U.S. drug approvals hit a 21-year high in 2017. The FDA gave the green light to 46 new drugs.
That’s twice as many as in 2016.
Now, a lot of people would say that’s a great thing. They’ll tell you that the more drugs there are, the more lives you can save.
And it’s true that some medications save lives. But the hard truth is that a lot of them do more harm than good.
Every year, almost 3 million people in America get seriously sick from their prescription medicines.
And 130,000 die.1
That makes these Big Pharma prescriptions the third leading cause of death in this country.2
New patients often come to my clinic because they are tired of being handed a new drug for every symptom they have.
For example, your doctor diagnoses you with high blood pressure. And prescribes you a beta-blocker.
After a few weeks, you have headaches and an upset stomach.
So your doctor gives you drugs to treat these symptoms. Now you have severe body aches and are given a pill for that too. Soon, you’re investing in a giant pill organizer to keep track of all your prescription medications.
It’s a health-robbing road I help my patients avoid. There are better solutions for maintaining health. One of the first things I recommend for my patients is a magnesium test.
That’s because magnesium is the MISSING LINK to good health.
Nearly 80% of Americans have a magnesium deficiency.
Mainstream doctors still associate magnesium only with bone health… That is, if they think about magnesium at all.
The importance of magnesium has been grossly underestimated.
You see, magnesium is responsible for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body.
Without enough magnesium, your body stops functioning efficiently. Your nervous system slows down, inflammation runs rampant and your heart beats erratically.
In fact, people with a magnesium deficiency have a higher risk of dying from ANY cause.3
Replace the Missing “Miracle” Mineral
Here’s what I recommend at my clinic to help my patients boost their magnesium levels:
- Eat like your ancestors did. A magnesium deficiency is a direct result of our modern world.
Our ancestors had all the magnesium they needed from eating organ meats and plants harvested from mineral rich soil.
But today, we’re discouraged from eating organ meat. And modern farming methods have depleted most of the magnesium in the soil.
Modern diets are also rich in refined grains and sugar. The refining process removes up to 97% of magnesium from grain and 100% from sugar. But the problem goes deeper than that… Not only do sugars and grains prompt your kidneys to excrete magnesium, they actually consume nutrients when digested.
For example, for every one molecule of sugar we eat, our bodies use 54 molecules of magnesium to process it! The average American eats a shocking 19 teaspoons of sugar a day. That adds up to a huge magnesium deficit.
To overcome a magnesium shortfall, eat plenty of magnesium-rich foods. Like almonds, pumpkin seeds, avocado, figs, cocoa and leafy green vegetables like spinach, Swiss chard and beet greens.
To make sure you’re getting the maximum amount of magnesium from these vegetables, I suggest you eat them cooked, not raw. Contrary to what most people believe, cooking certain vegetables is the best way to release their nutrients.
Steaming, microwaving and lightly sautéing are your best bets.
- Bathe in Epsom salts. Bathing with Epsom salts allows magnesium to be absorbed directly through your skin. A recent study found that bathing in a 1% solution of Epsom salts caused a significant rise in blood plasma magnesium levels.6
I recommend a magnesium-rich Epsom salt bath. Add two cups to warm bath water. Stir to dissolve. The water should feel slightly slimy. Stay in the tub for at least 12 minutes to get the most benefits.
- Take a supplement. It’s hard to get enough magnesium in your diet. So I recommend magnesium supplements.
You can find capsules online and in most health food stores. I recommend taking between 600 mg and 1,000 mg a day.
Take it with vitamin B6. It will increase the amount of magnesium that accumulates in your cells. Also add vitamin D3 and vitamin K2 as well, since these all work synergistically with one another.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD, CNS
1. Light D. “New Prescription Drugs: A Major Health Risk With Few Offsetting Advantages.” Harvard University Center for Ethics. June 27, 2014.
2. Gøtzsche PC. “Our prescription drugs kill us in large numbers.” Pol Arch Med Wewn. 2014 Oct 30.
3. Reffelmann T, Ittermann T, Dörr M., et al. “Low serum magnesium concentrations predict cardiovascular and all-cause mortality.” Atherosclerosis. 2011 Nov.
4. The Bad News about Magnesium Food Sources. Accessed October 13, 2016.
5. Why We Are All Magnesium Deficient. Accessed October 13, 2016.
6. Dr. Rosemary Waring. Report on Absorption of magnesium sulfate (Epsom salts) across the skin. Accessed October 13, 2016.