Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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I've had chronic hamstring and calf restrictions for quite a few months now, causing knee pain and knee locking. I'm a massage therapist so have done some self treatment including PNF stretching (daily) and have been to an osteopath. I also take magnesium chelate supplement, but because it sometimes causes diarrhea the next day I generally only take it once every 2-3 days. Just wondering how much and how often is a safe dose of Mg?

edited Jul 10 at 7:33

asked Jul 10 at 7:06

Rob
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My bad, of course I meant hypERtonic :) This whole thing started when I started playing indoor soccer every Wed night and I just haven't been able to get rid of it. I never really thought about diet as a factor. I do eat fairly low carb, at a guess nsomewhere around 150g/day. At present, my dose is around 250g every 2-3 days. – Rob Jul 10 at 7:32

RaiseFitness · Answer 1 · 2012-07-10 12:42:00Z UTC

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Before going Paleo, I had that, and would drink low sodium vegetable juice, which contains about 900mg of potassium per 8 oz 50 Kcal serving. Since going Paleo and upping my veggie intake, I was able to stop the veggie juice supplementation due to an increase in natural potassium in my diet from eating more vegetables.

answered Jul 10 at 12:42

RaiseFitness
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I have to admit, my veggie intake is lacking a bit even on paleo as whenever I'm hungry I tend to go for the higher energy foods like something fatty. I do have to be careful of potassium, as I have hypertension and am on medication which may increase potassium levels in the blood. – Rob Jul 11 at 1:02

animaleater · Answer 2 · 2012-07-10 08:55:59Z UTC

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I take 600mg of Albion (Calrson) mg, spread over 200mg 3x a day. If I go over that, I get the runs.

I also take 10g of potassium bicarbonate disolved in water over the course of the day. Thats 4g or so of elemental potassium, and get enough salt.

For physical therapy, try Active Release Technique. Check the website for practitioners. Its the best I've ever used. It really gets things going. Massage won't do it.

I've had chronically tight muscles for years too, and part of it is just how I am. I also tend to stay over trained. Hammys and calves are my worst too.

answered Jul 10 at 8:55

animaleater
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oh, and forgot....use heavy rubber tubing to pull you gently into a stretch. works on any muscle. it sort of tricks your mind into not resisting, and letting go, because the tubing is doing the pulling and you just forget about it. your muscle will flex against it, youll get distracted, and your muscle will give a bit....and the tubing is there to take up the slack without any thought. – animaleater Jul 10 at 8:58

I'm using a towel for my hams stretch, and I do something similar to active release, proprioneuromuscular funcional stretching, which does the same thing, it neurologically reprograms your muscles into thinking they are at a resting length when they are actually being stretched. It has helped ease the pain for me but I really wanna get rid of it for good, and soon as I'm going snowboarding next month :D I'll try upping the dose of Mg, and start taking a daily dose of it. – Rob Jul 10 at 9:48

yeah, the tubing method facilitates PNF technique. – animaleater Jul 10 at 10:11

Crowlover · Answer 3 · 2012-07-10 08:08:35Z UTC

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What has helped me with this problem (and it was bad, waking me up nightly) in addition to potassium is 300mg of Magnesium Glycinate Chelate (Designs for Health).
I take it at bedtime.

Good luck

edited Jul 10 at 8:08

answered Jul 10 at 8:01

Crowlover
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And you take it daily? How about potassium? I've heard this can be quite dangerous if too much (even slightly) is taken. The Mg supp I take is called Cabot Health: Each level metric teaspoon (5g dose) contains: Taurine 1000 mg Magnesium amino acid chelate (providing elemental magnesium 355 mg)1775 mg Magnesium aspartate (providing elemental magnesium 12.7 mg)178 mg Magnesium ascorbate (providing elemental magnesium 7.6 mg)122 mg Magnesium phosphate (providing elemental magnesium 24.8 mg)120 mg Total elemental magnesium400mg Zinc (as amino acid chelate)5mg Selenium (as selenomethionine)25mcg – Rob Jul 10 at 8:19

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Rob, I believe magnesium glycinate is more readily absorbed by the body so doesn't cause the diarrhea. It might be worth a try. – wickedween Jul 10 at 13:27

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Sorry - that was my point (but I didn't make it!) - the Glycinate form does not cause diarrhea. 300mg is not dangerous. I needed it and you may too. Is hard to get enough mag. when you don't eat grains. In fact I planned to up it to 450-600 if 300 didnt alleviate the cramps. There is a lot about magnesium dosing on this site. I have not heard of Mag being dangerous at this level of dosing at all. In fact I've read in other places that its beneficial for your heart. Re potassium, I take 200mg 3s day with food. – Crowlover Jul 10 at 15:05

How much magnesium to take for hypertonic muscles?

3 Answers