Page 38 - Fall2010

Regardless of in the body and “causes glutathione loss, which is unless we increase our magnesium intake at the
not affordable because glutathione helps to defend same time. It has even been observed that dental
the amount the body against damage from cigarette smoking, structures beneath the surface can dissolve when
of calcium exposure to radiation, cancer chemotherapy, and additional amounts of calcium and phosphorus
toxins such as alcohol and just about everything diffuse through the enamel at different rates. Thus
you consume, else.” milk, poor in magnesium, but high in the other
your teeth When our bodies are replete with magnesium two elements, not only interferes with magnesium
(and in balance with the other essential minerals) metabolism, but also antagonizes the mineral re-
can only form we are protected from heavy metal deposition and sponsible for decay prevention.”
hard enamel the development of associated neurological dis- To revisit Deaf Smith County, Texas, and the
eases. As Dr. Carolyn Dean explains, “Research justly famous residents whose teeth refused to
if magnesium indicates that ample magnesium will protect brain succumb to decay, Rodale quotes the observations
is available cells from the damaging effects of aluminum, of Dr. Lewis Barnett, presented in a paper before
beryllium, cadmium, lead, mercury and nickel. the Texas Medical Association in Dallas, 1952. Dr.
in sufficient We also know that low levels of brain magnesium Barnett, an orthopedic surgeon, remarked on the
quantities. contribute to the deposition of heavy metals in the low incidence of tooth decay and rapid healing of
brain that heralds Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. It broken bones among these residents, and offered
appears that the metals compete with magnesium this explanation: “[The local] water and foods
for entry into the brain cells. If magnesium is low, have a very high magnesium and iodine content
metals gain access much more readily. and recently we have proven that all of the trace
“There is also competition in the small intes- minerals known to be essential are present in the
tine for absorption of minerals. If there is enough water and foods grown in that area.” Further, Dr.
magnesium, aluminum won’t be absorbed.” Barnett had found that the magnesium bone content
of the average Deaf Smith County resident was
MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY IN TOOTH up to five times higher than that of a resident of
DECAY AND OSTEOPOROSIS Dallas, while the concentrations of calcium and
Ask anyone—your neighbor or even your phosphorus were about the same in both groups.
dentist or doctor—what bones and teeth require His observations led him to state that “[o]ne of the
to be strong and healthy, and you will undoubtedly most important aspects of the disease osteoporosis
hear the response, “Plenty of calcium.” Bones and has been almost totally overlooked. That aspect is
teeth certainly do require calcium—as well as the role played by magnesium.”
phosphorus and magnesium, but without adequate Rodale emphasizes the fact that Dr. Barnett
amounts of the latter, calcium will not be deposited gave much of the credit for these health benefits
in these hard tissues, and the structures will not be to the high magnesium content of the local water,
sound. “When you load up your system with excess and noted many signs of superior bone development
calcium,” writes William Quesnell, in Minerals: among people in the area: “Dr. Barnett makes men-
the Essential Link to Health, “you shut down tion of the fact that people in older years frequently
magnesium’s ability to activate thyrocalcitonin, a have fracture of the cervical neck of the femur and
hormone that under normal circumstances would these are very difficult to heal in many localities.
send calcium to your bones.” Instead of providing However, he noted that this fracture rarely occurs
benefits to the body, the displaced calcium actually in Deaf Smith County, whereas it was common
becomes toxic, causing trouble in soft tissues of the in Dallas County, Texas, where he also practiced.
kinds we’ve already discussed. When a fracture did occur in Deaf Smith, healing
Numerous studies, in fact, have established the was easy and rapid even in people eighty to one
fact that it is dietary magnesium, not calcium, (and hundred years old. In contrast, fractures in Dal-
certainly not fluoride) that creates glassy hard tooth las were common and very difficult to heal, if not
enamel that resists decay, and strong and resilient impossible.”
bones. Regardless of the amount of calcium you Over fifty years ago Dr. Barnett tested the
consume, your teeth can only form hard enamel if magnesium levels of five thousand people and
magnesium is available in sufficient quantities. found sixty percent of them to be deficient. How
According to J. I. Rodale, in Magnesium: much more of the population is deficient today,
the Nutrient that Could Change Your Life, “For when all of the negative conditions contributing
years it was believed that high intakes of calcium to that deficiency have been certainly amplified?
and phosphorus inhibited decay by strengthening
the enamel. Recent evidence, however, indicates FOOD SOURCES OF MAGNESIUM
that an increase in these two elements is useless As we’ve mentioned, if farm soils are well-
38 Wise Traditions FALL 2010