In our raw fat blog, we have discussed in great detail how important it is to help safely remove heavy metals from the body. However, if magnesium levels are too low, these heavy metals can continue binding to tissues in the kidneys and heart, possibly crossing the blood-brain barrier and destroying brain cells. 

Mercury pervades our environment through industrial exposure, dental amalgams, and injections. Mercury drastically increases the excretion of magnesium and calcium from the kidneys. Such mineral losses impair cell production, energy storage and utilization, and cellular repair and replication. 

Long-term fetal exposure to even low mercury concentrations during pregnancy can lead to irreversible developmental disorders. Unfortunately, the demand for magnesium usually exceeds its supply, and thus anything that further lowers magnesium levels, such as mercury, puts the unborn child at risk.

Lead and cadmium have a cumulative toxic effect on the kidneys and heart in particular. Magnesium appears to be a competitive inhibitor of these two polluting metals at different sites, particularly during combined intoxication. 

A Yugoslavian research team found that increased intake of magnesium eliminates lead via the urine and may do the same with certain other heavy metals. Adequate magnesium levels can also help prevent aluminum’s toxic effects, including the breakdown of sugar stores and disruption in the production of ATP energy.