Maximize Health with Magnesium: Key Benefits & Sources

Hi Bill:

Thanks for this excellent recipe! Would you mind teling me what brand of borax you use? Is it the 40 Mule Team Borax used for laundry? i am very uncomfortable using something that is for laundry. Thanks very much!

Hi Mary...I just use the ordinary 20 Mule Team Borax brand and it is the one used for laundry. You can also purchase others -- notably the Red Mill borax brand which is guaranteed pure and aluminum free (found in most Health shops).

Thank you so much for the borax info, will be looking for some this week!

Hi Bill:

I am asking you alot of questions, thanks. just went to a website that said borax was dangerous. http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ingredient.php?ingred06=705996

Do you feel okay about using it? Could not find Red Mill brand anywhere online. Do you know of another brand?
Thanks again

Hi Mary...I've been using borax as a spray with Mag sulphate in solution and I've also been taking trace borax in water internally(1/4 tspn in 1 litre of water) for about 4 months now and I have found it to be beneficial with no ill effects. The reason I take borax is to protect myself against fleas, ticks etc (I live in the tropics), to protect myself internally and externally against fungus and to balance my hormones and endocrine system. New research has also determined that supplementing boron or borax is an aid in preventing osteoporosis and seems to work with magnesium in the regulation of calcium within the body.

The brand that I use is 20 Mule Team Borax, which I regard as safe and fairly pure. Their site lists the ingredient as Sodium Tetraborate -- or Borax. See the link here:

http://www.20muleteamlaundry.com/about

On the above link, if you click the Product Info tab, and go to the bottom, the only ingredient listed is Sodium Tetraborate or Borax.

Regarding the other info you provided, I investigated this, and their were many recommendations by the FDA that borax was dangerous during rerpoduction as well as cancer causing.

So I did my own investigation. Here is the MSDS(Material Data Safety Sheet) -- which is the absolute research bible on all chemical substances -- and if you read the Toxicolgical Info portion of this data sheet, you will note that the conclusions were that there were no known or anticipated reproductive or mutagenic effects. This conclusion was determined by the IARC. As for recommendations by the FDA, I'm afraid I wouldn't trust their advice anymore than I would trust the Fed, and for the same reasons.

One thing was very noticable in the link you provided, in all the recommendations that were given on toxicity, no AMOUNTS or QUANTITIES were ever shown. After all, if you ate a whole cupful of ordinary table salt, that would have some pretty strange effects wouldn't it? Yet we eat SMALL amounts of salt every day. It is the same with borax when taken internally, it is taken in trace amounts only.

Also, when you compare the MSDS datasheet toxicity of Borax to ordinary table salt(Sodium Chloride), table salt turns out to be technically more poisonous than borax. Here is the MSDS sheet for ordinary table salt:

http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/S3338.htm

If you type in "boron benefits" in Google search you will see further reasons and health benefits for taking borax in small amounts. Boron is always taken as a borate salt, and if you buy boron supplements and check the label, you will be taking borax.

Their are even people on EC that swear by using ordinary borax as a hair and scalp conditioner. See this link:

https://www.earthclinic.com/remedies/hair_conditioners.html#BORAX

I forgot to include the link to the MSDS data sheet for Sodium Tetraborate(Borax). Here it is:

http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/s3122.htm

Hi Bill:

Thank you so much for your thoughtful and intelligent posts and for this response. You have been successful at putting my fears to rest. I see the value in borax!

Quite frankly the reason I question it is an incident that happend a year ago. I used Teds mange cure on my little dog. It worked like a charm, i felt like it was returning more life to him. Like he was being oxygenated. However at exactly that time ( may be a coincidence) he had 2 identical lumps/curves pop up in front of his hip bones on either side. I thought his kidneys were swollen and inflamed. I felt very bad about giving him the pinch of borax in his water. Vet said not his kidneys but fat? i cannot see it, they are sort of hard not squishy like fat, and identical. thats is why I have such a concern about the borax.

I am really at a loss because the dog needs borax, now. He has all kinds of things going on with him.

thanks again, i really enjoy reading your contributions!

Again thank you Bill will read. May I ask you again about your mag water recipe? Bought the Philips Milk of Magnesia and it had another ingredient! Under header non medicinal ingredients it lists sodium hypochlorite. So in the reaction between the carbonated water and the milk of magnesia i wonder how this ingredient changes things. I did not notice this when I was reading. Perhaps I need another brand. What do you think? Thanks!

Hi Mary...I doubt very much that the lumps on the side of your dog's legs are caused by washing your dog with borax, because borax is so poorly absorbed through the skin. These lumps, depending on their size, could be either due to fat or possibly even calcium deposits.

From my own experience, I had small fatty or calcium build up in small lumps on the back of my own neck. I got rid of this by supplementing magnesium sulphate(epsom salts), 1/4 tspn in a glass of water twice a day. This also got rid of a large ganglion lump on my wrist (been there for a year) at the same time.

Depending on whether your dog is a small dog or a large dog, I would add magnesium sulphate crystals, at an 1/8 or 1/4 tspn respectively, dissolved in his drinking water daily. If your dog gets diarrhea, then simply reduce the dose. This should help to remove the lump deposits if they are calcium and magnesium supplementation certainly wont hurt your dog.

If these lumps are fat deposits then your dog might be reacting to poisons/pollution, since, in the human body, heavy metals, acids etc., which are not good for the body are often hidden in fats as a body defense. So the best thing would perhaps be to mix chopped cilantro or coriander leaves in with his meals everyday. Cilantro also removes heavy metals safely.

To get rid of any acid formation, you could also use sodium bicarbonate with ACV in his drinking water to alkalize.

I must appologize for not being so helpful with your dog's problems, the best I can really recommend is advise you to look at the pet section of EC for you to get more ideas.

Bill

Hi Mary...I bought my Phillip's MoM in UK and it does not contain Sodium Chlorite -- only glycerol, saccharine and peppermint as additives. I guess you have different drug rules in Canada.

Sodium Chlorite is normally combined with lemon juice or citric acid to create MMS, another healing compound. But I really have no idea what the reaction would be with Milk of Magnesia and its constituent -- sodium chlorite -- with carbonic acid (soda water) and, therefore I really cannot recommend that you use your Canadian version of Phillip's MoM for creating magnesium bicarbonate water.

Another way of creating a form of magnesium water is simply to add 1 tspn Epsom salts(mag sulphate) to 1 litre of ordinary drinking water and drink this through the day(I do this too). This will supply the necessary magnesium to the body. To get your bicarbonates, you could simply alkalize twice a day with one of Ted's alkalizing remedies.

Bill

Dear Bill:

I did give my little dog borax to injest in his water as per Ted's remedy. The lumps are not like ganglions or fatty tumors although he has those elsewhere (so thanks will be trying the magnesium ASAP) but are like something in there is inflamed. Both identical in size like his kidneys are inflamed and it is not really noticable unles one were to look closely, but I can feel them. Anyway, from what I understand you saying and from all the info you posted, borax should not hurt him or people. Will report back on how the magnesium worked to remove the lumps he has (vet has already removed once!)

Regarding Bill from San F. Your link to the 20 Mule Team Website had some interesting information, not least of which is a section about historical uses for their Borax including "aid digestion, keep milk sweet and even cure epilepsy". They also mentioned that it is used in medicine! This is directly from their site:

Borates, borax and boron compounds are with us throughout our lives. Mothers use it to soak and wash diapers and other laundry, but it's also an ingredient in cosmetics, medicines, ceramics and building materials. The biggest industrial user of borates is the glass industry (especially fiberglass), and it's an important ingredient in agricultural chemicals and fire retardants.

In earlier times, 20 Mule Team® Borax was proclaimed to be a magical crystal and was used to aid digestion, keep milk sweet and even cure epilepsy. Common sense and modern technology have brought us better solutions to these and other problems, but 20 Mule Team® Borax still has a place in your home.

My point is to thank you for the link. I was a bit skeptical like others but it certainly sounds like it's been in our food supply whether we knew it or not.

Hi All, this question is for you Bill (Philippines Bill)

Your mag water cured my headache, relaxed my back thanks! it truly is a Unique Water! But upon looking at the ingredients in my Milk of Magnesia I realized that it contained sodium hypochlorite! We both know what that is, are they serious! My question is should I toss it because the last batch worked so well. How dangerous and counterproductive do you deem this to be?

Should I look harder and see if maybe there is another brand?

thanks,
Mary

Hi Mary...Yes, I had this also from another EC user who was from Canada, asking about Philips MoM. I'm from UK and I know for a fact the UK brand Philips MoM does not contain either aluminium or sodium hypochlorite. This obviously has something to do with Canadian Drug Law I think. Peculiar.

If you're worried about the chlorine, you can supplement with 2-3 lugol's iodine per day or supplement with kelp or chlorella. This will remove all dangerous halides from your body as well as remove heavy metals like cadmium, lead and mercury as well.

By the way, the advice and answer to your question from EC is spot on correct. But if you still can't find it, try ordering the UK Philips brand from UK off the internet.

At a push, you could also just supplement mag citrate or mag chloride oil(ten drops in a glass of water) or take magnesium sulfate (epsom salts) baths and simply supplement with 1/4 teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate in half a glass of water twice a day. As Ted has said, supplementing this way causes the bicarbonates in the blood to drag the magnesium into the cell during respiration and would, perhaps, have the same effect as the Mag Water or Magnesium Bicarbonate water.

Hi Mary from Saskatchewan! Instead of Phillips Milk of Magnesia (which you mentioned contained unwanted ingredients), you may want to try the generic version from Shopper's Drug Mart (and it's cheaper!). The ingredients are: magnesium hydroxide (non-medicinal ingredients are potassium sorbate and purified water). I think the generic versions from other pharmacies (or even Wal-Mart) may have fewer ingredients than the Phillips brand has. Good luck!

thank you so much Bessie for the Shoppers generic MOM source! I'm on it! Mary

May I suggest this Magnesium Water recipe be either updated or have a disclaimer regarding Milk of Magnesia that has sodium hypochlorite in it please? The sodium hypochlorite in Milk of Magnesia ruins the taste! It's so bad, I am throwing the whole batch out and trying again with Magnesium Chloride powder. Maybe other countries don't have sodium hypochlorite added, but in the US it is. Thank you.

I read the magnesium-enriched water formula on magnesium supplements page. I'm sorry if I'm wrong, but isn't Philips Milk of Magnesia Magnesium Hydroxide rather than "Magnesium Oxide" mentioned in the formula.

Pl. refer to
http://www.amazon.com/Phillips-Magnesia-Original-12-Ounce-Bottles

& http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_of_magnesia

It might be a typo error or the author maybe using some other type of milk of magnesia which is not readily available. Does the formula works with Magnesium Hydroxide Milk of Magnesia as well?

Regarding my remarks about making your own "Mg Water" by mixing carbonated water and Milk of Magnesia (laxative):' Usman from Islamabad is correct; I mistakenly said that Milk of Magnesia contains "Magnesium Oxide." Instead, please substitute "Magnesium Hydroxide" when you read my instructions. Sorry for the blunder! Yes, Usman, you should use regular, unflavored Philip's Milk of Magnesia and a liter bottle of carbonated water, non-sodium type.

I want to produce magnesium hydroxide from magnesium oxide and water. How much of the magnesium oxide powder and how much water should I take to make e.g. 100g magnesium hydroxide? The magnesium oxide powder is only 70-75% pure, that means it contains 70-75% magnesium oxide in it. Is there any problem for the reaction with the fact that magnesium oxide powder is not completely pure? Could anybody help me?

Good post. I could not find any MoM without additives, so I purchased 500g of pure magnesium hydroxide powder on Ebay. It should last a really long time... only question is how much MH powder to add to a 1 liter bottle to get the same results? My calculations say 3.6 grams of 100% MH powder mixed in a 1 liter bottle of seltzer gives the same ratio as the above recipe. Can you confirm? 3.6 grams (by weight - using a small digital scale) is a very tiny amount. I tried adding that amount to a 1 liter bottle of seltzer and there is still some fizz left after 1 hour. Makes me wonder about the ratios.

The most bioavailable form of magnesium is magnesium chloride, better known as magnesium flakes, available in health food stores in both internal and external versions.

Make 'Mag Oil' by mixing two parts magnesium flakes with one part water (dissolves with no heating required).

Rub the Mag Oil on the skin. The skin will absorb more than the digestive track, faster, and without loose stools or kidney overload as well. Put it on sore joints to help them along as well.

Combining this with the 1/4 teaspoon of borax in water per day has incredible synergy! They both seem to boost each other!

Are you taking enough water with it? Be sure to take it with a full glass of water. And maybe take less. Or try using it in a spray on your body. That is a wonderful way to get your magnesium.

I'm drinking a lot of water. Maybe there is pain because of calcification in the kidneys cause by d3 overdose? And magnesium remove this calcification?

Hi Steve,

Try drinking 2 oz of extra virgin olive oil mixed with 2 oz lemon juice, followed by the largest glass of water you can possible hold. If this is a stone it may soften and pass. You may need to do more than once.

You need to take vitamin K2 along with calcium, magnesium, D3. The magnesium helps the calcium to absorb. The k2 helps the magnesium deposit the calcium in the correct tissues.

Hi Steven, It has been a while but I'd really like to know, did you find out what caused the pain?