Customer Reviews

The Magnesium Miracle

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

After reading this book, along with also having first-hand knowledge about the importance of magnesium, which indeed is a "miracle," I cannot understand why more information is not coming forward on this most important nutrient, the missing link in regaining your health. Back last winter, my wife became concerned when I had difficulty getting out of a chair, was having horrible hip pain and back pain. She researched, then started growing concerned that maybe I was showing early signs of Parkinson's. Needless to say, the research turned up several important things, but most importantly, magnesium deficiency seemed to be a number one factor causing many illnesses. Around this time frame, we found out about magnesium w/SRT (magnesium malate; malic acid), and it literally changed our lives overnight. That magnesium w/SRT is the one that was definitely a magnesium miracle for us. Then, around this same point in time, just about the same time we found magnesium w/SRT, we also found out about Dr. Carolyn Dean's book, and this has been such a blessing. You can tell others how it changed you overnight, but if you're deficient, it really will, and most people are deficient in magnesium. This book is so well written, so comprehensive in revealing the importance of the benefits of magnesium and just what a magnesium deficiency causes. This book is not only written for health-care professionals, but it's also for laypeople such as my wife and I. This book is for everyone. It's for people with depression, chest pain, migraines, muscle spasms, nerve problems, asthma, leg cramps, fatigue, hypertension, insomnia, and the list goes on and on. For the first time in over 20 years, my wife is free of back pain and horrible muscle spasms in her back. I can now get up from a chair normally, walk, do all the things that I need to do without back and hip pain. Dr. Dean is a wonderful expert in magnesium deficiencies, and she would tell you personally, I believe, it's time to take charge of your health!

I knew magnesium was important from other books I had read, and other classes I had taken, but I didn't realize how many things reduce the amount in the body such as, exercise, sweating, stress, prescription drugs, fluoride, and calcium supplementation. Magnesium is necessary to properly metabolize calcium, and it keeps calcium in solution in the body, so it prevents calcifications, which are quite common.

Magnesium is therapeutic in treating the following:
1. Anxiety and panic attacks- because it helps keep adrenal stress hormones under control
2. Asthma - both histamine production and bronchial spasms increase with magnesium deficiency
3. Blood clots - magnesium prevents blood clots and thins blood without side effects.
4. Bowel disease - magnesium deficiency is one of the main causes of constipation.
5. Cystitis - bladder spasms are worsened by a magnesium deficiency.
6. Depression - serotonin (mood elevator) is dependent on magnesium for its production and function.
7. Heavy metals - magnesium is essential for the removal of heavy metals such as aluminum and lead.
8. Diabetes - magnesium facilitates the production of insulin and the transfer of glucose into the cells.
9. Fatigue - magnesium deficiency affects hundreds of enzymes, and fatigue is one of the first signs of a magnesium deficiency.
10. Heart disease - The heart requires magnesium as does all muscles.
11. Hypertension, hypoglycemia, insomnia, kidney disease, migraines, nerve problems, PMS, osteoporosis, Raynaud's syndrome, and tooth decay are all aggravated, and sometimes caused by a magnesium deficiency.

Calcium causes muscles to contract, while magnesium gives them the ability to relax. This is why it is so helpful in the treatment of heart disease, asthma, migraines, PMS and Raynaud's syndrome.

She told a very scary story where a Florida high school football coach gave his players a calcium supplement on a very hot day before a game. Eleven players became disoriented and had difficulty walking. Their speech was slurred, they complained of muscles spasms, and they were breathing very deeply. Within an hour eight of the boys collapsed into full-blown seizures. Thirteen of the players reported headaches, blurred vision, muscle twitching, nausea, and weakness. They all eventually recovered. The heat, exercise, and calcium supplementation had driven their magnesium levels dangerously low. Magnesium deficiency may play a role in sudden cardiac death syndrome as seen with athletes.

She generally recommends 600-1,000 mgs, and depending on your health condition will determine what type of magnesium to take. This is one of the better books I have read on natural health care. I'm currently working on a summary for myself, I'm about halfway through and already have four pages of notes. I would recommend it to anyone who is serious about natural healthcare.

Magnesium is extremely important for good health. Yet for far too many years this vital mineral has been largely overlooked by most doctors. Shockingly, most laboratory blood tests do not even measure magnesium status although magnesium is involved as an essential factor in more aspects of health than any other mineral. Since magnesium status is rarely measured, most doctors don't know when their patients are deficient in magnesium, even though about 80% of Americans are deficient in this essential mineral. And magnesium deficiency is a significant factor -- often the primary factor -- in many severe illnesses including heart attacks and other forms of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, anxiety and panic attacks, depression, fatigue, migraines and other headaches, osteoporosis, insomnia, and most cases of muscular problems. Because magnesium deficiency is largely overlooked, millions of Americans suffer needlessly from the foregoing ailments or are having their symptoms treated with expensive drugs (which often have unpleasant or dangerous side effects) when they could be cured with magnesium supplementation. This excellent and easily-readable new book by Dr. Dean (an up-to-date revision and expansion of her ground-breaking book The Miracle of Magnesium) discusses these and other important aspects of this vital mineral in detail. Everyone who is concerned about his or her health should acquire and read this very important book, even if you already own its earlier version. So should their doctors. And the vast majority of Americans should increase their magnesium intake by suitable diet and appropriate supplementation as Dr. Dean recommends. Those who do will very likely find themselves free of many ailments they may now have.

I am impressed with this book. It's easy to read and understand, and I learned a lot about the importance of magnesium and how it helps us to function. I have shared this book with friends and family so they can improve their diets and learn how a magnesium deficiency affects their health. My daughter has NOT had a migraine since she has incorporated this mineral in to her diet. That in itself made the purchase worthwhile.
Highly recommend.

When I found I was suffering from many of the symptoms of magnesium deficiency, I looked on Amazon and found two very highly rated books - "The Magnesium Factor" and "The Magnesium Miracle". Unable to decide between the two, I ordered them both.

"The Magnesium Miracle" by Carolyn Dean was my favorite of the two as it provides the pertinent research and biochemical information in a very concise and easily readable format that would likely be more accessible to the layperson. The detailed information for supplementation includes not only magnesium, but also other nutrients that are needed to alleviate various magnesium-deficient conditions. This would be the book I would recommend to family and friends.

"The Magnesium Miracle" is a well written, understandable look at this key mineral. The book details the studies done showing magnesium's role in the healing of so many disease conditions. As the author rightfully says, "We are not drug deficient, but rather nutrient deficient." Also, all the key minerals and vitamins are synergistic in their operation. This means that they work togehter to procuce the desired effect. For example, calcium is a muscle contractent, while magnessium is a muscle relaxant. For magnesium and calcium to do their jobs you also need vitamin D, copper, maganese, boron and zinc. Also these nutrients need to be in the proper ratio to each other. You might have heard that you need two parts calcium to one part magnesium. The author contends that you need one part calcium to one part magnesium. I agree with her.

The author stresses the importance of a healthful diet with whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, cold water fish, organic meat, beans, nuts and seeds. She also gives you a supplement protocal for every disease condition talked about in the book. She isn't for mega doses of any one nutrient, but the right ratio of all the needed nutrients. I've known quite a few people, who while professing to be supplement takers, are slip-shod about the whole thing.This approach will not provide the necessary nutrients on a daily basis that are essential to regaining your health. You need to be responsible and discipline yourself to follow a supplement protocal and eat at regular times as well.

The author tells you about the various kinds of magnesium, how readily each one is absorbed by the body and whether they can cause loose stools in sensative people. Dr. Dean takes all the guess work out of chosing a magnesium supplement.

The one negative comment is where the author tells people with certain disease conditions to lay off meat. While some people need more protein and fat than others, we all need some in our diet. Because of the way most animals are raised, of all the foods to purchase organically meat is the most important. While organic meat is definitely more expensive, especially if you are already sick, you do not want to be eating growth hormones, antibiotics, etc. Some people are carbodydrate types, others are mixed types, while still others need a higher fat and protein diet. One simple way to determine your food type is to ask yourself what kind of chicken you most perfer. If like me you love dark meat, you are probably in the last catagory. If you perfer white meat the opposite is probably true. If both are equally appelaing you are probably a mixed diet person. For a more detailed test on this important subject go to Joseph Mercola's website.

I would also highly recommend you you read "Vitamin D Is It The Fountain of Youth?" by Paul Stitt. Vitamin D is another miracle nutrient. The more I study on nutrients the more convinced I become that only what our Creator designed us to function on will produce abundant health. We can't eat junk food, take a multi vitamin and be healthy. Also, lipitor will never replace magnesium. And while natural remedies such as herbs, chiropracitc, etc definitely have their place in a healthful lifestyle they don't replace proper eating, drinking enough water, getting adequate sleep, exercse, sunshine and fresh air. Also having a right relationship with God and close, healthy personal relationships is key to health. We need to learn to take responsiblility in every area of our lives.

If you're like me, you know to avoid "miracle" claims for any supplement. So, the title of this book may seem over the top.

But the fact is, magnesium is involved in hundreds of cellular reactions--to the point that if you don't have enough of it, you are breaking down all over. Sometimes in subtle ways and sometimes major ones. And magnesium can help such a wide variety of conditions that it does seem a bit too good to be true.

When I started researching magnesium a few years ago, I found the science so strong and the implications of mag deficiency so serious, I could not understand why more doctors didn't know about it.

Instead, our culture is getting pumped full of calcium, to the point that it is causing serious problems with sleeplessness, breast lumps, repetitive-use injuries, tendonitis, hypertension, anxiety, and even constipation.

A recent study showed that magnesium supplementation even at the point of infant delivery will reduce the risks of a child having cerebral palsy. And women who don't have enough magnesium have higher rates of hypertension during delivery.

I explain it to friends this way: Calcium gives rigidity to the cell, and magnesium gives flexibility. It's not exactly scientifically accurate, but it's close enough.

So, with any problem where you are lacking "flexibility," magnesium might help. Moreover, taken as the experts recommend, it won't hurt you--unlike the pharmaceutical alternatives your doctor might recommend instead.

As a nation, we are largely deficient in mag due to many factors, including high stress levels, consuming too many dairy products, and the quick-growing methods we've employed in our farming practices over the last 50 years. And the industry fixation on promoting calcium is CREATING many health problems.

Carolyn Dean explains everything you need to know about magnesium clearly, factually, and entertainingly. I recommend it to all who care about their health--and that of their loved ones.

Gina Pera

This was an easy to read nutrition book about an important nutrient in the body, which often gets overlooked. The book is written by a woman who is a naturopathic doctor and medical doctor (seems very "well-rounded" for a doctor). This book provides an expert guide into the importance of magnesium in the body...how it works, how magnesium is necessary for calcium absorption, how magnesium can smooth muscles, such as in the chest/lungs for those with asthma (like my son). My son is prone to asthma each time he catches a viral infection. We hate giving him the typical albuterol, which speeds up a person's heart rate and causes hyperactivity (hmmm...I wonder how many kids using albuterol are also diagnosed with ADHD?)and worth mentioning, I've heard that there are no studies to show how albuterol affects lung development. We also were told to give our son pulmicort, a steriod, which also has side effects, such as, causing cataracts (et. al.). I started giving my son liquid magnesium to help with the tighteness in his chest that he gets from asthma. Magnesium does help and my child's doctor agrees.

I would recommend this book to everyone because it covers many different illnesses and discusses how several illnesses/problems can be improved with magnesium. I believe that good nutrition (and naturopathic approaches) can help keep a person healthy, and help those with genetic disorders, much more than pharmaceuticals (many of which are man-made chemicals), which typically have side-effects that lead you to buy more drugs to help with each side effect's side effect, etc., etc... Check this book out for yourself. Even people who don't like to read about nutrition will find this book easy to read and easy to understand.

Two short stories. A few years ago I would get cramps in the calf of my left leg upon awakening. This infrequent event morphed into a daily morning ritual. The cramping upon awakening was not just daily, but multiple and had spread to my right calf also and then to contorting my toes. I was literally "yelling" in pain; rubbing did no good. The final assult was in my hands: Due to some triggering movement my fingers would freeze into a weird, contorted shape; I had no control; I simply had to endure.

Knowing most GPs know little about nutrition and are prone to give some drug, I inquired at my health food store. It was recommended that I take 400mg capsules of calcium with 200 mg of magnesium just before bedtime. I did so. The next morning when I awoke I could not even induce the slightest cramp! That was a "miracle" to me. And so it has been for months now because I take a regimen of calcium with magnesium. (If I consumed much dairy, I would not take additional calcium.)

A final story. Although a senior citizen I am very physically active (tennis and the gym deplete magnesium, by the way) and around this time I was due for my yearly physical. It showed that I had a mild heart arrhythmia even though my large veins and arteries are "whistle clean" of occlusion. This book tells me that my body runs on electrical impulses and magnesium is essential for good heart health (among many functions), and that low magnesium--which I knew I had--is essential for good heart health. And that low magnesium can cause heart arrhythmia and even stroke no matter how clean ones arteries are. So, I was glad to have added magnesium to my supplement list, even upping it from 400 to 600 mg a day.

This small volume is an easy read and so reassuring with the scientifically-backed research. You will find it very enlightening how essential magnesium is. I highly recommend this book to everyone currently suffering (or not) the ill effects of low magnesium.

Let me add that I also read another new book called THE MAGNESIUM FACTOR which is a very helpful source stocked full of research-backed data, but THE MIRACLE is smaller, the style is an easier read, and the information quite sufficient. Regardless, you won't go wrong with either or both books.

UPDATE as of 6/2/11: I have been on the magnesium regimen for 6 months; I have also cut out all dairy for that period. I had a lipid test which showed I had a drop of 33 points in my LDL, which may have been due to the lack of dairy (I was following the 2010 book, WHITEWASH: THE DISTURBING TRUTH ABOUT COW'S MILK AND YOUR HEALTH.) Regardless, my HDL did not rise one digit, something THE MAGNESIUM MIRACLE book predicted. I am continuing for another six month with the adequate dosage of magnesium with calcium to see if there will be an effect on my HDL. I will report back around November 21, 2011.

UPDATE as of Nov. 21, 2011: Somewhat disappointing. After one whole year on the magnesium my number only rose 4 points: from 42 to 46. Regardless, I still benefit from magnesium's elimination of my cramps.

This is another book I bought after reading a the previous version from our local library. It is amazing and has really helped us out so much. I use the magnesium products from Joan Schrader at Health and Wisdom and it is rebuilding my health so much in needed ways. It also enabled us to conceive again! Magnesium is directly related to infertility and a host of other health problems that are consistently prescribed for or treated in other ways including by homeopaths and naturopaths because not enough is known about this most vital mineral, magnesium.

It is so very readable and many, many 'ah-hah!' moments will follow as it is read. It is important, as with anything, to not read with any resentments or negativity, but to read in order to discover and learn.