The Low Magnesium Epidemic: Dr. Berg Explains Signs, Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment
Dr. Berg’s Healthy Keto and Intermittent Fasting Podcast
Dr. Eric Berg
4.7 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 19 September 2023
⏱️ 6 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Let’s talk about the benefits of magnesium and the dangers of magnesium deficiency.
A deficiency in magnesium could put you at risk for certain health concerns, such as:
• High blood pressure
• Arrhythmias
• Tetany or twitching
• Leg or foot cramps
• Fatigue
• Diabetes
• Insulin resistance
• Depression
• Inflammation
The RDAs for magnesium are 300 to 750 mg. But some people may need much higher amounts. It’s important to consume foods high in magnesium and avoid certain things that deplete magnesium.
Foods rich in magnesium are the ones high in chlorophyll, which would be green vegetables. The top things that deplete magnesium are sugar and refined carbohydrates.
Other things that can lead to a magnesium deficiency include:
• Diarrhea
• Diuretics
• Antibiotics
• Alcohol consumption
• Age
For a magnesium supplement, you have a few different good options, including:
• Magnesium citrate
• Magnesium lactate
• Magnesium glycinate
• Magnesium aspartate
• Magnesium gluconate
Magnesium is important for the absorption of vitamin D and B vitamins. It also helps support healthy cortisol levels, which can reduce stress and help you sleep better.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Over 40% of the population is deficient in magnesium. |
| 0:03.0 | You're about to find out that a magnesium deficiency can create huge problems for your health. |
| 0:08.0 | The influence of magnesium in your heart, if you're deficient you can end up with high blood pressure. |
| 0:14.0 | Magnesium has everything to do with the relaxation of arteries, muscles, smooth muscles. |
| 0:20.0 | So if you're deficient in magnesium, you're going to have a little more calcium, |
| 0:24.6 | and your arteries are going to get rigid, and you'll have a tendency to have high blood pressure. |
| 0:29.6 | Another common problem with the heart is arrhythmias, okay? The pacemaker of your heart is neurological, but it connects to the muscle. And you actually |
| 0:38.8 | have four pacemakers, which are little cells that have this rhythmic beat into the heart. But that |
| 0:45.4 | pacemaker is mostly dependent on the electrolyte magnesium. And because magnesium is involved with |
| 0:51.1 | nerve and muscle, you can end up with tetany or twitching or any type of |
| 0:56.2 | abnormal relaxation or contraction of a muscle. And this is why the number one cause of a leg cramp or a |
| 1:03.2 | foot cramp is a magnesium deficiency. Magnesium doesn't just have to do with muscles though |
| 1:07.7 | or nerves. It's involved in over 350 different enzyme or biochemical |
| 1:15.0 | pathways, some involving the production of energy. That's why the number one sign of a magnesium |
| 1:20.2 | deficiency is fatigue because if you don't have magnesium, you can't make energy. You also |
| 1:26.5 | have magnesium influence over insulin. For example, |
| 1:30.1 | if you're deficient, you're way more at risk of getting diabetes and developing insulin |
| 1:34.8 | and resistance. And so if you have insulin resistance or you're pre-diabetic or a diabetic, |
| 1:39.7 | you must make sure that you have enough magnesium to fix that. Even your mood is influenced by magnesium. |
| 1:46.0 | People that who are depressed are nearly always deficient in magnesium. Another really good |
| 1:51.6 | biomarker or indication that you're low in magnesium is C-reactive protein. It's an inflammatory |
| 1:58.8 | biomarker and without magnesium it it's very, very difficult to get rid of |
... |
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