{"id":2771,"date":"2007-10-08T16:04:16","date_gmt":"2007-10-08T21:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/?p=2771"},"modified":"2021-03-22T21:49:51","modified_gmt":"2021-03-23T02:49:51","slug":"the-most-important-supplement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2007\/10\/08\/the-most-important-supplement","title":{"rendered":"The Most Important Supplement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click here<\/a> for the original post.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s magnesium. In fact, if you wake up one morning and say, \u201cI\u2019m not taking another supplement in my life\u201d (not that I\u2019m recommending this), don\u2019t toss your magnesium.<\/p>\n

Most experts in clinical nutrition believe that when it comes to magnesium, we\u2019re all seriously depleted. This has occurred because our food and soil have changed: vegetables, once our major magnesium source, now grow in soil that has less magnesium than it did a few decades ago.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s difficult to measure magnesium in your body. Blood sugar or cholesterol levels are easy to measure because they\u2019re found in the liquid component of blood (serum), but most of your body\u2019s magnesium is in your cells and inaccessible to convenient testing.<\/p>\n

Magnesium is involved in so many functions that a shortage of it can cause all sorts of seemingly unrelated problems and symptoms. Magnesium is an important part of more than 350 chemical reactions and is needed for, among other things:
\n\u2022\tEnergy and metabolism
\n\u2022\tNerve transmission and muscle relaxation
\n\u2022\tManufacture of bones and teeth
\n\u2022\tProtein synthesis
\n\u2022\tDetoxification
\n\u2022\tCreating neurotransmitters (chemical messengers in the brain)
\n\u2022\tTemperature regulation<\/p>\n

Alan Gaby, MD, the physician who taught nutritional medicine to thousands of doctors through his books and seminars, was so impressed by the variety of symptoms caused by magnesium deficiency–and by the number of illnesses prevented by regular use of magnesium supplements–that he wrote an entire book on the subject.<\/p>\n

Magnesium<\/a> has not gone out of print since it appeared in 1994.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a very abbreviated list of conditions for which I prescribe magnesium:
\n\u2022\tHeart arrhythmias, angina, high blood pressure
\n\u2022\tAsthma, hyperventilation, and shortness of breath
\n\u2022\tFibromyalgia, tension headaches, and migraine headaches
\n\u2022\tOsteopenia (early osteoporosis) and osteoporosis
\n\u2022\tIrritable bowel syndrome with constipation
\n\u2022\tChronic fatigue syndrome, poor focus, and concentration
\n\u2022\tRaynaud\u2019s syndrome (tingling in hands and feet, sense of feeling cold)
\n\u2022\tMenstrual cramps and PMS
\n\u2022\tMuscle twitching and tics
\n\u2022\tMitral valve prolapse
\n\u2022\tAnxiety and panic disorders<\/p>\n

Each of these conditions, Dr. Gaby points out, has increased in frequency during the past few decades, in direct correlation to the decline of magnesium in our diets and falling levels of magnesium in our bodies.<\/p>\n

You need at least 800 mg of magnesium per day. For best absorption, I recommend magnesium glycinate<\/a>, inexpensive and easy dosing. If you\u2019re using magnesium for chronic constipation, the best choice is magnesium citrate<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s magnesium. In fact, if you wake up one morning and say, \u201cI\u2019m not taking another supplement in my life\u201d (not that I\u2019m recommending this), don\u2019t toss your magnesium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2087,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,51,43,70],"tags":[308],"class_list":["post-2771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-knowledge-base","category-m","category-nutrition-nutritional-supplements-vitamins-herbal-remedies","category-s","tag-magnesium"],"yoast_head":"\r\nThe Most Important Supplement - WholeHealth Chicago<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2007\/10\/08\/the-most-important-supplement\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Most Important Supplement - WholeHealth Chicago\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s magnesium. 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