Water Crisis
Dehydration is a co-factor in hypertension. We need enough magnesium to bring water into our cells and to maintain the integrity of the cell membrane - and therefore electrolyte balance. Magnesium and water also promote blood fluidity.
Inside the cell, when magnesium and water are present in the right amount, the water molecules of the cell cytoplasm form a gel-like consistency, a form of ordered and structured water, where water molecules line up like train tracks. Magnesium helps to maintain this charge, having a great affinity for water, and therefore contributing to normal cell hydration. Structured water allows better nutrient transport in cells, as stuff neatly slips and slides along the water ‘tracks’.[6]
As magnesium drops and the cell membrane becomes leaky, we can lose too much water. The tissue cells become dryer and more compromised.
To conserve water the body has a number of mechanisms such as releasing the hormone vasopressin, which causes blood vessel constriction to help push more water up to the brain, the brain being a big consumer of water. This can manifest as hypertension, migraines and headaches. Headaches are often a sign of dehydration.
The brain can also tell the kidney to hold back sodium during water shortage because sodium can hold water back, which in turn causes the pooling up of water in extra cellular spaces in typical areas such as legs, ankles or knee joints. This phenomenon can be diagnosed as oedema.
The causes cited are usually kidney or liver dysfunction, congestive heart failure, damage to leg veins or lymphatic system problems.
All of these causes are related to accumulation of pollution in the body. If your body can’t filter wastes via your organs, if the circulation is dysfunctional, and if the lymph system (which is our protein waste sewage system) is sluggish, then we can’t eliminate toxins and wastes as required. In this case the body as fail-safe mechanisms which kick in to help protect our organs and other sensitive areas by either dilution (water retention) or by piling up wastes within pockets of fatty tissue.