Magnesium supplements - what you should look out for!

This is certainly not healthy. It was not without reason that Ökotest criticised the use of phosphates in 2018 - with reference to studies showing that high levels of phosphates in the blood increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. Another point of criticism from Ökotest: PVC/PVDC/chlorinated compounds in the packaging of some magnesium supplements. (1) The white colouring known as E 171 Titanium dioxide has been banned in food and therefore also in food supplements throughout the EU since summer 2022 but may still be used in medicinal products. (2)

What makes hypo-A different? We asked Peter-Hansen Volkmann, the visionary mind behind hypo-A's nutritional supplements, who has developed all the products based on his many years of experience as a naturopathic doctor.

Interview with our naturopathic doctor
Peter-Hansen Volkmann

---

Magnesium-Calcium is one of hypo-A's most popular products. How do you explain this?

In fact, Magnesium-Calcium has been one of the top 3 nutritional supplements from hypo-A for many years - and is therefore much more in demand than the respective individual products.

.

Magnesium-calcium has become particularly well known as part of REHA 1 for deacidification (3) and ODS 2 - both are part of Orthomolecular Intestinal Care from hypo-A. Many customers have simply had good experiences with magnesium-calcium, take it again and again and like to take it regularly. Word gets around.

Most of the athletes and patients I look after prefer to take magnesium-calcium rather than conventional magnesium supplements. Competitive athletes in particular are very demanding. They need absolutely pure, high-quality supplements without chemical additives such as flavourings and fillers, which cause unnecessary stress in the body.

If a preparation is to be really good, everything simply has to be right: high-quality, pure raw materials in the right mixture and quantity. Apparently, I managed to do this quite well when developing magnesium-calcium. (laughs)

Why combine magnesium and calcium?

The body needs both - in a physiologically balanced ratio. The DGE and D-A-CH assume that adults need to consume 1000 mg of calcium and 300 or 350 mg of magnesium per day through their diet. (4)

Some, but by no means all people in Germany achieve this: around one in two people consume too little calcium. This is particularly true for younger and older women (5). I am concerned about vegans, who do without milk and cheese, the most important sources of calcium. There is also a need to catch up when it comes to magnesium: at least one in four people do not reach the recommended daily intake of magnesium. Here, too, women are more affected. (5)

When it comes to nutrients, people usually only look at the effect of individual substances. But that's not how our body works. We need all the important nutrients - in sufficient quantities and in the right mix. This also applies to magnesium and calcium. There are many areas in which both minerals fulfil important tasks in combination, such as in the

• Muscle function
• Energy generation
• Cell division
• Bones, teeth and
• In the nervous system

Take women, for example, who want to do something for the stability of their bones after the menopause. Most people think of calcium and vitamin D first. Both are good and valuable, but magnesium is particularly important for the incorporation of calcium into the bones.

If one of the two elements is in relative deficiency, the whole thing cannot function. The chemist and agricultural scientist Justus von Liebig demonstrated this very well as early as 1855 with his law of deficiency in the case of growth disorders in cereals.

You are focussing on carbonates. Why?

Today, many people take acid blockers for the stomach, so-called proton pump inhibitors (PPI), for heartburn. (6) As a naturopathic doctor, however, I attach great importance to a balanced acid-base balance. 

Since most people today tend to consume too few alkalis, it was obvious to me to use magnesium and calcium carbonate as alkaline compounds to supply minerals.

It is often said that carbonates are poorly absorbed in the body because they are not soluble in water. This is true with regard to water, but in the body they do not fall into water, but into the acidic stomach acid. This is followed by simple chemistry: carbonates dissociate in the acidic stomach and neutralise the stomach acid. The metal ions released in the process can be spontaneously absorbed by the mucous membrane and passed on to the circulatory system.

Sometimes it is said that organically bound magnesium is better absorbed. However, this is scientifically controversial (7) and easily refuted by the body's reactions, e.g. in oral tests.

The 10 most important benefits of magnesium-calcium

1. combines two essential minerals
2. Easily soluble, basic carbonates in the stomach
3. Practical intake as a capsule
4. good dosage (75 mg each of magnesium and calcium as carbonates per capsule)
Free from colourings, flavourings and other chemical additives
5. vegan
6. hypoallergenic
7. free from lactose and gluten
8. bioenergetically tested for good compatibility
9. Made in Germany

Some people say that magnesium and calcium interfere with each other's absorption and should therefore not be combined ...

This statement also belongs in the realm of myths and has long been scientifically refuted. The background to this misconception is that magnesium and calcium are active as antagonists at certain points in the metabolism.

This affects the heart and smooth muscles, for example. However, there are also areas in which magnesium and calcium work hand in hand. Ultimately, we need both in the right mix.

In natural quantities, as used by hypo-A in its capsules, there are no conflicts in the absorption of dissociated magnesium and calcium in the gastric mucosa. On the contrary: magnesium can even improve the tolerance and utilisation of calcium in the body. (8)

What advice would you give to people who have had bad experiences with magnesium supplements? Especially with nausea or diarrhoea?

I also know this from some patients and athletes. There can be various reasons for this. In most cases, it is due to irritating additives, but rarely is the magnesium simply dosed too high.

If you take 400 mg or more at once, magnesium can definitely cause stomach problems in sensitive people. It is therefore better to take several small amounts in combination with calcium throughout the day. In this respect, the smaller capsule sizes of hypo-A are ideal. (9) I recommend magnesium-calcium to sensitive patients anyway, as in my experience this is often better tolerated than the individual preparations.

Carbonates neutralise stomach acid and can therefore delay digestion in the stomach. I therefore recommend consuming the carbonates at the end of a meal "as a lid on the stomach acid". Occasionally, shortly after ingestion, the carbon dioxide released during the neutralisation of stomach acid is noticeable as a burp. Less sensitive people can also take Carbonate between meals and just before going to bed.

If you don't want to swallow capsules, you can open the capsules and mix the powder into juice, spritzer or yoghurt. With water, the glass must be swirled vigorously before drinking so that the sediment of the largely water-insoluble carbonates is also drunk! If youalternatively add a shot of clear organic apple juice, you can watch it dissolve like the formation of buffered vitamin C with bubbling H₂CO₃ pearls!

Thank you for the interview!

Sources and notes

---

(1) Ökotest Yearbook 2019: Magnesium test
(2) Communication from the European Commission: Titanium dioxide banned in food from summer 2022
(3) Zinc contributes to normal acid-base metabolism. Zinc is a component of the Vitamin B complex plus in REHA 1.
(4) Reference values of the DGE for Magnesium and Calcium
(5) Nationale Verzehrsstudie II des Max Rubner-Institutes, Bundesforschungsinstitut für Ernährung und Lebensmittel, Ergebnisbericht Teil 2, 2008
(6) www.ndr.de from 23/10/2018: Heartburn: Acid blockers with side effects
(7) Classen, H.G. et al.: Synergism of calcium and magnesium . DAZ 2002, 49: 119
(8) www.pharmawiki.ch
(9) Magnesium from hypo-A contains 150 mg magnesium per capsule as carbonate, Magnesium-Calcium 75 mg each of the two minerals as carbonates.