Leaky gut allows toxins to move from the bowel into the blood stream and other parts of the body, causing an inflammatory response. [3] Inflammation and pathogenic toxins can travel to the brain and cause mental illnesses and depression. Magnesium however supports the gut microbiome, which can then help repair gut lining - if the diet supports them.
See a nutritionist for a gut-healing eating plan to suit your individual needs. Rule of thumb is to choose organic produce and meats, avoiding GMO and chemical additives. Avoid fluoride wherever you can. It works like a pesticide or anti-biotic, killing beneficial gut bacteria (which leads to more inflammation and premature ageing). Fluoride can appear not only in your water supply but also in foods and beverages (like juices) that use fluoridated water in the processing, fire retardants, outgassing of upholstery chemicals, Teflon coatings, pharmaceutical drugs and dental products.
Magnesium deficiency is very common with poly-pharmacy (ie. use of multiple medications), as well as chemo and radiation therapy. [4] These are chemical stressors with elements that can block magnesium’s use in the body, as well as cause it to excrete magnesium excessively. Low magnesium leads to cell dehydration followed by hypertension.
Hypertension is another symptom of pollution in cells, but: “The solution to pollution is dilution.” DRINK MORE WATER and make sure it is purified and re-charged with magnesium chloride salts (one small pinch per litre). This water provides essential electrolytes to support the metabolism.
The Lower the Magnesium, the More Acute the Stress Responses
Athletes can be particularly deficient in magnesium and can burn themselves out quickly if not enough magnesium is absorbed to replace the magnesium lost from their cellular magnesium ‘bank account’. [2]
Signs of magnesium deficiency include cramps, twitches and restless legs, as well as hyperkalaemia. As magnesium gets lower, calcium settles in the soft tissue and joints causing irritation and grinding of joints, calcium ‘lumps’ in muscle fibre, stiffer ligaments and calcium deposits on the endothelial lining of the arteries. The muscles become stiffer and harder to relax, tight and knotted.
When muscles feel shaky and spasm involuntarily there is instability in the electrical conductivity of cells and electron flow is intermittent. We need both sufficient electrolytes and hydration for our cellular ‘batteries’ to produce sufficient voltage.
As the potential hydrogen (pH) of the cell drops the voltage drops. pH is equivalent to voltage. Voltage is the ‘power socket’. This is why cellular acidity is our enemy: It lowers our bio-electrical metabolism capacity, making the cells sluggish as enzyme activity slows.
Acidosis and Inflammation
Inflammatory states are directly related to magnesium deficiency. [5] Low voltage is sign-posted by an inflammatory state, as blood cells take on a positive charge and start to attract, clumping together. Platelet stickiness causes thrombosis, which starves cells of oxygen and nutrients - and clogs up the pipes! [6]
Conversely, when cells have a slightly negative charge (alkaline pH) they are repelled and bounce off one another, producing the right Zeta potential and blood fluidity. This means cells also have more surface area to absorb oxygen and nutrients.
Maintenance of the right pH is so important that the body will take calcium out of the bones if there are no other buffering agents available, and use it to balance pH elsewhere in the body – ie. in the soft tissue, arterial lining, joints and ligaments.