The Magnesium Miracle

459 Pages·2016·4.17 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