Magnesium sulphate (was: and your...)

[Guest guest]

,

Yes, it's not salt: it's just called that because it looks like sea

salt. Epsom is a place in England, I think. (It's sometimes called

" English salt " , only in Norwegian, here in Norway.) It's magnesium

sulphate, MgS04. Half of it is pure magnesium, and taking small

amounts as a supplement simply means to take a type of magnesium

supplement. I know I get too little magnesium: muscle twitching in

calves at night and vibrating eyelids are among the typical symptoms.

Here's a long, enthusiastic article (which I haven't read yet) about

the joys of magnesium (in nutrition):

http://www.execpc.com/~magnesum/rodintro.html . In large doses,

magnesium sulphate is conventionally known as a mild laxative.

Magnesium sulphate is not as well absorbed in the body as the forms

of magnesium used in tablets and capsules for nutritional

supplementation. One of those forms is magnesium citrate, which also

figures as an alternative to sulphate in liver cleanses. Magnesium

citrate is sold in liquid form in US drug stores, but cannot be found

in that form in all countries, in which case people then have to put

up with the sulphate in the cleanse (if they want to use magnesium).

The citrate tastes better, but I don't know how the amounts

correspond.

If one takes magnesium sulphate as a nutritional supplement, one can

probably take slightly more than what one would take of the better

absorbed forms. According to Agnes, about half a teaspoon corresponds

to 2 grams of magnesium sulphate (that is 1 g of pure magnesium). I

suppose " teaspoon " here means 5 ml. You don't have to worry about

taste in the supplemental dosages.

I think the official US recommended daily total intake of magnesium

for a healthy person is 350 mg, but the true value may be higher than

that. It's difficult to overdose on magnesium (unlike potassium or

iron). You don't take large doses (like tablespoons) outside the

context of cleanses. I suppose you risk flushing out good bacteria

from the intestines, so that's perhaps a reason for not doing the

cleanse too often.

-- Helge

>Well, I hope others can add more about this...but it is my

>understanding that the epsom salt is not real salt. I know it really

>works in the flush and that amount altho tastes terrible to me works

>good for me. But not something I want to do after I'm free of

>stones. Don't think I'd use it as a health aid other than in these

>flushes or a major colon block. Sorry I didn't address this question

>exactly. of DH