Fructose

• Corticosteroids
• Amphotericin B (Fungizone)
• Antacids
• Insulin
• Fluconazole (Diflucan): Used to treat fungal infections
• Theophylline (TheoDur): Used for asthma
• Laxatives
If you are taking any of these medications, it is important for your doctor to test your potassium
levels to see whether or not you need a supplement. Do not start taking a supplement on your
own.
Other potential interactions include:
Digoxin -- Low blood levels of potassium increase the likelihood of toxic effects from digoxin, a
medication used to treat abnormal heart rhythms and heart failure. Your doctor will test your
potassium levels to make sure they stay normal.
Magnesium Deficiency
The first symptoms of magnesium deficiency can be subtle. Most magnesium is stored in the
tissues, so leg cramps, foot pain or muscle ‘twitches’ are usually the first signs. Insomnia, migraine
headaches are also very common magnesium deficiency symptoms. And if ignored, some of the
other more serious symptoms of Magnesium deficiency (mentioned below) can develop.
Magnesium is one of the most important minerals in the human body and is essential to good
health. It is critical in over 350 essential biochemical reactions in the body including digestion,
energy production, muscle function, bone formation, creation of new cells, activation of B
vitamins, relaxation of muscles, and also assists in the proper functioning of the heart, kidneys,
adrenals, brain and nervous system.
In fact, Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the body—it can be found in human
bones, teeth and red blood cells, and activates more enzyme systems than both Iron and Zinc
combined. It was as far back as 1971, that Dr Edmund B. Fink (a magnesium researcher at West
Virginia University School of Medicine in Morgantown), recorded in ‘The Executive Health’ that:
• Magnesium deficiency not only exists but is common
• Although it is common, it is often undetected
• Chronic deficiency can produce long-term damage and can be fatal
• The manifestations of the deficiency are many and varied
Low Energy
Magnesium plays a key role in regulating how well the human body converts food into energy.
Metabolism of carbohydrates and fats requires numerous magnesium-dependent chemical
reactions. In 2002, Physiologist Henry Lukaski of the Department of Agriculture’s Human Nutrition
Research Center in North Dakota (USA), established that during moderate activity, individuals
with low magnesium levels use more energy—and therefore tire more quickly—than those have
adequate levels. In this study (published in the May 2002 issue of The Journal of Nutrition) he
elaborates that in the first phase, 10 postmenopausal women were provided with a diet adequate
in magnesium for 35 days, followed by a phase of a low-magnesium diet for 93 days, and in the
last phase once again, they were provided a diet adequate in magnesium for 49 days. It was found
that during the low-magnesium-status phase, the volunteers used more oxygen during physical
activity and their heart rates increased by about 10 beats per minute. “When the volunteers were
low in magnesium, they needed more energy and more oxygen to do low-level activities than when
they were in adequate-magnesium status,” says Lukaski. These findings are consistent with other
studies showing that inadequate magnesium is often associated with a need for increased oxygen
during exercise and people who routinely complain of low energy can benefit from magnesium
supplementation.
Fatigue
Research has suggested that persistent magnesium deficiency may lead to chronic fatigue syndrome
(CFS). When we are magnesium deficient, our bodily functions slow down at the cellular level
causing the body to become sluggish until, eventually fatigue sets in. A path-breaking study (The
Lancet, March 1991) by Cox, Campbell and Dowson of the Centre for the Study of Complementary
Medicine in Southampton, England, recorded that many patients with CFS have low red blood cell
magnesium levels—a more accurate measure of magnesium status than routine blood analysis—
and their condition may improve with magnesium supplements. They injected magnesium sulfate
in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 32 patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. Fifteen
patients, randomly chosen, received magnesium sulfate intramuscularly once a week for six weeks
while the remaining 17 received injected water. Patients treated with magnesium showed better
energy levels and better handling of emotions.
Weakness
Between 1965 and 1990 various studies were conducted in New Zealand, Australia, England,
France and the Netherlands to investigate the relationship between prone sleeping position and
the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS ). A review published in 1991 concluded that magnesium
deficiency (muscle strength is seriously impaired in the young magnesium deficient subject)
is at least one major unifying factor that explains increased SIDS in prone sleeping infants. In
rats, marginal deprivation in dietary magnesium reduces exercise capacity and induces muscle
weakness, an effect that can be rapidly reversed by consuming magnesium.
PMS and Hormonal Imbalances
Premenstrual Symptoms or PMS is a name given to varied physical and psychological symptoms
like abdominal bloating, breast tenderness, headache, fatigue, irritability, anxiety and depression
that occur two to seven days before the onset of menstruation. According to Dr Guy Abraham,
former professor of obstetrics and gynecologic endocrinology at the UCLA School of Medicine,
in most cases of PMS there are patterns of hormone imbalance that can be uncovered through
testing. Carolyn Dean, MD, North Dakota, states that one of the 22 conditions magnesium
deficiency may trigger or cause, is hormonal imbalance leading to premenstrual syndrome (PMS);
dysmenorrhoea (cramping pain during menses); infertility; premature contractions, preeclampsia
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