Nutritional Counseling
Nutritional is a diverse and complex subject. At the Miami Back Institute we have chosen to focus our Nutritional Counseling on educating patients about the factors that influence pain and inflammation.
Nutrition Index
Reducing Inflammation with Diet and Supplementation
General Guidelines for Deflaming with Nutrition
Introduction and Basic Deflaming Concepts
As you just discovered, we all suffer from inflammation issues to varying degrees. In short, each of us needs to focus on reducing our individual inflammation issues, and diet is the key to realizing this goal. There are many complicated diet plans available on the market today. Herein is a simple, no-nonsense approach to anti-inflammatory eating. The following foods cause inflammation; that is, they are pro-inflammatory and therefore, should be avoided1-6.
• All grains and grain products, including white bread, whole wheat bread, pasta, cereal, pretzels, crackers, and any other product made with grains or flours from grains, which includes most desserts and packaged snacks.
• Partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats) found in margarine, deep fried foods (French fries, etc.) and most all packaged foods.
• Corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, cottonseed oil, soybean oil, and foods made with these oils such as mayonnaise, tartar sauce, margarine, salad dressings, and many packaged foods.
• Soda, dairy, soy, and sugar.
• Meat and eggs from grain-fed animals. This one is difficult for most to do on a consistent basis, so do your best. Lean cuts of meat may be the best choice for non-grass fed animal
products.
Many individuals find it somewhat distressing and/or depressing that so many foods are pro-inflammatory, and many wonder what there is left to eat. However, more depressing than this is suffering from any of the numerous diseases and conditions caused by inflammation: chronic pain, arthritis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, sinusitis, allergies, acne, asthma, digestive conditions, flu symptoms, dysmenorrhea, endometriosis, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, hypertension, depression, the insulin resistance syndrome (pre-diabetes), and diabetes1-6.
You need to decide how much pain and suffering you are willing to live with, and then, eat and exercise accordingly. The less inflammation you eat, the less inflammation you will have and feel. No one will be perfect with their eating…just do your best.
It is important to embrace the concept that, unlike what you may have heard, there is no such thing as moderation. With every bite you take, you are either deflaming or inflaming. This is a fact we all must accept. So, we should all do our best to eat mostly anti-inflammatory foods.
If you are fortunate and have “good” genes, you may be able to handle more inflammatory foods than some of your family members or friends. The problem is that most inflammatory diseases develop slowly and without symptoms…until it is too late, so we all need to be careful about consuming pro-inflammatory foods, and not take for granted what appears to be good health.
In a nutshell, all you need to do is eat mostly fruits, vegetables, nuts, fish, chicken, and meat. Eat until you begin to feel full, then stop. Take the key supplements, and exercise more. There is no need to make it more complicated than this. The following describes anti-inflammatory foods and supplements to help with the deflaming process…it is really very easy to deflame and feel 10 or more years younger.
Foods and Dietary Suggestions to Fight Inflammation:
• All fruits and vegetables. Eat fruit raw and vegetables raw or lightly cooked. Red and sweet potatoes are acceptable as long as they are consumed with a protein, such as eggs, fish, meat, or fowl.
• Fresh fish (ocean, river, or lake).
• Meat, chicken, eggs from grass-fed animals. Go to eatwild.com to find producers of grass-fed animals. If you cannot acquire grass-fed products, do the best you can to get lean cuts of regular meats.
• The best supermarket variety of anti-inflammatory omega-3 (n-3) eggs is Christopher Eggs (600 mg n-3 per egg yolk); which is followed by 4-Grain Vegetarian Omega-3 Eggs (300 mg n-3 per yolk), Sparboe Farms n-3 eggs (250 mg n-3 per yolk), and Eggland’s Best (110 mg n-3 per yolk).
• Wild game (deer, elk, etc.).
• Nuts: raw almonds, cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts.
• Spices like ginger, turmeric, garlic, dill, oregano, coriander, fennel, red chili pepper, basil, rosemary, etc. (sea salt is okay if you wish to add a little salt).
• Oils and fats: It is best to use organic oils as they can otherwise concentrate pesticides. Use organic extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil. Butter is also a healthy choice and the best butter comes from grass fed cows. If you buy organic butter, you will get the best available butter (Organic Valley butter and heavy cream is from grass-fed cows).
• Salad dressing: extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar [or lemon juice], [mustard if you like], and spices (Greek, Italian, ginger, dill, oregano, whatever suits your taste).
• Whenever you are thirsty, drink water, or organic green tea (non-organic green tea may contain pesticides and should be avoided).
• Alcohol: Red wine and stout beer are the best choices.
• Candy: Dark chocolate.
Meal Suggestions
Breakfast suggestion: Omega-3 eggs are the best choice. They can be scrambled with your favorite vegetables, or made into an omelet. Add a moderate portion of sautéed potatoes if you like. It is best to use organic virgin coconut oil for cooking eggs and potatoes. Olive oil would be the next best option.
If you wish to have oatmeal or grits, for example, add a couple of tablespoons of ground up chia seeds, some raisins [or berries], and use a little organic heavy cream.
Meal shake: bananas, blueberries [or your favorite fruit], and egg white or other protein powder is a simple option. You can add some coconut, or your favorite raw nut. Make sure to always use water for blending.
Lunch and dinner suggestion: A chicken [fish, steak] Caesar salad without croutons is an example of a meal that contains appropriate portions of vegetables and protein; it is a model meal that can be applied to all other meals. When you feel like you have room for dessert, eat more vegetables. Or, wait an hour to see if you are indeed still hungry. If so, have your favorite fruit, or one of the healthy desserts listed below.
Dessert #1: 1-2 tbsp of organic heavy cream over frozen cherries, blueberries, etc., or favorite fruit.
Dessert #2: 1-2 tbsp of organic heavy cream over a combination of dried coconut, dates, raisins, and nuts.
Dessert #3 or snack: Dark chocolate, raisins, and raw almonds or favorite nut listed above.
Please realize that you may not have to significantly alter the meals your currently prepare.
Simply substitute vegetables for grains, bread, and pasta; and eat more fruit [or healthy
dessert/snack options] between meals. Do not be foolish and make deflaming a complicated
process.
Why Grains Inflame
Grain consumption is a sensitive subject for many individuals, which is why additional information is being provided. Most people have eaten bread, pasta, and cereals for their entire lives, and giving up this food can be psychologically traumatic, which illustrates the strong and inappropriate emotional connection that we have with food. However, if you view eating as a mechanism to fuel the precious vehicle [your body] that conveys you throughout life, then you would not be opposed to making any changes that would benefit the vehicle. Remember, you can only trade in your motor vehicle, not your body vehicle.
You should first be aware that grains have been consumed for only a short period of time during man’s sojourn on earth. Our genetic code is not dissimilar from the human-like mammals that inhabited the earth some 2 million years. In other words, for the 1,990,000 years that human-like mammals have populated the earth, the following foods were never consumed: grains, pasta, cereal, soy, beans, dairy, refined sugar, partially hydrogenated fats, and seed oils, such as corn, safflower, cottonseed, sunflower, canola, and soybean oil7.
Humans are genetically adapted to eat fruits, vegetables, nuts, fish, fowl, and meat. Consider also, that there are no chronic diseases caused by eating these foods. No matter what disease you may suffer from, none of these foods must be eliminated from the diet. The same cannot be said for grains in particular.
Gluten
Many different biochemical components and properties make grains an inflammatory food; the most notorious is a protein called gluten. Celiac disease is a disabling digestive disease, and is caused by the gluten found in grains. Most notorious on the list of gluten grains is wheat; others include couscous, spelt, kamut, rye, barley, and oats. Among the non-gluten grains are rice, wild rice, millet, and corn. A detailed list of gluten foods can be found at Celiac Sprue Association’s website (www.csaceliacs.org).
It is not only those suffering from celiac disease who need to avoid grains. Gluten can cause many other symptoms and conditions, ranging from schizophrenia7 to more common conditions such as headaches. For example, researchers randomly selected 200 disease-free individuals for the purpose of assessing anti-gluten antibody levels, which is a way to measure gluten sensitivity. A comparison was made of the health complaints between the subjects with the highest antibody levels, and those with the lowest levels…the results were shocking.
Fifteen percent of the subjects who had the highest antibody levels suffered from headaches, chronic fatigue, regular digestive complaints, subtle anemic changes, and NO signs of celiac disease8. You should understand that headaches, fatigue, and digestive problems are three of the most common symptoms reported by patients to doctors.
Lectins
All grains and legumes (beans, lentils, soy) also contain sugar-proteins known as lectins, which resist digestion and cooking. Before absorption, lectins are known to cause digestive system inflammation, which may or may not cause obviously linked symptoms9. After lectins are absorbed into circulation from the digestive tract, they bind to the surface of cells throughout the body. While all the details are not known, researchers state that, “there is now abundant evidence that lectins can cause disease in man and animals”10. Research suggests
that lectins may promote the following conditions: inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes mellitus, rheumatoid arthritis, glomerulonephritis, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, retinitis and cataracts, as well as congenital malformations, infertility, allergies and autoimmune problems.
Other Problems with Grains
As most people know, calcium is important for bone health. Grains contain a substance called phytic acid, which is known to reduce the absorption of calcium, magnesium and zinc from grains. Grains also promote an acidic body pH, which is known to be inflammatory. And finally, grains contain an elevated ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids, which also causes inflammation7.
With the above in mind, you may be wondering why we were told that grains are so good for us? First, whole grains do contain nutrients and fiber, both of which are healthy and anti-inflammatory. Therefore, grains are lobbied and marketed as a health food.
Most of us are utterly ignorant about the inflammatory dark side of grains. Second, grains are
inexpensive and can be stored easily, so we consume lots of them. We are never told that we
can get all the nutrients and fiber we require by eating fruits, vegetables, and nuts, and there is no need to consume grains. Consider that, throughout history, whenever grains were first adopted as a staple food that replaced animal-based proteins, a host of negative health outcomes occurred, including:
• A characteristic reduction in stature
• An increase in infant mortality
• A reduction in lifespan
• An increased incidence of infectious diseases
• An increase in iron deficiency anemia
• An increased incidence of osteomalacia, osteoporosis and other bone mineral disorders
• An increase in the number of dental cavities and enamel defects
Many of these seven problems still plague us today. Readers must realize that these seven
problems and the numerous conditions mentioned earlier, have only been associated with the
consumption of grains and legumes, and have never ever been associated with the consumption of fruit, vegetable, nuts, and healthy animal products.
What Should You Do? Helpful Hints
Making a decision
You need to make a choice regarding foods you eat: will they be pro-inflammatory foods or anti-inflammatory foods? If you have no symptoms and feel wonderful, you need to decide if you want to risk regularly consuming pro-inflammatory foods that are known to cause significant health problems and disease in many humans. If you do suffer from any
of the conditions previously mentioned, you may wish to see if grains/legumes and the other pro-inflammatory foods are a cause.
If you make the decision to deflame, you need to first visualize and consider what might be a
reasonable deflaming lifestyle for you on a long-term basis. You need to make sure that decision is commensurate to how well you wish to feel. For example, if you discover that grains give you headaches, you need to decide how much headache pain you can handle. If you want to be headache free, then you may need to eat absolutely no grains. Be aware that there are case reports in the scientific literature that describe patients who can maintain a headache-free state, only if they avoid grains11.
After coming to a decision in your mind, you need to commit to discovering how your health is influenced by the consumption of pro-inflammatory foods. You need to commit for at least 1 month to a near perfect deflaming diet. Within a week, you are likely to feel a difference, and by the end of 1 month you will know for sure how food affects your health [some people who are quite inflamed may need 2-3 months].
If you want to cheat, and maintain your new-found feelings of wellness, you will need to determine what level of proinflammatory foods you can consume. And when you find the level that suits you best, stick with it.
You also need to decide whether you wish to take supplements. Most important is that you need to feel good about whatever supplements you wish to take, whether that is just a multivitamin or the Core 5 plus an additional 5 supplements. Again, make a decision, and stick to your decision. Over time, you may find that you want to take less or more supplements– not a problem. Find what suits you best, and stick with it.
Meal preparation
For some, meal preparation becomes an obstacle to healthy, anti-inflammatory eating. And others feel that
they can never eat out in a restaurant, as no anti-inflammatory meals are available. It is important to understand that our favorite ethic restaurants offer a wide range of anti-inflammatory meals. Because traditional Indian, Asian, Hispanic, Greek, Italian meals focus on vegetables, fruit, animal products, and anti-inflammatory spices, they can all be considered anti-inflammatory… just try and avoid the grains, bread and pasta, which represent a modern pro-inflammatory additions to these meals. For cooking at home, any traditional ethnic grain/flour-free recipe can be prepared at home.
Several recently published texts are available that contain many anti-inflammatory recipes. The Paleodiet3, Eat Fat, Lose Fat12, and Nourishing Traditions13 provide anti-inflammatory nutritional advice and offer a wide variety of recipes for meal preparation. Whenever you
are in doubt about what to eat, stick with the anti-inflammatory foods mentioned above.
References
1. Seaman DR. The diet-induced pro-inflammatory state: a cause of chronic pain and other degenerative diseases? J Manipulative Physiol. Ther. 2002; 25(3):168-79
2. Seaman DR. Nutritional considerations for inflammation and pain. In: Liebenson CL. Editor. Rehabilitation of the spine: a practitioners
manual. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2006: p.728-740
3. Cordain L. The paleodiet. New York: John Wiley & Sons; 2002
4. Cordain L, Eaton SB, Anthony Sebastian A, Mann N, Lindeberg S, Watkins BA, O’Keefe JH, Brand-Miller J. Origins and evolution of the
western diet: Health implications for the 21st century. Am J Clin Nutr 2005;81:341-54.
5. Simopoulos AP. Essential fatty acids in health and chronic disease. Am J Clin Nutr 1999; 70(3 Suppl):560S-569S
6. Simopoulos AP. Omega-3 fatty acids in inflammation and autoimmune diseases. J Am Coll Nutr 2002; 21(6):495-505
7. Cordain L. Cereal grains: humanity’s double-edged sword. World Rev Nutr Diet 1999; 84:19–73
8. Arnason JA, Gudjonsson H, Freysdottir J, Jonsdottir I, Valdimarsson H. Do adults with high gliadin antibody concentrations have subclinical gluten intolerance? Gut 1992; 33:194-197
9. Cordain L, Toohey L, Smith MJ, Hickey MS. Modulation of immune function by dietary lectins in rheumatoid arthritis. Brit J Nutr 2000; 83:207-17
10. Freed DLJ. Lectins in food: their importance in health and disease. J Nutr Med 1991; 2:45-64
11. Hadjivassiliou M, Grunewald RA, Lawden M, Davies-Jones GA, Powell T, Smith CM.
Headache and CNS white matter abnormalities associated with gluten sensitivity. Neurology 2001; 56:385–388
12. Enig MG, Fallon S. Eat fat, lose fat. New York: Hudson Street Press; 2005
13. Fallon S, Enig M. Nourishing traditions. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: New Trends Publishing; 2001
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Why every patient needs a multiple vitamin
David Seaman, MS, DC
Many of you reading this article are over 50, or you have patients who over 50 years of age. Evidence is beginning to emerge suggesting that anyone over the age of 50 should seriously consider taking a multi- vitamin/mineral. It is now stated in no uncertain terms that, inadequate micronutrient intake among older adults is common despite the increased prevalence of fortified/enriched foods in the American diet” (1). We are not talking about people in their 90s. In this eight-week double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial that examined how a multinutrient would impact on micronutrient status, plasma antioxidant capacity and cytokine production, the subjects ranged in age from 50- 87 years. All were characterized as healthy, free- living older adults already consuming a fortified diet. The authors concluded that, “supplementation with a multivitamin formulated at about 100% Daily Value can decrease the prevalence of suboptimal vitamin status in older adults and improve their micronutrient status to levels associated with reduced risk for several chronic diseases” (1).
The same author examined how a multvitamin/mineral supplement would influence homocysteine levels in adults ranging in age from 50-87 years who already consumed a folate- fortified diet (3). After an 8-wk period, subjects taking the supplement had significantly higher B-vitamin status and lower homocysteine concentration than controls (P: < 0.01). Plasma folate, B6 and vitamin B-12 concentrations were increased 41.6, 36.5 and 13.8%, respectively, in the supplemented group, whereas no changes were observed in the placebo group. The mean homocysteine concentration decreased 9.6% in the supplemented group (P: < 0.001), while no changes were observed in the placebo group. There were no significant changes in dietary patterns during the trial. The authors concluded that a multivitamin/mineral supplement can improve B-vitamin status and reduce plasma homocysteine concentration in older adults already consuming a folate fortified diet.
In another double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, Chandra (3) examined whether supplementation with vitamins and trace elements in modest amounts might influence cognitive function in apparently healthy, elderly subjects. The study included free-living men and women over 65 years of age, who were randomized to receive a supplement of trace elements and vitamins or a placebo for 12 months. Cognitive function was determined by assessing immediate and long-term memory, abstract thinking, problem solving ability, and attention. The supplemented group showed a significant improvement in all cognitive tests except long-term memory recall. Those with blood-nutrient levels below the reference standard showed lower responses on cognitive tests. Chandra concluded (3): “This has considerable clinical and public health significance. We recommend that such a supplement be provided to all elderly subjects because it should significantly improve cognition and thus quality of life and the ability to perform activities of daily living. Such a nutritional approach may delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease.”
While I was unable to find similar articles for people under age 50, my experience with assessing nutrient status in the diets of people in this age group suggests that there are similar deficiencies. Many studies indirectly suggest the need for most of us to at least take a multiple- nutrient supplement. Consider that a recent study explained that food “fortification substantially increased the intakes of all nutrients examined except calcium, in all age/gender groups but especially children” (4). As it turns out, breakfast cereals provided most of the fortified nutrients. “In numerous cases, fortification was responsible for boosting median or 25th percentile intakes from below to above the RDA” (4).
Fortification represents the addition of nutrients to foods that have been processed. Basic ally, the “food fortifiers” add a cheap multivitamin/mineral to processed foods. This means that an enormous segment of our population already takes a multinutrient supplement, it is just incomplete. Why not provide them with a good supplement instead?
Despite what many believe about the medical profession, many are involved in prevention and many take multivitamin/mineral supplements. For example, in one study involving pharmacy students, researchers found that 47% of 692 students take supplements (5). More recently, a randomly sampled mail survey of 4,501 female medical doctors revealed that 50% took a multivitamin/mineral supplement (6). Clearly, many pharmacists and medical doctors believe that they need supplements – perhaps because they know their diets are deficient, and/or they believe the RDAs are low, and/or they believe that additional nutrients may have a disease preventing effect.
References
1. McKay DL, Perrone G, Rasmussen H, Dallal G, Hartman W, Cao G, Prior RL, Roubenoff R, Blumberg JB. The effects of a multivitamin/mineral supplement on micronutrient stat\us, antioxidant capacity and cytokine production in healthy older adults consuming a fortified diet. J Am Coll Nutr 2000 Oct;19(5):613-21
2. Multivitamin/mineral supplementation improves plasma B-vitamin status and homocysteine concentration in healthy older adults consuming a folate-fortified diet. McKay DL, Perrone G, Rasmussen H, Dallal G, Blumberg JB. J Nutr 2000 Dec;130(12):3090-96
3. Chandra RK. Effect of vitamin and trace-element supplementation on cognitive function in elderly subjects. Nutrition 2001 Sep;17(9):709-12 4. Berner LA, Clydesdale FM, Douglass JS. Fortification contributed greatly to vitamins and mineral intakes in the United States, 1989-1991. J Nutr 2001; 131(8): 2177- 83
5. Ranelli PL, Dickerson RN, White KG. Use of vitamin and mineral supplements by pharmacy students. Am J Hosp Pharm 1993; 50(4):674-78
6. Frank E. Bendich A, Denniston M. Use of vitamin-mineral supplements by female physicians in the United States. Am J Clin Nutr 2000; 72:969-75
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Magnesium and Cardiovascular Disease
Michael L. Smith, Ph.D., M.D.Sc.
This is a review over two topics of magnesium dietary support, two of the many functions for which magnesium is required. First, we should emphasize the importance of this metal. Magnesium is the second most abundant element found in the cytosolic fluid of cells, the intracellular fluid, after potassium. Most of the important enzymatic reactions of metabolism occur either in the cytoplasm or in the mitochondria. Magnesium and potassium are typical intracellular ions, and other intracellular ions are iron and zinc, important metals for central metabolism. Extracellular ions, such as sodium or calcium, are important for transport processes, bones and muscle contraction. The ionic affect of magnesium within cells is actually much greater than potassium because of the double positive charge on magnesium compared to the single positive charge on potassium. This does not completely describe the effect of magnesium because effects of ions in solution are propagated as ionic strength. All metal ions exhibit their property of a localized, positive charge on neighboring molecules, such as water, enzymes and DNA, unfailingly as ionic strength. What this means is the +2 charge of magnesium ion must be squared to +4 to properly consider the effect this ion has on enzymes, metabolites such as ATP, lactate, succinate, malate and the critical interactions of Mg+2 with DNA . So the effect of magnesium upon the immediate surroundings is +4 while that of potassium is only +1. For many reasons of chemistry and biochemistry, the only other ion exerting a greater ionic effect in the cytoplasm is aluminum, Al+3, and this ion is toxic.
Cardiovascular disease - A published epidemiology study, which enlisted a huge number of subjects (>15,000 participating adults) presented evidence that diets low in magnesium lead to coronary heart disease. This correlation was more pronounced for women than men, but still important for all. Recent investigations have narrowed the direct cause of this effect to two important vascular functions.
First, magnesium greatly decreases the ability of platelets to initiate thrombosis (begin to form a clot) in patients suffering coronary artery disease. This desired affect was observed even though these people were all taking low-dose aspirin and most were even taking a second anti-coagulant. Platelets are subcellular organelles which circulate in plasma and release important cofactors initiating coagulation; cofactors like calcium, and platelets are also intimate building blocks in clots. Clinical lab work has shown that magnesium delays platelet induced thrombosis by interfering with fibrinogen binding to the platelet wall – the binding of platelets to the protein (fibrinogen) is a first step in making the clot framework. Magnesium also inhibits thromboxane A2 formation and the release of calcium to stimulate platelet activity – these are also important players in clot formation. These effects have been observed to be clinically important because folks with low serum magnesium, presumably from poor diets, have more serious events after coronary artery bypass surgery. This was reported in a large (> 950 patients) study with some serious events being deadly.
Second, low magnesium concentrations also directly affect the anti-thrombotic behavior of endothelial cells – those cells lining arteries and veins being covered with anticoagulant molecules like heparin – these cells normally behave as anti-thrombotic. Unfortunately, our endothelial linings are easily damaged by cigarette smoke, pollutants and toxins and wounds of the endothelial lining are the direct cause of heart attacks and strokes. Endothelial cells cannot proliferate without proper magnesium levels and when undernourished excrete pro-coagulant proteins such as PAI-1 and VCAM-1. PAI-1 is the protein which binds to tissue plasminogen activator (the clot busting enzyme) and completely abolishes its activity. VCAM-1 is the vascular cell adhesion molecule which is undesirable because adhesion of other cell types, via VCAM-1, to endothelial cells can lead to plaque formation and blood flow retardation.Low magnesium also inhibits the ability of endothelial cells to replicate and migrate, for endothelial cells do not circulate. Endothelial cells are very delicate and do not replicate unless conditions are quite favorable. Migration of these important cells is the mechanism by which endothelials heal over wounds and arterial wounds are major causes of infarcts; these wounds being localities which initiate clots. Endothelial migration must be encouraged to avoid serious complications after surgery, as thrombosis within organs is a prime cause of death in the western world. Low serum magnesium is associated with an increase in the circulating concentration of interleukin-1 (IL-1), a strong inhibitor of endothelial cell proliferation and migration6. So magnesium levels are correlated with healthy endothelial cells and this is well understood.
Some more bad news for the magnesium deficient - a recent study negatively correlated the level of C-Reactive Protein (CRP) with dietary magnesium, in a manner independent of other risk factors7. That is, people with low magnesium intake exhibited high CRP. This protein is a strong indicator of circulatory inflammation and an important, independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Since this study included over 5,000 US adults the correlation is well founded.
Bone density – is of paramount importance for older women and men, who are encouraged to imbibe in large amounts of calcium. While calcium phosphate is the stuff bones are made of, recent propaganda demanding people adhere to a high calcium diet has not greatly decreased the incidence of serious breaks suffered by the elderly. Rather, a lack of vitamin D and magnesium are now implicated as root causes for this epidemic, with morbidity significantly increasing at higher latitudes and over the winter season8 – classical evidence for vitamin D deficiency. One complicated hypothesis for the cause of bone loss in people with low magnesium intake, is the requirement of the body for neutralizing metals for kidney function. So when magnesium is low the body calls on bone calcium to fulfill that function. A low blood level of vitamin D simply exacerbates this condition for without D, the body cannot digest and then redeposit calcium at nearly the rate from which it is removed into the bloodstream. As with much concerning metabolism, things now become really complicated, for magnesium deficiency is worsened for people with low potassium intake. It turns out the kidneys tend to excrete magnesium when blood potassium levels are low and when folks are taking diuretics. So magnesium, potassium and calcium requirements are all interrelated and all absolutely necessary for bone health.
Conclusion – Processes like coagulation and bone loss are all related through central metabolism. Human metabolism has evolved through millennia to require a generous amount of dietary elements, such as magnesium. While an acute shortage of dietary magnesium, unlike air or water, seems to not be deleterious for a day or two, a diet chronically deficient in magnesium has serious consequences. One morbid effect is the loss of control of blood thrombosis which is a current, major epidemic in the US. Another consequence is osteoporosis in our elderly with concomitant morbidity, too. Regular supplementation with Magnesium helps restore required, intracellular levels.
References
1 The square of the single charge on potassium is +1; a 1 raised to any power is only 1.
2 F. Liao, A.R. Folsom and F.L. Brancati (1998). “Is low magnesium concentration a risk factor for coronary heart disease? The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study.” American Heart Journal 136: 480-490.
3 M. Schecter, et al. (1999). “Oral magnesium supplementation inhibits platelet-dependent thrombosis in patients with coronary artery disease.” American Journal of Cardiology 84: 152-156.
4 J.R. Shea, et al. (2002). “Mechanisms involved in the antiplatelet activity of magnesium in human platelets.” British Journal of Haematology 119: 1022-1041.
5 J.V. Booth, et al. (2003). Low serum magnesium level predicts major adverse cardiac events after coronary artery bypass surgery.” American Heart Journal 145: 1108-1113.
6 J.A. Maier, et al. (2004). Low magnesium promotes endothelial cell dysfunction: implications for atherosclerosis, inflammation and thrombosis.” Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1689: 13-21.
7 D.E. King et al. (2005). Dietary magnesium and C-reactive protein levels.” Journal of the American College of Nutrition 24: 166-171.
8 B. Dawson-Hughes (2004). “Racial/ethnic considerations in making recommendations for vitamin D for adult and elderly men and women.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 80: 1763S-1766S. D. Rucker, A.A. Allan, G.H. Fick and D.A. Hanley (2002). “Vitamin D insufficiency in a population of healthy western Canadians.” Canadian Medical Association Journal 166: 1517-1524.
M.L. Smith publishes articles on the protective biochemistry of mammalian peroxidases in lungs and saliva; “Optical spectra of lactoperoxidase as a function of solvent.” B. Zelent, T. Yano, P.-I. Ohlsson, M. L. Smith, J. Paul and J.M. Vanderkooi (2005). Biochemistry 44: 15953-15959, and also on methods for depleting fossil fuels of toxic metals such as cadmium and nickel; “Acid leaching of ash and coal: Time dependence and trace element occurrences.” M. Paul, M. Seferino_lu, G.A. Ayçik, Å. Sandström, M.L. Smith and J. Paul (2006). International Journal of Mineral Processing 79: 27-41. Both are peer-reviewed journals.
Anabolic Labs, Supplement News Volume 5, Issue 3 July 2006
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