Magnesium Levels and Acid-Base Balance

Acid Load as a Possible Cause of Magnesium Deficiency?

Based on my personal experience, as well as those of my family, I think that it may be easier to become magnesium deficient when your body's pH is out of balance. I've noticed that when I eat too many acid forming foods, I'll have an increase in magnesium deficiency symptoms - especially tight muscles, vertigo and headaches. I suspect this is because magnesium is very alkaline and as such is one of the minerals the body uses up to help balance the pH of body fluids. In a 2006 study published in the Journal of Nutrition, nutrition researchers found that, "Magnesium deficiency could thus, apart from an insufficient intake, partly be caused by the acid load in the body. " ¹ Western diets are often high in grains, dairy and meat, which tend to be acid producing foods, and low in mineral rich, alkalizing fruits and vegetables. Many holistic health experts believe that acid forming diets are a major cause of mineral and other nutritional deficiencies, which results in major health issues in the Western World. Recently my husband was eating a lot of acidic foods in order to try to kill off the bacteria from a sore throat. It worked as far as getting rid of the sore throat, but the next day he started getting signs of a migraine. When he went back to a less acidic diet high in magnesium rich foods, the migraine symptoms went away.

Hypochlorhydria and Mg Absorption

While a too acid body may not be ideal, I think magnesium may be best absorbed when the body's pH is within a normal range - neither too acid nor too alkaline. I have have found that eating too many alkaline foods or consuming too many non-magnesium based antacids also seems to cause magnesium deficiency symptoms, especially anxiety. I suspect this may occur when there is not enough stomach acid, a condition called hypochlorhydria, in which the body cannot absorb nutrients, including magnesium, as easily.

Another possible reason why Mg may be too short when the body is over-alkaline involves the immune system. Stomach acid is one of the body's defenses against pathogenic bacteria, fungus and yeast. Magnesium is one of the nutrients the body uses to help support the immune system, ² so I suspect low stomach acid may tax magnesium reserves on two fronts. The first is by making magnesium that is ingested less easily broken down and absorbed. The second reason is that I suspect the body uses up magnesium as an immune response to an increased invasion force of bacteria, yeast and fungus that normally would have been killed off of by higher levels of stomach acid.

Many people write to me through my web site to let me know that that either they or their children have been helped almost immediately from various health conditions by taking magnesium supplements. While I personally advocate diet changes rather than supplements, I do get a lot of email about the benefits of magnesium supplements from some people, especially for helping tics in children. Many parents who find magnesium supplements helpful for their children also tell me that their children don't like vegetables and live off diets of carbs, dairy and meat. I suspect that these kids may have an acid load from eating a typical American diet, and the supplements not only help to increase magnesium levels but they act as antacids to help restore their body's pH balance.

Selected References

1. Rylander, Ragnar, Thomas Remer, Shoma Berkemeyer, and Jürgen Vormann. "Acid-Base Status Affects Renal Magnesium Losses in Healthy, Elderly Persons." The Journal of Nutrition Sep (2006): 2374-2377. 19 Dec. 2007. [Full Text]

2. McCoy H, Kenney MA."Magnesium and immune function: recent findings." Magnesium Research : Official Organ of the International Society for the Development of Research on Magnesium. 1992 Dec;5(4):281-93. [Abstract]

Related Pages in This Site:

Tips to get more magnesium in your diet

Acid and Alkaline Food Chart

pH Test Strips for Testing Urine

Alkaline and Acidic Foods

Cause of Migraines -- my hypothesis that ties together many of the seemingly unrelated conditions - TMJ, fibromyalgia, numbness in arms, nausea, eye pain and more.

Noise Sensitivity / Sensitive Hearing - Explores the links between a lack of magnesium in the diet and noise sensitivity.

Magnesium Deficiency - Part I - covers allergies, chemical sensitivities, anxiety and psychiatric disorders, aorta strength, asthma, attention deficit disorder and calcification of soft tissue. - Part II - covers fibromyalgia, hearing loss, hypercalciuria, keratoconus, migraines, mitral valve prolapse, muscle contractions and cramps, myopia, nystagmus, osteoporosis and osteopenia, premature birth, skeletal deformities, scar formation, seizures, and TMJ.

Food and Other Factors Associated With Migraines - loud noises, stress, certain foods can lead to migraines and these triggers are all very similar, if not identical, to the factors that can cause a magnesium deficiency.

Are low levels of magnesium more common in women?

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