Magnesium and Depression

How does magnesium and depression have a connection?

“My depression was preceded by many years and accompanied by major stress from over-work, treatment responsive depression, anxiety, hypomania, fibromyalgia, infrequent panic attacks, anger, stress, poor diet, overwhelming emotional feelings, night time muscle spasms, paranoia, asthma, prickly sensations in hands, arms, chest and lips. I wanted to sleep all day and had trouble getting up in mornings…”

These are the words of George Eby, a retired scientist and a former depression sufferer who discovered that he had excluded magnesium rich foods from his diet for months! As a result, he was on a fast track towards suicide. You can read more of his story on magnesium and depression… (the US government at one time censored his webpage)

How much magnesium should you take? He writes…

“There are some in the FDA who believe the U.S. RDA of 400 mg for men and 350 for women is too low, and that many persons need as much as 900 a day in their diet for a normal life. Canada, who pays for its citizen’s health care, has a RDA of 600 mg magnesium for adults.”

George once wrote to a mother who’s daughter was suffering from depression due to stress…

Suzanne,

One of the tragedies of our time is what education has done to us through piling on stress. For many people, especially lawyers and people with advanced degrees like your daughter, they don’t eat right and they have too much stress. Stress and poor diet are the main causes of much mental illness in America. Antidepressants don’t work for her because most of their effects are placebo effects, and she needs real relief and right now.

I think manic depression, as well as severe depression, responds especially well to magnesium. BTW, manic depressives are a wonderfully creative group of people and include as representative many famous people.

I thought I was clear on dosage, but all she need do, at least to get started, is to take magnesium supplements. I like magnesium taurate for many very important reasons, but to begin with, nearly any form will do. She will probably do best with 200 to 300 mg of magnesium (as glycinate, taurate, chloride, gluconate, sulfate, malate and a few others which escape me at the moment) but NEVER GLUTAMATE OR ASPARTATE WHICH WILL WORSEN HER SITUATION, and never magnesium oxide, magnesium carbonate or magnesium hydroxide which will not work (mainly because of decreases in stomach acidity caused by them and bio-unavailability).

She should take these about an hour before breakfast, lunch and supper (or with meals – but before meals is best), and at bedtime. She will need to figure out her own exact dosage, which should be the highest dosage that does not produce diarrhea. If diarrhea develops she must back off to prevent it, because diarrhea will prevent her from absorbing minerals and other nutrients. You and she should read and study my page, with you coaching her.

Excessive stress hormones in her condition drive calcium ions into the neurons killing them, thus her reduced memory, poor attention and loss of IQ. Also, calcium fights magnesium for gut absorption, and she will not get better taking calcium supplements or eating cheese or drinking dairy products. Incidentally, calcium excesses in the heart and vascular system appear to cause most of the lethal heart attacks in the West. She wants calcium only because of advertisements and marketing, not medical science.

A really sad part of the calcium toxicity problem is that she will not likely get any nutrition help from her physicians. I think this is because there is so much money (trillions of dollars) being made in advanced cardiovascular treatments, and because psychiatrists are coached by pharmaceutical drug pushers, not nutritionists. I don’t think she is well enough for you to tell her that MDs are the leading cause of death in the US, and I suspect she would reject that notion.

At first (and for at least a few months) she will not remember to take her magnesium. What I mean is that suppose you remind her at 7:00 PM to take her bedtime dose. She will likely forget. Reminder her at 8:00 PM and she will likely forget. Someone needs to WATCH her take each dose. Forgetfulness is a very frequent problem, and there exists the possibility that she may take her magnesium twice. She must have a helper. She may seem to have lost her IQ, attention and memory. This is normal in stress and low magnesium, but her mental faculties will come back with a vengeance, and IQ gains of 20 to 50 points with large doses of magnesium are not uncommon. See my IQ section

If she needs more magnesium than you can get her to take, there are always the “topical, injection and per rectum” means of administration. I think that these are the best ways to significantly raise magnesium in the very ill, often resulting in amazing responses, particularly in the bed ridden.

She should follow the diet I recommend, (zero dairy, zero sugars, zero starches) and lots of coconut oil, garlic and Kefir for at least a few months. She must clear up all infections, particularly yeast (that is what the coconut oil, garlic and Kefir are for) or she will not get better. OH! I almost forgot! I must mention that garlic and coconut oil and Kefir and saccharomycves boulardii greatly control the intestinal problems (diarrhea, malabsorption etc.) that often occur while using large amounts of magnesium (without calcium) and the combination often greatly accelerates recovery. Although these effects are clearly beneficial, we must be aware that since absorption is so greatly increased, there exists the theoretical possibility of overdose. Consequently, when she feels better, consider the possibility of overdose, and back off the magnesium or add calcium, but not too much or the added calcium might make her feel bad again. Of course, Indole-3-Carbinol will greatly, perhaps very greatly improve her ability to properly absorb nutrients.

You may be tempted to put her back on prescription anti-depressants, but remember that nature knows best, and magnesium is natural in that it is what her brain is begging for. Also remember that the American Physiological Association has demonstrated statistically that the medical doctors’ crutch, the SSRIs, have no more effect on depression than a placebo. I think you are right about the uselessness of her MD in treating her depression. It is frustrating. You might find that naturopathic physicians (NDs) are much more likely to be helpful to her than a MD, because NDs have appropriate training in nutrition and its use in treating diseases. You should be able to find a ND in your area by going to their web site Did you hear that CODEX may outlaw the practice of naturopathic medicine? Did you see Jane Brody’s article in the New York Times about the danger of low magnesium? It is really neat.

Best wishes,

George

I certainly hope that George’s personal story and recommendations on magnesium and depression can prompt you to ask your doctor some great questions. You may also want to find a nutritionist!

What’s your response?