Sunday, February 28, 2010

Helpful Magnesium

I think I am going to start taking some low dose Magnesium supplements (link here). Anything that lowers HbA1c is a good thing. Many thanks to Stephan at Whole Health Source for this summary.
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6 comments:

  1. zimFebruary 28, 2010 at 4:58 PM

    good move, though i thought you already were taking it!

    i'm on 400mg / day of Mg citrate.

    i might add some Mg oxide, i've been reading that Mg oxide + B6 may prevent recurrence of kidney stones...

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  2. JustJoePFebruary 28, 2010 at 5:22 PM

    I'd only occasionally taken Magnesium at Traci's prompting to relive cramped toes and such - it's worked.

    On kidney stones, I used to work at a manufacturer of urinary catheters. They called the Summer and Fall "Tea Season" in the SE US, noting that sales more than doubled in that region during hot weather months as people consumed vast amounts of iced tea, got dehydrated, and then got kidney stones - year after year.

    The adult men I known who've had kidney stones have all been heavy coffee or diet coke or ice tea drinkers, with relatively low BMIs (my sample size has only been 4 adult caucasian males who've had them), in high stress occupations where they sat for long periods of time in offices. I believe there's a correlation, until someone shows me peer reviewed scientific studies that prove otherwise.

    If your urine is consistently dark, and you're close to being dehydrated, and you're a caucasian male, your propensity for kidney stones is much higher. Re-hydrate often (flood the filter with volume), don't drink "too much" of any one beverage (vary the chemical intake), be active (shake the filter often, to dislodge the smallest crystals before they grow, and get them moving down the ureters), have an acidic diet, as opposed to a basic one (dissolve the calcium carbonate, or keep it in solution longer)... and THAT's a good way (in a bio-chemical, fluid dynamic perspective) to avoid kidney stones. Mg doesn't hurt... I don't think.. and may even supplant some of the CaCO4 with MgCO3 perhaps, which doesn't form as big of stalagmites and tites as the Ca can and does.

    If you've got a link to the MgO2 _ B6, please forward it.

    Thanks!

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  3. zimFebruary 28, 2010 at 5:55 PM

    link

    i happened across it just this morning.

    i had an EBT scan last week, i should know shortly if they detected any stones. they told me they'll turn up anything > 1 mm.

    i'm taking potassium citrate (supposed to help), and i have this unsubstantiated belief that the l-arginine i take may be helping, too.

    i may be your counter-example, though i suspect the too-much-of-one-beverage i was drinking was orange gatorade, then orange vitamin water (with added calcium -- doh!)

    no more! mostly water now.

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  4. JustJoePFebruary 28, 2010 at 6:33 PM

    This may be of some use:

    Common Chemical Make Up:
    o calcium phosphate (8%)
    o calcium oxalate (most common: 73%, most opaque)
    o magnesium ammonium phosphate (also called "struvite" - often caused by an infection)

    Uncommon Chemical Make Up:
    o diammonium calcium phosphate
    o magnesium phosphate

    Rare Chemical Make Up:
    o cystine (faintly opaque; 1%)o urate (lucent - meaning translucent to x-rays; 7%)
    o xanthine

    "The southeastern area of the United States is known as the Kidney Stone Belt because of the relative high ratio of people suffering from kidney stones in those states. North Carolina (where this author, a fellow kidney store sufferer happens to live) has more kidney stone cases per capita than any other state. Several factors probably come into play to create this situation. One is the typical southern diet which is high in green vegetables and brewed tea - both of which are high in oxalates. The second is the hot climate which causes increased amounts of perspiration and loss of body fluid. And finally, modern life styles often reduce physical activity."

    Avoid Oxalates! Ocra, "collard greens", all high in the stuff.

    http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=138

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  5. pykerMarch 2, 2010 at 1:09 AM

    I woudn't recommend the oxide version unless you're taking it for the laxative effects. Mg in general helps smooth-muscle function and is anti-inflammatory. We get a lot less of it in our water than we used to.

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  6. pykerMarch 2, 2010 at 8:55 AM

    You can also make your own Mg supplement drink by adding 2 T. of plain Milk of Magnesia to 1l of club soda. Shake thoroughly. Drink 1 cup per day. I did this in the US last summer and seemed to work fine.

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