Re: Magnesium and Cancer

July 27, 2009

Wow, interesting, I didn't know about the relationship of magnesium to

potassium. Do you have Part 2?

Thanks,

Jeanmarie

On Jul 26, 2009, at 7:02 PM, Holt wrote:

>

> <snip>

> " 'To physicians who are students not alone

> of the manifestations of disease, but also of the working of human

> nature, there are few chapters in the field of therapeutics more

> interesting than those which record the response of medical men

> to the Supposed advances in the treatment of disease. This can

> roughly be divided into 4 stages:

> " 'The first reaction is that of scepticism

> and outright rejection by the few whose verdict matters most.

> This is understandable in the light of past experience. Many medical

> men have announced their cure of disease, provided remedies to

> relieve symptoms, and invented methods of treatment that seemed

> to put off the inevitable tendency to dissolution. Yet few of

> these inventions and discoveries have maintained their early

> reputation.

> Another initial difficulty is that our views about a new and

> unorthodox

> method of treatment are already prejudiced by various influences,

> both emotional and intellectual, and particularly by theories

> which pervade our own thought, sometimes without our being aware

> of them. To be ruthlessly critical of another man's theories is

> one of the easiest tasks to accomplish. The 2nd stage in the life

> history of a new drug is one of unbridled enthusiasm and acceptance

> by the many. Wild and exaggerated claims are made in support of

> a new drug, impossible hopes are entertained or the drug may be

> used in the wrong dose and in the wrong way. This inevitably brings

> a useful remedy into disrepute (3rd stage) and it may take years

> before the 4th stage is reached and the drug makes its final

> reappearance

> in the field of therapeutics. The history of tuberculin is a glaring

> example of this. "

>

> So . . . we'll stake our money on magnesium without potassium.

>

> for continuation see Part 2 " Magnesiun

> and Cancer "

>

July 27, 2009

I got this information from the following source:

http://www.mgwater.com/rod02.shtml

2. MAGNESIUM AND

CANCER

Under the date of MAY 19, 1931, Dr. P. Schrumpf-Pierron presented a paper

entitled

" On the Cause Of the Rarity of

Cancer in Egypt, " which was printed in the Bulletin of the Academy of

Medicine, and the

Bulletin of the French Association for the Study of Cancer in July, 1931. The

following is a digested and simplified version of it:

During the year 1931 I presented to the Academy of Medicine in

Paris several papers on the rarity of cancer in Egypt, which came

to the following conclusions:

(1) Cancer for Egypt is about one-tenth that of Europe

and America.

(2) In Egypt, cancer is less frequent in country

fellahin than in the Egyptians who live in the towns and who

have adopted Europeanized dietary habits.

(3) The degree of malignancy of Egyptian cancers is less

than that of European cancers. They develop less quickly, and

have less of a tendency to invade neighboring tissues.

(4) The type of cancer which is the most frequent in all

the countries rich in cancer is cancer of the digestive, tract,

which represents 40 to 50 percent of all cancers. In the case

of Egyptians, this type of cancer is remarkably rare; in the

country fellahin, practically nonexistent.

My predecessors at l'École de Médecine,

Fergusson, Madden, Day, Dolbey, as well as the eminent English

cancer specialist, ,

have arrived at the same conclusions. Engel Bey wrote in 1908. " From these

data it appears that the

reputation of Egypt for comparative immunity from cancer is well

founded. "

What are the causes of the rarity of cancer in Egypt? After

having eliminated racial and climatic factors for reasons which

can be found in my preceding papers, I said to myself that it

must be looked for in an element contained in the food. It is

this which led me to do research on the food of the fellah, and I

found that that which

characterizes the diet of the fellah is its richness in salts of

magnesium. The fellah consumes in his food, in the water which he

drinks, and in the crude salt which he uses from 2.5 to 3 grams

of magnesium per day, against 4 to 5 grams of potash.

What is, by comparison, the mineralization of the average diet

of the inhabitant of the towns of Europe and America? Let us look

at the following:

Bread--for the populace, bread

furnishes 40 percent of the calorie total; in the well-to-do

classes only 20 Percent. And it is always a question of bread

which is relatively rich in potash, poor in minerals in general.

Thus the principal contribution of magnesium is lacking.

Meat--the amount of minerals in

meat is practically negligible.

Potatoes--the 'industrial'

varieties of potatoes with a large yield and with voluminous

tubercles all show an excessive wealth of potash and are poor in

magnesium. Thus, the consumption of large quantities of potatoes,

such, for example, in, Germany, represents an important

contribution in potash.

Doughs, rices, macaronis,

etc. have the same composition as the flours from which they have

been made. (Thus .5 percent of ashes at the maximum). Husked and

polished rice is also poor in mineral elements.

Vegetables--spinach, carrots,

beets, celery, cabbage, peas, all are rich in potash. (0.5

Percent). Except for spinach, they are poor in magnesium, but

contain at times as much calcium as potash. Salads have as an

average 0.38 percent of potash, 0.08 percent of, calcium, and

0.04 percent of magnesium.

But, according to the analyses of M. Villain, the greater part of vegetables

today

are, compared to those of Wolff's time (1870), too poor in

magnesium and relatively too rich in potash.

Fruits--only the skins and

rinds of fruits contain minerals and in particular magnesium.

Dairy products--milk is relatively rich in potash (0.17 percent),

in calcium (0.16 percent), poor in magnesium (0.02 percent).

It can thus be seen that

whole cereals, especially corn, are

the foodstuffs in which there is enough magnesium. It is

because of the processing and refining of foods that the world is

being robbed of magnesium. Whereas

the Egyptian fellah's ratio is 2.5 to 3 grams of magnesium

against 4 to 5 grams of potash a day, in Europe and America it is

only 0.5 gram of magnesium against 2 to 4 grams of potash per

day.

An intoxication of potash--an

excess of potash poisons--can " kill " the soil where the food is

grown. It poisons the plants, then man. Besides, several other

authorities have already accused potash of producing cancer.

Theis and Benedikt, as will as Mentrier, have already stated that

the higher amount of potash in cancerous tissue, which is a

radioactive body, would cause the multiplication of cancerous

cells.

P. Rosenstein and H. Kohler (from Berlin), who have just

published the results of their researches on the causes of

cancer, come to the same conclusions:

" If our opinion is correct, that is to say that potassium

plays a preponderant role in the genesis of cancer, we will be

better able to understand why the number of cancer cases has

increased to such a degree: because the generalisation of

the use of modern chemical fertilizers today brings to

the organism of men and animals much more potash than was

formerly true. "

It is absence of

magnesium that permits potash to become toxic and

cancerogenic. Potash is useful and indispensable to the plant as

to man, but only if it is in a favorable ratio with magnesium and

calcium. Magnesium acts as a

" brake for cancer " (Delbet), as

much as an antitoxic of potash. This is why " the predisposition

to cancer accompanies the deficit of magnesium reserves " (Dubar

and Voisenet). The older the individual is, the easier the

intoxication by potash, because the organism grows older and

becomes poorer in magnesium than the young organism; this loss in

magnesium decreases vitality, resistance, the power of

regeneration of cells (Delbet), " provoking a sort of cellular

anarchy which favors the evolution of cancerous processes "

(L. Randoin). Thus one must

conceive the role of magnesium as twofold: first as an antitoxin

for potash and second as an antisenility element.

But why, it will be objected, are there in Europe agricultural

districts where the inhabitants eat principally products of their

own land, many vegetables, little meat, brown bread, etc., and

where, however, we find regular nests of cancer, villages where

the cancer mortality reaches enormous proportions? Because it is

a question of districts where the earth has become so poor in

magnesium, or where an excessive amount of chemical fertilizing

made it so rich in potash, that the ratio of magnesium, potash,

and calcium has become unfavorable to such a point that it leads

particularly quickly to cancer. It is a question then in some way

of a surmineralization by minerals the balance of which is

unfavorable. It is thus that one can often explain the

failure, and at times the clearly harmful effect, of the classic

milk-vegetarian diet, of which there have been so many

practitioners again these past years. The magnesium content is

too low.

The practical conclusions which result from our thesis are the

following:

To prevent cancer and progressively diminish its

frequency, two conditions should be fulfilled:

First, agriculture should tend to produce new healthy plants,

with " normal " mineralization. This can be obtained, as proved by

M. Villain, by a regeneration of the earth with the aid of

appropriate fertilizers, under a systematic control of the

mineralization of cultivated vegetables. It is a question of a

new science, which must be inspired with the fundamental

principle that abnormal mineralization of an alimentary plant

logically has its repercussion on the mineral balance of animals

and men who feed themselves on it; that besides, the more

the mineralization is " normal, " the more the alimentary quality,

if not the yield of the plant, is raised; that finally, in

agriculture, quality must never be sacrificed to quantity.

Second, the principles of modem alimentary hygiene must be

greatly modified and above all detached from the too-narrow

concept of " caloric worth " of an aliment as the only measure of

its " nutritive worth. " The overly civilized world feeds itself

poorly. Without being obliged to return to the quasi animal diet

of the fellahin, it should relearn to mineralize itself normally.

Thus, it is above all a bread reform that should be imposed; that

is, certain varieties of wheat grown that are richer in magnesium

than others. But the safest cereal is corn (maize) in which the

proportion of magnesium is quite high. Corn is the magnesium

aliment par excellence.

Even when it grows on less favorable soil, less rich, in

magnesium than Egyptian soil, corn still always contains a

relatively large amount of magnesium, little potash and calcium,

and a lot of phosphoric acid.

In the southern countries, where corn is the base of the

diet of the people, cancer is relatively rare. It is very rare

where the corn is consumed integrally, as is done by the fellahin

in Egypt. If colored people in, the United States show less

cases of cancer than whites, it is not because the dark race is

refractory, as has been said, but very probably because the

American Negroes have retained the African habit of eating

corn.

One can state that the problem of cancer and many other

illnesses depends mainly on the bread in the diet. There must be

a reorganization of agricultural methods, especially with regard

to the kind of fertilizers used, and a change of concept in the

food factories and bakeries. It is urgent that we act, because

cancer is terribly on the increase.

With regard to fertilizers, the

organic method, using no chemical fertilizer but only composts

made from animal manures and vegetable matter, ensures against

the overapplication of potash to the soil. Read our magazine

Organic Gardening. Dolomite limestone, rich in magnesium should be

used.

Here are some figures:

In 1961 the cancer death rate per 100,000 population was 178.3

for the New England states, compared to 128.2 for the South

Atlantic states. The Middle Atlantic states (New York, New

Jersey, Pennsylvania) had a rate of 180.5, compared to 127.7 in

the East South Central states. The highest rate for the

continental United States was in New York (186.5) and the lowest

in New Mexico (78.8).

More corroboration. In 1958, the last year for which a figure

is available, the Egyptian rate was 28.5 and the United States

rate, 146.9.

Eat plenty of corn.

July 27, 2009

Thanks for this. FYI I found an article on How to Best Absorb

Magnesium Supplements which had some interesting points. According to

eHow, fat causes magnesium depletion from the body, which is alarming

as I (intentionally) eat a lot of fat...

Jeanmarie

http://www.ehow.com/how_3954_absorb-magnesium-supplements.html

How to Best Absorb Magnesium Supplements

by eHow Health Editor

Introduction

Magnesium is needed for hundreds of your body's basic functions,

including regulating your heart and blood pressure and helping to

metabolize sugar and fats. It also helps your nervous system and

combats such problems as insomnia and anxiety.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Steps

1Step One

Take the chelated form of magnesium, such as magnesium citrate,

glycinate or malate. This form is absorbed best by your body.

2Step Two

Combine magnesium with calcium. The easiest way is to take a balanced

formula of one part magnesium to two parts calcium.

3Step Three

Take vitamin C at the same time. It helps make magnesium more

biologically available to your body.

4Step Four

Bathe in magnesium sulfate, better known as Epsom salts. The mineral

can be absorbed through your skin.

5Step Five

Reduce or eliminate your consumption of soft drinks. Their high level

of phosphates causes magnesium to be depleted from your body.

6Step Six

Lower your fat intake. A high fat intake will also cause magnesium to

be depleted from your body.

7Step Seven

Watch your intake of vitamin D. High doses will cause magnesium to be

leached from your body.

8Step Eight

Decrease or eliminate alcohol use. It can lead to magnesium loss.

9Step Nine

Check your prescription drugs. Diuretics, digitalis, tetracycline and

corticoids are some of the medications that can lead to magnesium loss.

10Step Ten

Watch your intake of foods high in oxalic acid. These include almonds,

chard, cocoa, rhubarb and spinach. They can cause reduced magnesium

absorption.

11Step Eleven

Decrease or eliminate your intake of animal proteins. High amounts can

lead to reduced magnesium absorption.

Tips & Warnings

Foods high in magnesium include brown rice, fish, bananas, tofu,

blackstrap molasses, seafood and avocados.

The recommended dosage of magnesium is 350 to 750 mg per day.

Vitamin B-6 increases the amount of magnesium that can be absorbed by

cells. High doses of B-6 can be harmful, however.

If you are taking prescription medicine, consult your doctor or

pharmacist before taking supplements.

Taking more than 750mg of magnesium per day can cause side effects

such as diarrhea and drowsiness.

Discuss magnesium supplementation with your doctor first if you have

any type of kidney disease.

Avoid taking large amounts of laxatives or antacids that contain

magnesium.

On Jul 26, 2009, at 11:14 PM, Holt wrote:

>

> I got this information from the following source:

>

> http://www.mgwater.com/rod02.shtml

> 2. MAGNESIUM AND

> CANCER

>

> Under the date of MAY 19, 1931, Dr. P. Schrumpf-Pierron presented a

> paper entitled

> " On the Cause Of the Rarity of

> Cancer in Egypt, " which was printed in the Bulletin of the Academy

> of Medicine, and the

> Bulletin of the French Association for the Study of Cancer in July,

> 1931. The

> following is a digested and simplified version of it:

> <snip>

>

July 27, 2009

When I was looking through the articles on magnesium and fluoride, I found one

that said that the waters that were rich in fluoride that initially led to the

use of it to prevent cavities were also rich in calcium and magnesium. The

magnesium forms a strong bond with the fluroide that prevents it from acting on

the bone structure and the calcium was what made the teeth strong.

>

> I got this information from the following source:

>

> http://www.mgwater.com/rod02.shtml

> 2. MAGNESIUM AND

> CANCER

>

> Under the date of MAY 19, 1931, Dr. P. Schrumpf-Pierron presented a paper

entitled

> " On the Cause Of the Rarity of

> Cancer in Egypt, " which was printed in the Bulletin of the Academy of

Medicine, and the

> Bulletin of the French Association for the Study of Cancer in July, 1931.

The

> following is a digested and simplified version of it:

>

> During the year 1931 I presented to the Academy of Medicine in

> Paris several papers on the rarity of cancer in Egypt, which came

> to the following conclusions:

>

> (1) Cancer for Egypt is about one-tenth that of Europe

> and America.

>

> (2) In Egypt, cancer is less frequent in country

> fellahin than in the Egyptians who live in the towns and who

> have adopted Europeanized dietary habits.

>

> (3) The degree of malignancy of Egyptian cancers is less

> than that of European cancers. They develop less quickly, and

> have less of a tendency to invade neighboring tissues.

>

> (4) The type of cancer which is the most frequent in all

> the countries rich in cancer is cancer of the digestive, tract,

> which represents 40 to 50 percent of all cancers. In the case

> of Egyptians, this type of cancer is remarkably rare; in the

> country fellahin, practically nonexistent.

>

> My predecessors at l'École de Médecine,

> Fergusson, Madden, Day, Dolbey, as well as the eminent English

> cancer specialist, ,

> have arrived at the same conclusions. Engel Bey wrote in 1908. " From these

data it appears that the

> reputation of Egypt for comparative immunity from cancer is well

> founded. "

>

> What are the causes of the rarity of cancer in Egypt? After

> having eliminated racial and climatic factors for reasons which

> can be found in my preceding papers, I said to myself that it

> must be looked for in an element contained in the food. It is

> this which led me to do research on the food of the fellah, and I

> found that that which

> characterizes the diet of the fellah is its richness in salts of

> magnesium. The fellah consumes in his food, in the water which he

> drinks, and in the crude salt which he uses from 2.5 to 3 grams

> of magnesium per day, against 4 to 5 grams of potash.

>

> What is, by comparison, the mineralization of the average diet

> of the inhabitant of the towns of Europe and America? Let us look

> at the following:

>

> Bread--for the populace, bread

> furnishes 40 percent of the calorie total; in the well-to-do

> classes only 20 Percent. And it is always a question of bread

> which is relatively rich in potash, poor in minerals in general.

> Thus the principal contribution of magnesium is lacking.

>

> Meat--the amount of minerals in

> meat is practically negligible.

>

> Potatoes--the 'industrial'

> varieties of potatoes with a large yield and with voluminous

> tubercles all show an excessive wealth of potash and are poor in

> magnesium. Thus, the consumption of large quantities of potatoes,

> such, for example, in, Germany, represents an important

> contribution in potash.

>

> Doughs, rices, macaronis,

> etc. have the same composition as the flours from which they have

> been made. (Thus .5 percent of ashes at the maximum). Husked and

> polished rice is also poor in mineral elements.

>

> Vegetables--spinach, carrots,

> beets, celery, cabbage, peas, all are rich in potash. (0.5

> Percent). Except for spinach, they are poor in magnesium, but

> contain at times as much calcium as potash. Salads have as an

> average 0.38 percent of potash, 0.08 percent of, calcium, and

> 0.04 percent of magnesium.

>

> But, according to the analyses of M. Villain, the greater part of vegetables

today

> are, compared to those of Wolff's time (1870), too poor in

> magnesium and relatively too rich in potash.

>

> Fruits--only the skins and

> rinds of fruits contain minerals and in particular magnesium.

>

> Dairy products--milk is relatively rich in potash (0.17 percent),

> in calcium (0.16 percent), poor in magnesium (0.02 percent).

>

> It can thus be seen that

> whole cereals, especially corn, are

> the foodstuffs in which there is enough magnesium. It is

> because of the processing and refining of foods that the world is

> being robbed of magnesium. Whereas

> the Egyptian fellah's ratio is 2.5 to 3 grams of magnesium

> against 4 to 5 grams of potash a day, in Europe and America it is

> only 0.5 gram of magnesium against 2 to 4 grams of potash per

> day.

>

> An intoxication of potash--an

> excess of potash poisons--can " kill " the soil where the food is

> grown. It poisons the plants, then man. Besides, several other

> authorities have already accused potash of producing cancer.

> Theis and Benedikt, as will as Mentrier, have already stated that

> the higher amount of potash in cancerous tissue, which is a

> radioactive body, would cause the multiplication of cancerous

> cells.

>

> P. Rosenstein and H. Kohler (from Berlin), who have just

> published the results of their researches on the causes of

> cancer, come to the same conclusions:

>

> " If our opinion is correct, that is to say that potassium

> plays a preponderant role in the genesis of cancer, we will be

> better able to understand why the number of cancer cases has

> increased to such a degree: because the generalisation of

> the use of modern chemical fertilizers today brings to

> the organism of men and animals much more potash than was

> formerly true. "

>

> It is absence of

> magnesium that permits potash to become toxic and

> cancerogenic. Potash is useful and indispensable to the plant as

> to man, but only if it is in a favorable ratio with magnesium and

> calcium. Magnesium acts as a

> " brake for cancer " (Delbet), as

> much as an antitoxic of potash. This is why " the predisposition

> to cancer accompanies the deficit of magnesium reserves " (Dubar

> and Voisenet). The older the individual is, the easier the

> intoxication by potash, because the organism grows older and

> becomes poorer in magnesium than the young organism; this loss in

> magnesium decreases vitality, resistance, the power of

> regeneration of cells (Delbet), " provoking a sort of cellular

> anarchy which favors the evolution of cancerous processes "

> (L. Randoin). Thus one must

> conceive the role of magnesium as twofold: first as an antitoxin

> for potash and second as an antisenility element.

>

> But why, it will be objected, are there in Europe agricultural

> districts where the inhabitants eat principally products of their

> own land, many vegetables, little meat, brown bread, etc., and

> where, however, we find regular nests of cancer, villages where

> the cancer mortality reaches enormous proportions? Because it is

> a question of districts where the earth has become so poor in

> magnesium, or where an excessive amount of chemical fertilizing

> made it so rich in potash, that the ratio of magnesium, potash,

> and calcium has become unfavorable to such a point that it leads

> particularly quickly to cancer. It is a question then in some way

> of a surmineralization by minerals the balance of which is

> unfavorable. It is thus that one can often explain the

> failure, and at times the clearly harmful effect, of the classic

> milk-vegetarian diet, of which there have been so many

> practitioners again these past years. The magnesium content is

> too low.

>

> The practical conclusions which result from our thesis are the

> following:

>

> To prevent cancer and progressively diminish its

> frequency, two conditions should be fulfilled:

>

> First, agriculture should tend to produce new healthy plants,

> with " normal " mineralization. This can be obtained, as proved by

> M. Villain, by a regeneration of the earth with the aid of

> appropriate fertilizers, under a systematic control of the

> mineralization of cultivated vegetables. It is a question of a

> new science, which must be inspired with the fundamental

> principle that abnormal mineralization of an alimentary plant

> logically has its repercussion on the mineral balance of animals

> and men who feed themselves on it; that besides, the more

> the mineralization is " normal, " the more the alimentary quality,

> if not the yield of the plant, is raised; that finally, in

> agriculture, quality must never be sacrificed to quantity.

>

> Second, the principles of modem alimentary hygiene must be

> greatly modified and above all detached from the too-narrow

> concept of " caloric worth " of an aliment as the only measure of

> its " nutritive worth. " The overly civilized world feeds itself

> poorly. Without being obliged to return to the quasi animal diet

> of the fellahin, it should relearn to mineralize itself normally.

> Thus, it is above all a bread reform that should be imposed; that

> is, certain varieties of wheat grown that are richer in magnesium

> than others. But the safest cereal is corn (maize) in which the

> proportion of magnesium is quite high. Corn is the magnesium

> aliment par excellence.

>

> Even when it grows on less favorable soil, less rich, in

> magnesium than Egyptian soil, corn still always contains a

> relatively large amount of magnesium, little potash and calcium,

> and a lot of phosphoric acid.

>

> In the southern countries, where corn is the base of the

> diet of the people, cancer is relatively rare. It is very rare

> where the corn is consumed integrally, as is done by the fellahin

> in Egypt. If colored people in, the United States show less

> cases of cancer than whites, it is not because the dark race is

> refractory, as has been said, but very probably because the

> American Negroes have retained the African habit of eating

> corn.

>

> One can state that the problem of cancer and many other

> illnesses depends mainly on the bread in the diet. There must be

> a reorganization of agricultural methods, especially with regard

> to the kind of fertilizers used, and a change of concept in the

> food factories and bakeries. It is urgent that we act, because

> cancer is terribly on the increase.

>

> With regard to fertilizers, the

> organic method, using no chemical fertilizer but only composts

> made from animal manures and vegetable matter, ensures against

> the overapplication of potash to the soil. Read our magazine

> Organic Gardening. Dolomite limestone, rich in magnesium should be

> used.

>

> Here are some figures:

>

> In 1961 the cancer death rate per 100,000 population was 178.3

> for the New England states, compared to 128.2 for the South

> Atlantic states. The Middle Atlantic states (New York, New

> Jersey, Pennsylvania) had a rate of 180.5, compared to 127.7 in

> the East South Central states. The highest rate for the

> continental United States was in New York (186.5) and the lowest

> in New Mexico (78.8).

>

> More corroboration. In 1958, the last year for which a figure

> is available, the Egyptian rate was 28.5 and the United States

> rate, 146.9.

>

> Eat plenty of corn.

>

July 28, 2009

>

> When I was looking through the articles on magnesium and fluoride, I >found

one that said that the waters that were rich in fluoride that >initially led to

the use of it to prevent cavities were also rich in >calcium and magnesium. The

magnesium forms a strong bond with the >fluroide that prevents it from acting on

the bone structure and the >calcium was what made the teeth strong.

>

I think you may have gotten that backwards...I'm pretty sure fluoride forms a

strong bond with calcium and then it was the magnesium that made the teeth

strong. I remember reading something someone posted on here a long time ago

about the correlation between dietary magnesium levels and bone strength, even

if calcium was rather low.

-

August 3, 2009

I don't 100% agree with that. If you take enough vitamin a and d from animal

sources you may not have the same absorption problem with potassium and

magnesium. Go to www.homodiet.netfirms.com and search for " the miracle mineral "

article and it will give you a link to the entire magnesium book.