Ray Peat on Magnesium

The role and effects of parathyroid hormone in aging

"Phosphate, which predominates in grains, beans, nuts, meat, and fish, increases our production of parathyroid hormone, while calcium and magnesium inhibit its production. This hormone, which increases with age, suppresses immunity, and in excess causes insomnia, seizures, dementia, psychosis, cancer, heart disease, shortness of breath and pulmonary hypertension, osteoporosis, sarcopenia, histamine release, inflammation, and soft tissue calcification, as well as many other problems."

September 2017 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Effect of sodium on magnesium retention during stress

"One of the most important effects of sodium is that it tends to spare magnesium, which is likely lost during stress and hypothyroidism. When we eat salty foods when we crave them, we can retain our magnesium more easily."

Nutrition For Women

Substances that counteract estrogen in cancer therapy

"Anything that causes tissue atrophy tends to cause cancer. The important question is: What will trigger differentiation and useful function in cancer cells? There are many substances that promote differentiation and counteract the effects of estrogen, and some of these have proven useful in cancer therapy. Substances that counteract estrogen include dopamine and nickel, prolactin inhibitors; chalones, the tissue-specific proteins that inhibit cell division (and possibly also the peptides of memory); the aprotic solvents DMF and possibly DMSO; progesterone and testosterone; thyroxine and iodine; magnesium-ATP, the stable form of the biological energy molecule; vitamin A, a protein-sparing nutrient that promotes differentiation; and vitamin E (as well as the closely related coenzyme Q or ubiquinone)."

Nutrition For Women

The effects of a vitamin E deficiency on tissue function

"With a vitamin E deficiency, certain tissues lose so much ATP that they can no longer function normally. Muscles cramp and can eventually harden and become dystrophic. Magnesium also helps maintain ATP levels and can be used, for example, to stop menstrual cramps. In an extreme case of vitamin E deficiency, reflexes become abnormal; in some animals, brain softening is the first symptom of a vitamin E deficiency."

Nutrition For Women

Stress management through correction of diet and environment

"In general, stress should first be addressed by correcting the deficiency, which can be environmental or nutritional. An increased nutrient requirement usually includes protein and fat; acute hypoglycemia may require a large amount of sugar, indicating that the adrenal glands might be exhausted. In this case, in addition to other nutrients, pantothenic acid, vitamin C, vitamin A, magnesium, and potassium should be provided."

Nutrition For Women

Long-term pancreatic damage due to malnutrition and deficiencies

"The pancreas can be damaged by prolonged malnutrition, so the inability to produce insulin may be permanent. Magnesium deficiency and vitamin B6 deficiency are known to be involved in pancreatic damage. Insulin itself is only part of the insulin-like system (Adv in Metabol Disorders 7, p. 26, 1974); proper treatment requires a thorough examination of all factors."

Nutrition For Women

High niacin doses to relieve hysterical feelings

"Sometimes up to 500 mg of niacin may be required to stop a hysterical feeling. The mildly sedative effect of magnesium can also have a dramatic effect."

Nutrition For Women

Effects of cancer on stress hormones and nutrient requirements

"Cancer overstimulates the anti-stress hormones of the adrenal cortex and usually causes extreme wasting through the mobilization of fat and protein; blood sugar and glycogen storage are disturbed. During or after cancer treatment, the hypoglycemia diet seems desirable: frequent small meals, liver (or similar nutrients), magnesium, potassium. Vitamins A, E, C, and pantothenic acid are especially important during stress, but all nutrients are necessary."

Nutrition For Women

Nutrient requirements for stress resistance and recovery

"Stress apparently increases a person's need for all nutrients, including calories and protein. The vitamins most commonly used for stress resistance are A, C, E, and pantothenic acid. The minerals magnesium, calcium, potassium, and zinc can help in the initial phases of stress, and sodium supplements may be necessary in the final extreme stress phase when the adrenals are exhausted."

Nutrition For Women

Nutritional and nutrient recommendations for managing stress-related mineral imbalances

"The adrenal hormones and mineral metabolism become unbalanced under stress – whether the cause is a disorganized lifestyle or a surgical injury. The diet should contain about 90 grams of protein (in frequent meals), eggs as a sulfur source (which is needed, for example, for the synthesis of joint lubricants), and maintain a high magnesium to calcium ratio (as found in vegetables, bran, fruit) while keeping phosphate intake low (this includes using green leaves instead of some meat, as well as using cheese). Vitamins C, E, and pantothenic acid are needed in especially large amounts during stress. Vitamin A and B2 are also essential for the production of anti-stress hormones. Inositol is known to protect biological materials from many types of damage and might have this effect in arthritis, but I am not aware of any research on this specific application."

Nutrition For Women

The benefits of magnesium carbonate for nerve stability

"Magnesium carbonate is very useful for stabilizing nerves and muscles while also increasing energy levels: one gram of magnesium per day is an appropriate amount."

Nutrition For Women

Connection between high cholesterol, hypothyroidism, and heart attacks

"High cholesterol usually indicates low thyroid function. When the thyroid is underactive, cholesterol is not efficiently converted into progesterone. The actual cause of heart attacks seems to be hypothyroidism and its effects, including the loss of magnesium."

Nutrition For Women

Estrogen's contribution to heart attacks and magnesium deficiency

"Estrogen causes heart attacks instead of healing them. It causes a magnesium deficiency that promotes coagulation."

Nutrition For Women

Magnesium deficiency and its role in disturbed fat metabolism and heart diseases

"Magnesium deficiency also promotes abnormal fat metabolism and thus contributes to heart diseases."

Nutrition For Women

The role of magnesium in preventing blood clots and supporting vascular health

"Magnesium acts against calcium (and estrogen) in the coagulation system, can prevent spasms of blood vessels, and can conserve oxygen."

Nutrition For Women

Clinical study links magnesium deficiency to heart diseases

"There are several reasons to suspect that magnesium deficiency is often involved in heart diseases; for example, in a clinical study, injected magnesium sulfate helped with angina pectoris and coronary thrombosis and tended to lower blood lipids."

Nutrition For Women

The role of magnesium in lowering cholesterol and preventing blood clots

"Numerous studies have found that a high magnesium intake is associated with low blood cholesterol levels. Magnesium also counteracts the formation of blood clots and vascular spasms, which can be promoted by an excess of calcium."

Nutrition For Women

Importance of nutrients for mitochondrial function and aging

"As we age, the walls of blood vessels tend to harden due to calcium. It is known that calcification begins in degenerating mitochondria in at least some tissues, and mitochondria tend to degenerate in aging tissue. Nutrients such as iodine, vitamin E, magnesium, and vitamin B2 are especially important to maintain the function of mitochondria, which produce most of our energy."

Nutrition For Women

Interaction of stress, immune function, and fat metabolism with phagocytosis

“Stress, the immune system, and fat metabolism are involved in complex interactions. For example, it is known that a fat, triolein, stimulates phagocytosis – as does magnesium.”

Nutrition For Women

Effect of magnesium chloride on phagocytosis of white blood cells

“P. Delbet used physiological magnesium chloride (12.1 grams per liter) to stimulate phagocytosis in white blood cells. The activity was more than doubled by injecting 150 ccm of this solution into a dog or by applying it to cells in vitro.”

Nutrition For Women

Potential of magnesium carbonate to improve sleep quality

“Sometimes just a few hundred milligrams of magnesium carbonate per day (or a spoonful of Epsom salts, if this dose is divided into several portions to avoid the laxative effect) immediately restores normal sleep.”

Nutrition For Women

Benefits of honey and milk for liver glycogen

“Two or three tablespoons of honey in a glass of milk provide some magnesium as well as sugar to increase the glycogen stored in the liver.”

Nutrition For Women

Rapid effect of vitamin B1 on irritability and mental clarity

“A peculiar type of irritability, sometimes with the feeling that the head is in a kind of fog, is often the result of a vitamin B1 deficiency. If that is the cause, it clears up within minutes after taking the vitamin. Magnesium deficiency is another common cause of irritability.”

Nutrition For Women

Tooth sensitivity as an indicator of nutrient deficiencies

“Teeth that are sensitive to heat or cold indicate a deficiency in calcium, magnesium, or vitamin D.”

Nutrition For Women

Nutritional therapy and hormonal support for abnormal Pap smears

“Many women with abnormal Pap smears, even with a biopsy showing so-called carcinoma in situ, returned to normal within just two months – with a diet that includes: 90 grams of protein, 500 mg of magnesium as chloride, 100,000 units of vitamin A, 400 units of vitamin E, 5 mg of folic acid, 100 mg of pantothenic acid, 100 mg of B6, 100 mg of niacinamide, and 500 mg of vitamin C, plus thyroid and progesterone as needed. Liver should be eaten twice a week. Some of the women apply vitamin A directly to the cervix.”

Nutrition For Women

Changed nutrient requirements due to estrogen for maintaining blood sugar and a healthy pregnancy

"Vitamin E, vitamin A, and magnesium are other nutrients that help maintain blood sugar. Vitamin B12 is needed to utilize vitamin A. Folic acid, vitamin B6, and zinc are depleted by increased estrogen and are especially important for a healthy pregnancy. Too much copper can lower blood sugar; too much iron can destroy vitamin E, and a vitamin E deficiency can lead to jaundice, which can affect the baby's brain."

Nutrition For Women

American dietary habits lead to deterioration of bones and teeth

"Almost all Americans have porous, weakened bones and teeth by the age of 50 due to the large amount of meat eaten relative to other foods. When excess phosphate (for example from meat or wheat germ) is consumed, calcium and magnesium are leached from teeth and bones to be excreted together with the phosphate."

Nutrition For Women

Milk improves the calcium-phosphorus ratio but provides too little magnesium

"The use of large amounts of milk improves the calcium to phosphorus ratio but does not provide enough magnesium to prevent tooth decay, heart problems, and cramps."

Nutrition For Women

Stability of ATP and the role of magnesium

"ATP is more stable than many chemists realize – only a deficiency of magnesium or an excess of calcium destabilizes its molecular structure. This seems to be involved in the sedative and antispasmodic effect of magnesium."

Nutrition For Women

Overlooked nutritional factors in infertility

"Too much carotene, too little vitamin A, not enough magnesium or sodium, and too much cortisol are often overlooked factors in infertility."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

Natural antagonists in the treatment of degenerative brain diseases

"Antiendorphin, antiexcitotoxic, anticholinergic, antiserotonergic, antiprostaglandin, and antiglucocorticoid drugs have been used with good effect in various degenerative nervous diseases, but all so-called anti-drugs are imprecise antagonists and have many side effects. The natural antagonists and nutrients are mostly helpful. Protein, sodium, magnesium, carbon dioxide/bicarbonate, progesterone, thyroid, vitamins, etc., can have healing effects in many brain diseases."

February 2001

The role of carbon dioxide in cellular ion regulation

"The adsorptive effects of carbon dioxide and a wide variety of other chemical effects modulate the structure and function of the cell so that it retains significantly more potassium than sodium and can excrete calcium while binding magnesium."

January 2000 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Natural factors for correcting edema and improving cell function

"Thyroid, protein, sodium, and magnesium will correct most edema. Progesterone, which acts on the mitochondria to increase respiratory efficiency and on structural proteins to change their ion affinities, works synergistically with the other natural factors to correct permeability and water regulation."

January 2000 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Studies on parathyroid hormone and mineral interchangeability

"About 88 years ago, W. K. Koch (known for his cancer therapy) studied parathyroid hormone and its relationship to tetany (sustained muscle contraction) and seizures and was able to show that the main minerals – sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium – are interchangeable to some extent to relieve tetany and seizures caused by parathyroid removal, with magnesium being the most effective."

December 1999 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Treatment of hypocalcemic tetany with calcium and magnesium

"The study of hypocalcemic tetany led to the practice of treating tetany with intravenous calcium solutions; for example, veterinarians often treat the so-called pasture tetany in cows with large intravenous doses of calcium. The treatment works, but tetany is now attributed to magnesium deficiency (since magnesium supplementation works better, as Koch noted), and excess ammonia produced in the cow's rumen may contribute to the magnesium deficiency."

December 1999 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Excitatory receptors, calcium release, and the cells' energy demand

"These excitatory receptors release calcium into the cytoplasm and activate many cellular processes, including the release of fatty acids and the breakdown of proteins. When these receptors are activated, the cells' energy demand increases, and glucose is consumed faster. Whenever these receptors are activated, magnesium protects the cell from toxic excitation. Effective antidotes against excitotoxins are based on blocking these receptors."

December 1999 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Magnesium deficiency and energy waste in muscle relaxation

"Cells with low thyroid function are also unable to retain magnesium efficiently, and a magnesium deficiency prevents muscle relaxation, wasting energy. Adequate sodium prevents the loss of magnesium through urine."

1998 - Ray Peat's Newsletter - 4

Treatment of scleroderma with thyroid, magnesium, and progesterone

"Men who have been diagnosed with scleroderma told me that their symptoms regressed with the use of thyroid and magnesium supplements, Epsom salt baths, as well as topical progesterone and vitamin E. I suspect that the carbon dioxide produced in the mitochondria is the main factor that removes calcium from them."

1997 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Thyroid and magnesium in normalizing mitochondria

"Thyroid and magnesium are often the factors needed to normalize mitochondria and prevent calcification. In general, exhausted cells take up calcium and lose magnesium."

1997 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Systems that counteract the toxic effects of adrenaline

"There are several systems that counteract the toxic effects of adrenaline. GABA, dopamine, and adenosine have diverse anti-adrenergic effects. In many situations, the parasympathetic system acts protectively against adrenaline. Protective steroids also work on many levels. Magnesium, which is largely maintained in the cell under the influence of ATP and the thyroid, is our fundamental calcium blocker or calcium antagonist. GABA and dopamine inhibit the ACTH-glucocorticoid system and shift the steroid balance toward protective anti-glucocorticoids: progesterone, testosterone, pregnenolone, and DHEA."

June 1992 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Comprehensive list of protective dietary chemicals

"A complete list of protective dietary chemicals and natural medicines or analogs to our body's own protective factors would be very long, but we should especially consider some, including succinic acid, which stimulates respiration and the synthesis of protective steroids; thyroid and vitamin E, which promote normal oxidation while preventing abnormal oxidation; magnesium; sodium and lithium, which help us retain magnesium; tropical fruits containing GHB; coconut oil, which protects against heart necrosis, lipid peroxidation, hypothyroidism, hypoglycemia, and histamine damage; Valium agonists, natural antihistamines; adenosine and uridine. Stays at higher altitudes and exposure to bright, long-wavelength light can encourage the body to optimize its own anti-stress chemistry. Avoiding the feeling of being trapped is a high-ranking adaptation factor."

June 1992 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Dietary supplementation in the treatment of degenerative diseases

"In degenerative diseases, stress and age-related accumulation of iron and other mitochondrion-toxic materials (e.g., calcium, aluminum, and products of lipid peroxidation including age pigment) as well as the failure of detoxification systems make therapy with ordinary dietary supplements quite ineffective. Direct supplementation of various natural protective substances (or their analogs) in addition to protective vitamins (especially E) and minerals (especially magnesium) is more appropriate."

August–September 1992 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The role of energy in brain function and behavioral patterns

"The availability of energy is central to our stable functioning, and energy demand strongly changes our functioning. For example, when hunger increases, the brain's interpretive system changes so that increasingly unusual things are considered possible food. The spreading arousal that leads to this expanded search probably also occurs regarding other needs besides hunger and could lead to experiments with drugs and other activities that provide indirect satisfaction. Obsessive and compulsive patterns can sometimes be resolved by supporting the brain's energy metabolism, for example with a supplement of magnesium and thyroid."

June 1991 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Effect of thyroid hormone on sleep, cramps, and anxiety

"While many people consider the thyroid as a kind of stimulant because it can cure the coma or lethargy of myxedema, that is a very misleading idea. In hypothyroidism, the brain-stimulating hormones adrenaline, estrogen, and cortisol are usually elevated, and the nerve-muscle relaxant magnesium is low. Normal, deep sleep is rare in a hypothyroid person. The correct dose of triiodothyronine (the active thyroid hormone) together with magnesium is a reliable treatment for insomnia, cramps, and anxiety—whether these symptoms are caused by fatigue, aging, or alcohol withdrawal."

June 1991 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The role of vitamin E and magnesium in preventing blood clots

"Vitamin E and magnesium, as well as some substances produced by the body, shift the balance away from blood clots."

April 1991 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Vitamins and thyroid extract in the treatment of allergies and severe conditions

"They achieved good results with their allergy patients when they gave them supplements of vitamin A, pantothenic acid, and vitamin C. Later, thyroid extract or triiodothyronine and magnesium were added to the other supplements—for patients who had more severe problems than ordinary allergies."

November 1989 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Magnesium supplementation recommended for stress and hypothyroidism

"Magnesium is not well retained during stress or hypothyroidism, so a supplementation of several hundred milligrams daily is desirable."

January 1988 - Ray Peat's Newsletter
Back to the blog

Supplements according to Ray Peat

1 4