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Post by catatonic on Mar 3, 2005 3:45:12 GMT -5
You could jazz up his juice even further with a protein powder supplement. The soy-based powders do not dissolve as readily in liquid as do the whey-based powders. However, the whey powders are derived from cow's milk so are not to be used by the dairy sensitive. We've used both. I prefer the amino acid profile of the soy powder. The texture of the drink is definitely better with whey powder.
I like to give my son a protein boost in the morning. High protein, low carbohydrate breakfast works better for his concentration. Also, if you ever decide to try some of the various amino acids that can be helpful, it's a good idea to provide the general protein supplement to keep from throwing the body's balance of aminos all out of whack.
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Post by kc4braves on Mar 3, 2005 10:11:12 GMT -5
We had actually considered the protein powder to try to help maintain his weight. We ended up giving him high Protein Boost because he likes it and doesn't fight me. lol If we wanted to add whey protein powder to his juice, how much would we need to add and to how much juice? I'm afraid if he has to have 8 oz of juice, we won't get it down him. Even the Boost he drinks in two to three sittings. He just isn't a big eater or drinker for the most part. I feel like there are too many supplements for me to research. I need to settle on 2 or three things for right now to consider and to try....besides the Omega-3's. I have a little while to consider before we need to add anything, though, because we have only done the Omega-3s for a week. Any suggestions are appreciated. Just keep in mind that i'm new at this. Thanks, Kathy
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Post by catatonic on Mar 4, 2005 4:19:27 GMT -5
Why don't you give Omega-3 (along with Vitamin E) and magnesium and see how that goes? And while you're waiting to see how those will do, take a look at Laura Stevens' book "12 Effective Ways to Help Your ADD/ADHD Child" or a similar basic introduction to natural treatments to give you an overview of the various things you might want to consider. It can get overwhelming, trying to figure all of this out! So just take one little bit at a time and pretty soon you'll feel more comfortable.
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Post by G on Apr 2, 2005 17:32:09 GMT -5
I took the next step and bought the magnesium after reading all the good things about it. I got it from iherb and it is Magnesium chelate. Is that okay? Now that i read the bottle it says that each pill is 100mg magnesium chelate and 47 mg calcium. AAH, isn't that what we are supposed to avoid with magnesium?
Hope i didn't waste my money. thanks for any imput. nat
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Post by catatonic on Apr 3, 2005 0:45:32 GMT -5
No, no, no, you didn't waste your money. It's just that calcium and magnesium compete for absorption to an extent and taking them together may somewhat reduce the magnesium's efficacy. You selected a nicely bio-available form of mineral supplement. Chelated minerals are readily absorbed, which is also helpful in reducing the tummy troubles sometimes caused by magnesium. Remember to start slow so you don't cause diarrhea. One capsule for the first several days at least. Then work up to approximately 3mg per pound of body weight...for example, 180mg for a 60lb child. If you've got magnesium deficiency, your target is 6mg per pound of body weight...or 360mg for a 60lb child.
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Post by brazos on Apr 3, 2005 10:20:33 GMT -5
I took off the youngest off magnesium for two days and the DHA didn't work as well. So we are back on both of them.
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Post by G on Apr 3, 2005 16:05:09 GMT -5
Thanks cat!! I was reading some of the other web sites you pointed us to for mag information. At that drs appointment i went to I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes, and some of the infor mation on mg says how it can help in the control of that.
You guys are so knowlegable. A LONG time ago i went to college and got a degree in Dietetics. But, I never really kept up so i am starting new again. I am going to go back to school in the fall and take some refresher courses and then apply for an internship to get my RD. You can also study toward your masters as you do this. I was looking at some of the thesis presentations coming up and one was on food additives and childrens behavior. I thought about everything you know. Along with Dr Cat we should call you Professor Cat!! You have been tremedously helpful and as i further my studies i hope that i am able to give back some. One of my first classes will be Nurtition and Disease. There is one professor that is very knowledable in herbs and supplements. I am hoping to pick her brain while i am there. Thanks again for all of your help and support. Glad to know that i didn't throw my money away again. Nat
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Post by catatonic on Apr 4, 2005 8:49:44 GMT -5
Hey, good for you, Nat. You'll have to share your knowledge with us as you go along!
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Post by ohmama on Jun 8, 2005 12:36:31 GMT -5
Cat, I am shopping for magnesium. Please tell me if you think this is a good choice.... store.yahoo.com/iherb/magnesium3.htmlWhen it says magnesium (as magnesium chloride) 66.5 mg does this mean that there is really 66.5 mg of elemental magnesium in it? The elemental magnesium is what counts right? What would be another choice that is just as good or better?
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Post by catatonic on Jun 9, 2005 0:19:09 GMT -5
I think it looks good. The 66.5mg is the elemental magnesium content, and that's what you need to keep track of...6mg per pound of body weight for a therapeutic dose. So a child in the 60 - 70 lb range would require approximately 3tsp daily. That means you'd need about 2 bottles a month. The only things you'd need to be aware of have to do with the "other" ingredients. If you have trouble with dairy, the lactic acid might be a problem. If you have trouble with salicylates, the acetic acid (in magnesium acetate) might be a problem, since acetic acid is basically vinegar, and therefore a high salicylate. You'd have to be very sensitive for these to be problems, however, since the quantity in question is small. Magnesium chloride is always a good choice. It is pretty much the most highly bio-available of all the magnesium compounds. As for alternative choices, that would depend on whether your boys can swallow pills. If it needs to be liquid, and if you are not worried about salicylate content, you could look at the Floradix (although it will work out to be a LOT more expensive): store.yahoo.com/iherb/floramag.htmlI think you've found the best liquid option out there! (This does not surprise me, knowing how thorough you are and how quality-conscious.)
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Post by ohmama on Jun 9, 2005 10:48:37 GMT -5
Thanks Cat, you're the best! It is soooo confusing to figure all this out.... Magnesium Oxide is the least bio available of all the supplements. But it is the most common and is in most cal/mag mixtures. Magnesium Malate is really a big pill and not an option for most kids but you could crush it up. Any amino acid chelate will reduce the % of elemental magnesium tablet since it weighs so much more. Avoid Magnesium Aspartate since aspartic acid is excitatory like glutamate. Elemental amount is often not specified on the labels!!! See "How to determine the amount of a compound needed to deliver the elemental mineral level" www.albionlabs.com/human/Newsletter/1998October.pdfWhat would we do without this board?
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Post by katykersh on Jun 13, 2005 20:27:20 GMT -5
[quote author=catatonic board=Alternative Have you done the Cvostek test on him at home to see if it's likely he has a magnesium deficiency? Or blood work?[/quote]
Cat, i have done this test on myself and I don't see twitching but I can feel it on the side of my nose near my eye. Do you think this is positive?
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Post by catatonic on Jun 13, 2005 23:29:37 GMT -5
It sounds like you're twitching in the wrong spot...maybe just a reflex reaction? If you can, get someone else to do the tapping for you. A positive reaction would be a twitch of the upper lip under your nose.
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Post by peapms on Jun 21, 2005 20:47:59 GMT -5
Hi- I am brand new to this site and love all the information I have received from it. I do have a question about Mg though. I have not been able to find anything in stores that isn't Mg oxide. Can someone tell me what and where they buy their Magnesium? I have a 75 pound son, how much should I give him a day and where can I buy it online? He doesn't have any problem swallowing pills. Thanks so much.
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Post by ohmama on Jun 21, 2005 23:44:31 GMT -5
Here's what I'm using now. We mix it in juice and the kids don't even taste it. It's one less pill to swallow. Liquid magnesium chloride 8oz.(96 servings) for $11. store.yahoo.com/iherb/magnesium3.html
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Post by catatonic on Jun 22, 2005 0:08:37 GMT -5
Hi peapms and welcome. Your son's ideal magnesium dose would be 450mg (his body weight multiplied times 6). If you do not believe a magnesium deficiency is present, use only half of this amount, or about 225mg daily. There are a number of good magnesium products available, particularly if swallowing pills isn't a problem. I like the KAL magnesium glycinate as it's readily absorbed. Large pills, though, 2 provide 400mg magnesium. (I buy it from House of Nutrition at store.yahoo.com/hono/index.html ) Magnesium chloride is the most bio-available but because of the nature of the compound, you'll likely have to take more (smaller) tablets to get the same dose. It's an excellent choice, though. And the product OhMama uses is a good one. A child your son's size would need to take 1 Tbsp + 1/2 tsp daily, which makes it somewhat more expensive than the tablets (around $11 per month) but not prohibitively so. Here's a chelated magnesium I like...at 4 tablets a day, it will cost you about $4.50 per month: www.iherb.com/magnesiumsn.html
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Post by peapms on Jun 22, 2005 15:56:52 GMT -5
Hi Cat, Thanks for the welcome. You all have such a wonderful amount of information, I am thrilled. I am just beginning the alternative therapy, took my son off his meds this summer after we discovered an allergy to red and yellow dyes. I am not convinced at this point he is even ADHD, maybe all the behavior was a result of what he was eating. Time will tell, the true test will be when he goes back to school this fall. We started the omega 3's, Vitamin E and some zinc a few weeks ago and I think he has a positive test for magnesium deficiency so I wanted to start that too. I do have one last question for you ( at least for today, LOL). Would you please check the bottle of your KAL's magnesium and see if there are any dyes in it? The website does not list the ingredients and I am hesitant to order it without knowing for sure. We have become so label conscious these days! Thanks a bunch!!
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Post by catatonic on Jun 23, 2005 3:55:55 GMT -5
No dyes. We follow the Feingold diet very strictly and artificial colors are one of the additives permanently eliminated on the program. (We discovered they were triggering my son's migraine headaches as well as hyperactivity.) If you already know artificial colors are a problem, other related salicylates may be trouble for you as well. If you haven't already looked at the Feingold website, you might find it interesting: www.feingold.org
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Post by peapms on Jun 23, 2005 9:15:15 GMT -5
Thanks. I will go ahead and order them then. I do have the information on the Feingold diet at home, just haven't had time to sit and read it thoroughly and adjust our foods accordingly. He seems to do very well just eliminating red and yellows at this point. We do not have a good source for health foods in our town so I am wondering how difficult it would be to follow because of this. Thanks for all your good info!
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Post by rachelmom on Jul 30, 2005 2:50:08 GMT -5
Cat, I started omega 3 several weeks ago. Now I am ready to add magnesium to my dd supplemnts. I have the KAL magnesium glycinate. Does it matter what time of day it is taken or if it is taken with other medication?
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Post by catatonic on Jul 30, 2005 9:37:29 GMT -5
It doesn't particularly matter when you take the magnesium, although you should avoid taking it on an empty stomach, since it can cause minor digestive upset if you do.
If you are taking the antibiotic tetracycline, make sure to separate it from the magnesium by at least two hours, since the magnesium will interfere with the tetracycline being absorbed.
If you have diabetes, be sure to talk to your doctor before you start taking magnesium. It interferes with certain oral diabetes medications which can lead to a drop in blood sugar.
Also, if you take a diuretic called amiloride, you probably shouldn't take magnesium at all, unless your doctor okays it. The amiloride can prevent your body from excreting excess magnesium which can be dangerous.
Finally, take magnesium at least two hours apart from calcium. Yes, I know there are lots of combined mineral supplements out there that contain calcium and magnesium together, but this is not ideal if your main concern is the magnesium. Calcium can interfere with magnesium absorption. (It can interfere with zinc absorption as well...although the zinc and magnesium don't seem to interfere with each other!)
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Post by Babs on Aug 24, 2005 5:11:12 GMT -5
I read that the magnesium is important for hyperactivity. My son can't take the ready made combo supplements for ADHD as he ends up having crying jags and is very depressed. He is ADD-In. Could the magnesium be what is doing this? I hate to give him anything which would make him depressed. Omega 3 controls his impulse and levels his moods very well. My main concern at this point is his focus is still poor.
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Post by catatonic on Aug 24, 2005 7:13:31 GMT -5
No, it's doubtful the magnesium itself could be responsible for the problem. What's likely is that the compound the magnesium is combined with causes trouble.
This is the case with my son. He cannot take magnesium aspartate, magnesium citrate, magnesium ascorbate. All of these "ate's" combined with the magnesium are made from corn syrup, and they make my son cry and have tantrums and become aggressive.
Check the magnesium you've used and see what kind is in there. To be safe, buy magnesium glycinate or magnesium chelate -- in plain mineral tablets with no flavoring or coloring.
Magnesium is good for attentiveness, focus, and hyperactivity. Virtually all ADHD children are magnesium deficient. Next to Omega-3, it's the first and most important supplement for you to add.
What are the combined remedies you've had problems with, just out of curiosity??
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Post by Mayleng on Aug 24, 2005 9:33:47 GMT -5
I suspect it may contain Vitamin B. My son turned angry on Vitamin Bs.
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Post by Babs on Aug 24, 2005 9:36:46 GMT -5
Focus Attention by Nature's Remedy is the only one I tried. All the ones I've looked at said they had been formulated to treat focus and hyperactivity so I actually gave up even looking at them a long time ago. I think I will try it now. Thank you.
We tried it nearly 2 yrs ago so the bottle is long gone.
Mayleng, you are probably right. I am certain it had the B vitamins in it. We chose it because it seemed to have everything we were reading about as being necessary.
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Post by notab on Aug 24, 2005 9:54:29 GMT -5
The B vitamins have not been a problem for us - in fact they really help. What is our problem is the binders and/or flavoring in the compound vitamins. Our environmental allergist can check whether ds is affected by various supplements, and she confirmed our observations on that.
We give each vitamin, etc. separate. The only exceptions to that are that we use a B complex (Bluebonnet brand with no flavorings or binders, just a capsule) and a multi mineral (again a capsule with no flavorings and binders). For magnesium, we use magnesium taurate because it seems better for digestive issues.
It really comes down to trial and error as to what works for your child unless you have someone who can test the supplements for you.
Good luck! Cindy
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Post by Mayleng on Aug 24, 2005 10:24:11 GMT -5
Babs, the one size fits all type doesn't really work well, as you know our kids are not one size fits all.
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Post by rocco on Nov 16, 2005 10:29:33 GMT -5
We have supplemented with magnesium for almost 2 years and have used a variety of brands, mainly chelated blends of the different types of mags. So I was surprised to find out that when we did our red blood cell elements test to check minerals prior to chelation, that magnesium came back low--35 with the reference range being 36-64. So I bought some magnesium taurate and am going to use that. I don't have the bottle with me, but I'll post later to get some help with calculating the elemental magnesium so I'll get the dose right. The only other element that came back low was molybdenum. I'll need to do some research to figure that one out.....
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Post by rocco on Nov 18, 2005 9:48:55 GMT -5
I am now using a magnesium taurate by Cardiovascular Research Ltd. that has 125 mg in each capsule. There is no mention on the bottle about the amount of elemental magnesium. How do I determine this? I did a search cause I know catatonic has gone over this in other posts, but I couldn't find it. Thanks for the help.
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Post by catatonic on Nov 18, 2005 18:21:45 GMT -5
Rocco -- I've looked at the label from the CR mag taurate, and it is not clearly expressed at all, so I can see where the confusion comes in! According to labeling laws, the elemental weight of the magnesium must be listed on the label, so that means the amount listed on the CR must be the magnesium content. I believe that is what the 125mg is, despite the fact that it is written in a way that would make you think it's listing the compound weight. If you look at other mag taurate products, 100mg or so per tablet is about what most of them contain. Taurine makes up about 90% of the weight of the product. Look at the label from the Douglas Lab mag taurate: store.yahoo.com/hono/dolamata4004.htmlIt lists 100mg magnesium per tablet from 1,250mg of magnesium taurate. Much clearer. I believe the CR mag taurate is a virtually identical product, it just has an ambiguous label. If you have any doubt, contact the manufacturer.
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