I recently tried out some new transdermal magnesium chloride after reading the information on this site. I also bought Dr Sircus' book, "Transdermal Magnesium Therapy". It's very good.

Magnesium is needed for almost every chemical reaction in our bodies and over 68% of Americans are deficient in it. Our levels are often so low that taking magnesium orally does not bring them up to normal. Oral magnesium is poorly absorbed and leads to diarrhea so many doctors give magnesium intravenously to bring patients back into balance.

Now there is a new way to absorb magnesium. The product is called Ancient Minerals and you spray it on your skin, diluted with water to the level that feels comfortable. People have different levels of sensitivity in their skin. Or you can put it in a bath or a footbath.

If you have heart problems, asthma, cancer, depression or migraines, you really need to read the whole site at the above link. But our focus here is on bone strength so, as I've said before, the balance of calcium and magnesium is one of the deciding factors for the health of your bones.

Dr Sircus says, "It is magnesium that controls the fate of potassium and calcium in the body. If magnesium is insufficient, potassium and calcium will be lost in the urine and calcium will be deposited in the soft tissues (kidneys, arteries, joints, brain, etc.)… Calcium causes muscles to contract and magnesium helps them to relax."

The ratio of calcium to magnesium among Americans is estimated to be 6:1 and many researchers think it should be less than 2:1. Now calcium is being tossed willy-nilly into almost every processed food so our numbers are going to get even higher as the younger generation grows up. This is a bad portent for osteoporosis.

Dr Kathryn Ryder said, "Higher magnesium intake through diet and supplements was positively associated with total-body bone mineral density in older white men and women. For every 100 mg per day increase in magnesium, there was an approximate 2% increase in whole-body BMD.

Dr Barnett compared the bones of healthy people and osteoporotic bone and found the calcium content to be similar but the magnesium content much lower in the weaker bone, 1.26% to .62%. That was in the 50's and doctors haven't got the message yet. They are pushing gobs of calcium onto every woman over 40 as if it was the magic bullet for bones, in the face of all the evidence to the contrary.

Here is a good test – if you can bend over to pick something off the floor and squat to look for something you've dropped, without any creaking or effort, then you are probably not storing too much calcium in your body. If that is not the case for you then some more magnesium would be a good idea.
Or you could have a real test, of course. I'm taking an intense bunch of detox stuff and a stack of supplements right now and then I intend to have a red blood cell analysis done at the end of the month to see what nutrients and toxins I have within my cells. Then I will be clearer on what I need to take after that.

If you have been reading the blog regularly, then you know I have added a lot of new hormone supplements plus the extra D3 lately as well. That makes it difficult to pinpoint exactly which effect is attributable to each thing. But, I can say without a doubt, that spraying the magnesium for a couple of weeks has improved my patience level amazingly. Impatience is my main shortcoming, I think. Others may have different  suggestions, probably a long list of them. :-)  I admit to having felt impatience with my mother often in the past. Now I can walk along at a snail's pace in harmony, I can listen to the same remark I've heard a hundred times before and respond kindly. This week on our shopping outing I felt blessed instead of harassed. That's worth the slightly high price of the transdermal magnesium for sure.

May you be flexible and peaceful – That would be nice for the world in general, wouldn't it? Spray your partner with some magnesium as well.

Pam

You probably all know that calcium will not make bone in your body without the help of Vitamin D3. In my videos there is a clip of me glugging down Cod Liver Oil from a tablespoon. I was under the impression that I was exceeding my need for Vitamin D3 by a pretty large amount, since the RDA, which we all know is ridiculous, is only 400 IU. A tablespoon of Cod Liver Oil gives 1200 IU plus I have 800 IU in my multi-vitamin.

Imagine my surprise when a test showed my Vitamin D3 level to be 27 while the preferred range is 70 – 100. If I upped my intake of the oil then the amount of Vitamin A, which is also in the oil, might be excessive. There is almost no danger in excess Vitamin D supplementation but that is not the case with Vitamin A.

So I started researching and found an amazing new book, The Vitamin D Cure. It is really a necessary read if you want to get to the bottom of the bone-building mystery. Dr Dowd says the same as I have always said, that we take too much calcium and it's dangerous.

Since more than half the American population of any age is Vitamin D deficient this is not a minor problem. Age, brown skin, and obesity add to the likelihood of you lacking in this vitamin.

Our bodies make Vitamin D from the sun mostly, there are few foods that have it. So how much sun do you get on a daily basis, without sunscreen? Not much, I'll bet. I'm in California but a beautiful sunny day might go by entirely without my presence while my nose is buried in my computer. We don't store Vitamin D either so it's not something you can get on your vacation to last the year.

The other thing Dr Dowd goes into in depth in his book is the acidification of our diets, our lack of fresh vegetables and fruits and overconsumption of refined grains and dairy products. He is singing my song – green vegetables every day, as much raw as possible and regular exercise. I really recommend the book. If you take enough Vitamin D3 to get your numbers within the preferred range, you can expect your health to improve in amazing ways including pain erasure and more flexibility.

I am now taking a total of 5000 IU of Vitamin D. That's 3 1000 IU capsules added to the Cod Liver Oil and multi. I will have another test in 3 months and see if I have reached my goal. The number is based on my weight according to a table in the book.

Another interesting thing is that you can cut your extra calcium supplements out when you have your Vitamin D within range. He has a very interesting and somewhat complicated chapter on the interactions of calcium and D3 that explains a lot.  

Your children and grandchildren should be taking more Vitamin D also. The D they add to milk is probably D2, which is not as absorbable and not as easily recognized by the body. It will help them in every conceivable way and perhaps they will not grow up to have bone issues as we do. Dr Dowd makes the case that our bone patterns were laid down during pregnancy and childhood by the availability of Vitamin D. I know that we children were given Cod Liver Oil and Malt from a spoon when we were young but my mother was never given any during pregnancy, the most important time.

So, get the book, it will be something you can recommend to your whole family. Then get some supplements, 1000 IU Vitamin D3. I got Now Foods, 180 capsules for less than $5-. Can you imagine something that will be life-changing that is so cheap! Then get rid of the acidifying stuff in your diet and exercise regularly in moderation. That's a formula to send your biological age going backwards.

Pam