Reengineering Life, Mind and Spirit

Another supplement recommended by my Sutter Health cardiologist was Magnesium.  I remembered being giving Milk of Magnesia as a kid for constipation, and already knew that Epsom salts baths were relaxing, but I really didn't know how it would help with heart health.  So - I decided to do some digging.

Magnesium is most often recommended for bone health, but is also key for 300 different metabolic processes across the body. Of prime importance to heart disease patients is that it is necessary for the assimulation of calcium into bone material.  If too much calcium is present in the blood stream, it can contribute to coronary artery disease as it can be deposited onto the artery walls.  A proper magnesium/calcium balance is also needed for a strong, regular heart beat.   In fact, taking calcium supplements without magnesium supplements has been shown to increase heart attack risk.

Bad news for most Americans - the average American diet only provides 40% of the needed magnesium (according to the Nutritional Magnesium Association).  This is most likely due to the lack of fruits and vegetables in this diet, as well as to modern farming methods which deplete our soils of minerals.   Also according to the Nutritional Magnesium Association, up to 80% of the US population has magnesium deficiency. 

What are some of the symptoms of magnesium deficiency?  Early symptoms include headache, nausea, fatigue and weakness.  As this deficiency progresses, there are up to 22 different conditions that can occur.  These include coronary spasms,  anxiety or panic attacks, blood clots, depression(as magnesium is a precursor to serotonin production), fibromyalgia, tooth decay, weak bones, diabetes and heart attacks.   It is also really hard to test for magnesium levels, so this is not usually identified by the standard yearly physical. 

The good news is that it is easy to supplement with magnesium.   One natural doctor I visited advised me to bathe in Epsom salts as magnesium can be absorbed through my skin.  Magnesium can also be found in good quality dark chocolate (no Hershey's doesn't count, it needs to be at least 70% cocoa), avocados, nuts like cashews and almonds, beans and seeds, tofu, and whole grains. 

The safest way to make sure you are getting enough magnesium is to supplement.  Be careful - too much supplementation may lead to diarrhea which is no fun!  

Here is a great supplement that I recommend that is chelated for good absorption and is a low enough dose that it doesn't cause any gastric distress.  I was taking these, but found that my Isagenix Isaflush (part of the 30 day weight loss program) also contains magnesium so didn't want to double dose.    

Go to any health website these days and one of the first things you will see is either a reference to, or an article about inflammation.  Modern research shows that inflammation is being blamed for anything from Alzheimer's to obesity to heart disease.  How can one condition cause so much destruction to the human body? Why is it rampant, and what can we do about it?

Inflammation refers to swelling and irritation of our bodily tissues in response to an outside irritant.  We get inflammation when our bodies are highly acidic - and much of the highly processed foods we eat in America ARE highly acidic.  Eating sugar or worse, high fructose corn syrup creates an acid condition in the body as does eating refined carbohydrates such as white breads or pastas. 

Inflammation is not necessarily a bad thing when it is acute - it is actually our body's natural response to an infection or irritant.  According to Medical News Today,

• Inflammation is the body's attempt at self-protection to remove harmful stimuli and begin the healing process.
• Inflammation is part of the body's immune response.
• The first stage of inflammation is often called irritation, which then becomes inflammation - the immediate healing process.
• Inflammation is followed by suppuration (discharging of pus). Then there is the granulation stage, the formation in wounds of tiny, rounded masses of tissue during healing.
• Acute inflammation - starts rapidly (rapid onset) and quickly becomes severe.
• Chronic inflammation - this means long-term inflammation, which can last for several months and even years.
• Our infections, wounds and any damage to tissue would never heal without inflammation - tissue would become more and more damaged and the body, or any organism, would eventually perish.
• Chronic inflammation can eventually cause several diseases and conditions, including some cancers, rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, periodontitis, and hay fever.
• Although scientists know that inflammation plays a key role in heart disease and several other illnesses, what drives inflammation in the first place is still a mystery.
• It should be remembered that inflammation is part of the healing process. Sometimes reducing inflammation is necessary, but not always.

So - how do we keep our bodies out of the chronic inflammation stage, or heal them if we are already there and experiencing health problems?

First of all, we stop putting garbage into our bodies that causes this state (yes, the allopathic medical profession says what causes inflammation is a mystery per the above, but there is plenty of evidence that food additives, high fructose corn syrup, and acidic conditions create inflammation).   Read food labels, and get rid of anything in your pantry that has high fructose corn syrup, a list of ingredients that goes on for miles and reads like greek, and is highly processed (convenient but deadly).  Better living through chemistry is no longer a good idea in this day and age.  Secondly, limit eating out to a couple of times a month, OR go to a restaurant where you know food ingredients and nutrition information will be listed.  Make sure you keep the sugar and fat down.  Third, take steps to alkalize your body.  How do you do that?  Eat more green veggies - even if you hate them now, over a short period of time your taste buds adjust and you start loving them.  Go to a farmer's market and buy fresh ones, they taste a lot better than what you get in the grocery store and have more nutrients.  Try to buy the darker green varieties - Iceberg or lighter lettuce is just like eating paper; it has almost no vitamins and minerals.  The darker varieties have more "phytonutrients" - plant chemicals that help prevent everything from cancer to insulin resistance. 

Even if you do these things, there are still more steps you can take to obtain optimum health.  Inflammation can be caused by an allergy that you don't know you have.  Doctors and insurance companies don't always authorize allergy tests, or they just authorize the cheaper "back scrape" method that is less than accurate.   You can find several online companies that will allow you to purchase a kit to test at home that is simple and convenient.  You can then take the results to your doctor and get the bigger test authorized.  And many of these tests take HSA cards too, so you can pay with pretax dollars. 

You can also take supplements that help with inflammation, or better yet, use meal replacement shakes that have patented, engineered ingredients that fight inflammation.  I am presently using Tumeric supplements which really seem to have made a difference

These supplements have Black pepper also, which has been shown to improve the efficiency of Tumeric as an inflammation fighter. 

I am also enjoying two meal replacement shakes daily from Isagenix that contain a proprietary blend of branched chain amino acids, trace minerals (as our soil is depleted of them), healthy fats and 24 grams of protein. 

I also recommend staying out of intense heat - this weekend's heat really turned up my chest pains as the area of the blood clot in my heart was inflamed.   Heat is generated by inflammation, so having environmental excess heat is a no brainer for worsening bodily inflammation.  Bad luck for those who live in Arizona! 

Stay tuned for more as I discover more healthy tips and information - hope this helps my readers. 

Roughly two months after my big cardiac event, I started noticing irregular heart beats, but only at night.  I mentioned this to my Cardiologist - Dr Henjum in Placerville, and he recommended I purchase an iPhone gadget that does a complete EKG in 30 seconds.  What a great use for a smartphone!

There are actually several choices out there, my research showed that the AliveCor Kardia Mobile was the most desirable for me as I didn't want to wear wires 24/7 (would be pretty embarrassing when out with friends or visiting customers), but I wanted to be able to take an EKG at the moment when I felt something was wrong without having to wait until the next morning to see the doctor.  

You also can purchase this handy little device on Amazon here : 

AliveCor Kardia Mobile ECG for Apple and Android devices

It is $99, and comes with basic service, which allows you to email your last EKG to your cardiologist.   If you opt for more, they have a premium service that provides a monthly summary to your cardiologist along with unlimited EKG storage.  This would help detect trends over time and help your doctor gauge your progress. 

I bought one, and am waiting for it to arrive.  Even for people who haven't had cardiac events, I think this is a wise investment as it could help detect a stroke or heart attack right away.  Many people just think it will go away and die unnecessarily as they didn't get needed treatment in time; this would remove the guess factor.  ER treatment could also start early if the patient comes in with an EKG on his or her phone, showing the immediate need for care.