The Magnesium Miracle

608 Pages·2017·4.63 MB·english

by  Carolyn Dean

Praise for The Magnesium Miracle
“Every doctor and patient should read this comprehensive book on
the many roles of magnesium….I loved this book. Clearly written
and packed with information, it offers a compendium on natural
medicine and is an invaluable resource for both practitioner and
public alike. It is the most comprehensive and well-referenced guide
to the myriad benefits of magnesium published to date.”
—CAROLYN DEMARCO, M.D.,
author of Take Charge of Your Body: Women’s Health Advisor
“Throughout this volume and with utmost clarity, Carolyn Dean
presents invaluable recommendations—based on the latest
magnesium research. Virtually every American can benefit.”
—PAUL PITCHFORD,
author of Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern
Nutrition
“Physicians and therapists have paid scant attention to this very
important element, which is also involved in maintaining our good
health. The massive evidence is here in this important book on
magnesium. I am pleased to have been taking magnesium for so
many years.”
—ABRAM HOFFER, M.D.,
author of Putting It All Together: The New Orthomolecular
Nutrition
“Excellent research together with valuable inspiration to empower
the doctor within each of us.”
—JOSHUA ROSENTHAL,
director of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, author of The
Energy Balance Diet
“An enlightening and practical book. Dr. Dean supplies powerful
information for people while trumpeting a reminder to doctors
about this essential and often overlooked mineral elixir. The
Magnesium Miracle should be required reading for living a rich,
healthy life.”
—EUGENE CHARLES, D.C., DIBAK,
author of Physician Heal Thy Patient and Becoming Healthy,
Wealthy and Wise
“I have been in complementary medicine for thirty years and I
believed I knew all there was to know about magnesium—until I
[read] the latest book by Dr. Carolyn Dean. This book is the most
comprehensive review on the subject I have ever read. As one can
expect from a physician with such vast and diversified knowledge,
The Magnesium Miracle contains information on allied fields of
medicine that makes this book an incredible resource for doctors
and patients alike. The Magnesium Miracle is a book that is going to
be of great service to humanity since, as the author points out, there
is so much information on magnesium that has failed to be included
in the medical curriculum.”
—SERAFINA CORSELLO, M.D.,
Wellness Medical Center for Integrative Medicine, author of Ageless
Healing

The material in this book is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to serve as a
diagnostic tool or prescription manual, or to replace the advice and care of your medical
doctor. Although every effort has been made to provide the most up-to-date information,
the medical science in this field and the information about magnesium and other
breakthrough medications is rapidly changing. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you
consult with your doctor before attempting any of the treatments or programs discussed in
this book. The author and publisher expressly disclaim responsibility for any adverse effects
that may result from the use or application of the information contained in this book.
As of the time of initial publication, the URLs displayed in this book link or refer to existing
websites on the Internet. Penguin Random House LLC is not responsible for, and should
not be deemed to endorse or recommend, any website other than its own or any content
available on the Internet (including without limitation at any website, blog page,
information page) that is not created by Penguin Random House.
Copyright © 2003, 2007, 2014 by Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D.
Foreword copyright © 2003 by Dr. Bella Altura and Dr. Burton Altura
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House, a division
of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
BALLANTINE and the HOUSE colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House
LLC.
Originally published in hardcover and trade paperback in different form as The Miracle of
Magnesium by Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin
Random House LLC, in 2003 and 2007 respectively.
ISBN 9780399594441
Ebook ISBN 9780425286715
randomhousebooks.com
Book design by Susan Turner, adapted for ebook
Cover design: Susan Zucker
v4.1
a
Foreword
“Clearly there is more to life than magnesium” is one of the remarks
from Dr. Dean’s remarkable, almost encyclopedic, but very readable
book. Her book is long overdue, for it gives the lay reader a chance
to discover for him- or herself the many needs for this mineral in a
healthy diet, and the reasons why this has not been emphasized in
the everyday literature.
The requirement for magnesium in our diet is indeed a much-
neglected topic, and this book by Dr. Dean brings the message home
by her carefully written repetitive emphasis on the subject. That
does not mean that there are not many other nutrients necessary in
our daily food intake, as stated above, but the point she so clearly
makes is that the public in general has not been notified to look for
the proper amount of this mineral in the daily diet and the many
reasons magnesium is needed in our bodies.
After a cursory overview of the material, the book should be read
as one would read an encyclopedia, that is, pick out the parts one is
particularly interested in, and then go back and try to read it all.
This way the reader will get the gist of how important magnesium
really is and how little he or she has been informed, be it from
newspapers, magazines, or the rest of the news media. As the old
adage says, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” and
so it is with balanced nutrition, which includes this all-important
mineral in adequate amounts. (As to the other interesting parts of
the book, our qualifications allow us to comment only on the
material pertaining to the scientific basis for the need of
magnesium.)
DR. BELLA T. ALTURA
Research Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology
SUNY Downstate Medical Center
Brooklyn, New York
DR. BURTON M. ALTURA
Professor of Physiology, Pharmacology, and Medicine
SUNY Downstate Medical Center
Brooklyn, New York
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Foreword
Introduction
PART ONE The History of Magnesium
1 The Case for Magnesium
2 Magnesium: The Missing Mineral
PART TWO Magnesium Deficiency Conditions
3 Anxiety, Depression, Sleep
4 Migraines, Pain, Neuralgia, Issues for Athletes
5 The CNS, Stroke, Head Injury, Brain Surgery
6 Cholesterol, Hypertension
7 Heart Disease
8 Obesity, Syndrome X, Diabetes
9 PMS, Dysmenorrhea, Menopause, PCOS
10 Infertility, Pregnancy, Preeclampsia, Cerebral Palsy
11 Osteoporosis, Arthritis, Kidney Stones, Kidney
Disease
PART THREE The Research Continues
12 Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia
13 Environmental Illness
14 Asthma, Cystic Fibrosis
15 Aging, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Dementia
PART FOUR Determining Your Needs and Deciding What
to Take
16 Magnesium Testing and Recommended Intake
17 A Magnesium Eating Plan
18 Magnesium Supplementation and Homeopathic Use
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Appendixes
A Magnesium Content of Common Foods
B Calcium Content of Common Foods
C Bone Broth Recipe
D Liposomal Vitamin C Recipe
E Potassium Broth
Resources
Notes
About the Author
Introduction
I’m pleased to say that since the 2014 revised edition of The Magnesium Miracle, magnesium research
has skyrocketed. In the past five years, close to 12,000 publications about magnesium appeared in the
PubMed database. By the time this book is in your hands there will likely be another 3,000.
It’s been wonderful to see a definite public groundswell of interest in magnesium. In commercial
terms, magnesium is the fastest-rising product on the supplement market. Sales of magnesium
supplements are catching up with and even surpassing calcium supplement sales. Statisticians also
analyze what topics are being searched on the Internet, and magnesium is getting its fair share of hits.
There is more than enough proof that people should supplement with magnesium for a myriad of
conditions. In fact, I think everyone could benefit from magnesium supplementation, whether you
suffer from magnesium deficiency or simply wish to prevent it. I’ve updated this edition with the latest
magnesium research, most of which is online, so you can read it yourself. Through the miracle of the
Internet you can find abstracts to most if not all of my references and, in many cases, free access to
entire papers. It’s so important to educate yourself about the benefits of magnesium since, in spite of
all the evidence, researchers continue to call for more studies on the topic, rather than recommending
magnesium to the public. That’s right—even though research repeatedly proves magnesium deficiency
causes dozens of diseases and symptoms, rarely do medical organizations openly endorse magnesium
supplementation.
ARRHYTHMIA AWARD
One such rare organization is the Heart Rhythm Society in the United Kingdom. In the fall of 2012 I
was given the Arrhythmia Alliance Outstanding Medical Contribution to Cardiac Rhythm Management
Services Award. Arrhythmias can be life-threatening, and the only treatment options are to learn to
cope with the mild ones or treat the moderate to serious ones with drugs and surgical ablation.
One of my magnesium deficiency symptoms is heart palpitations, so I know how scary and
disruptive they can be. It is very distressing to actually feel your heart working improperly. I often tell
people, “You don’t have a heart problem; you have a magnesium problem.” As I’ve noted many times,
the highest amount of magnesium in the body is found in the heart.
I was quite amazed to receive this award because the Heart Rhythm Society is very science- and
research-oriented. By honoring me, they acknowledged the important role of magnesium in the
treatment of arrhythmia. This award is proof that magnesium research has hit the mainstream, and
there is no going back!
It was this award and all the mail I receive about arrhythmias being reversed with magnesium that
convinced me to write a book called Atrial Fibrillation: Remineralize Your Heart. The fact that serious
heart arrhythmias can be affected by such a simple mineral as magnesium makes people more willing
to accept its importance in improving health. I’ll give you a long excerpt from that book in Chapter 7.
Below I’d like to share a few emails that I’ve received from people with arrhythmias whose lives have
been dramatically improved by using magnesium.