All electrical activitySmooth muscle contraction Skeletal muscle contraction Every single heart beatAll brain activityOver 300 various enzymatic reactionsRegulation of a Normal Potassium Level All of these reactions require the magnesium in the body to be replaced on a virtually continual basis, day in and day out. Hospitals and doctors’ offices often check magnesium blood levels when a patient has certain medical conditions such as heart or kidney problems. When your test for magnesium comes back normal, doctors are assured that you have plenty of magnesium, and they are satisfied that they have done their job- but they obviously aren't Understanding Blood Test Results.
The problem with this is that magnesium is not
IN your blood. In fact, 99% of the magnesium in the body is in the
cells; while only a mere
1% of your the body’s
total magnesium is in the blood, making a blood test for magnesium nearly worthless in all but the
WORST magnesium deficiency. In addition, there are various factors that affect
Magnesium Absorption, so that even if you think that you are getting 'plenty' of magnesium, you may not be able to absorb it or use it properly.
“A serum test for magnesium is actually worse
than ineffective, because a test result that
is within normal limits lends a false sense
of security about the status of the mineral
in the body. It also explains why doctors
don’t recognize magnesium deficiency; they
assume serum magnesium levels are an accurate
measure of all the magnesium in the body.”
Dr. Carolyn Dean from
’The Magnesium Miracle
’
But even if your serum magnesium comes back normal, as it probably will, many doctors and researchers believe that magnesium deficiency is epidemic! Researchers believe that many common medical problems from migraines to Heart Palpitations are actually just signs of magnesium deficiency that serum magnesium levels are unable to detect. Even the common problem of Toxemia of Pregnancy is usually a problem of not enough Magnesium in Pregnancy.
Many studies show improvement in conditions ranging from irregular heart rhythms to certain types of high blood pressure to alcoholic condition, when a deficiency is ‘presumed’ and magnesium is administered.
Fun Magnesium Fact
You Don't Need Pills or Food to
Get Plenty of Magnesium
Just Rub Transdermal Magnesium Gel Right Into Your Skin
For a Quick Magnesium Supplement
It Really Works!
Doctors who are actually interested in the magnesium levels of their patients, and there are not many who understand the seriousness of magnesium deficiency, find this lack of a good test for magnesium levels frustrating. In the article ‘Noninvasive Measurement of Tissue Magnesium and Correlation With Cardiac Levels’ they echo this frustration,“The role of magnesium in the clinical setting, however, is hampered by the lack of an assay of intracellular tissue magnesium levels.”
A Better Magnesium Test
Red Blood Cell Magnesium Levels, also called 'RBC Magnesium' tests, are an improved way to get your magnesium level checked, but unfortunately it is still not extremely accurate and has it's limitations.
RBC magnesium tests the level of magnesium inside of the Red Blood Cells inside your bloodstream. Unfortunately, this level does not correlate very well with the levels inside your TISSUES where you really want to know about your magnesium status. So, you COULD order an expensive RBC Magnesium Blood Test
from that link and get one done even without your doctor's help, but it's not necessarily going to give you any better information than a serum magnesium level.
An Even BETTER Magnesium Test
Intracellular Magnesium Levels are being shown to be the only clinically significant measure of magnesium deficiency. So, some smart researchers decided to come up with a way to measure the magnesium levels inside the cells. Hence the invention of a ‘Sublingual epithelial cell’ magnesium test!! This test takes a sample of the cells from underneath your tongue and checks the magnesium level of the cells.
This neat test is painless, accurate and is INFINITELY more accurate than a blood test for magnesium when determining clinically significant amounts of magnesium in the body.
This sublingual epithelial cell test for magnesium is
not some test in the experimental stages that we can
someday hope to be able to use after years and years of studies and after waiting and hoping for FDA approval. This simple test that measures the only truly important magnesium levels,
intracellular levels, painlessly and accurately with only a scrape of a tongue depressor under the tongue,
has already been well studied
and it is available to health care providers for use in their offices and in hospitals right now via
Exatest.com.
However, I
STILL don't recommend this expensive and not readily available test because
YOU DON'T NEED A TEST!!
The Best Magnesium Deficiency Test
You don't need a test, and testing is really not very good because magnesium needs and levels change minute by minute and hour by hour. A normal level of magnesium in the doctor's office could be significantly lower after a stressful drive home in terrible traffic or an emotionally phone call with your mother. In addition, even if you get plenty of magnesium, your Magnesium Absorption can be affected by different factors that may change your magnesium levels even if your needs and your intake stay the same!
Magnesium levels change too quickly and there are too many variables as to how much magnesium is needed day to day for levels to be relied upon. In reality, getting a sublingual epithelial magnesium level every time that you feel poorly would really be the only accurate and effective way to use magnesium testing. But again, you don't need even ONE SINGLE test!!
Stop wasting money and medical resources getting tested when you only need to listen to your body to know whether you need magnesium or not!! Listening to your body for signs of magnesium deficiency is a FAR FAR more accurate way to know whether you need magnesium or not.
"Only about 0.3% of the total body magnesium is present in serum, yet the majority of analytical data obtained is from this body fluid."
Assessment of Magnesium Status
Even worse, since the outdated methods only test the 1% of magnesium in the body, doctors have no idea how widespread magnesium deficiency is and remain ignorant of the easy to spot
Signs of Magnesium Deficiency
is the BEST way to determine your need for magnesium and is FAR more accurate and useful on a day to day basis to supply your magnesium needs.
Following the instructions on the
Magnesium Dosage
page will be far more likely to alleviate magnesium deficiency than expensive, unavailable and inaccurate testing could ever do. Magnesium Supplementation is generally VERY safe and may alleviate some SURPRISING symptoms that you never thought could be associated with a magnesium deficiency.
Keep reading to find out what's the RIGHT magnesium dosage for YOU...
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Magnesium Dosage
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