If you have low magnesium levels, your wellbeing could be at risk to heart disease. This is according to a new study, led by Andrea Rosanoff, PhD, which found that contrary to the traditional belief that cholesterol or saturated fat play the biggest roles in predicting heart disease, low magnesium levels are the best predictor that your wellness is at risk to the condition.
The study is based upon work that was started by Midred Seelig, MD, who studied the link between magnesium and cardiovascular disease for more than 40 years. Until now, the main cardiovascular risk factors were thought to be high blood pressure, arterial plaque build-up, calcification of soft tissues, cholesterol and hardening of the arteries. Experts have historically blamed a high-saturated fat diet and high cholesterol for cardiovascular disease, but the new study implies that the real culprit has been low magnesium levels.
According to Dr. Rosanoff, ‘By 1957, low magnesium was shown to be, strongly, convincingly, a cause of atherogenesis and the calcification of soft tissues. But this research was widely and immediately ignored as cholesterol and the high saturated-fat diet became the culprits to fight. Ever since this early “wrong turn”, more and more peer-reviewed research has shown that low magnesium is associated with all known cardiovascular risk factors, such as cholesterol and high blood pressure.’
Carolyn Dean, MD, ND, and Medical Advisory Board member of the nonprofit Nutritional Magnesium Association, noted, ‘That cholesterol is not the cause must be obvious, since heart disease is still the number one killer in America in spite of over two decades of statin use. The fact that low levels of magnesium are associated with all the risk factors and symptoms of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, heart arrhythmia, angina and heart attack˜can no longer be ignored; the evidence is much too compelling.’
Dr. Mehmet Oz, Emmy Award-winning host of The Dr. Oz Show, and vice-chair and Professor of Surgery at Columbia University, commented, ‘Magnesium is essential for helping regulate metabolism, and it helps lower blood pressure and dilate arteries. Three out of every four of you watching [The Dr. Oz Show] right now across this great country are not getting the amount of magnesium that you need. You are magnesium deficient.’