magnesium chloride, citrate, sulphate and oxide. Many supplement labels do not declare the amount of elemental magnesium, but the weight of the entire magnesium-containing compound. Absorption of magnesium from differ-ent kinds of magnesium supplements varies substantially. Forms of magnesium that dissolve well in water are absorbed better in the intestine than less soluble forms. Studies have found that magne-sium in chloride form has a superb bio-availability and less adverse effects than in sulfate form, for instance. Many researchers advocate magne-sium chloride as the most effective and most natural form of dietary supplemen-tation, in part due to the chloride’s nat-ural occurrence in hydrochloric acid in the stomach. ROUTES OF ADMINISTRATION effects, transdermal administration of magnesium chloride could be a very welcome new avenue in helping western society cope with magnesium deficiency. Though still controversial, worldwide anecdotal evidence justifies further sci-entific exploration of the effectiveness of the transdermal route. But let’s dig a little deeper into this increasingly utilized method of magnesium administration. Magnesium chloride dissolved in water has the highest possible concentra-tion (31 to 33 per cent) of magnesium. Because of the extreme high concentra-tion, the assumption is that magnesium penetrates the skin barrier and cell junc-tions and reaches in succession the inter-stitial space, the fluid surrounding all of our cells, becoming rapidly and com-pletely available as free elemental mag-nesium without any intestinal effect. But in the so-called distal tubules of the nephrons, just before final urine output, there are cells especially dedicated to actively re-absorb magnesium – and it’s not only by osmosis, diffusion, e-poten-tial, or other non-energy consuming processes. Those cells really actively re-absorb magnesium all the way through their membranes and cell content. It costs energy, but they just do it in order to protect the body for magnesium loss. Step 2. The assumption There are four main routes for magne-sium to reach our cells: intravenously, pulmonary uptake, orally and transder-mal uptake. Intravenous and pulmonary uptake, though both effective in their own em-ployments, demand (almost) clinical conditions, like hygienic measures, that narrow the window of applications. An interesting development in recent times is the increasing trend toward transdermal administration. Considering that oral administration of magnesium has its limitations in terms of poor bio-availability and unwanted intestinal www.canadianchiropractor.ca HYPOTHESIS In talking with some of the world’s top magnesiologists, the following hypothesis came up to possibly explain the increas-ing evidence of transdermal effects of topically applied magnesium. Another way to lose minerals, including valuable magnesium, is through sweat-ing. Because sweat production has simi-larities with urine production, it would not be surprising if Mother Nature provided sweat glands with a somehow similar magnesium re-absorption mech-anism. Actually, there is growing scien-tific evidence for this assumption, such as studies by Thomas Jentsch et al. of the physiological function of the chloride channels in sweat glands (2002, Ameri-can Physical Society). Step 3. Here’s the catch Step 1. What we know It is known that during urine production, something special is going on in our kidneys with magnesium: like many other ions, magnesium is abundantly excreted initially during urine produc-tion. In the further course of urine output many valuable components are regained. Magnesium oil applied on the skin or magnesium chloride in a bath brings magnesium ions into the distal part of sweat glands. When the ‘actively re-ab-sorbing magnesium-cells’ detect a high concentration of magnesium, they will just do their job and re-absorb magne-sium; even if it’s coming from outside. This is the transdermal uptake. June 2016 Canadian Chiropractor 17
Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor June 2016: Page 17
