On 7/24/2015 9:18 PM, J Burns wrote:
On 7/24/15 8:40 PM, Muggles wrote:
On 7/24/2015 5:47 PM, J Burns wrote:
On 7/24/15 3:40 PM, notbob wrote:
On 2015-07-24, J Burns wrote:

In the 1990s, Bayer.....

Dirtbags from the git.

Isn't magnesium the med we need, but there's a limit to how much you
can buy as a supplement?

nb

I'm skeptical of pills. If the supplement gets to the intestine, it may
not be absorbed and may interfere with the absorption of calcium.

Fifteen years ago, people could see I was deathly I'll, and the cause
was a mystery. An endocrinologist (a PhD and not an MD) said my small
intestine was full of holes. He recommended cooked carrots with butter
for Vitamin A, and Epsom salt for magnesium.

In a few weeks I was better and quit the Epsom salt. After a couple of
months, my digestion was still fine, but I realized I was doing worse in
other ways. I resumed the Epsom salt and never regretted it.

If you took a teaspoon or two of Epsom salt, it would get to the
intestine and, by holding water, act as a laxative. My adviser
recommended 1/8 tsp in a glass of water 3 times a day. An eighth tsp is
only about 60 mg. The old RDA was 400 mg, and some say it should be
1000. That little bit in a glass of water isn't much to correct a
deficiency.

I began mixing 1/2 tsp per pint of water and keeping it in a clear
plastic sports bottle in the counter. Like an animal going to a salt
lick, I'd take a drink when I had a taste for magnesium. Typically, I
drink two bottles a day. That would be 500 mg, half the RDA some
recommend. The dilution helps my stomach absorb it quickly, like a shot
of liquor on an empty stomach. Come to think of it, it affects me a
little like liquor. I feel refreshed, relaxed, and energized.

Last Christmas, three different people gave me chocolate candy. For a
week or so, I ate a lot of candy. I noticed my thirst for magnesium
water shot up to about four bottles a day. One function of magnesium is
to get insulin into the cells, where it belongs, and more sugar requires
more insulin. I guess magnesium is lost in the process. If insulin has
trouble getting into the cells, that's insulin resistance, which leads
to diabetes.

I've never heard of drinking a dilution of Epsom salt before. Is it
something that only works for certain blood types, or something that's
common for everyone?

It's not common, but for many centuries, people have drunk mineral water
for their health. Magnesium seems to be the most important mineral in
mineral water. I think of my mix as homemade mineral water, just enough
magnesium to give it a taste that hits the spot.

People used to bathe in mineral springs for their health. Until the
last few decades, it was common to bathe in homemade mineral water:
Epsom salt in a bath tub. You can absorb it a lot faster that way than
by drinking. They joke that the only danger from all that magnesium is
that maybe it will be so relaxing that you'll fall asleep and drown.

No kidding? I'm going to have to try that because some nights I just
don't sleep well because of a painful bursitis in my hip. I hate taking
pain killers cuz they make me feel groggy the next morning. I think
I'll try it tonight, too. Thanks for the tip.

A few years ago, I met my neighbor's father when he came in his pickup
truck to rake and haul away leaves. At 93, he was physically and
mentally as spry as any teen I've known. Later, my friend recalled that
every Saturday night, his father bathed in Epsom salt.

I read of a British experiment where the magnesium in subjects' urine
was tracked during a regimen of an Epsom salt bath every two days. (Or
was it four days?) IIRC, it took four baths for magnesium measurements
to level out. If excretion was less than intake for three big doses
(baths), it was taken to mean all subjects were quite deficient.

Doctors advise taking aspirin to reduce the chance of coronary
thrombosis. Research has shown that only buffered aspirin works. What's
the difference? Buffered aspirin has magnesium, which is vital in
regulating clotting. Why take aspirin, which could cause bleeding
problems, when magnesium won't?

I've got some epsom salt, so I'll see how that works for me. I
appreciate the information.

--
Maggie