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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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.