The multiple roles of magnesium
The five general properties of magnesium are as follows, but they are not complete:
- Catalyze most chemical reactions in the human body.
- Produce and transport energy.
- Synthesize proteins.
- Transmit nerve messages.
- Soothe muscles.
The following are the fourteen most important functions of magnesium, but there may be many other important functions to be discovered.
In the past few years, I (the author of the original book) have found that magnesium is much more complex than I originally thought. The following fourteen functions are excerpted from textbooks, and additional information about the functions and metabolism of magnesium is added. The content may have some academic terms, mainly to let readers understand that this seemingly healthy mineral is actually very complex.
- Magnesium is a cofactor of adenosine triphosphate
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is produced by mitochondria and is the main energy source of cells. It must be combined with magnesium ions to maintain its biological activity. This can be said to be the most important function of magnesium, because more than one hundred trillion cells in the human body contain ATP.
ATP comes from the food we eat (carbohydrates, fats, proteins), and is produced in the human body through a series of chemical reactions called the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Among the ten enzymes involved in the reaction, up to seven enzymes need the assistance of magnesium.
- Magnesium is an important substance for stabilizing cell membranes
It helps prevent excessive excitation of muscle nerves and reduce muscle cell membrane contraction. - Magnesium is a necessary element to maintain the integrity of many protein structures in the body
Currently, scientists have discovered that there are 3,751 magnesium receptors in human proteins. - Magnesium is a necessary element to maintain the integrity of nucleic acid structure
Therefore, magnesium is required in the production of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). - Magnesium is a cofactor of guanosine triphosphate (GTP)
GTP has many functions:
Assisting in message transmission, that is, it can “turn on” certain protein receptors on the cell membrane to transmit sensory signals such as taste, smell, and vision. Protein biosynthesis.
Regulates cell growth and differentiation.
Transfers proteins across the cell membrane.
Transports vesicles within cells and forms the coat of vesicles. - Magnesium is a cofactor of phospholipase C
Phospholipase C is an enzyme that can hydrolyze phospholipids and form a signal transmission channel. In addition, it also has other functions. - Magnesium is a cofactor of adenylate cyclase
Adenylate cyclase can catalyze ATP to generate cyclic adenosine and release pyrophosphate. cAMP is used for intracellular signal transmission to help hormones such as glucagon and adrenaline to play a role because hormones cannot pass through the cell membrane. cAMP participates in the process of protein kinase activation and can regulate the effects of adrenal glands and glucagon. In addition, cAMP can bind to ion channels (channels that enter cells) and play a regulatory role. - Magnesium is a cofactor of guanylate cyclase
Guanylate cyclase can generate cyclic guanosine monophosphate from GTP, keep cGMP-controlled ion channels open, and allow calcium ions to enter cells. - Magnesium is a necessary cofactor for hundreds of enzymes
Dr. Andrei Rosnov said: According to a 1968 study, magnesium is a cofactor for more than 300 enzymes, and according to current research, the more credible number is 700-800. - Magnesium can directly regulate ion channels, including channels for important electrolytes such as calcium, sodium, and potassium
Magnesium plays an important role in the transmission of sodium ions, and the damage to the heart caused by magnesium deficiency is very similar to potassium deficiency. In addition, magnesium supplementation is necessary to treat potassium deficiency. The medical staff of many hospitals find it difficult to help patients achieve a balance of sodium, potassium, calcium, and chloride because they ignore the role of magnesium.
Magnesium is closely related to the channels of calcium ions, and magnesium is also a natural calcium ion channel blocker, but the mainstream Du Kang therapy medicine does not use magnesium to regulate the calcium content in the body, but insists on using drug-type calcium ion channel blockers, which often have many side effects. - Magnesium itself is an important intracellular communication molecule
The role of intracellular communication cannot be underestimated. The normal functioning of the human body must rely on intracellular message transmission. - Magnesium is a regulator of the oxidative phosphorylation process
During the oxidative phosphorylation process, electron carriers transfer electrons to receptors. For example, in the redox reaction, the receptor is oxygen, and magnesium is a cofactor of the oxidative phosphorylation process. The redox reaction is also called the electron transport chain. During the process, a series of protein complexes are generated in the mitochondria of the cell, which can release energy for the mitochondria to use to generate ATP. - Magnesium is closely related to nerve conduction
Although calcium is an indispensable element in the operation of the nervous system, excessive calcium intake is very dangerous. Excessive calcium can cause sprouting and may over-stimulate nerves and cause cell death. - Magnesium is closely related to muscle function
Muscle operation includes various physiological mechanisms, such as oxygen intake, electrolyte balance and energy generation. Magnesium can regulate calcium concentration, guide calcium into cells to allow muscle contraction, and guide calcium out of cells to relax muscles and promote the normal operation of muscles.
Excess calcium can stimulate muscle cells, causing uncontrollable spasms and tissue damage, such as sudden heart attacks.
Modern people are chronically deficient in magnesium
The following is an excerpt from Senate Resolution No. 264, 74th Session, 2nd Session, 1936.
Mineral deficiencies in agricultural soils have been a problem for nearly a century, and the situation is getting worse.
Did you know that most people today suffer from diseases that are so severe that they are incurable because of certain foods that are seriously lacking in nutrients?
Unless the poor soil from which our food comes can be restored to a balanced mineral balance, there will be no way to reverse the situation.
The worrying fact is that millions of acres of food, including fruits, vegetables and grains, no longer contain enough minerals.
No matter how much food we eat, we cannot avoid malnutrition.
In fact, the value of the food we eat varies greatly, and some of it is not worth eating at all.
The health of our bodies depends directly on the mineral elements that enter our tissues, rather than the calorie content or the composition of vitamins, starches, proteins, and carbohydrates.
Laboratory tests have proven that the fruits, vegetables, grains, eggs, and even milk and meat we eat today are different from those we ate several generations ago, and no one can maintain a perfectly healthy system by eating a huge amount of fruits and vegetables to provide minerals, because the human stomach is not large enough to accommodate such a large amount of vegetables and fruits.
Magnesium-deficient diet
Americans are getting less and less magnesium from food. In the early 20th century, each person consumed up to 500 mg of magnesium per day from their diet, but today they only consume 175-200 mg of magnesium.
The National Academy of Sciences of the United States points out that American men consume only about 80% of the recommended daily intake of magnesium, while women only consume 70% of the recommended daily intake.
Many magnesium experts say that the current recommended daily intake of magnesium is actually not enough to prevent the occurrence of magnesium deficiency, which makes us even more worried.
Let’s examine the various popular diets. Is there any one that can prevent people from being deficient in magnesium?
The answer is no.
For example, the Paleolithic diet, which tells people not to eat grains, has led to more people suffering from magnesium deficiency because more magnesium is consumed when digesting protein.
In addition, the main enzymes used in homocysteine metabolism must rely on magnesium.
Homocysteine is naturally produced in the process of digesting protein, but if the amount produced is too much, it will cause cholesterol to oxidize and cause damage to blood vessels. In the absence of magnesium, this fat oxidation and cleavage (lipid peroxidation) reaction will occur.
A high-sugar, high-carbohydrate diet will also put you in a magnesium deficiency crisis.
Natasha Campbell-McBride pointed out in her book “Gut and Psychological Syndrome” that it takes 28 magnesium atoms to digest 1 glucose and 56 magnesium atoms to break down a fructose molecule – this is really a very unbalanced and difficult to maintain equation.
Even if you are a raw foodist or someone who loves to drink detoxifying vegetable juice, it is difficult to avoid the trouble of magnesium deficiency.
Magnesium is the main mineral in the plant blood “chlorophyll”, just like the iron in human hemoglobin. You think that eating more green vegetables can supplement the required magnesium, but it is not the case.
Among the patients I have met, there are many who drink more than 2900 ml of organic vegetable juice every day, but they still suffer from magnesium deficiency and have symptoms such as palpitations and leg cramps.
I want to emphasize a fact again: if the vegetables you eat are not grown in mineral-rich soil, then the vegetables themselves will lack minerals.