• Posted on

Lose Weight and Improve Brain… by Sleeping

Lose Weight and Improve Brain… by Sleeping

Why do we need sleep?  What happens in the brain when we sleep? What happens if we don’t get enough sleep, or if it’s at the wrong times?  Studies have shown that sleep deprivation and dysregulation, such as occurs in shift work, leads to disease states, including:

  • Chronic fatigue, impaired cognition and brain fog;
  • Metabolic syndrome, diabetes and obesity; and
  • Hypertension and heart disease. 

It sounds like something simple:  Just get more sleep.  However, for many people, getting deeper more restful sleep has become elusive. It’s not just those who endure night shifts, but applies also to others that stay up late in front of their computers and phones.

Sleep researchers believe that sleep's primary goal is to restore the body. Muscle growth and repair, cleansing and detoxification, happen (almost entirely) during sleep. Allan Rechtschaffen's studies from the 1980s demonstrated that when rats were kept awake continuously, they all died within 32 days.

Brain development and plasticity depends on appropriate sleep cycles. Babies need to sleep 13–14 hours a day to intellectually develop. It’s how we grow a more intelligent brain!  For adults the most commonly reported optimal sleep time for adults is 8 hours, but variations can go from 7 to 9 hours.

Dreaming Cycles and Sleep Architecture

The exact purpose of dreaming isn’t known yet, but dreaming may help the brain to process experiences, learnings and emotions. Technically called sleep architecture, our brains follow a pattern of REM (rapid eye movement) taking up 25% of sleep time, and NREM (non-rapid eye movement) taking up 75% of sleep time. This sequence generally follows a series of 90-minute cycles throughout a typical night's sleep.

The dreams of NREM slow-wave sleep are more logical and often include sensations, images and ideas relating to events of the day, whereas REM sleep is more emotional and chaotic.

During slow wave sleep, cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) flows rhythmically to wash through the brain and help flush away toxic, memory-impairing proteins. As people age and their cells become more acidic and hypoxic, more congested, and detoxification becomes less efficient. This is associated with increasing sensitivity to stress, as well as magnesium deficiency, and leads to a decline in ability to get a good night’s sleep with enough slow wave cycles. Many elderly have trouble sleeping more than 4 or 5 hours. This affects pulsing of CSF during sleep, leading to an accumulation of toxic proteins and a decline in memory abilities.

Slow wave NREM sleep can further be subdivided into 3 stages.

LIGHT - Stage 1 (N1) This is the phase between being awake and falling asleep. It is the lightest form of sleep predominantly with alpha (8-12Hz) brain waves.

MEDIUM - Stage 2 (N2) is when sleep really begins and people begin to become disengaged from their surroundings, the heart rate becomes regular, and body temperature tends to drop. The brain waves move a bit deeper into theta (4-8Hz).

DEEP - Stage 3 (N3)  Stages 3 and 4 are now combined by researchers into Stage 3, with oscillations of spindle 4-15Hz and delta 1-4Hz brain waves. In this phase less than half the brain waves are delta, which are high amplitude slow brain waves comprising the deepest sleep, and the rest are spindles, which are burst-like signals. During this phase blood pressure drops, breathing slows, and muscles relax with increased blood flow to extremities. Tissue damage repairs occur and hormones are released, such as human growth hormone.

Interestingly, researchers have found that women display more delta wave activity than men, but the reasons aren’t yet known.  Ketogenic diets, which are very high in fat and low in carbohydrates, can also cause delta wave increases.  It could be, because half the brain is made of cholesterol, that it relaxes more into deep sleep cycles when extra essential fatty acids are available in the diet (the fats being used to make brain cholesterol). Notably, cholesterol sulphate, a water soluble form of cholesterol, is important for detoxification.

REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep comprises 25% of sleep time, and mostly comprises low-voltage, but rapid, desynchronized brainwaves of 15-30Hz. Scientists don’t know why we have REM sleep.  It’s a big mystery, but it’s dangerous when we don’t have it. In REM sleep, the brain is as active as when we are awake, and this is generally when dreams occur – especially the bizarre dreams which make no logical sense. The dreams can also be quite emotional. REM sleep phases last about ten minutes to start with and get a bit longer with each cycle, which happen 5 or 6 times every 90 minutes.

During REM sleep your limbs are immobilized so that you can’t act out your dreams.  When this mechanism malfunctions with some people, they end up sleep walking (sometimes to the fridge to have a snack!)  This is called somnambulism.  Sleep walking occurs more commonly in children, such as getting up to go to the bathroom in the wrong place, but they usually grow out of it.

Sleep Deprivation, Stress and Disease

Sleep deprivation leads to excessive stress and magnesium loss, increased acidosis, toxin accumulation and free radical damage.  There is a negative feedback loop between stress, slow clearance of toxins and lack of sleep. This erodes everything in the body, particularly mental health and metabolism. 

According to the CDC, “Adults who were short sleepers (less than 7 hours of sleep per 24-hour period) were more likely to report being obese, physically inactive, and current smokers compared to people who got enough sleep (7 or more hours per 24-hour period).” They were also more likely to report chronic health conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, asthma, lung disease, kidney disease, depression and cancer. Sleep disturbances are also common among people with age-related neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

If you suffer from sleep deprivation, you are likely not to heal very quickly from injuries, have a weaker immune system, and be more prone to inflammatory conditions. Healing requires not only nutrition, but a deep restorative sleep time. This is why when we got sick as children Mum made us stay in bed to sleep a lot, and she fed us chicken soup which is loaded with electrolytes including magnesium.

When the body struggles to heal and recover, it keeps revving, but can’t get over the line without enough energy to finish the healing process, so it hovers in the inflammatory phase way too long.

Studies have also shown that the more magnesium deficient a person is, the more easily their immune system is triggered into an inflammatory response.  The immune system becomes hyper-vigilant and hyper-sensitive to stress, which means the body is always primed and ready for the slightest stress provocation to respond with inflammation.  We thus become less resilient and weaker. (Mildred S. Seelig, 1980) Getting enough sleep is as important as getting enough water – or magnesium!

Shift Workers Gaining Weight More Easily

Most people find it difficult to adjust to permanent night shift without it causing adverse health conditions.  A review by Folkard cited six studies all indicating only a very small minority (less than 3% of permanent night workers) completely adjusted and got used to their endogenous melatonin rhythm with night work. Less than one in four permanent night workers showed substantial adjustment, which means they were just ‘okay’ with it. That means about one in three people will find permanent night shift not good for health. The review concluded, “That in normal environments, permanent night-shift systems are unlikely to result in sufficient circadian adjustment in most individuals to benefit health and safety.” (Folkard, 2008)

As metabolism slows during the evening, when you eat close to sleep time, you are less likely to burn that fuel and more likely to put much of it away as stored fat. Yet, if we have to stay up into the wee hours of the morning working and being on the ball, we often turn to stimulants like coffee and sugary snack foods to help us fight sleep. The metabolism naturally wants to slow down at night, but by eating regularly, we can prolong the awake cycle – a bit more.  Unfortunately, we usually don’t use up that fuel and so our waistline suffers.

Studies have shown that meals taken at an inappropriate phase of the circadian rhythm, such as in the middle of the night, lead to symptoms of metabolic syndrome, including insulin resistance, slow clearance of blood lipids, and excessive triglycerides. These are risk factors for heart disease, obesity and diabetes - all considered health risks of night-shift work. (Arendt, 2012) 

Therefore, having your main meal at lunch time (as far away as possible from your sleep cycle) makes a lot of sense if you are trying to lose weight – and vice versa if your sleep cycle is during the day.  Another trick to prolong your awake time is to have a short power nap in your break. Truck drivers do this during long drives at night to keep up sharpness and attention.  About 20-30 minutes can get you into stages 1 and 2 of the sleep cycles, which cleans up a bit of the debris and helps to freshen up the brain. But you will still eventually have to catch up on your full sleep cycles for a deep cleaning restorative sleep.  You can’t cheat on those needs.  Let’s see why.

Circadian Rhythm Light Switch

All living things on our planet are subject to sleep-wake cycles called circadian rhythms, which are influenced by daylight exposure and night darkness. Even insects like fruit flies have sleep-wake cycles. Life on Planet Earth is completely dependent on getting enough sleep to recover from activity, and these cycles move with the earth’s rotation. Some animals are nocturnal, but they still follow circadian rhythms, as do those that hibernate in the winter due to low light and cold conditions, which trigger dormant conservative energy states. The more energy we receive from the cosmos, the more active we become, and vice versa.

Exposure of humans to full spectrum light (as in sunlight) stimulates waking mode. The stimulating monoamines of epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine and dopamine go up. Dopamine is more involved in brain functioning and getting excited when you are looking forward to doing something you like.  Epinephrine and norepinephrine are involved in activating the sympathetic nervous system in the fight-or-flight response and to drive energy to the heart muscle to pump harder and faster to cope with exercise. They also stimulate glutamate’s quick firing in neuron synapses for rapid thinking and fast automatic responses.  No time to waste when you are being chased by lions!

Interestingly, it is harder to achieve such quick responses if you are awoken in the dead of night – which is around 3 and 4 in the morning.  Hitler’s SS would usually apprehend their enemies at these hours because they would be more sluggish with less resistance.  “Is this a dream or what!?” 

This is the time when melatonin in our system is optimal. When melatonin is up, stress hormones are down and vice versa. Melatonin is made by the pineal gland, the process being triggered by the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus, as part of the HPA axis.  Melatonin is a very powerful antioxidant essential for the brain to help clean up waste products.  It helps the brain to take out the garbage – and you need enough magnesium available to make the stuff. A little extra melatonin supplement can help if you are not getting a deep enough sleep to make melatonin, or if you are suffering from jet lag.

Attention Deficit

Most people would be aware of this from personal experience, but studies have verified that the quality of attention, alertness and concentration is optimal from morning daylight waking time, and begins to wane in the afternoon. At about 3 or 4pm a big case of the yawns can drive you to reach for a coffee or other stimulant. Power naps at lunchtime or early afternoon for 20-30 minutes help to refresh the system with increased attention and alertness in the afternoon.

Even if you have an hypothyroid condition, which means you find it harder to get up in the morning, but get revved up at night, your circadian rhythms will still follow a similar pattern - albeit more delayed.

Take note night shift workers; during the night and early morning hours, work performance and productivity decreases more, with an increase in the probability of errors and accidents during this time. (Valdez, 2019) 

Prolonged sleep deprivation will gradually start affecting your:

  1. immune system,
  2. nervous system,
  3. digestion,
  4. and can even lead to death.

Research shows that after 17-19 hours of wakefulness, the fatigue can reach to a level that can be compared to someone with a blood alcohol level of 0.10%.

Staying awake for longer duration affects all parts of the brain including those that maintain judgement, hand-eye coordination, memory and decision-making skills. It induces a state of altered consciousness, often known as ‘microsleep’. As the wakefulness progresses it can mimic drug abuse side effects, with symptoms including weight loss, hallucinations and possibly even death. (Williamson & Feyer, 2000)

Why do we Get Sleepy?

Adenosine gives us a sleepy feeling. It is made up of a combination of adenine and ribose, which make up part of mitochondrial ATP.  Adenosine is basically a metabolic waste product of oxidative phosphorylation (oxygen metabolism). (Sims et al., 2013)  (Pittman, 2011)  As the day progresses, the more physical or mental exertion and metabolism, the more adenosine accumulates in the extracellular spaces. However, during sleep, magnesium helps it to go back to the mitochondria for re-charging back to ATP.

The accumulation of adenosine slows down metabolism by triggering the enzyme iNOS to release nitric oxide, a vascular relaxant. This assists Gamma-Amino Butyric Acid (GABA) to penetrate the blood-brain barrier to occupy the GABA receptors. We feel more sleepy and our eyelids feel heavier. It becomes harder to concentrate. GABA makes us feel super calm and even more relaxed, so that we finally let go and give into the sleep pressure. (Shyamaladevi et al., 2002) Magnesium is also essential in the production of nitric oxide and GABA, as well as the suppression of stress hormones and the control of calcium channels.

Caffeine can be used to resist and counteract the affects of adenosine so we can stay awake longer. It does this by raising the level of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. However, the more coffee you ingest to stay awake, the more stress hormones you produce to fight the sleep, the more metabolites are created which cause acidosis and loss of excessive magnesium. It becomes much harder to relax and sleep if the body gets out of synch on this kind of stress treadmill. The lower magnesium reserves get, the less able we are to relax and sleep properly.

Cortisol and Metabolism

Cortisol is used to rev up energy production by mitochondria. It is one of the steroid hormones and is made in the adrenal glands. Cortisol tends to dip in the evening and rise again in the morning when we are meant to be more active again. Its secretion is controlled by the HPA axis, which depends heavily on magnesium, and comprises the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal gland.

Cortisol is an ‘action’ hormone and stimulates insulin release from the pancreas, to accompany glucose for entry into the cell, supplying mitochondria, which produce our charged energy molecules of ATP (adenosine triphosphate). We need enough magnesium to make insulin, as well as to help the insulin pass via the membrane into the cell, as magnesium is in charge of the membrane’s calcium channels. The mitochondria in turn need magnesium to make charged up ATP energy molecules.

Magnesium deficiency or antagonism (blockage) can cause any one of these steps to malfunction, causing overdose of stress hormones and inability to relax enough to sleep deeply.

NOTE ABOUT WEIGHT GAIN:  If you take stimulants or eat snacks to stay awake, they will keep activating cortisol and insulin release during the night when metabolism is usually at its lowest ebb. Whatever the body can’t use up as fuel is stored as fat.

There appears to be a close linkage between metabolic waste production and tissue oxygenation, so that as wastes accumulate tissue oxygenation decreases, and vice versa. This is because we can’t absorb enough oxygen in an acidic environment. The more acid by-products accumulate the more we feel the need to yawn, stretch and move around to get more oxygen, and stay awake and alert.

ATP energy units can still be produced in hypoxic (low oxygen) states by mitochondria using glycolysis (sugar metabolism), which is anaerobic and produces lactic acid waste products. These wastes cause metabolism to slow, and sleepiness to grow. So if you are fighting the urge to sleep, in addition to craving a caffeine hit, you may also crave a sugar hit and reach for a chocolate bar to get a quick energy burst.

However, glycolysis is more energy inefficient, producing only 2 ATP energy units, whereas somewhere between 30 and 36 ATPs are produced by oxidative phosphorylation (using oxygen).  Therefore, the more available oxygen there is, the better is the quality of our energy production and metabolism. The less available oxygen is, as in an acidic hypoxic (low oxygen) environment, the more we rely on sugar metabolism (glycolysis), which provides less energy value from the fuel we ingest, and just makes the whole situation worse due to increased acidic wastes.

Basically, you can help your body to improve metabolism and lose excessive weight not only by eating a healthy diet including probiotics and avoiding chemicals, but also by flowing with your natural circadian sleep-wake cycles.   Ageing also slows down metabolism at the best of times!  So make sure your night time rest is extra restorative over the full set of sleep cycles.

Magnesium Promotes a More Restful Sleep

 

At the end of the day (pun intended), there is no cheating your circadian rhythms.  You will quickly erode away your health if you keep short-changing your sleep and chowing down on those snacks or sodas from the self-serve machine.  If you have to work nightshift, then snack on healthy unprocessed chemical-free foods if you need to eat to stay awake. A short powernap during your break can also do a lot to refresh your system.

When it comes time for your restorative sleep, load up on magnesium. The good news is that magnesium helps to depress stress hormones, which helps us to move into a more relaxed state conducive to sleep.  It is necessary for metabolism, for recharging the nervous system and brain function, for powering enzymatic detoxification, rebuilding tissue and so much more. Sleep deprivation is one of the most stressful things your body can experience, but there is no more powerful mineral at helping us to recover from stress than magnesium. 

Apart from eating magnesium rich foods, you can replenish even more (and faster) with transdermal methods that don’t require any digestion, such as bathing and footsoaking, or magnesium massages using Magnesium Cream, Lotion or Oil.  Apply it generously just before bed time to encourage a deeper and more restorative sleep. 

10 SLEEP STRATEGIES – CHECK LIST

  1. Don’t consume caffeine drinks, alcohol or eat shortly before sleep time;
  2. Get some sunshine every day (for vitamin D production);
  3. Look after your gut health with probiotic foods;
  4. Sleep in an extra dark bedroom with no electrical appliances plugged in;
  5. Take a melatonin supplement;
  6. Enjoy a magnesium bath or footsoak, and massage in Magnesium Cream, Lotion and/or Oil;
  7. Make sure you are well hydrated.
  8. A meditation ritual or listen to relaxing music.
  9. No blue light computer screens (which are over-stimulating).
  10.  Say a prayer to your guardian angel!

By Sandy Sanderson © 2020  www.elektramagnesium.com.au

REFERENCES

Arendt, J. (2012). Biological rhythms during residence in polar regions. Chronobiology International, 29(4), 379–394. PubMed. https://doi.org/10.3109/07420528.2012.668997

Folkard, S. (2008). Do permanent night workers show circadian adjustment? A review based on the  endogenous melatonin rhythm. Chronobiology International, 25(2), 215–224. https://doi.org/10.1080/07420520802106835

Mildred S. Seelig. (1980). Magnesium Deficiency in the Pathogenesis of Disease. Springer US.

Pittman, R. N. (2011). The Circulatory System and Oxygen Transport. In Regulation of Tissue Oxygenation. Morgan & Claypool Life Sciences. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK54112/

Shyamaladevi, N., Jayakumar, A. R., Sujatha, R., Paul, V., & Subramanian, E. H. (2002). Evidence that nitric oxide production increases gamma-amino butyric acid  permeability of blood-brain barrier. Brain Research Bulletin, 57(2), 231–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0361-9230(01)00755-9

Sims, R. E., Wu, H. H. T., & Dale, N. (2013). Sleep-Wake Sensitive Mechanisms of Adenosine Release in the Basal Forebrain of Rodents: An In Vitro Study. PLOS ONE, 8(1), e53814. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0053814

Valdez, P. (2019). Circadian Rhythms in Attention. The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, 92(1), 81–92.

Williamson, A. M., & Feyer, A. M. (2000). Moderate sleep deprivation produces impairments in cognitive and motor performance  equivalent to legally prescribed levels of alcohol intoxication. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 57(10), 649–655. https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.57.10.649



About The Author

Leave a comment

Read Also

See all Articles
Heart Palpitations, Arrhythmia and Atrial Fibrillation
  • Posted on
Heart Palpitations, Arrhythmia and Atrial Fibrillation
Arrhythmia is a condition where the heart beats irregularly (skipped or half beats), too fast (tachycardia) or too slow (bradycardia). It can feel like light flutters starting in the left ventricle of the heart, and if the issue isn’t addressed, over time it can progress to atrial fibrillation, an irregular beat of the main atrium of the heart. This can cause a panic response with extra adrenalin and rapid heart beats. It can lead to heart attack if the condition becomes severe enough.
Magnesium: The Immune System's Super Mineral
  • Posted on
Magnesium: The Immune System's Super Mineral
Magnesium (Mg2+) is required for homeostasis and regulation of the immune system. Chronic magnesium deficiency leads to enhanced baseline inflammation associated with oxidative stress, which can lead to temporary and long term immune dysfunction. The lower the magnesium status, the more hypersensitive and primed for inflammation the immune system becomes.
Recover From Feet Stress With Magnesium
  • Posted on
Recover From Feet Stress With Magnesium
All stress causes excessive loss of magnesium via urine, but we tend to feel feet stress more due to their extensive enervation. Feet are very sensitive parts of our body! The lower the magnesium in cells the more likely feet stress can cause oedema, referred pain, headaches, migraines, sleep problems and anxiety – as well as cramps, muscle twitches, and restless legs.
How Does Magnesium Get in Via Skin?
  • Posted on
How Does Magnesium Get in Via Skin?
We can use the skin to deliver large amounts of magnesium very safely and effectively in order to avoid crisis and maintain optimum magnesium status.  The skin, being the largest organ of the body and part of the integumentary system (skin, hair, nails, bones, teeth), can act as a reservoir to store magnesium where the body may draw from it what it needs in a self-regulating manner. 
How Does Magnesium Alleviate Peripheral Neuropathy?
  • Posted on
How Does Magnesium Alleviate Peripheral Neuropathy?
As neuropathic pain is strongly correlated with magnesium deficiency and the associated hyper-inflammatory state, researchers have discovered that supplementary magnesium can directly affect the nerve recovery process to alleviate peripheral neuropathy.
Calming Down Eczema, Psoriasis and Dermatitis
  • Posted on
Calming Down Eczema, Psoriasis and Dermatitis
Irritating skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis and dermatitis can become very debilitating for some people, with inflamed itchy skin tormenting them year after year.  If you are in this category and have been shunted from pillar to post trying a multitude of creams, ointments and pills without success, then you may be very interested in some nutritional solutions that work.  The health of the skin is a window to what is happening on the inside of the body, and is just as dependent on gut health, as it is on the care of skin. Optimal results occur when you can work both ends towards the middle.
Magnesium Bath Benefits
  • Posted on
Magnesium Bath Benefits
A magnesium bath using epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) is better than nothing, but over time the sulphate strips out too much oil from the skin, leaving it feeling dry and itchy (like a detergent does). Magnesium sulphate also only has 9% elemental magnesium, but our magnesium chloride flakes have 15-16%. Magnesium chloride is also kinder to skin.  Overall, magnesium chloride is more effective and offers better value.
Overcome Fatigue and Burnout: Recharge Your Electrical System
  • Posted on
Overcome Fatigue and Burnout: Recharge Your Electrical System
As magnesium is an essential component of the electrical nervous system, it’s like running out of spark plugs so there is nothing to ignite the engine to burn the fuel and perform tasks. It’s like unplugging your battery power.  If you don’t have enough electrical ‘juice’ running through your system, it will slow down accordingly.
Magnesium Tablets VS Transdermal Magnesium
  • Posted on
Magnesium Tablets VS Transdermal Magnesium
Magnesium tablets and oral supplements may not be able to deliver the magnesium to your cells that you really need. Most people don’t realise how hard they are to digest and absorb, and that most of the magnesium ends up going down the toilet. Our nutritional needs are increasing, as can be seen by the increase in magnesium deficiency symptoms. This is because of depletion in the food supply, drug interactions and chemical exposures, as well as loss of magnesium due to stressful conditions, via perspiration or urination (hypermagnesuria). 
Long Covid, Post Viral and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – A Magnesium Deficiency Problem?
  • Posted on
Long Covid, Post Viral and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – A Magnesium Deficiency Problem?
Long Covid seems to present with stronger, more acute inflammatory symptoms. It commonly affects the lungs, brain, heart, gastro-intestinal system, and the kidneys. Patients can experience hair loss, fatigue, muscular weakness, joint pain (arthralgia), followed by dyspnea (labored breathing) or cough, and chest pain and palpitation. Neurological symptoms also occur frequently, such as headache, sleep disorders, anxiety and depression, and cognitive disturbances including lack of concentration or ‘brain fog’.
Magnesium Calms Hyperactivity in Children
  • Posted on
Magnesium Calms Hyperactivity in Children
If children are sugar sensitive they can become hyperactive with only small amounts of sugar. That gives you another clue as to possible magnesium deficiency because as magnesium becomes more deficient in the body, sugar sensitivity increases.  In contrast, as magnesium stores go higher, it dampens down the sugar sensitivity and hyperactivity. This relationship has a see-saw effect.
Immune System Boost with Lemon Peel
  • Posted on
Immune System Boost with Lemon Peel
Lemon is an important medicinal plant of the family Rutaceae. Studies have found lemon peel is full of nutrients including Vitamin C, potassium, calcium, magnesium and pectin. Pectin is a soluble fibre which is great for gut health, weight loss and the cardiovascular system.  It brings more hydration to the bowel, which supports colon health and the microbiome. Lemon peel may even have several anti-cancer properties because it works to detox and neutralise acidic waste products and free radicals, which supports pH balance.
How to Stop the Bloating of Water Retention
  • Posted on
How to Stop the Bloating of Water Retention
Kidney (renal) disease can also cause magnesium deficiency as the tubules become stiffer with ageing and don’t recycle magnesium as well as they used to. If your kidneys lose too many alkalising minerals, it gets harder to control pH balance and the acids take over.
Managing Neuropathic Pain with Magnesium
  • Posted on
Managing Neuropathic Pain with Magnesium
Neuropathic pain is the type of pain you feel if your nervous system has been damaged or isn’t working correctly. The pain comes from the various levels of the nervous system, which include the peripheral nerves, the spinal cord and the brain. People often describe it as a shooting or burning pain, but it can also be felt as tingling or numbness. Neuropathic pain sometimes goes away on its own, but often it’s a chronic condition that persists, particularly in the senior years when arthritis sets in, or after injuries. For some people, it can be severe and unrelenting and for others, it comes and goes like a phantom. What can you do to allevaite the symptoms naturally?
Magnesium, Stress Hormones and Heart Disease
  • Posted on
Magnesium, Stress Hormones and Heart Disease
Hormones greatly influence our growth and development, health, behaviours, metabolism, sex life and fertility. Pretty well everything we do and experience in life is governed by the chemical messages of hormones. As we get into our more mature and senior years, or are young but chronically stressed, our energy and hormone production can become out of balance, acidic, oxygen-deprived and dehydrated.  In this article I will focus on magnesium's effect on catecholamines (stress hormones), including cortisol, adrenaline and aldosterone, which are produced by the adrenal glands and directly affect the cardiovascular system.
Oxytocin - the Life-Saving Love Hormone
  • Posted on
Oxytocin - the Life-Saving Love Hormone
One hormone of note is the neurotransmitter oxytocin, which is a happy 'feel-good' hormone with similar pain-relieving properties to endorphins (opiate chemicals). It is released in the body when we interact with others in a loving and caring way. An oxytocin deficiency is also associated with stress sensitivity, anxiety and depression, lack of motivation and a dark outlook on life.  You need enough magnesium to make oxytocin in the body.
Defend Your Heart Against Spike Proteins
  • Posted on
Defend Your Heart Against Spike Proteins
Chronic or severe stress is a known risk factor for metabolic syndrome, diabetes, obesity and heart disease, because stress is the biggest contributor to magnesium loss and deficiency.  Magnesium deficiency leads to metabolic syndrome, which progresses to diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
What has Osteoporosis Got to do With Calcium and Magnesium?
  • Posted on
What has Osteoporosis Got to do With Calcium and Magnesium?
Many people have become obsessed with the notion that lack of calcium causes osteoporosis.  Yes, calcium and osteoporosis are related, however the bones are made up of a myriad of different minerals that come together to make healthy and strong bones.  We have been collectively 'taught' by dairy industry advertising since last century that calcium is the mineral that prevents osteoporosis.  This is simply not true.  What bones need is good balance of minerals , with the presence of calcium in the right proportion. In fact, if you overdose on calcium you can create serious complications and side effects - namely the suppression of magnesium.
The Enlightening Power of the Pineal Gland
  • Posted on
The Enlightening Power of the Pineal Gland
The pineal gland produces melatonin at night during deep sleep, which works as a potent neuro-protective antioxidant that helps to detox the cerebrospinal fluid of the brain. It has even been shown to have anti-viral effects. When we don’t get a restful deep sleep, which produces enough melatonin, we wake up with leftover pollution and waste products in the brain. We need magnesium to help get a restful deep sleep so melatonin can be produced, and melatonin is a hormone which the body makes using magnesium.
Are You Overdosing on the Fluoride 'Neurotoxin' in Tap Water?
  • Posted on
Are You Overdosing on the Fluoride 'Neurotoxin' in Tap Water?
Many people mistakenly think of fluoride as a mineral, and many a politician promoting fluoridation has referred to it as, “the magic mineral.” However, this is not true. Fluorine in its pure form is a gas which is the most toxic of four main halogens; chlorine, bromine and iodine. Fluorine happens to be the most tightly binding element on the periodic table, so it is mostly found as a compound clinging to something else. Fluoride binds up magnesium, and so steals it from your body. The symptoms of fluoride toxicity are the same as magnesium deficiency.
Magnesium Massage Supercharges Health Benefits
  • Posted on
Magnesium Massage Supercharges Health Benefits
Both magnesium and massage therapy have important health benefits for blood circulation, waste clearance and muscle recovery, as well as alleviation of anxiety and stress. Magnesium massage supercharges health benefits by promoting pain relief, stress relief, faster recovery from injury, bolstering the immune system, and prevention of premature ageing. 
Blood Clot (Thrombosis) Risk Increases With Inflammation
  • Posted on
Blood Clot (Thrombosis) Risk Increases With Inflammation
Clotting disorders are more prevalent in those with cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetic acidosis.  These metabolic issues are also strongly associated with chronic magnesium deficiency. 
Why You Cannot Afford to Have Toxic Metals Block Magnesium
  • Posted on
Why You Cannot Afford to Have Toxic Metals Block Magnesium
Did you know heavy metals disrupt your body’s mineral balance causing many negative side effects? People who are chronically ill may not realise that it can be the harmful accumulated toxic metals in their tissue cells that are a big part of their problem..
Magnesium Deficiency in Dogs is the Number 1 Cause of Muscle Spasms
  • Posted on
Magnesium Deficiency in Dogs is the Number 1 Cause of Muscle Spasms
It is now well-known that dogs need all the essential vitamins and minerals that humans do. One of these key nutrients is magnesium because it’s needed for energy production at the cellular level. Magnesium deficiency in dogs can lead to a diverse set of symptoms. Every time your pet moves a muscle, experiences a heartbeat or has a thought, magnesium is needed to help them achieve this.
Fasting for Detox, Weight Loss and Energy
  • Posted on
Fasting for Detox, Weight Loss and Energy
Increasing your magnesium levels also supercharges the cleansing process. This is because magnesium supports detoxification by energising the detox enzymes such as glutathione and superoxide dismutase. These are powerful antioxidants, which neutralise free radicals and help to restore pH balance and energy production. This will give your metabolism a great boost - especially if you have been feeling sluggish and foggy, if the weight is piling on when it shouldn't be, or if you are battling with IBS and debilitating gut issues.
Pain Relief With the Most Important Mineral
  • Posted on
Pain Relief With the Most Important Mineral
Without the relaxation and antioxidant support of magnesium, the stress and tension increases acidity, weakens the immune system and microbiome balance, which promotes inflammation and headache.  These symptoms are common during influenza or coronavirus infections because they increase the stress and toxic load, thereby depleting more magnesium.
The Power of Magnesium in Water
  • Posted on
The Power of Magnesium in Water
When the body is dehydrated it can also cause oedema, a pooling of fluids around the ankles or puffiness around the eyes.   The reason for fluid retention is usually because the body cannot properly eliminate wastes when there is not enough free water flowing through the system. In order to protect the vital organs the body holds back and pools water in regions where the toxicity needs to be diluted most (eg. sites of inflammation or acidity). Waste products can also pool up and cause swelling in the lymph system - the body's protein waste disposal system. This is another case where toxic residues need to be diluted with more water.
Could Anxiety be Caused by a Toxic Gut Microbiome?
  • Posted on
Could Anxiety be Caused by a Toxic Gut Microbiome?
The microbial balance of our gut directly influences our Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis, the production of hormones and neurotransmitters, and our immune system's regulation. Stress is very debilitating and causes depletion of magnesium because of excessive magnesium loss via the kidneys.  Magnesium deficiency causes energy depletion and acidosis, which triggers inflammatory states, resulting in moods swings, hormone imbalance, mental illnesses, fatigue, irritability, pain symptoms, and a weaker immune system. Magnesium deficiency also directly affects the beneficial bacteria, which thus leads to depressive-like behaviours.
The Most Important Mineral When You're Pregnant or Breastfeeding
  • Posted on
The Most Important Mineral When You're Pregnant or Breastfeeding
Magnesium is an essential mineral which performs some very important functions when you're pregnant. It’s used to maintain healthy blood sugar levels in the body (see study) and it helps build healthy teeth and bones by working in partnership with calcium. It also regulates cholesterol and irregular heartbeat.
What is a Toxic Magnesium Dose?
  • Posted on
What is a Toxic Magnesium Dose?
It's almost impossible for you to get a toxic magnesium dose or overdose, unless magnesium is given at high dose intravenously, where there is no magnesium deficiency or the person has kidney problems and can’t excrete excess salts. 
What are the Dangers of Exercise Addiction?
  • Posted on
What are the Dangers of Exercise Addiction?
We can become addicted to more than just pharmaceutical drugs or alcohol.  Researchers are now noticing symptoms of addiction also to excessive exercise.  Does excessive exercise or over-training have negative side effects?  Could it harm health and cause premature ageing?  The research indicates yes, mainly because of increasing magnesium deficiency.
Is 'Overtraining Syndrome' Harming Your Health?
  • Posted on
Is 'Overtraining Syndrome' Harming Your Health?
Magnesium deficiency weakens performance, stamina and increases risk of injury When you push your muscles hard your brain is telling your body to ‘squeeze’ and act. Adrenalin and cortisol increase, and that helps push the calcium into the calcium channels of the muscle fibre cells, which makes them contract. Magnesium is temporarily pushed out of these channels during the contractions. When we relax, calcium comes out and magnesium moves back into the channels to relax the muscles again. 
Vitiligo and Hashimotos (Autoimmune) Hypothyroidism
  • Posted on
Vitiligo and Hashimotos (Autoimmune) Hypothyroidism
I was over 50 when menopause set in, accompanied by an autoimmune disorder called Hashimotos Hypothyroidism, severe heart arrhythmia, and the emerging white patches on my skin. This form of autoimmune hypothyroidism is thought to be prevalent in about 5% of the world’s population, however I believe the numbers are growing as people become more chemically sensitive to pollutants that stress the thyroid.
Immune System Defence with Vitamin C and Magnesium
  • Posted on
Immune System Defence with Vitamin C and Magnesium
The haemoglobin of red blood cells requires magnesium to help it take up oxygen from lungs and deliver that oxygen to tissue cells in other parts of the body. Researchers believe this is because, as part of the ATP energy currency, magnesium is vital to membrane integrity of red blood cells. The heme protein (containing iron) in these cells needs to ‘attract’ oxygen molecules from lung sacs as blood passes by. The oxygen molecules need to pass through the red blood cell (RBC) membrane – to get ‘onboard’ the train so to speak.
Drought, Dehydration and Stress
  • Posted on
Drought, Dehydration and Stress
Note that dehydrated states can cause feelings of anxiety where we just don’t know the reason for our fear or agitation, but the feeling persists.  Re-hydrating the body with ample water and magnesium can calm down these sensations because magnesium has a dampening effect on adrenaline and cortisol.  When the brain has ample water and magnesium we can think more clearly and make better decisions.  This is especially important during crises because our magnesium reserves can become dangerously low.
Protect Against Cardiovascular Disease With Magnesium
  • Posted on
Protect Against Cardiovascular Disease With Magnesium
Magnesium is so important to cardiovascular function, its scarcity being correlated with the development of cardiovascular disease, that it has become the focus of intense scientific study and review over recent years.  A meta-analysis review of epidemiological studies published in 2017 concluded that magnesium intake is associated with lower risk of major cardiovascular risk factors such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes and hypertension, as well as incidence of stroke and total cardiovascular disease.  Higher levels of circulating magnesium are also associated with lower risk of heart disease, mainly ischemic and coronary heart disease.
Calm Cramps and Restless Legs Fast!
  • Posted on
Calm Cramps and Restless Legs Fast!
You may not realise it, but cramps and restless legs are quite easy to fix and you can do it without drugs.  All you need is enough magnesium (and water) to get to where it is needed in the muscles for recovery and performance.
Can Magnesium Relieve Anxiety and Depression?
  • Posted on
Can Magnesium Relieve Anxiety and Depression?
As magnesium drops lower from excessive stress, there is less control over adrenaline and cortisol release, so that these catecholamines (stress hormones) escalate and chronically flood the system in a fight or flight (sympathetic) mode.  We can get stuck in that mode, unable to relax and move back to rest and recover grazing (parasympathetic) mode.  The stress hormones prompt glutamine to overstimulate neurons causing rapid and incessant calcium firing.  Without enough magnesium to control the calcium and switch off the catecholamine release, we can’t relax.
The Connection Between Magnesium and Ageing
  • Posted on
The Connection Between Magnesium and Ageing
It’s been coined the master mineral and deemed as critical as water. But how exactly does it correlate to the process of ageing? The ways are numerous, but we’ll highlight a few of our standouts. From menopause to migraines, bone health to beautiful skin, you’ll be eager to lather up in magnesium cream by the time you’ve finished reading this. And remember, even if you’ve had a blood test that did not show up a deficiency in magnesium, only a small portion of magnesium stores actually sit in the blood. There are other areas more likely to be depleted that won’t be detected so simply.
Magnesium Kids are Healthier
  • Posted on
Magnesium Kids are Healthier
Optimal nutrition for our children means they will have the best opportunity to realise their fullest genetic potential to be well balanced, healthy and happy into adulthood.  We all want our children to be ‘upgrades’ from ourselves. We want to pass on our seeds to future generations, but what about the quality of those seeds when magnesium is low? Can ‘magnesium kids’ offer a better hope for optimal health over a lifetime?
Collagen and Elastin Production for Skin, Muscle and Bone
  • Posted on
Collagen and Elastin Production for Skin, Muscle and Bone
Healthy cells need lipid protection, magnesium charge and ample hydration to support mitochondrial energy metabolism of Mg-ATP ‘batteries’.  This energy is then used to assemble amino acids into the various proteins we need to build collagen structures.  It is also used to manufacture hormones, enzymes, neurotransmitters and other chemical messengers.
Glyphosate: a Toxin Round Up That Steals Energy
  • Posted on
Glyphosate: a Toxin Round Up That Steals Energy
The review goes on to explain glyphosate’s mechanism of toxic action. Firstly, it is a strong chelating agent, creating complexes that immobilize the mineral micronutrients of the soil, such as magnesium, calcium, iron, manganese, nickel and zinc, making them unavailable to plants. This means that the food supply is robbed of vital mineral nutrients. We eat the food, it fills a void, but it doesn’t supply valuable nutrition. The end result is that we keep eating more and more empty carbs until obesity and other metabolic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, senile dementia, inflammatory bowel disease, renal failure, thyroid or liver cancer develop.
Magnesium Soothes Pain and Inflammation
  • Posted on
Magnesium Soothes Pain and Inflammation
Inflammation and pain can be part of a healing crisis, but if your magnesium status is healthy you will heal and recover relatively quickly because the metabolism can perform the way it should. The lower the cellular magnesium levels get however, the slower it becomes to recover from the stresses and the more painful and amplified are the symptoms.
Menopause - No Big Deal Thanks to Magnesium
  • Posted on
Menopause - No Big Deal Thanks to Magnesium
Premature ageing is usually marked by excessive weight gain (especially adipose tissue around the middle), exaggerated dehydration, hypercalcemia, joint stiffening, acidosis and inflammation.  In other words, getting overweight, dry and stiff with creaky and brittle bones before our time. Skin can also get very dry and saggy looking. As we need magnesium to synthesise collagen proteins and elastin fibres, which are the structures that hold us together as skin, bone, ligaments, sinew, smooth muscle walls in arteries etc, low magnesium means those structures lose their integrity. [6]  Thus magnesium helps us to stay more hydrated, flexible and stretchy longer!
Magnesium and the Gut Microbiome
  • Posted on
Magnesium and the Gut Microbiome
Did you know that our gut microbiome needs a good supply of magnesium for energy to do all their jobs properly? Beneficial gut bacteria are extremely important to good health.  Did you know that we rely on our gut microbiome more than our own cells and enzymes for digestion of food and nutrient absorption?  If digestion is compromised we can be short-changed on magnesium uptake. Low magnesium can lead to feelings of depression, mood disorders, fatigue, restless and disturbed sleep, foggy brain, anxiety and much more.  See the STUDY: "Dietary magnesium deficiency alters gut microbiota and leads to depressive-like behaviour."
Transdermal Magnesium - Myth or Reality?
  • Posted on
Transdermal Magnesium - Myth or Reality?
Transdermal magnesium absorption means that magnesium ions (electrolytes) can pass into the epidermis (outer layer) of the skin, which acts as a nutritional reservoir until the tiny capillaries of the dermis underneath can absorb nutrients as required. From this skin reservoir the body may also absorb the vitamin D it made when you got some sunshine on your skin.
Magnesium Cream Relieves Keratosis - 'Chicken Skin'
  • Posted on
Magnesium Cream Relieves Keratosis - 'Chicken Skin'
Keratosis can also develop concurrently with inflammatory states such as eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis, allergies and asthma.  If the inflammation is adequately quelled, the skin issues also tend to dissipate.  Magnesium is a powerful anti-inflammatory. Many studies since last century have confirmed that in low-magnesium states we are more likely to develop inflammatory conditions. Where those inflammatory conditions manifest depends largely on genetics and environmental factors.  Some people can experience skin problems or mood swings and depression, while others develop hardening of the arteries or sugar-sensitivity (metabolic syndrome) and unstable energy fluctuations.   Multiple symptoms can occur and are usually a sign of magnesium deficiency.
Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) versus magnesium chloride: what's the difference?
  • Posted on
Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) versus magnesium chloride: what's the difference?
When you purchase epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) from the supermarket however, it is usually not one harvested from ocean water, but manufactured in a factory as an isolate which is magnesium sulfate. It does not contain the other sea trace minerals that would be present in dehydrated sea salt.  Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) is very cheap and in the event you can’t get hold of anything else, it can certainly save your life.
Magnesium – Number 1 Mineral for Health and Longevity
  • Posted on
Magnesium – Number 1 Mineral for Health and Longevity
Magnesium is the one mineral we lose most of under stressful conditions and will directly affect our longevity if we don’t have enough of it.  It’s also the mineral we need a lot of in order to relax and recover from stress.  Magnesium is used by mitochondria to make ATP (adenosine triphosphate), our cellular energy currency.   It is therefore absolutely essential to all electrical function in the body.  Every message sent by our nervous system, every detoxification event, every action of our immune system and all building of new cells relies on magnesium to give it power.