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Water Report: Why do well conditioned adults drop dead during or shortly after exercise?
magnesium and water
Date: 10/10/2005 5:32:19 PM ( 19 y ) ... viewed 5907 times Water Report: Why do well conditioned adults drop dead during or shortly after exercise?
magnesium in water
Work out, run, sweat, then rehydrate after a long physical workout with plain bottled water and you may end up grabbing your chest as your heart flutters out of control. Bottled water can't be held responsible for something it doesn't supply, an essential mineral that could eliminate or minimize the risk for sudden death heart attack.
It's ironic that while lack of physical exercise may be a leading risk factor for coronary heart disease, on occasion well-trained athletes die suddenly during or immediately after exercise.
Just this past December the Baltimore Sun published a report about "six vigorous, middle-aged professionals, four of them doctors, who exercised for all the right reasons, to relieve stress, reduce blood pressure, and condition their hearts and lungs," but died suddenly during or shortly after workouts. Three law enforcement officers in a Tustin California Police Department running club have also died suddenly, without explanation. People still talk about Jim Fixx, the author of a best-selling book on the health benefits of running, who ironically died of a.heart attack at the age of 52 years while running.
Some of these deaths are blamed on low sodium levels, dehydration, others on blood vessel and coronary artery disease. But a major unreported cause is a likely magnesium deficiency. A recent report confirms that magnesium is often depleted by physical exercise. Irregular heart beat is related to a shortage of magnesium. sports drinks supply energy and replace salts, but not magnesium
Sports drinks commonly provide sugar and potassium but not magnesium
Sports drinks often supply sugar as energy for endurance athletes, and replacement sodium and potassium to prevent dehydration, but very little if any magnesium. Bottled water is usually low in minerals if an American brand, and much higher in minerals if bottled in Europe. Right after a workout many athletes will reach for an available bottled water which is typically low in minerals (sometimes called dissolved solids), in particular low in magnesium. The electrolyte minerals in the blood circulation are further diluted, and bang, the heart muscles start to spasm. What the heart needs is magnesium, and it needs it immediately after physical exercise. Magnesium in drinking water is not only more easily absorbed than from foods, but it immediately enters the blood circulation.
To make matters worse, tap water is softened with sodium before it enters the piping system in most American homes, increasing the risk for high blood pressure and softening of bones. The most advanced water filter won't alter the mineral content of your drinking water. Tap water is softened so your washing machine and dishwasher will make suds, it is not designed for human health. More troublesome is the fact that mineral-free distilled water will only worsen the major mineral deficiency that leads to sudden cardiac failure.
In the archives at the National Library of Medicine the most often cited relationship in regards to sudden cardiac death is a shortage of magnesium, in particular the lack of magnesium in drinking water apart from magnesium in foods or supplements.
Studies conducted around the world confirm where magnesium levels are relatively high in drinking water the rate of sudden death heart attack is low. The 25 US cities with the lowest death rates from coronary artery disease have richer sources of magnesium in their drinking water.
Furthermore, the morning hours are when magnesium levels are 50-70 percent lower and correspond to the hours when most heart attacks occur. the impact of drinking water, Dept. of Animal Physiology and Nutrition Agricultural University, The Netherlands;
Just recently researchers slowly withdrew magnesium from the diets of women and observed the onset of abnormal heart rhythms. Researchers at the US Department of Agriculture in Grand Forks, North Dakota, have advised that people who live in soft water areas, or where the municipal water is softened at home or by water suppliers, or people who take diuretic drugs that promote the loss of water from the body, are predisposed to magnesium loss.
Of the minerals removed during water softening, magnesium is the only mineral found to be deficient in the heart muscle of sudden-death heart attack victims. Bottled water produced in the USA is essentially soft (low mineral) water, the exact type of water health authorities at the US Department of Agriculture link with the development of magnesium shortages that can induce an abnormal heart rhythm!
Calcium/magnesium ratio
Americans hear a lot about the health benefits of calcium and little about magnesium. While calcium is the primary mineral in bones, it is also a muscle constrictor. Magnesium is its counterpart and serves as a muscle relaxant. A balance between calcium and magnesium helps to maintain muscle tone. Excessive calcium may produce symptoms of muscle spasm such as recurrent migraines, chronic eyelid twitch, heart flutters, back aches, leg cramps, constipation, and monthly cramping in females. The body is just too tense when calcium is dominant.
In Scandinavian countries where the ratio of calcium over magnesium in the diet ranges from 4-to-1 to 7-to1, mortality rates are the highest in the world. Americans consume about 600-1200 milligrams of calcium from dietary sources but only 200-275 milligrams of magnesium, a ratio of about 3-to1.
The antidote is magnesium, a natural calcium blocker and muscle relaxant. Billions of dollars of calcium-blocking drugs are sold annually in the USA. About 8 in 10 Americans don't consume enough magnesium, a mineral found in small amounts in green leafy vegetables, nuts and other foods. A survey conducted a few years back by the Gallup Organization found that 72% of Americans were deficient in magnesium. It is unlikely that food alone can make up for shortages of magnesium in the American diet. The dietary shortage of magnesium in the daily American diet is in the range of 100-200 milligrams per day.
Magnesium: diet, supplements or drinking water?
But why magnesium in drinking water rather than foods, and why won't a magnesium tablet make up for shortages of this mineral? This is explained by the rapidity of magnesium losses, how magnesium is absorbed in drinking water as well as the timing of its delivery into the blood circulation.
First, while the normal size adult human body contains about 25,000 milligrams of magnesium, most of it stored in tissues, organs and bones, and only about 1% of magnesium is found in the blood circulation. The blood circulation is what bathes the heart in electrolyte minerals (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium) which are required for the heart's electrical pacing activity. So a significant drop in magnesium levels may occur much more rapidly due to sweating, dehydration, dilution or urinary elimination from the blood circulation than from organs, bone and tissues.
Second, magnesium in drinking water is about 30 percent more bioavailable than magnesium in pills. [Acta Pharmcology Toxicology 41: 154, 1977] Magnesium in bottled water can't approach the milligram dosage provided by mineral supplements, but minerals in drinking water are more rapidly absorbed and make an immediate contribution to the critical electrolyte balance required for proper heart rhythm.
Third, just a small amount of magnesium in drinking water appears to have an almost magical effect in reducing the risk of sudden death.While magnesium in drinking water is calculated to contribute only 10% of the daily intake of magnesium, this small amount may have a significant impact upon public health. A 10% increase in magnesium consumption from drinking water (about 30-40 milligrams) could bring about a 30% reduction in the risk of death from heart disease.
Municipal water suppliers aren't able to fortify drinking water with magnesium because it would erode piping systems. Sufficient amounts of magnesium can't be added to foods as magnesium is very bulky and would alter taste if it were fortified in foods. Magnesium pills are helpful but don't deliver magnesium when it's critically needed, when the body is being rehydrated after sweating.
While some brands of bottled water provide a significant amount of magnesium (Calcium Springs 138 mg, Gerolsteiner 108 mg, Colfax 91 mg; Evian 23 mg; Crystal Geyser 27.4; Saratoga 28 mg; Fiji 13 mg), in all these brands calcium exceeds the amount of magnesium and negates much of the muscle relaxing effect.
There is an effort to place cardiac defibrillators throughout the USA in order to reduce response time when sudden heart spasm occurs. It would be much more practical to provide magnesium-rich drinking water. Health authorities should mandate fortification of bottled water with magnesium as they do fortification of flour with other essential vitamins and minerals. But there is no demand to do so.
Water Report:
Why do well conditioned adults drop dead during or shortly after exercise?
Work out, run, sweat, then rehydrate after a long physical workout with plain bottled water and you may end up grabbing your chest as your heart flutters out of control. Bottled water can't be held responsible for something it doesn't supply, an essential mineral that could eliminate or minimize the risk for sudden death heart attack.
It's ironic that while lack of physical exercise may be a leading risk factor for coronary heart disease, on occasion well-trained athletes die suddenly during or immediately after exercise.
Common symptoms of magnesium deficiency
Fatigue
Irritability
Insomnia
Muscle spasms
Irregular heart beat
Migraines
Permenstrual cramping and tension
Constipation
Uncontrollable eyelid twitch
Just this past December the Baltimore Sun published a report about "six vigorous, middle-aged professionals, four of them doctors, who exercised for all the right reasons, to relieve stress, reduce blood pressure, and condition their hearts and lungs," but died suddenly during or shortly after workouts. Three law enforcement officers in a Tustin California Police Department running club have also died suddenly, without explanation. People still talk about Jim Fixx, the author of a best-selling book on the health benefits of running, who ironically died of a.heart attack at the age of 52 years while running.
Some of these deaths are blamed on low sodium levels, dehydration, others on blood vessel and coronary artery disease. But a major unreported cause is a likely magnesium deficiency. A recent report confirms that magnesium is often depleted by physical exercise. Irregular heart beat is related to a shortage of magnesium.
Sports drinks supply energy and replace salts, but not magnesium
Sports drinks commonly provide sugar and potassium but not magnesium
Sports drinks often supply sugar as energy for endurance athletes, and replacement sodium and potassium to prevent dehydration, but very little if any magnesium. Bottled water is usually low in minerals if an American brand, and much higher in minerals if bottled in Europe. Right after a workout many athletes will reach for an available bottled water which is typically low in minerals (sometimes called dissolved solids), in particular low in magnesium. The electrolyte minerals in the blood circulation are further diluted, and bang, the heart muscles start to spasm. What the heart needs is magnesium, and it needs it immediately after physical exercise. Magnesium in drinking water is not only more easily absorbed than from foods, but it immediately enters the blood circulation.
Water: tap, filtered or bottled? A new bottled mineral water may save your life
As bottlers of drinking water conduct price wars, or introduce faddish brands with added ginseng or other herbs and vitamins which soon will disappear and be remembered as only a passing fad, a new class of bottled water is emerging that could save thousands of lives, quell chronic migraine headaches, relieve bouts of anxiety, relax tense muscles, lower cholesterol, dissolve kidney stones, prevent calcified heart valves, and even take care of a stubborn case of constipation. Aware that 8 in 10 Americans are deficient in a common mineral, American water bottlers are beginning to respond with new brands of mineral-rich bottled water.
Deep breathing provides more oxygen without the cost of oxygenated water
Forget about those ads for oxygenated water, touted as vitamin O, which you see from time to time. Deep breathing will get you all the extra oxygen you need.Forget about those bottled waters which claim they hydrate the body better by altering H2O molecules. Dismiss those claims that bottled water is just high-priced tap water. Chlorinated tap water is a carcinogen, linked to 20,000 new cases of bladder, rectal and kidney cancer annually. Even filtered tap water, chlorine removed, won't make up for a mineral shortage that is suddenly killing Americans before paramedics even have a chance to place their defibrillator paddles on your chest.
To make matters worse, tap water is softened with sodium before it enters the piping system in most American homes, increasing the risk for high blood pressure and softening of bones. The most advanced water filter won't alter the mineral content of your drinking water. Tap water is softened so your washing machine and dishwasher will make suds, it is not designed for human health. More troublesome is the fact that mineral-free distilled water will only worsen the major mineral deficiency that leads to sudden cardiac failure.
The link between sudden cardiac death and mineral-depleted drinking water
Progressive decline of dietary magnesium consumption
Years Magnesium intake
per day
1900-1908 475-500 mg
1909-1913 415-435 mg
1925-1929 385-398 mg
1935-1939 360-375 mg
1947-1949 358-370 mg
1957-1959 340-360 mg
1965-1976 300-340 mg
1978-1985 225-318 mg
1990 175-225 mg
2002 231-376 mg
Magnesium Trace Elements 10:
Sudden-death heart attack is common. Out of the 750,000 heart attacks that occur annually in the USA, about 340,000 are of the sudden-death type. While there are other reasons for sudden heart stoppage, it is estimated that 200,000 of these sudden-death heart attacks emanate from a spasm of the heart muscle and have nothing to do with cholesterol or blood clots.
The first sign of heart muscle irritability is usually atrial fibrillation, the top chambers of the heart flutter. Many Americans are treated for atrial fibrillation with blood thinners. Due to the stimulating effects of caffeine, people who drink too much coffee may experience heart flutters from time to time. The same is true for folks who are fanatic about losing weight, take too much of the stimulant herb ephedra and suffer a sudden heart attack. But the chief cause of sudden cardiac death is a lack of magnesium.
The big event is when the lower ventricles begin to quiver, ventrilcular fib is what the paramedics call it when they have their electrodes hooked up to your chest and can visualize your heart rhythm on a monitor. This means the heart has to be immediately shocked back into normal rhythm. Sadly, most of the time the paramedics are too late. Defibrillation, the application of an electrical impulse to shock the heart back into a regular rhythm, is successful only about 5% of the time.
A 1991 study conducted with rats found the following:
Magnesium deficient rats 4 of 11 had sudden death heart attack
Magnesium adequate rats
0 of 8 had a heart attack
In the archives at the National Library of Medicine the most often cited relationship in regards to sudden cardiac death is a shortage of magnesium, in particular the lack of magnesium in drinking water apart from magnesium in foods or supplements.
Studies conducted around the world confirm where magnesium levels are relatively high in drinking water the rate of sudden death heart attack is low. The 25 US cities with the lowest death rates from coronary artery disease have richer sources of magnesium in their drinking water.
Furthermore, the morning hours are when magnesium levels are 50-70 percent lower and correspond to the hours when most heart attacks occur. [Magnesium and Public Health: the impact of drinking water, Dept. of Animal Physiology and Nutrition Agricultural University, The Netherlands; Am Heart Journal 140: 438-42, 2000]
Just recently researchers slowly withdrew magnesium from the diets of women and observed the onset of abnormal heart rhythms. Researchers at the US Department of Agriculture in Grand Forks, North Dakota, have advised that people who live in soft water areas, or where the municipal water is softened at home or by water suppliers, or people who take diuretic drugs that promote the loss of water from the body, are predisposed to magnesium loss.
BRAND Magnesium Calcium Sodium Potassium
milligrams per liter
Aquafina 22.0 35.0 11.0 4.0
Arrowhead 3.5 20.5 12.0 1.4
Calcium Spgs 35.1 135.0 25.2 1.9
Crystal Geyser 6.0 27.4 13.0 0
Evian 24.0 78.0 5.0 1.0
Fiji 13.0 17.0 18.0 4.0
Gerolsteiner 108.0 347.0 119.0 11.0
*Noah's 110.0 3.8 6.4 0
Perrier 3.7 152.0 9.6 0.6
*Palomar Mt
(per 700 milliliter) 58.0 24.0 16.0 0
Sparkletts 0 0 3.8 0
San Pellegrino 58.0 207.0 45.0 0
*Only bottled waters with positive magnesium over calcium ratio
Of the minerals removed during water softening, magnesium is the only mineral found to be deficient in the heart muscle of sudden-death heart attack victims.
Bottled water produced in the USA is essentially soft (low mineral) water, the exact type of water health authorities at the US Department of Agriculture link with the development of magnesium shortages that can induce an abnormal heart rhythm!
Calcium/magnesium ratio
Americans hear a lot about the health benefits of calcium and little about magnesium. While calcium is the primary mineral in bones, it is also a muscle constrictor. Magnesium is its counterpart and serves as a muscle relaxant. A balance between calcium and magnesium helps to maintain muscle tone. Excessive calcium may produce symptoms of muscle spasm such as recurrent migraines, chronic eyelid twitch, heart flutters, back aches, leg cramps, constipation, and monthly cramping in females. The body is just too tense when calcium is dominant.
In Scandinavian countries where the ratio of calcium over magnesium in the diet ranges from 4-to-1 to 7-to1, mortality rates are the highest in the world. Americans consume about 600-1200 milligrams of calcium from dietary sources but only 200-275 milligrams of magnesium, a ratio of about 3-to1.
The antidote is magnesium, a natural calcium blocker and muscle relaxant. Billions of dollars of calcium-blocking drugs are sold annually in the USA. About 8 in 10 Americans don't consume enough magnesium, a mineral found in small amounts in green leafy vegetables, nuts and other foods. A survey conducted a few years back by the Gallup Organization found that 72% of Americans were deficient in magnesium. It is unlikely that food alone can make up for shortages of magnesium in the American diet. The dietary shortage of magnesium in the daily American diet is in the range of 100-200 milligrams per day.
The link between water hardness (more minerals) and the reduced incidence of fatalities from heart disease was first reported in 1957 and has since been reported in many regions of the world.
USA The 25 US cities with the lowest death rates from coronary artery disease have richer sources of magnesium in their drinking water.
Canada Canadian researchers identified magnesium as the most likely mineral in drinking water involved in the reduced risk of heart attack.
South Africa Districts in South Africa with high magnesium levels in drinking water have lower death rates from heart disease.
Spain In Spain, water hardness was measured and areas with the lowest magnesium concentration had a 360% increased risk for high blood pressure.
Sweden Swedish health authorities report magnesium in drinking water reduces rates of heart disease, particularly among men.
Italy Area around Tuscany, Italy found to have twice the incidence of sudden death as the European average. The area has drinking water that is low in magnesium.
Sweden In Sweden, men aged 50-69 years who consumed the greatest amount of magnesium from drinking water had a 35% less risk for a heart attack. Calcium did not reduce the risk.
France French recommend adding magnesium to drinking water after link is established between low magnesium levels and sudden-death.
Taiwan Taiwanese health officials confirm lower risk of heart disease among adults who consume drinking water with higher levels of magnesium.
USA California health officials indicate thousands of lives could be saved with the provision of magnesium in drinking water.
Magnesium: diet, supplements or drinking water?
But why magnesium in drinking water rather than foods, and why won't a magnesium tablet make up for shortages of this mineral? This is explained by the rapidity of magnesium losses, how magnesium is absorbed in drinking water as well as the timing of its delivery into the blood circulation.
First, while the normal size adult human body contains about 25,000 milligrams of magnesium, most of it stored in tissues, organs and bones, and only about 1% of magnesium is found in the blood circulation. The blood circulation is what bathes the heart in electrolyte minerals (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium) which are required for the heart's electrical pacing activity. [Magnesium Information Center, New York] So a significant drop in magnesium levels may occur much more rapidly due to sweating, dehydration, dilution or urinary elimination from the blood circulation than from organs, bone and tissues.
Second, magnesium in drinking water is about 30 percent more bioavailable than magnesium in pills. [Acta Pharmcology Toxicology 41: 154, 1977] Magnesium in bottled water can't approach the milligram dosage provided by mineral supplements, but minerals in drinking water are more rapidly absorbed and make an immediate contribution to the critical electrolyte balance required for proper heart rhythm.
Third, just a small amount of magnesium in drinking water appears to have an almost magical effect in reducing the risk of sudden death. While magnesium in drinking water is calculated to contribute only 10% of the daily intake of magnesium, this small amount may have a significant impact upon public health. A 10% increase in magnesium consumption from drinking water (about 30-40 milligrams) could bring about a 30% reduction in the risk of death from heart disease.
Factors that increase the need for magnesium:
Physical or emotional stress
Alcohol
Birth control pills
Estrogen replacement
Soft water
Saturated fat
Calcium
Vitamin D
Sugar
Drugs: Digitalis (Digoxin), steroids, water pills (diuretics)
Monthly hormonal peak in females
Municipal water suppliers aren't able to fortify drinking water with magnesium because it would erode piping systems. [Magnesium 4: 5-15, 1985] Sufficient amounts of magnesium can't be added to foods as magnesium is very bulky and would alter taste if it were fortified in foods. [Magnesium Research 2: 195-203, 1989] Magnesium pills are helpful but don't deliver magnesium when it's critically needed, when the body is being rehydrated after sweating.
While some brands of bottled water provide a significant amount of magnesium (Calcium Springs 138 mg, Gerolsteiner 108 mg, Colfax 91 mg; Evian 23 mg; Crystal Geyser 27.4; Saratoga 28 mg; Fiji 13 mg), in all these brands calcium exceeds the amount of magnesium and negates much of the muscle relaxing effect.
There is an effort to place cardiac defibrillators throughout the USA in order to reduce response time when sudden heart spasm occurs. It would be much more practical to provide magnesium-rich drinking water. Health authorities should mandate fortification of bottled water with magnesium as they do fortification of flour with other essential vitamins and minerals. But there is no demand to do so.
Does magnesium in drinking water partly explain worldwide differences in heart disease?
The rate of heart disease in Europe is much lower than in the USA. At a mildly elevated systolic blood pressure of 140 mmHg, 1 out of every 7 men from northern Europe and the United States die from CHD, while in Mediterranean southern Europe only 1 out of every 28 men die from this disease. [New England Journal Medicine, Jan. 6, 2000] This difference is attributed to the Mediterranean diet of fish, flavonoid antioxidants from wine and other dietary factors. Yet nothing is said of the fact that Europeans almost exclusively drink bottled water and it is far richer in magnesium than American bottled waters.
Average amt. magnesium per liter
US Bottled waters European bottled waters
2.7 mg 20.0 mg
For comparison
Tobacco-related deaths per year USA 50,000 estimated
Magnesium-shortage related deaths per year USA More than 200,000 estimated
Magnesium blood tests inaccurate
Unfortunately, magnesium deficiency often goes undetected even by blood test. The most widely used test, serum magnesium, only measures 0.3% of the magnesium in the body. [The Magnesium Information Center, New York] Most physicians are unaware of this and utilize a test that is unlikely to reveal a magnesium deficiency with reliability. Even with repeated blood testing, magnesium levels may drop rapidly with losses from sweat or use of diuretics in between blood testing.
Some cities in the USA with the highest calcium to magnesium ratio in drinking water which are considered to have the highest risk for sudden cardiac death:
City, State Calcium Magnesium
Clovis, California 3230 mg 21 mg
Lansing, Michigan 193 mg 58 mg
Santa Barbara, California 77-144 mg 23-62 mg
Carlsbad, New Mexico 88 mg 17 mg
Los Angeles, California 56-72 mg 22-26 mg
Table of Food Sources of Magnesium
Food Milligrams
100 percent Bran, 2 Tbs 44
Kiwi fruit, raw, 1 med 23
Wheat germ, toasted, 1 oz 90
Almonds, dry roasted, 1 oz 86
Cereal, shredded wheat, 2 rectangular biscuits 80
Seeds, pumpkin, 1/2 oz 75
Cashews, dry roasted, 1 oz 73
Nuts, mixed, dry roasted, 1 oz 66
Spinach, cooked, 1/2 c 65
Bran flakes, 1/2 c 60
Cereal, oats, instant/fortified, cooked w/ water, 1 c 56
Potato, baked w/ skin, 1 med 55
Spinach, raw, 1 c 24
Peanuts, dry roasted, 1 oz 50
Peanut butter, 2 Tbs. 50
Chocolate bar, 1.45 oz 45
Vegetarian baked beans, 1/2 c 40
Potato, baked w/out skin, 1 med 40
Avocado, California, 1/2 med 35
Lentils, cooked, 1/2 c 35
Banana, raw, 1 medium 34
Shrimp, mixed species, raw, 3 oz (12 large) 29
Bread, whole wheat, 1 slice 24
Raisins, golden seedless, 1/2 c packed 28
Cocoa powder, unsweetened, 1 Tbs 27
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