Thursday, July 7, 2011

Magnesium OD

I rarely get 8 hours of sleep so for me it is important to get quality sleep. A while back BillyQ gave me some Natural Calm to try out and I couldn't really tell if it helped me out or not. As some time passed, I came back to some reading about magnesium and the benefits it has not only on sleep quality but other physical aspects. You can read more about magnesium here. Finally picked up some at Costco and gave it a true whirl. After about 3-4 days at 400mg, I noticed improved quality of sleep.

Bryce recently went to a Poliquin Bio-Signature Course and I asked him what Charles suggest for dosage? 2g a day for guys/1mg for gals. I guess my 400mg capsule I was taking with dinner wasn't cutting it. So I tried to take 2x pills with dinner and BAM. Sleep felt great! I woke up rested then like minutes after waking I have this pain in my stomach, like food poisoning pain. Go to the bathroom and it was like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnT8hICaiNM. TMI, I know. So of course, I want to try and warn everyone once they start supplementing magnesium to split the dosages throughout the day.


So Kurt of course wants to try things out for himself because he's that type of guy (I am too, so don't judge) and has the same experience. Did I really borrow this guy my motorcycle? So after we laugh really hard about his experience of shock and awe, he came across this article http://drcarolyndean.com/2010/02/four-ways-to-stop-magnesium-from-causing-diarrhea/ which was a decent read. It's actually funny to think I never reflected on popular laxatives like "Milk of Magnesia"

Lesson learned:
Magnesium that is not absorbed by your bloodstream ends up in your colon where it has a laxative effect.
Posted by at
Labels:

12 comments:

  1. Alison SantiagoJuly 7, 2011 at 8:00 AM

    I'm glad I read this! I just ordered some Magnesium from Bryce after getting the Bio-Sig analysis done. Thanks for the tip! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rudy TapallaJuly 7, 2011 at 8:06 AM

    @Alison, Glad I can save you the pain and concern!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Donna ChungJuly 7, 2011 at 8:23 AM

    Hahaha
    So I worked up to my current magnesium dose and things were fine. After 4 days of missing my magnesium over the long weekend, trying to going back to my dosage resulted in some issues I guess. I thought it was getting back on the kombucha train but maybe it's the magnesium after all.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rudy TapallaJuly 7, 2011 at 8:32 AM

    @Donna, I blame the magnesium.

    ReplyDelete
  5. KurtJuly 7, 2011 at 9:25 AM

    To clarify, I took 2g at once right before bed which gave me problems. The next day I spread it out evenly throughout the day and had no problems and it was the first night in a long time I didn't wake up at some point.

    Just don't take huge doses at once so you absorb it all.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Bryce WoodJuly 7, 2011 at 10:00 AM

    I've heard this from a couple of people and these are just a few of the things to make sure you're doing to avoid this:

    1. Make sure you are taking your magnesium with food
    2. Spread your dosage through the last 2-3 meals of the day
    3. Make sure your magnesium is chelated. It is harder to absorb if it is not chelated to an organic compound.
    4. Use more than one kind of magnesium to improve absorption.

    The Ubermag from Poliquin that I have been recommending to my Bio-Sig people is chelated and has 4 different kinds of magnesium. This should help with the absorption and hopefully decrease the chances of issues with your bowels. Thanks for bringing this up Rudy! I always like doing research on these kinds of things.

    ReplyDelete
  7. DanaJuly 7, 2011 at 11:23 AM

    Can't resist: http://www.hulu.com/watch/1597/saturday-night-live-tylenol-bm

    ReplyDelete
  8. DanaJuly 7, 2011 at 11:53 AM

    Yet again, Rudy and Kurt remind me of Alec Baldwin...

    But seriously, I want to weigh in and ask some questions from the perspective of somone who hesitates to add supplements.

    I have to say first that I really appreciate this discussion. I have had a lot more issues in the last 18 months with sleeping than I ever had before, and it's related to three things: soreness associated with Crossfit, aging, increased sensitivity to caffeine & sugar.

    I assume that the first is just the price to be paid for being more active & stronger. It's not constant and it doesn't keep me from sleeping; it just tends to wake me up occasionally when I shift. I get especially light sleep when the shoulders and upper back are sore.

    Second, I've talked to some people my age (36) and older and they confirm that it's about in your mid-30s that staying asleep starts to get more difficult. Your bladder's getting older, your metabolism's slowing down, etc. A lot of this stuff I don't buy because most people I talk to are aging primarily because their physical activity/attitude is getting crotchety, but there might be something to it.

    Third, I used to be able to eat or drink anything at any time of day and never have to worry about sleep. And not very long ago. Since going more-or-less paleo, I've noticed I just can't drink coffee after a certain point in the afternoon and expect to get any more than 2-3 hours of sleep at a time. And then not very restful. I am sure it's partially because before this I had lots of junk in my gut that the caffeine & sugars had to compete with. The flip side is, when I drink I sleep like a baby. The hangover in the morning, though...

    Anyway, besides ranting, I'm wondering if there are things on the diet side that you might consider before you take the supplement step. I hesitate to tax my stomach and liver more than the pills I am taking (fish oil, aspirin, Claritin, glucosamine) already do.

    ReplyDelete
  9. DanaJuly 7, 2011 at 11:57 AM

    I guess my other question is, to what extent is my hesitation to take pills/supplements/shakes rational and to what extent is it just my having had a Christian Scientist for a grandmother?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Rudy TapallaJuly 7, 2011 at 12:11 PM

    @Dana, You heal muscles while you sleep. The less you sleep the more you heal up so double-edged sword there. You are very far from true rested sleep if you wake from small shifting.

    I agree with you because if you talk to people at the box that are active and eat well, they probably don't have those same issues. Im right around the corner of 34.

    Definitely, if you get rested sleep after alcohol then there is definitely something wrong with your sleep quality.

    So, I'm not a big supplementer (right now I only do magnesium and fish oil) but if I find an aid to help sleep. Game on. Things that helped me at my ripe age of almost 34.

    It is pitch dark in our room. We have contractor bags on the windows which blocks 99% of light (sunlight included).

    We sleep with it cold (68-72 degrees). I often have to apologize to guest when they wake light a popsicle (Sorry Elisabeth!)

    I have one of those contour pillows. It was $20 at Costco and I'm still pretty impressed with it.

    Last was the magnesium.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Rudy TapallaJuly 7, 2011 at 12:16 PM

    @all, As a bonus Bryce just saved me the hassle of learning what the hell chelated is.

    http://www.ehow.com/facts_5765411_chelated-magnesium_.html

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnjaliJuly 7, 2011 at 1:36 PM

    Ummm...haha! Milk of magnesia is pretty much straight up mag guys, and yes...it will make you poop for days straight! I love you guys but LMAO!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)