I learned many years ago that you cannot depend on someone else for your health and longevity. I watched what happened to my family members and it was fatal. So, what do you need to do?

The first step is to analyze your family health history. This is something the, now non-existent, family doctor use to do. Since doctors today don’t bother, YOU need to. So, let me share the main health issues my family experienced despite their dependence on the medical business.

The first concerning issue was heart disease which apparently ran rampant in my father’s genetic line.

My grandfather had a number of heart attacks in the middle 1960s when he was in his early 50s. He survived those because health care was better at that time but his health continued to go downhill. He was soon diagnosed with diabetes and prescribed the an oral diabetic drug, although it was known that those drugs had a 65% rate of a fatal heart attack and he obviously had heart problems. He likely was prescribed other drugs that I am unaware of, He took the drugs and followed the doctor’s advice but less than 10 years later, he dropped dead of a fatal heart attack one summer afternoon at his store.

My father had a series of heart attacks when he was in his early 40s. Again, he survived because health care was better. He eventually had bypass surgery from which he never totally recovered. He followed the doctor’s advice and took whatever drugs he was prescribed. When he was in his late 50s, he was diagnosed as diabetic and also prescribed oral diabetic medication which he took as prescribed. This despite his heart issues and the known 65% risk of a fatal heart attack from the oral diabetic drugs which killed his father. This was in the middle 1980s and the medical business had already deteriorated. One night, a few months after his 61st birthday, he died of a heart attack.

Both my father and grandfather left too soon. They weren’t ready to go. The medical business failed them. Personally, I didn’t intend to end up the same way. So, I started studying, learning everything I could about health and how the body functioned. Even in the present, I look for new information every day and there is massive new research, apparently ignored by most current medical business doctors, that show what causes degenerative diseases and how to avoid them.

After my father died, I started my search for solutions. At the time in the early 1990s, there were a few doctors who were breaking from the medical business model and trying to provide service like the doctors of my youth. Several of them had health newsletters which I subscribed to and learned a great deal of useful information as well as topics for further research. Unfortunately, because these doctors went against the norm, their newsletters were eventually taken over by medical establishment types who used the good name of the original doctors newsletters to spread bad advice and disinformation or were shut down totally. When this began to happen, I stopped reading them. Fortunately, other doctors, like Sherry Rogers, continued to offer solutions through her books and a newsletter.

The information I am going to share in these series of posts has been collected over the last 20 years. Collecting this health information has been like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle that you have no idea what it is suppose to look like. But each piece has built upon the next and after 20 years, I have a better idea of how to stay healthy or fix what is wrong.

One of the main themes these renegade doctors discussed in their newsletters was CURES of degenerative diseases like diabetes and heart disease. Needless to say, that got my attention considering the loss of my father and grandfather.

One of the key elements to resolve both problems was a mineral: MAGNESIUM!

I discovered a couple of good books on the topic written by health care professionals. Probably the most readable was a book by Dr. Carolyn Dean, The Magnesium Miracle

This book had a wealth of researched information that was highly useful. Based on it, I was able to determine WHY my father’s father’s side of the family had both diabetes AND heart disease: LACK of Magnesium. Both diabetes and heart disease go hand in hand and a magnesium deficiency is a key factor.

I learned that not everyone processes magnesium efficiently and that magnesium has been lacking in the food supply since the 1930s. Thus, you have to supplement magnesium because it is used in so many critical body processes (over 300), it is constantly being used up and we don’t get it from food anymore. It also can take a couple of years of daily supplementation to resolve the deficiency.

Apparently, my father’s side of the family from his father’s mother’s side did not process magnesium well and I came to the conclusion, neither did I. I figured this out by reviewing my health history based on the data presented in The Magnesium Miracle.

So, I started working on my magnesium deficiency and learning everything I could on magnesium.

What I discover was that magnesium is just one critical piece to remaining healthy. None of the vitamins and minerals work alone, they work together just like a chemical equation and must be balanced.

In the case of Magnesium, you need Potassium and Sodium for it to do it’s job. Calcium depends on Magnesium to go where it is suppose to go. If there is insufficient Magnesium, calcium causes problems.

Calcium is EVERYWHERE in the diet and we consume a great deal of it without even trying. However, without Magnesium, it causes a big problem which can be easily corrected with Magnesium supplements. That is, unless you do not know you need to do it, like my father and grandfather.

The body needs calcium but calcium needs magnesium just like magnesium needs potassium and potassium needs sodium. It’s all part of a chemical equation that must be balanced. Calcium depletes Magnesium which depletes potassium which depletes sodium to balance the chemical equation.

So I will give you an example of how too much calcium and not enough magnesium can be fatal.

My mother’s younger brother was a thin framed individual. He was never overweight and not the type you would expect for heart problems. Yet at the age of 43, he had a massive heart attack, which he survived but a couple of years later, he had a fatal heart attack.

So, why did a person who looked like a beanpole die of a heart attack? The same reason that people in great physical condition like Jim Fix, the guy who started the Jogging Mania of the 1970s, who one afternoon dropped dead of a heart attack on his multi-mile daily run that he had done for years. I am confident it was lack of Magnesium and the other alkaline minerals because he certainly was not out of shape.

In my uncle’s case, he was an avid milk drinker which was not really the problem. I disagree with people who denounce dairy products in generalities. Organic dairy products are fine and people have existed on them for thousands of years. However, milk is loaded with calcium. My uncle consumed a lot of milk but no magnesium. The constant input of excess calcium used up his magnesium reserve causing a massive muscle cramp, his heart muscle. Had he been supplementing with magnesium along with his drinking of milk, rather than dying at the age of 45, he would probably still be here today. Had Jim Fix been taking magnesium along with the other alkaline minerals, e.g. electrolytes, he too probably would still be alive because he certainly was a fit individual.

But remember, it’s not JUST Magnesium, it is ALL the alkaline minerals. People who raise cattle know that they have to put out what is called Salt Licks. These blocks are loaded with all the alkaline minerals because cows use so much calcium, they have to be supplemented with magnesium, potassium and sodium. Unlike humans, cows realize they need this and naturally utilize the salt licks.

So, this part of the good health jigsaw puzzle requires the alkaline minerals in this order of use: Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium and Sodium. We humans could benefit from a salt lick for good health but the capsules work just fine. Remember, the RDA for potassium is 3,000mg. No one gets that much potassium in their diets and it is critical for magnesium to work properly.

Also remember, Calcium is EVERYWHERE, the rest of the alkaline minerals are not, well except perhaps for sodium that is overloaded in processed foods. Too much sodium can deplete the alkaline minerals above it such as potassium and magnesium. Lack of potassium and magnesium leads to heart problems and cramps among many other things you will discover in The Magnesium Miracle.

So how do you know if you are taking enough magnesium and potassium? For myself, I have found that a hair analysis test is economical and gives me a good idea of the status of my alkaline minerals. There are other more expensive tests that Dr. Sherry Rogers talks about in her books but I’ve found the hair analysis is a good indicator.

The Hair Analysis tests are available to health care providers, such as NDs and integrative physicians because the lab does not deal directly with patients. They are professional grade tests to screen for heavy metal toxicity and also assay good metals and minerals. It will show if you have a deficiency of what you need and also if you have a heavy metal problem. You pay the health care provider and can get them to request the test. You get a kit from them to provide a hair sample and you send the sample directly to the lab. The results are then sent back to the health care provider who requested the test who in turn sends you the results. All total, it take a couple of weeks to get the results. This gives you the information you need to start taking charge of your health.

The medical business loves to run exotic and expensive tests. However, this test, which cost about 130.00, gives you, the consumer, information that will help you improve your health. I’ll discuss it further in later posts and tell you how this test saved my life.