Magnesium and Heart Disease

8/7/2019 Magnesium and Heart Disease

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Magnesium Can Reduce Your Risk

of Sudden DeathPosted By Dr. Mercola | February 10 2011 | 35,277 views

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New research examined the association

between magnesium, which has antiarrhythmic properties, and your risk

of sudden cardiac death (SCD). The study looked at more than 88,000

women, who were followed for 26 years.

The results showed that the relative risk of sudden cardiac death was

significantly lower in women in the highest quartile of dietary

magnesium consumption. In fact, women with the highest blood levels

of magnesium had a 41 percent lower risk of sudden cardiac death.
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According to the study, in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition:

"In this prospective cohort of women, higher plasma concentrations and

dietary magnesium intakes were associated with lower risks of SCD. If

the observed association is causal, interventions directed at increasingdietary or plasma magnesium might lower the risk of SCD."

Sources:

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition February 2011; 93(2): 253-260

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

As its name implies, sudden cardiac death (SCD) occurs without

warning, taking a person's life just minutes after symptoms first appear.

Often underlying coronary heart disease is present, but many people

who die from sudden cardiac death do not know they have heartdisease.

In fact, the most common "symptom" of heart disease is actually sudden

death.

Prior to there are absolutely no indications of a problem, no signs like

ongoing chest pain or shortness of breath. There are no symptoms at all

until just minutes before the event occurs and ultimately kills you. In the

United States, there are more than 300,000 deaths every year fromsudden cardiac death, but there are several ways you can help to slash

your risk considerably -- and one of these may be by consuming plenty

of magnesium.
http://www.ajcn.org/content/93/2/253.abstracthttp://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2004/08/07/miracle-magnesium.aspxhttp://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2004/08/07/miracle-magnesium.aspxhttp://www.facebook.com/doctor.healthhttp://twitter.com/mercolahttp://www.ajcn.org/content/93/2/253.abstracthttp://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2004/08/07/miracle-magnesium.aspxhttp://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2004/08/07/miracle-magnesium.aspx


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Magnesium Slashes Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death

In the latest study, women who consumed the most magnesium in their

diets slashed their risk of sudden cardiac death by 37 percent compared

to those with the lowest intakes. Further, for every 0.25 mg/dL increasein blood levels of magnesium, the women had a 41 percent lower risk of

SCD.

A similar15-year long study published in 2009 also found that people

with the highest blood levels of magnesium had a 40 percent reduction

in the risk of SCD, compared to those with the lowest magnesium

levels.

Your body uses magnesium to perform more than 300 biochemicalreactions, including those that maintain normal muscle and nerve

function and keep your heart rhythm steady.

Sudden cardiac death often occurs because the electrical impulses in

your heart become rapid and chaotic, leading to an irregular heart

rhythm (arrhythmia) that causes your heart to suddenly stop beating.

Magnesium is anti-arrhythmic, which means it helps to suppress

abnormal rhythms of the heart, thereby lowering your risk of SCD.

What are the Best Dietary Sources of Magnesium, and WhoMight be Deficient?

Green leafy vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard are excellent

sources of magnesium, as are some beans, nuts and seeds, like

almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds.

Avocadoes are also a good source.

Surveys suggest, however, that many Americans are not getting enough

magnesium from diet alone. As the National Institutes of Health Office of

Dietary Supplements states:
http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/169/12/1437.abstracthttp://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/magnesium/#h3http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/magnesium/#h3http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/169/12/1437.abstracthttp://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/magnesium/#h3http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/magnesium/#h3


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" dietary surveys suggest that many Americans do not get

recommended amounts of magnesium there is concern that many

people may not have enough body stores of magnesium because

dietary intake may not be high enough. Having enough body stores of

magnesium may be protective against disorders such as cardiovasculardisease and immune dysfunction."

In order to ensure you're getting enough, you first need to be sure

you're eating a varied, whole-food diet like the one described in my

nutrition plan or that's tailored according to your nutritional type. But

there are other factors, too, that can make you more prone to

magnesium deficiency, including:

An unhealthy digestive system, which impairs your body's abilityto absorb magnesium (Crohn's disease, leaky gut, etc.)

Unhealthy kidneys, which contribute to excessive loss ofmagnesium in urine

Diabetes, especially if it's poorly controlled, leading increasedmagnesium loss in urine

Alcoholism -- up to 60 percent of alcoholics have low blood levels

of magnesium

Age -- older adults are more likely to be magnesium deficientbecause absorption decreases with age and the elderly are morelikely to take medications that can interfere with absorption (seebelow)

Certain medications -- diuretics, antibiotics and mediations usedto treat cancer can all result in magnesium deficiency

If any of these conditions apply to you, you may want to have yourmagnesium levels checked to ensure you're not deficient. However,

most people can keep their levels in the healthy range by eating a

varied diet, including plenty of dark-green leafy vegetables.
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One important point to mention: the levels of magnesium in your food

are dependent on the levels of magnesium in the soil where they're

grown. Organic foods may have more magnesium, as most fertilizer

used on conventional farms relies heavily on nitrogen, phosphorous,

and potassium instead of magnesium.

So ideally, eat plenty of organic leafy green vegetables, nuts and seeds

every day to keep your magnesium stores replenished. Green vegetable

juice [Leafy dark greens] can also be beneficial.

Additional Steps to Prevent Sudden Death

Heart disease is one of the easiest diseases to prevent and avoid, butyou simply must be proactive about it. First, assess your heart disease

risk factors. If you have type 2 diabetes, you're already at an increased

risk so you can move ahead to my recommendations below. For the rest

of you, one of the most important risk factors will be yourHDL to

cholesterol ratio.

Yourtotalcholesterol level is just about worthless in determining your

risk for heart disease, unless it is close to 340 or higher. And, perhaps

more importantly, you need to be aware that cholesterol is not the

CAUSE of heart disease. If you become overly concerned with trying to

lower your cholesterol level to some set number, you will be completely

missing the real problem.

In fact, I have seen a number of people with levels over 250 who

actually were at low heart disease risk due to their HDL levels.

Conversely, I have seen even more who had cholesterol levels under

200 that were at a very high risk of heart disease based on the followingadditional tests:

Your HDL/Cholesterol ratio

Your Triglyceride/HDL ratios
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HDL percentage is a very potent heart disease risk factor. Just divide

your HDL level by your cholesterol. That percentage should ideally be

above 24 percent. Below 10 percent, it's a significant indicator of risk for

heart disease. You can also do the same thing with your triglycerides

and HDL ratio. That percentage should be below 2.

If You're at Risk

First, make sure your vitamin D levels are optimized. Like magnesium,

low levels of vitamin D in your blood have long been correlated with

higher risk of heart disease and heart attacks, and a previous study

found women who take vitamin D supplements lower their risk of death

from heart disease by one-third.

My one-hour free lecture on vitamin D will tell you what your optimal

vitamin D levels should be along with how to safely get them there.

Next, simply apply my nutrition plan along with regular exercise and

attention to reducing emotional stress. Together, this will drastically

lower your heart disease risk -- sometimes quite rapidly.
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Magnesium and Heart Disease