THE ARL NEWSLETTER – JULY-AUGUST 2008

WHY GIVE CALCIUM AND MAGNESIUM SUPPLEMENTS WHEN THE HAIR LEVELS OF CALCIUM AND MAGNESIUM ARE ALREADY ELEVATED?

by Dr. Lawrence Wilson

All information in this article is solely the opinion of the author and for educational purposes only. It is not for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure of any disease or health condition.

This is a very commonly asked question. The reasons are:

Biounavailabity. A hair calcium level above about 70 mg% or a hair magnesium level above 9 mg% always indicate that calcium and magnesium are not high in the body in usable forms. Instead, they indicate these minerals are being lost from the body into the hair. So they really indicate a deficiency state, even if one eats enough of them, which few people do.

To be more precise, high hair levels always indicate that calcium and magnesium are at least partially biounavailable. This means the body cannot utilize them well and some is being lost into the hair and other soft tissues of the body.

Empirical reasons. Early on, Dr. Eck did not supplement calcium and magnesium when the hair levels were high. However, over time he reversed this idea and found it is best to supplement these minerals in everyone with this situation.

Nutritional balancing programs can eventually cause the minerals to become more bioavailable and then supplements are less needed. However, this could take months or years in some cases. In the meantime, it best to replenish the minerals, as the consequences of not doing so such as osteoporosis, are so dire. This is the main reason for supplementing these minerals when the levels are elevated. Other reasons, however, include the following:

Calcium is deficient in the diets of most people. The reasons for this are explained in the article entitled Calcium Mysteries.

Magnesium deficiency is almost universal in the population. This is due to lower magnesium levels in much of the food supply. The problem is made much worse by people eating refined foods such as white flour, white rice, white sugar and other refined food products. Stress, alcohol consumption and other habits may also increase the need for magnesium.

Therefore, supplementing with magnesium is helpful for most people and, in fact, is a critical part of the nutritional balancing system of metabolic correction of body chemistry.

To promote better sleep and rest. A key for success in nutritional balancing is to sleep at least 8 or 9 hours each night, and preferably more. We also encourage napping during the day. The changes in body chemistry required for healing often cause more fatigue and extra sleep is necessary. Calcium and magnesium supplements are often helpful for relaxation, rest and sleep.

In fact, one may always take even more Paramin or MCHC with the evening meal and about 1 hour before bedtime if one has difficulty sleeping. One may also take more in the middle of the night if one awakes and has trouble returning to sleep.

Removal of toxic metals. Calcium, in particular, and magnesium as well, are toxic metal antagonists. This means they compete with and may replace many toxic metals in the body. Calcium replaces lead and cadmium, in particular. Magnesium can also replace many of the toxic metals, at times, in enzyme binding sites all over the body.

In addition, if one ingests adequate calcium, one will also absorb less of these toxic metals.

For correction of symptoms. While nutritional balancing does not focus on symptoms, when the hair levels of calcium and magnesium are elevated, often a person suffers from anxiety, irritability, nervousness, insomnia, muscle tightness and muscle cramping, back pain, chiropractic misalignments, depression, osteoporosis or osteopenia, and others related to deficiencies and biounavailability of calcium and magnesium.

Taking supplemental calcium and magnesium in an easily available form often reduces these and other symptoms very easily and quickly.

Other possible reasons are to promote bone growth and the healing of wounds, fractures, injuries and surgeries. Nutritional balancing programs are often excellent for these purposes, and taking extra calcium and magnesium can help the process along in wonderful ways. This reason goes back to the earlier one that most people are deficient in these essential minerals.

These are the major reasons for giving calcium and magnesium supplements to everyone, even when the hair tissue levels of these minerals are elevated.

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