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Electrolytes (Sodium / Potassium / Magnesium / Calcium)

Electrolyte drink

Notes on Sodium (or salt)

Notes on Potassium

Calcification

Notes on Calcium/Magnesium

  • Best Of Dr McDougall. Posted 8/23/2015. Duration 35:51. At duration 21:11 shows chart that states: Human Calcium Requirements: Minimum Requirement Based on Research is 150-200 mg per day; Calcium Intake for Underdeveloped Countries 300-500 mg.
  • Balancing Calcium with Magnesium. Posted 10/3/2008. Duration 2:25. Excellent summary.
  • Biological Significance of Magnesium. Posted 6/10/2015. Mg is used by DNA Polymerase and RNA Polymerase to make and repair DNA and RNA strands. Without Mg, cells would cease to replicate and repair. Mg is used by nerve cells to transmit electrical signals. The energy molecule ATP must be attached to a Mg molecule in order for it to be biologically active. Mg is at the center of the chlorophyll molecule and therefore is at the heart of photosynthesis. [Additionally, Mg is involved in the replication of Mitochondria.]
  • Magnesium. Posted 8/3/2017. NootropicsExpert. Speaker recommends Magnesium L-Threonate, 1 gram per day.
  • The Truth about Magnesium & Copper: Food Industry Secrets- Thomas DeLauer. Posted 3/20/2017. Excellent 10-minute introduction on the balance between Magnesium, Calcium, Iron, Copper and Zinc.
  • Maximizing Your Mitochondria with Magnesium. Posted 7/17/2013. Discusses the role of Magnesium in the production of Mitochondria.
  • The Truth About Calcium and Osteoporosis. Posted 11/24/2009. 25% of sixty-five year old women in the United States are diagnosed with osteoporosis. For a person technically to qualify for this label, it means she has lost 50- 75% of the original bone material from her skeleton. That is 1 out of every 4 women of sixty-five years old has lost over half her bone density! Today, more deaths are caused by osteoporosis than cancer of the breast and cervix combined.
  • Calcium Supplements May Damage the Heart. Posted 10/11/2016.
  • Death by Calcium -- Proof of the Toxic Effects of Dairy and Calcium Supplements- Tom Levy. Posted 6/19/2014.
  • (YouTube) Dr. Thomas Levy - Death by Calcium. Posted 2/2/2016. The big four for Calcium absorption: Magnesium (a Calcium antagonist), Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and Vitamin K2. With Vitamin D, you can take too much or too little and in both cases you will get osteoporosis.
  • Death by Calcium,Redox Balance,Chronic Disease & Vitamin C by Dr Thomas Levy. Posted 6/16/2017.
  • Magnesium Disorders. Posted 8/28/2013. Good discussion on magnesium homeostasis. This video is very technical and designed for medical professionals.
  • Magnesium Glycinate. Food-grade, powdered magnesium from Amazon which I will use to brush my teeth.
  • Dr. Mercola & Dr. Dean on the Importance of Magnesium. Posted 6/24/2015.
  • Why magnesium is so good for you. Posted 3/18/2016. Very informative perspective from a cardiologist living in the UK.
  • 9 Reasons You Should Take Magnesium & Magnesium-Rich Foods. Posted 8/2/2017. (1) Increases energy [+B vitamins]; (2) Calms nerves; (3) Improves sleep; (4) Eases constipation; (5) Relieves muscle ache [+Potassium]; (6) Regulates nutrients [helps absorb Calcium]; (7) Supports the heart; (8) Prevents migraine; (9) Improves bone health. Foods with high Magnesium: spinach, chard, pumpkin seeds, yogurt or kefir, almonds, black beans, avocado (also has potassium), figs (also good for constipation), dark chocolate, banana.
  • Magnesium stops painful night time leg cramps (charlie horse). Posted 10/23/2012. Good four-minute video.
  • Signs and Symptoms of Magnesium Deficiency. Posted 6/17/2011. Good 10-minute video. Stress, Diuretics (caffeine, alcohol, blood-pressure medications), and Diet causes loss of Mg.
  • Muscle Cramps Spasms and Charley Horses. Posted 5/28/2014. (1) medications, (2) too much calcium, (3) too little magnesium, (4) too little potassium. Also add B1 vitamin. I don't agree entirely with his recommendations, however.
  • The Essential Role of Electrolytes in Skeletal Muscle Contraction: More Than Just Cramp Prevention. Posted 8/28/2017. Magnesium is a calcium antagonist (it works against calcium). Magnesium competes to interact with motor proteins in the muscle fiber. At rest, magnesium binds to the motor proteins within the cell and assists with the relaxed state (Figure 1). In the contracted state, after release of calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, the calcium has a much higher affinity for the motor proteins than the magnesium, and therefore displaces it. In conditions of magnesium shortage, we see muscle cramping.
  • What is Magnesium? How it Functions in the Body. Magnesium ions regulate over 300 biochemical reactions in the body through their role as enzyme co-factors. They also play a vital role in the reactions that generate and use ATP, the fundamental unit of energy within the body’s cells.
  • The Dangerous State of Too Much CALCIUM!. Posted 9/6/2014. Starts out well, but enters into supplements which I don't agree.
  • Hypomagnesemia - causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, pathology. Posted 5/23/2017. This video is very technical and designed for medical professionals. Great detail on glandular mechanisms dependent on magnesium.
  • Magnesium and Metabolism. Posted 9/27/2016. How Mg helps glucose get into our cells. Pancreas use of Mg to produce Insulin. Mg also is needed in our cells for the proper function of its Insulin receptors. Mg is also needed for the conversion of glucose into energy in the cells.
  • MagnesiumHealth.org
  • Ca/Mg Ratio. Posted 1/23/2015. The biggest symptom of aging is calcification of the entire body. It is because the body is unable to keep Ca in solution and it is deposited in the tissues--adrenals and thyroid. Arthritis, brain, joints.
  • Magnesium Deficiency 101 - Dr. Carolyn Dean. Posted 10/15/2016.
  • Vitamin D Supplements are Harmful, Industry and the US Dietary Guidelines. Posted 11/17/2015. Featuring John McDougall. Interesting part starts at duration 13:00. Harmful effects of Vitamin D supplementation: (1) more falls and fractures, (2) increase "bad" LDL-cholesterol (heart disease), (3) prostate cancer, (4), immune system suppression, (5) autoimmune diseases, (6) gastrointestinal symptoms, (7) kidney disease and kidney stones. Dr. McDougall, "There is no level of vitamin D discovered by a blood test that would cause me as a medical doctor to prescribe vitamin D supplements to one of my patients."
  • Why all of a sudden is everyone deficient in vitamin D? Posted 5/28/2013. Vitamin D has a counter-balancing Vitamin F. Too much Vitamin D can lead to toxicity (hyper-vitaminosis). The calcium starts clogging up your heart, arteries, lungs, kidneys, etc.
  • The Dangers of Vitamin D Supplements. Too much Vitamin D supplementation can cause a Magnesium deficiency.
  • (YouTube) Eat Your Way Out of Heart Disease - McDougall & Diehl. Posted 4/19/2012. Graphic video.
  • Do Not Cath, I Will Sue – Failure and Dishonesty of the Heart Surgery Business. Posted 9/25/2016.
  • Bob Harper's Heart Attack - THE TRUTH. Posted 3/28/2017. Bob Harper was vegan but became an avid meat eater prior to his heart attack.
  • Widowmaker TV Version. Posted 2/11/2017. See also: A Passion to Save Lives: David Bobbett speaks to the people. Inspiring! Posted 6/20/2016.
  • CardiacHealthQuestion&AnswerVideoSession001. Posted 4/25/2014. One of the questions answered: Will stents last forever? Answers: 10-15% will fail; 40% will have to be restented in or around the area within a year.
  • Importance of magnesium for the electrolyte homeostasis - an overview. Posted 2002. Electrolyte homeostasis - what does it mean? As we know, the electrolytes sodium (Na), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca) with their corresponding anions: chloride, phosphate and bicarbonate are represented within and without the cells at very different concentrations. ... Electrolyte imbalances mainly concern the potassium gradient. High potassium gradients are characteristic for cells with high metabolic activity. Skeletal muscles and myocardium belong to these. Consequently, those tissues are affected first of all. Together with potassium the other predominantly intracellular cation magnesium is also involved, because potassium and magnesium deficiency mostly appear together. An isolated potassium deficiency is possible but it will remain a rarity. Lasting over a longer time, magnesium deficiency will always be followed by potassium deficiency secondarily and because potassium and magnesium are the most important intracellular cations, potassium and magnesium deficiency first of all is a deficiency of the cell. .. [More potassium supplementation, more excretion in the urine]: Later on it was shown that increasing potassium supply aggravated the hypokalemic situation more and more. Today fortunately it is known, that increasing potassium supply will stimulate aldosterone secretion, so that renal excretion will increase too. ... For a long time it has been known, that under cellular potassium magnesium deficiency a calcium overload of the cell will take place. This alternating behaviour of magnesium to calcium is called calcium antagonism... Summarising, a magnesium deficiency is followed by a cellular potassium deficiency, which again causes a sodium and calcium over load of the cell. Then the electrolyte homeostasis between intra- and extracellular space is disturbed maximally: a total electrolyte imbalance now dominates.
  • Conclusion from the above link. The importance of magnesium for the electrolyte homeostasis can be summarized now: (a) Magnesium deficiency is always followed by a disturbed electrolyte homeostasis. it causes a lot of deficiency symptoms according to its many-fold relations in the organism and should be considered in many diseases and clinical situations. (b) Sufficient magnesium supply is important for maintaining the concentration gradients and the electric potential at the Cell and stabilizes electrolyte homeostasis. (c) Magnesium is able to restore the ionic and electric imbalance by reactivating the sodium/potassium pump and by reducing the calcium overload. (d) Magnesium is indispensable for potassium substitution and for compensation of a refractory potassium deficiency.
  • Dr Mercola Discusses the Benefits of Magnesium. Posted 1/13/2017. Dr. Mercola recommends Magnesium L-Threonate. Research shows that it penetrates the blood-brain barrier. It's an expensive supplement in this form.
  • Magnesium Cream Tutorial. Posted 8/16/2015. Uses "Ancient Minerals Magnesium Flakes (8 pounds)" + Beeswax Organic Pastilles + Coconut Oil. Recipe: 8oz of warm water + 2 cups of Magnesium and dissolve. Then, 2 tablespoons of beeswax + 2 cups of Coconut Oil and dissolve in low heat. Then combine the two sets of ingredients in a blender.
  • Nutrition Breakthroughs: Study on Fibromyalgia Calcium Deficiency.
  • Magnesium Deficiency - No Test Required - Mark Sircus, Ac., OMD. Posted 2/12/2010. A blood test will not correctly detect Magnesium deficiency, because the body will rob every cell of Mg in order to maintain the correct level in the blood.

Magnesium Supplement Bioavailability

  • Magnesium. Absorption of magnesium from different kinds of magnesium supplements varies. Forms of magnesium that dissolve well in liquid are more completely absorbed in the gut than less soluble forms [2,11]. Small studies have found that magnesium in the aspartate, citrate, lactate, and chloride forms is absorbed more completely and is more bioavailable than magnesium oxide and magnesium sulfate [11-15]. One study found that very high doses of zinc from supplements (142 mg/day) can interfere with magnesium absorption and disrupt the magnesium balance in the body [16].
  • Bioavailability & elemental % of Magnesium Types. Good discussion in a chat room.
  • What Is The Best Magnesium Supplement? A Comprehensive Review. Recommends magnesium citrate or gluconate or glycinate. "For the record, magnesium gluconate and magnesium glycinate are thought to be the best types for super-loading; for example, when correcting a severe magnesium deficiency."
  • Different Forms of Magnesium | Anxiety, Cramps, and Digestion: Thomas DeLauer. Posted 5/18/2017. Mg Chloride (12%), Mg Citrate (not recommended; powerful laxative), Mg Glycinate (40%, +glycine; calming effect, absorbed thru intestine), Mg Malate (40%, energizing), Mg Oxide (low bioavail.), Mg Sulfate (epsom salts, for external use, powerful laxative), Mg Threonate (passes the blood-brain barrier).
  • Magnesium Oxide. 4% bioavailability. Strong laxative.
  • Magnesium Citrate. Moderate laxative in high doses.
  • Magnesium Glycinate. No laxative effect. Low Mg concentration. Neurotransmitter relax effect.
  • Magnesium L-Threonate. No laxative effect. Very low Mg concentration. Brain benefits.

Making Magnesium Carbonate

Drugs that interfere with Calcium or cause Calcification

  • Coumadin (warfarin) increases arterial calcification. The vitamin K antagonist, warfarin, is the most commonly prescribed oral anticoagulant. Use of warfarin is associated with an increase in systemic calcification, including in the coronary and peripheral vasculature. This increase in vascular calcification is due to inhibition of the enzyme matrix gamma-carboxyglutamate Gla protein (MGP). MGP is a vitamin K-dependent protein that ordinarily prevents systemic calcification by scavenging calcium phosphate in the tissues. Warfarin-induced systemic calcification can result in adverse clinical effects.
  • Vitamin K1 and K2 negate the effect of drugs like Coumadin or Warfarin. Actually the truth is the reverse. These anticoagulant drugs stop K1 recycling and so keep the blood very thin. Taking these drugs keep you in an artificially K1 and K2 deficient state. So if you’re taking these drugs, supplementing with K1 or K2 makes the drug ineffective. Reference: How to choose the right Vitamin K2 supplement.
  • Anticoagulant drugs also take out some K2. There is evidence that people on anticoagulant drugs quickly develop arterial calcium deposits.
  • As if that wasn’t enough, cholesterol-lowering statin drugs also keep you in an artificially K2 deficient state.
  • Regardless, if your doctor deems it important for you to be on these drugs, adding K1 (or K2) to the mix warrants a discussion with your doctor.

Vitamin K2 for Bone Health

  • Dr. Kate Rheaume-Bleue on Studio 4 with Fanny Kiefer. Posted 1/25/2012.
  • Vitamin K: New Evidence for Cancer, Heart Health, and Bone Health. Posted 9/13/2011.
  • Dr. John Whitcomb Seminar - Vitamin K2 - Super Vitamin, Hidden Before Our Eyes. Posted 6/17/2013. Use a set of micronutrients to increase bone density by 4% in one year using: K2 (100 mcg), Vitamin D 2000 IU, Magnesium 25 mg, Strontium 680 mg, dietary Calcium (*no* supplements), DHA (Fish oil 250 mg), and Exercise. [Strontium is banned in Europe, has lots of side effects. Need to read more on this.]
  • Chlorella, Vitamin K and Coumadin – Don’t do what is healthy so you won’t be sick anymore. Posted 2/6/2011. For the record, Chlorella does have vitamin K in it, as do all green plants to some degree. Vitamin K is found in a plethora of foods. Chlorella has a lot of vitamin K, 46mg per 1 gram. The body requires vitamin K for a number of reasons. It is an antagonist for arterial calcification in humans. A ten-year study documented that people who consumed the most vitamin K2 have a 50% reduced risk of arterial calcification. They also exhibited a 50% reduction for being at risk for cardiovascular events during the 10 year period of the study. In 2009, a 16,000-person study demonstrated that high consumption of vitamin K2, not K1, protected from cardiovascular disease. Vitamin K also helps with calcium assimilation and retention in the bones and throughout the body. It helps prevent osteoarthritis and is essential for the production of skin cells.
  • Everything You Need To Know About Vitamin K2. Posted 9/17/2017. Very good technical discussion. Vitamin K1 is used by the liver (coagulant) for clotting factors II, VII, IX, X, C, S, Z. Anticoagulants like coumadin (warfarin) interfere with the function of K1 in the liver. Vitamin K2 activates the protein osteocalcin which puts calcium in the bones. Vitamin K2 is also used to activate "matrix Gla-protein" which is the only known mechanism to remove calcium from the soft tissues.
  • Vitamin K2 in the Raw Vegan Lifestyle. Posted 1/25/2014. Many recent articles attempt to show that Vitamin K2 can be obtained only from animal sources, and many vegans and raw vegans now question whether they can get proper amounts of K2 through their vegan lifestyles. ... Interestingly, if the articles are saying this vitamin can only be obtained by eating animals and their products, and those animals are vegan plant-eaters, then where do scientists think these animals are getting the vitamin to give us? ... Bacteria in our intestines convert Vitamin K1 into Vitamin K2. .. To tell if we have a sufficient amount of Vitamin K, we should get blood work done to examine the prothrombin time and the thromboplastin time, or go to a specialty lab such as Genova Labs for a Serum Vitamin K Assay. ... Some studies show that Vitamin K2 is made by the intestinal flora, and the conversion to K2 can be difficult for some people if they have insufficient beneficial bacteria. However, it has been shown that most animals (including humans) convert the Vitamin K1 they get from plants (phylloquinone) to Vitamin K2 (menaquinone-4). Dr. Trader believes that when people show up deficient, they aren’t eating enough leafy green vegetables. ... Vitamin K2 can also be made in the liver, pancreas, and other organs, showing we do convert K1 to K2 and K4 as well as the remaining K vitamins. This is verified in the article titled “Conversion of Dietary Phylloquinone to Tissue Menaquinone-4 in Rats Is Not Dependent on Gut Bacteria.” In addition to leafy green vegetables, Vitamin K is also present in fruits: plums, avocados, and kiwis are good sources of Vitamin K.
  • Vitamin K2: Types, Benefits and Food Sources. Posted 3/6/2017. Some good news: your body can convert, though inefficiently, some vitamin K1 into K2. If you’re set on eating your daily vitamin K2 versus supplementing, here’s a list of foods: Kale, dried basil, scallions, broccoli, brussel sprouts, asparagus, cabbage, cucumbers, prunes, most leafy greens.
  • How to choose the right Vitamin K2 supplement. You need BOTH MK-4 and MK-7 forms of Vitamin K2. MK-4 may be more important. High dose MK-4 is used in Japan as a prescription drug for osteoporosis. Most of the studies showing lowered fracture risk used MK-4, not MK-7.
  • Vitamin K2 (MK4 + MK7) at Amazon. Provides two essential forms of K2 (MK-4 + MK-7). Total of 600 mcg of K2 per capsule.
  • Vitamin K2 (MK4) at Amazon. This is from Thorne Research. Just take 1 drop per day. One bottle will last for a year.
  • Vitamin K2 (MK7) at Amazon. This is the NutriGold brand which has the benefitial trans version of MK7.
  • Vitamin K2 will dissolve calcification of the soft tissues. However, too rapid de-calcification can result in a medical emergency of too much calcium is expelled in the blood. Should be taken in small dosages for many months if the individual has a lot of calcium deposits in the soft tissues.
  • Vitamin K2 (MK7) may result in heart palpitations. May get a really nasty reaction to it: jitters, heart palpitations (or at least, what we describe as "pounding" heart beats), inability to sleep... it's just nasty.
  • K2 for coumadin (warfarin) patients. Dr. Whitcomb talks about an INR stable dose specifically for coumadin/warfarin patients of 45mcg of MK4. That is an extremely low, low dose, though.
  • Dosages for the rest of us. Dr. Whitcomb says to take 100 mcg of MK4 which is still an extremely small dose based on most clinical research. A more sensible approach is to take a MK7/MK4 combination product with a ratio somewhere in the neighborhood of 1/10. The exact ideal ratio is undetermined but you do not want to just take MK7 exclusively (too much missing functionality). There have been no known cases of over dosing so exact dosage amounts aren't critical. So a supplement that is 100mcg/1000mcg of MK7/MK4 could be taken 2 or 3 time a day safely.