Did you know that at least 75% of modern humans are deficient in the essential mineral magnesium? That’s a conservative figure, and many believe that number to be much higher, even closer to 90%!
This is believed to be caused by a number of factors. Our food supply has become inherently magnesium deficient due to use of conventional fertilizers, which supply just enough basic nutrients (nitrogen, phosphates and potassium) to stimulate fast and substantial growth of the plant, while leaving the end product seriously devoid of essential macro and trace minerals. The increased acidification of the environment from chemicals of all types, creating acid rain, further depletes magnesium from the soil and therefore our food. The air we breathe has become acidic. The stressful, fast-paced lifestyles that modern humans have come to accept as normal produces continuously higher levels of cortisol than our ancestors had to regularly deal with, which uses up alkaline minerals like magnesium at breakneck speed, to buffer and recover from this increased biological stress. Also, magnesium is depleted by the use of many pharmaceutical drugs, and overconsumption of alcohol and caffeine. Absorption of dietary magnesium is also significantly hindered by digestive problems, insulin insensitivity, and the reduction in nutrient uptake that comes with older age.
Magnesium is one of the most important minerals in the body, and responsible for a wide variety of essential functions that keep us healthy. It’s an essential co-factor in over 300 (some say up to 700!) enzymatic reactions in the body. It’s a primary factor in ATP / cellular energy production, detoxification, regulation of blood sugar and blood pressure, DNA and protein synthesis, bone and tooth formation, temperature regulation, and much more.
Magnesium deficiency symptoms span a wide range of seemingly unrelated experiences, because magnesium is so widely utilized in the body. The symptoms can be cardiovascular, neurological, muscular, or metabolic in nature.
A short list of magnesium deficiency symptoms include high blood pressure, insomnia, depression, anxiety, seizures, chronic pain, constipation, muscle cramps, headaches/migraines, brain fog and impaired thinking/memory, lethargy and fatigue, chronic stress, aggressive behavior, and much more. It has been indicated as a contributing factor in many serious chronic health conditions, including diabetes, asthma, preeclampsia, osteoporosis, epilepsy, hypertension, tinnitus, Parkinson’s, and others.
There are ways to test your magnesium levels, but a standard blood test will not be accurate because it only shows the current levels in your blood, which have to remain stable for your body to function, even if that means pulling from your deeper reserves. One of the best ways to test magnesium levels is to get a Magnesium RBC Blood test. Ideal levels will be 6.0-6.5. You can also have your magnesium levels accurately tested with a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis.
The overlooked link between magnesium deficiency & EMF damage
In the past several years, groundbreaking studies have been published that have clearly defined one of the primary mechanisms of non-thermal biological harm from electromagnetic fields. Martin Pall, PhD, and other scientists found that EMFs act directly on the voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) that moderate the influx of calcium released into any of our cells at any given time. Since we are electrochemical beings, all of our normal bodily functions rely on a very subtle, intricate cascade of electrochemical signals. Because of this, we are inherently highly electromagnetically sensitive creatures. It has been shown that the bombardment of manmade electromagnetic fields in our environment, which occur at amplitudes that can be millions of times stronger than the subtle fields our bodies and the earth produce, have the effect of overstimulating our voltage-gated calcium channels and causing a phenomenon called calcium channel flooding.
The resulting extensive damage is related to the pulsed nature of alternating currents and radiofrequency radiation, which massively overstimulate our VGCCs, triggering the release of a literal flood of calcium into the inside of our cells. This causes a biologically confusing and overstimulating flood of signals that create chain reactions throughout ultimately every one of our bodily systems. It also necessitates the replacement of the calcium ions that are supposed to hold the negatively charged phospholipids of the cell membrane together with their double positive charge, with other ionic elements that are not as suited for this task. This results in small holes in the phospholipid barrier of the cell that leak substances into and out of the cell into places where they shouldn’t be, causing a large number of potential health problems.
Interestingly, the way this was discovered and confirmed was by using a specific class of drugs, called calcium channel blockers, on test subjects. These drugs are normally used to regulate heart conditions that are caused by excess intracellular calcium. These studies found that when the subjects used calcium channel blockers and were then exposed to EMFs, the majority of the harm from the EMFs was mitigated, compared to the control groups that were exposed to the exact same EMFs but were not using the drugs. This led them to investigate how electromagnetic fields were related to the voltage-gated calcium channels.
This is an amazing discovery that has clarified one of the exact mechanisms of non-thermal harmful effects from EMFs, but what can we do with this information to protect ourselves from EMF damage? Obviously, taking calcium channel blocker drugs, which can be dangerous and come with serious side effects, is not the solution for normal people.
However, we can ask this question: are there any natural, harmless, and even essential substances designed to regulate our calcium channels, blocking an influx of calcium when necessary?
Yes! Magnesium is the answer.
“Magnesium is a natural calcium-channel blocker; as long as there is adequate magnesium inside cells, damaging calcium influx does not occur. The need for calcium-channel blockers arises from the breakdown of cell membrane integrity, which is in turn caused by a magnesium deficiency.” – excerpt from The Magnesium Factor, by Mildred Seelig, MD & Andrea Rosanoff, PhD
Essentially, calcium-channel blockers were shown to mitigate most of the harmful effects from EMFs, and the need for calcium-channel blockers arises from an inherent magnesium deficiency. Therefore, it is safe to conclude that if we are experiencing debilitating effects from EMFs (a condition often known as EHS, or electromagnetic hypersensitivity), we almost certainly have a chronic magnesium deficiency!
It’s very likely that in addition to the magnesium-depleted agricultural processes that are now used to grow all our food (even organic food), consumption of processed foods, alcohol and caffeine, and chronic stress that is lowering our magnesium levels – the bombardment of environmental EMFs in modern times may also be forcing our bodies to use magnesium at a much faster rate.
What are the best ways to replenish magnesium?
Now that we know that most of us are magnesium deficient to some degree, and that some or many of our health issues, including EMF hypersensitivity are related to this, what do we do to correct it so we can enjoy better overall health?
Our approach is multi-faceted, and uses bioavailable food nutrients as the foundation, then adding more concentrated supplemental forms on top of that as needed. Since our food is generally much lower in magnesium than in the past, we are unlikely to have success relying only on food, but we can utilize some less mainstream, higher nutrient density food options and get much further!
Since magnesium makes up the center of the chlorophyll molecule, green foods high in chlorophyll are a great place to start. This can include green sea vegetables like kelp, kombu and wakame, microalgaes like spirulina and chlorella, bamboo extracts, and eating dark green vegetables. Other good food sources of magnesium are chocolate/cacao, almonds, pumpkin seeds, beans and fish.
Our favorite way to get all of the above daily is by taking this Green Elements Formula. It is masterfully crafted in small batches and contains high integrity ingredients including: young leaf juices, whole plant greens, immune tonic herbal extracts, whole food nutrients, plant based enzymatic nutrients, and much more. You can check it out here. This formula is a great way to fill in nutritional gaps in your diet.
Including these foods as dietary staples is a good start! Then, we like to go to the most natural-form, bioavailable, full spectrum supplements. Our first choice is Biocean Marine Plasma minerals, a full spectrum purified seawater extract that is high in magnesium, but also contains all of the essential trace mineral co-factors to help your body utilize the magnesium. This will deliver magnesium straight into our cells in one of the most natural forms, but will also act as a wide-spectrum trace mineral supplement to cover our bases and provide the strongest possible foundation.
There are many forms of magnesium available on the market. Some forms are highly bioavailable, while others mainly end up becoming expensive urine and having negligible impact on our health. Let’s go over the ones with the most bang for your buck.
Magnesium l-threonate is an intriguing newcomer to the magnesium supplement market. It’s worthy of consideration due to its unique ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, which most magnesium supplements are not able to do. This is of special importance in electromagnetically hypersensitive individuals, because the calcium channel flooding caused by EMFs also affects the blood-brain barrier (which is controlled by the voltage-gated calcium channels), depositing large quantities of calcium into the brain. This can result in mental issues like anxiety, depression, autism spectrum disorders, memory loss, impaired thinking, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and mental and emotional instability. This form of magnesium appears to offer considerable benefit relating to brain function, by increasing magnesium levels in the brain. Here’s a list of available magnesium l-threonate options. Make sure to choose one with minimal or no fillers. Also, keep in mind that this is a synthesized variety. First and foremost, we always recommend the most natural and bio-compatible forms of minerals possible like the Biocean Marine Plasma minerals.
Magnesium bicarbonate is another highly absorbable form of magnesium, which only exists in liquid form as an electrolyte salt. It is naturally present in very small amounts in some high quality wild spring waters and natural mineral waters, and is formed through a natural alchemical reaction between carbon dioxide and magnesium hydroxide. You can make it yourself easily, by combining magnesium hydroxide (which in liquid form is called “milk of magnesia”) with plain carbonated water (soda water) together in a bottle, shaking it, and letting it settle until the two elements have reacted and created this new form of ionic, highly bioavailable “living” magnesium. The bicarbonates themselves are highly beneficial for neutralizing acid byproducts in the body, improving digestion, and delivering magnesium into the cells more easily. Here’s a place to order the magnesium hydroxide you can use to make your own magnesium bicarbonate.
There are a few other forms of magnesium worthy of note. Magnesium chloride is highly bioavailable, especially in topical form as magnesium oil and magnesium lotion. These have become widely available and quite popular. Rubbing it on your skin and letting it soak in will allow your body to absorb it transdermally, bypassing the inefficiencies of digestion.
Magnesium sulfate in the form of epsom salts are good to use as a therapeutic bath, but not good for internal consumption.
Other potentially good oral forms include magnesium taurate and magnesium orotate, both of which seem especially helpful in regulating the heart and cardiovascular system, and also have a calming effect. Magnesium glycinate and magnesium malate are also known to have high absorption rates. Magnesium citrate, on the other hand, has a low absorption rate, so is not the ideal form.
The approach we feel is best regarding improving your cell levels of magnesium is by hitting it from several angles at once, and being consistent with it! Deficiencies can take time and persistence to correct, and using multiple forms can assist your body in really utilizing this nutrient. For example, you could reduce as many elements as possible that may be depleting or quickly burning through magnesium, increase your consumption of magnesium-rich foods like in the Green Elements formula, take Biocean marine plasma minerals, and then choose one or two concentrated, targeted magnesium supplements on top of that. If you’re curious, you could even test your magnesium levels with an RBC test before making changes, then test again after several months of consistently following a new protocol. Take note of changes in how you feel, as well!
This could be a significant piece of the puzzle in cultivating excellent health in the midst of a world full of EMFs. If we are debilitated by states of chronic illness caused by environmental factors, we won’t have enough energy, mental clarity and emotional fortitude to be activists for positive change. Because of the vast scope of its uses in the body as a major electrolyte mineral, proper supplementation of magnesium can improve your health in a myriad of ways.
We think magnesium and Blushield devices are a great combination, to provide a solid foundation to thrive in the modern world!
References:
Published study: “Scientific evidence contradicts findings and assumptions of Canadian Safety Panel 6: microwaves act through voltage-gated calcium channel activation to induce biological impacts at non-thermal levels, supporting a paradigm shift for microwave/lower frequency electromagnetic field action” – https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/reveh.2015.30.issue-2/reveh-2015-0001/reveh-2015-0001.xmlPublished study: “Role of Cellular Magnesium in Human Diseases” – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4379450/
Book: “The Magnesium Factor: How one simple nutrient can prevent, treat & reverse high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions” by Mildred Seelig, MD & Andrea Rosanoff, PhD – https://books.google.com/books?id=BuW6xwqlQfkC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
“A Look At Magnesium L-Threonate & Its Benefits” – https://www.thehealthcloud.co.uk/look-magnesium-l-threonate-benefits/
“Magnesium Bicarbonate: The Ultimate Mitochondrial Cocktail” – https://drsircus.com/magnesium/the-ultimate-mitochondrial-cocktail/
“Recipe for Magnesium/Bicarbonate Water” – http://www.afibbers.org/Wallerwater.pdf