Magnesium Citrate - Builds Strong Bones and Teeth
I made an interesting observation of my blood pressure (BP) this morning after I started taking 5 dietary supplements this week (magnesium citrate, coQ10, alpha-lipoic acid, vitamin E, and lemon-flavored cod liver oil), based on the recommendations in the book The Protein Power Lifeplan by Michael Eades, M.D., and Mary Dan Eades, M.D. My BP was the lowest I’ve observed since I started taking it back in May. In fact, it was about 10 points lower on both the top (systolic) number and bottom (diastolic) number — 97/60. Wow! This is without taking any high blood pressure medication and without exercise. (I’m not proud of that latter one.)
Before I get to the supplements, it’s important to note that last October my blood pressure was high, so I began researching nutrition. As a temporary measure, my doctor put me on a low dose of blood pressure medication. After losing quite a bit of weight as of April, I was feeling rather light-headed many times when I sat up or stood up. I talked to my doctor, who said she wanted my BP to be as low as possible (i.e., I had to continue the medication), so she had me cutting my pills in half.
That was fine for the first two weeks, but my light-headedness came back with a vengeance to the point of me feeling like I was going to pass out. Because it was possible that I could have seriously hurt myself if I had fallen (to the point of even dying), I deemed it better to go off the medication. Please note that I don’t recommend this for everyone. I know myself and my body very well, but I also went out and bought a blood pressure cuff to take readings every day. Keeping a blood pressure diary was the only way to prove whether I needed BP medication or not. Within the first three weeks, while the medication was still affecting my body, I did have BP numbers 4 times in the 90s. The lowest two were 98/67 and 97/65. However, the average BP was 107 over 70, so I was right — I didn’t need medication. My blood pressure did creep up into the 113 or so level when I mainly stopped exercising at the end of May due to having visitors for most of the summer. (I was walking and/or running at least 20 miles per week until then.)
According to the authors of 
Two of the supplements listed above (magnesium and coQ10) require the right type. Magnesium should be in one of three forms, which are listed in the book. I bought magnesium citrate. As for coQ10, most I saw were in a worthless format. They must be in a softgel form in an oil, and the oil should not be soybean oil. I ended up buying Natural Factors brand, which has a rice bran oil base.
I bought the recommended Carlson’s lemon-flavored Norwegian cod liver oil. It actually is not bad. There is no fishy flavor, nor should there be; instead, it has a very light lemon flavor. A fishy flavor means the oil has gone rancid, which will cause free radical damage in your body. Keep all fish oils in the refrigerator.
Did the new supplements lower my blood pressure? Correlation does not mean causation. There’s no way to know for sure, and this is just one day’s reading. (I, unfortunately, didn’t take my blood pressure the previous two days.) However, the two physicians in the book talk about how the five supplements at normal doses work to maintain healthy levels of blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglycerides, while at higher doses treat heart disease, diabetes, obesity, diseases of the eye, and autoimmune diseases.
As noted above, the amounts one needs to take of all the supplements, except for the cod liver oil, depends on what health conditions you need treated. The more processed foods you eat, the harder it is to determine what you really need because processed foods tend to block absorption of many nutrients. I love eating a natural diet because I no longer need to worry if I’m getting the right nutrients. It’s made life so much easier.