Why magnesium & B6 are a marriage made in heaven

Take a moment to think of all the famous couples of the past and present, the ones that were simply meant to be together….

Posh and Becks

Kermit and Miss Piggy

Bert and Ernie

Well, let’s add another two:

Magnesium and vitamin B6

You see, there are two things that are just so amazing in the way they work together for your nervous system.

Did you know that vitamin B6 facilitates magnesium transport into the cell?

Sure, we want a chelated form of magnesium (meaning it is bound to another molecule like citrate, or malate or glyine) to get it through the gut and into the blood but then what?

For many years it had been observed that magnesium worked so much better when combined with B6 and then someone went and proved it.

They gave B6 at 100 mg daily, no magnesium, but measured red blood cell magnesium.

FYI, we cannot rely on serum magnesium to rule out deficiency because less than 1% of the body’s magnesium is found in the serum. 99% is found in the tissues, like muscle and bone.

In fact, if your magnesium blood levels drop, your body simply mobilises magnesium from the bone, and your blood/serum levels are maintained (or at least they are within the huge range of “normal” for the NHS). But of course, at the expense of your bone health.

But red blood cells are reflective of body stores and a good way to test for optimal tissue magnesium levels.

So what did they find after 4 weeks of therapy?

A doubling (sometimes more) of the RBC magnesium levels.

Not a single mg of magnesium, but the tissue levels doubled.

How cool is that?!?

Maybe that is why not everyone you give magnesium to responds in the way you thought they would?

But the couple’s magic doesn’t end there.

Magnesium is famous for reducing pain and muscle tension.

How does it do this?

By blocking the nervous system’s primary EXCITATORY neurotransmitter GLUTAMATE. 

Less excitation means less nerve firing and lower muscle tone.

But glutamate needs a partner to dance with.

We can’t be all excitement and no chill can we?

So glutamate is converted into the nervous system’s main INHIBITORY neurotransmitter, GABA.

GABA is the chillin’ yin, to excitatory glutamates yang.

So magnesium blocks glutamate and then the co-factor for the enzyme to convert glutamate into gaba is……B6.

That is couples, metabolic magic.

That is why we have our new Magnesium Plus capsule contains 150 mg of magnesium citrate plus 15 mg of active B6 in the form of pyridoxal-5-phosphate, a perfect 10:1 ratio.

But we also have magnesium citrate on its own you can pair up with our one day, multi essential which has B6 built into it.

If your patients are really in pain, anxious/depressed and exhausted, give both the magnesium plus and the multi to achieve even higher levels of B6.

Remember these are part of the “CORE 4” nutrition range that gives your patients the foundational support to respond to your care.

The products fit together like a jigsaw for complete nutritional support, based on scientific data for real world results.

FYI It is worth noting that COx 2 inhibitors/NSAID’s affect vitamin B6 status.

Not only will it eventually burn a hole in their stomach and cause leaky gut issues leading to more inflammation, but it will also lead to more pain with glutamate build up.