"There was osteoporosis in the lumbar vertebrae of the magnesium-deficient rats, and very little bone formed on either the inside or the outside of the implants… In
contrast, the magnesium-supplemented rats had formed well-mineralized trabecular bone inside and outside the implant. In a few areas, cartilage or a mixture of cartilage
and bone had formed."
Teeth also suffer from magnesium deficiency with resulting weaker enamel and disturbed dentin calcification. Teeth become brittle, chalky and loose in their sockets.
Calcium Channel Blocker
Magnesium cofactors with many nutrients and supports over 300 direct enzyme reactions. In fact, scientist Mildred Seelig said in her book The Magnesium Factor
that magnesium is essential for thousands more indirect enzyme reactions, which can suffer during magnesium deficiency.
A healthy cell with electrolyte balance, in its relaxed state, will have most magnesium and potassium inside the cell, and most calcium and sodium in the extracellular spaces.
The membrane is made up of a phospholipid bilayer in a gel-like structured water held together by magnesium ions. The membrane charge is responsible for membrane
integrity which is largely dependent on magnesium. If magnesium gets too low the cell membrane charge drops, making channels "looser". This means that too
much potassium can escape which can cause a heart attack if excessive. Too much calcium and sodium can also get inside cells causing over-stimulation and dehydration, as well as hardening by calcium.
A "Natural" and Superior Statin Magnesium has been called the best natural "calcium
channel blocker". It even outperforms statin drugs without the negative side effects.
Most people eating a varied diet of green vegetables, dairy, nuts, seeds and legumes are likely getting adequate calcium from foods, but not enough magnesium. Funnily enough, hypocalcaemia (calcium deficiency) symptoms can in many cases be alleviated by restoring proper magnesium levels.
On the other hand, too much calcium, or supplemental artificial vitamin D (which promotes more calcium aggregation), can block magnesium as they are competitive for similar receptor sites. Calcium can
muscle into the membrane channels and dominate magnesium.
Magnesium can block calcium via its bigger hydration shell which gives it special expansion and contraction properties. The key is how magnesium organizes and structures water molecules in the phospholipid bilayer of the membrane, and its relationship to protein transporters. "In the dissolved state, magnesium binds hydration water tighter than calcium, potassium and sodium." Its radius can be up to 400 times larger than its dehydrated radius. This is the key to membrane channel regulation.
"Magnesium has the smallest atomic radius and the largest hydrated radius of any biological cation…. [It] is hexacoordinate, and its six waters of hydration are held
more tightly to Mg2+ than to most other cations… Mg2+ further serves as a pivotal component in metabolic networks and signaling cascades where it participates in
regulating enzyme activity,… Competition with Ca2 + for key intracellular binding sites and the regulation of virulence programs in pathogenic bacteria."
The presence of calcium is dehydrating. The presence of magnesium is hydrating. Calcium hardens and tightens: Magnesium relaxes. Magnesium relaxes muscle fibres by increasing hydration in the membrane
channels, making them more flexible, but also causing the channels to be brought closer together via structured water charges, and thereby causing a calcium efflux. It's
the magnesium that controls how the calcium is used.
If magnesium gets too low the cell membrane loses
integrity and becomes looser, allowing calcium in. Note
that stress hormones (catecholamines and
corticosteroids) bring in the calcium, dehydrate (loosen)
the membrane and depress magnesium. Magnesium
returns the water, cools the fire of inflammation, makes
stress hormones subside and causes calcium to go back
out into the extracellular spaces.