What is Magnesium?

Magnesium is the major intracellular positively charged ion (cation) inside our cells. It is basically responsible for
just about everything in our cells. It fires up our neurons, helps our muscles contract, hence our hearts beat, helps
regulate our moods and it helps our hormones act properly on their receptors, helps regulate sugar metabolism
and it helps our blood vessels relax keeping blood pressure normal.
How Does One Become Magnesium Deficient?
Magnesium deficiency is rampant in western countries. Our diets, carbonation in our drinks, lifestyles, prevalence
of food additives as well as the fluoride we so proudly add to our drinking water to protect against cavities (!) have
serious detrimental effects on out total body magnesium levels. Basically, by living long enough in a Western
country you become deficient in magnesium. Magnesium is the most sensitive dietary element/cation to the
presence of negatively charge ions (anions). In presence of high levels of phosphorous, fluoride,
bicarbonate/carbonation and other additives found in high levels in a western diet magnesium is excreted in stool
rather than being absorbed. Additionally, with lack of enough acid in the stomach, such as with people taking acid
suppression therapy for heart burn magnesium absorption is further reduced.  This process does not occur
overnight. Most people have low level magnesium absorption for decades prior to manifesting the end results of
this deficiency.

How do you detect Magnesium Deficiency?

Magnesium deficiency is not detectable by means of commercially available laboratory tests. For many decades
despite its prevalence and implication in so many different metabolic derangements there has been no commercial
incentive for developing a test to detect it. Why? In part for the same reasons cited above there has not been a
commercial interest for doing so. Furthermore, the tests to detect such deficiencies are labor intensive and not
covered by insurance companies.
Why Is Magnesium Deficiency so Hard to Detect?
Levels of magnesium inside cells are some 10-20 times higher than the levels outside cells. For reasons that are
not well understood levels of magnesium outside cells may remain normal despite significant intracellular
depletion. Serum (extracellular fluid) can be readily examined for magnesium content but Methods for detecting
intracellular levels of this element have not been available until now. Electron microscopy of buccal mucosa and
cells has been available for a short time but is froth with inaccuracies including variation with hydration status,
sample contamination with extracellular fluid and cell age and viability. This is a significant problem whenever
samples of buccal mucosa and or saliva is used for testing anything. Buccal mucosa cells are basically skin cells
that turn over rapidly. Thus at any given point in time a significant portion of cells obtained from buccal mucosa will
represent dead or dying cells. Thus any deficiencies detected in these cells may represent normal and expected
deficiencies in dying cells rather than a total body deficiency of any element.


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