley@MagnesiumMan.com</a> or contacted on his cell at 847.922.8061.</td>
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