Minimum Magnesium Standard for Drinking and Bottled Water
Would Save 150,000 Lives Annually
By Bill Sardi
This article appeared in the May 1999 issue of the Townsend
Letter for Doctors and Patients.
A small group of mineral water bottlers is pressuring the Food
& Drug Administration to establish a minimum standard for
magnesium levels in drinking water, a move that scientists
confirm would save hundreds of thousands of lives annually and
reduce health care costs by billions of dollars.
A recently issued National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report
indicates nearly 80% of Americans are deficient in magnesium, an
essential mineral that is required for the health of living cells
and normal function of muscle and heart tissues. Magnesium is
provided in foods such as dark-green leafy vegetables, whole
grains and nuts, but nutrition researchers say the
over-processing of foodstuffs and the use of phosphates in cola
soft drinks have led to mineral deficiencies, particularly
shortages of magnesium. The National Academy of Sciences has just
released their recommendation to increase Recommended Daily
Allowances (now called Reference Daily Intake) for magnesium.
Drinking water is the likely dietary component to provide
magnesium since water is a regular dietary constituent and
magnesium is up to 30% more bioavailable in water. The NAS report
confirms an earlier 1977 NAS recommendation that the addition of
magnesium to bottled and municipal drinking water may prevent up
to 150,000 deaths from heart attacks per year.
The Healthy Water Association (HWA), a small group of bottled
water producers based in Livermore, California, advocates US
bottled waters at least provide levels of essential minerals
similar to those provided by many European bottled waters. US
bottled waters average only about 2.7 mg per liter compared to
more than 20 mg per liter in some European brands.
The Healthy Water Association is pushing for a minimum
standard of at least 25 milligrams of magnesium per liter of
water. If new magnesium levels were to be adopted by the Food
& Drug Administration, most sources of tap water and 700
brands of bottled water in the US would not meet this new
standard.
Magnesium levels in municipal drinking waters vary, being much
higher in Arizona and New Mexico and low in Florida. According to
Pocket Guide to Bottled Waters, only 38 of 149 survey
brands of bottled water, most of which are bottled in Europe,
provide the 25 mg per liter magnesium level.
FDA Accused of Foot Dragging
The Healthy Water Association claims that the FDA received the
report from the National Academy of Sciences linking magnesium
deficiencies with sudden cardiac death over 22 years ago, but
failed to take action then. The HWA claims inaction by health
authorities has resulted in over 3 million avoidable deaths due
to heart attack since 1977. By comparison, that's more loss of
life than all battlefield deaths in all wars fought by the
US.
Due to growth in the population, the HWA says a better
estimate is that 215,000 deaths due to heart attack could be
avoided annually (about 590 deaths per day) with the provision of
adequate amounts of magnesium in drinking water. The HWA says
about 40% of heart attacks, particularly sudden death cardiac
events, are attributed to magnesium deficiency, a claim that is
backed by more than 170 [medical journal reports of deaths per
year].
The FDA appears to have misdirected their efforts concerning
minerals in drinking water. Instead of acting upon the 1977
report by the NAS, or current report by the NAS which underscores
the need to correct magnesium deficiencies in the population at
large, the FDA chose to set maximum levels for toxic heavy
metals, such as cadmium and lead, in drinking water. While heavy
metals are potentially toxic, they do not pose the immediate
threat to life, as does magnesium deficiency. In fact, magnesium
is an antidote to lead poisoning.
Danger of Excessive Calcium
The HWA standard calls for bottled waters to provide a minimum
of 25 mg of magnesium per liter, suggests that the ratio of
calcium to magnesium in bottled waters should not be greater than
2-to-1 and recognizes low sodium water may be desirable for
hypertensive individuals.
However, some health authorities suggest too much calcium in
relation to magnesium may also pose health problems. Finland had
the highest ratio of calcium over magnesium, 7-to-1 on their
diet, and has one of the highest rates of heart disease in the
world. Medical reports indicate over calciumization can lead to
heart spasm, asthma, arteriosclerosis, headaches, joint problems,
hypertension, mitral valve, cataracts, kidney stones and other
health problems. Magnesium is a natural calcium-controller. For
example, magnesium-rich bottled water has been used in clinical
studies to successfully remedy kidney stones.
Some researchers suggest a more balanced 50-50 ratio between
calcium and magnesium in the diet. According to a report by the
Center for Health Care Statistics, North Americans already
consume better than 750 mg of calcium and only about 275 mg of
magnesium in their daily diet, about a 3-to-1 ratio of calcium
over magnesium. Because sufficient amounts of magnesium are not
provided in western diets comprised of calcium-rich diary
products and processed foods, achieving a healthy
magnesium-to-calcium intake may be problematic. Some food
supplement manufacturers have already responded to the problem by
offering cal-mag in equal doses rather that the traditional
2-to-1 ratio of calcium over magnesium. Women taking calcium
supplements to prevent osteoporosis are now being advised to
balance the cal-mag intake.
Finding magnesium-rich, low-calcium and sodium bottled water,
which may be helpful to certain people with heart problems,
kidney stones and other maladies, is even more difficult. Among
149 brands listed in the Pocket Guide to Bottled Waters,
only one brand obtained from Adobe Springs in central California,
bottled under the brand name Noah's Spring Water, is rich in
magnesium and low in calcium and sodium. A liter of Adobe Springs
water provides about 110 mg of magnesium and only 5 mg of sodium
and 3 mg of calcium. While adults with hypertension should avoid
excessive consumption of sodium, athletes and other physically
active non-hypertensive adults who may lose minerals due to
excessive sweating, may benefit from some sodium in their bottled
water.
Economic Consequences
The addition of magnesium to the 38.5 billion gallons of water
delivered daily by 58,000 community water systems in the US would
cost $121 billion, which is not economical. The addition of
magnesium to all water-based bottled or canned beverages would
add an estimated 2 cents in production to a case of twenty-four
12-ounce beverages, or cost about $350 million annually, which is
less than $2 per consumer. The Healthy Water Association
estimates the provision of magnesium in bottled waters would
yield $86 billion in reduced health care costs.
This page was first uploaded to The Magnesium Web Site on June
16, 1999
http://www.mgwater.com/
Healthy Water
Association--USA