Magnesium, Epsom Salt Baths, & The Production of NAD+ and Reduction In Quinolinic Acid (Neurotoxic)
*This article is not medical advice. Before starting on any health related regimen, seek the advice of your Primary Care Physician or an M.D.
Epsom Salt Baths
These have been around for a long long time, and used by many in everyday life, as well as to support detoxification of many different compounds, including heavy metals like Aluminum, Mercury, and Lead. However, there are some other subtle things going to, like helping the production of NAD/NADPH.
Updated: Oct 30, 2023
Folks with SIBO struggle with nutrient mal absorption, and magnesium is no exception. Perhaps no nutrient is more fundamental for basic physiological processes in the body. Whether its helping process Vitamin D and make it useable, or converting Glutamate to Gaba, or calming neuro excitation from over active NMDA receptors, its critical. Be it topical creams, or epsom salt baths, both appear worthy of consideration.
Many struggle with getting enough magnesium from their diet, struggle with oral absorption, especially balanced against GI tolerance. I have found for most, sulfur sensitivity aside, luke warm epsom salt baths offer benefit, especially those with Magnesium GI transporter issues (TRPM8) or fast transit times for their bowel movements. And as always, one size does not fit all, some do not tolerate Epsom salt baths.
Serum Magnesium Levels
In a small study of 19 people, statistically significant elevations in serum and urine magnesium levels were reported after 7 consecutive days of epsom salt baths of 12 mins in duration [1]. The values before the first bath were, mean 104.68 ± 20.76 ppm/ml; after the first bath the mean was 114.08 ± 25.83 ppm/ml. Continuation of bathing for 7 days in all except 2 individuals gave a rise to a mean of 140.98 ± 17.00ppm/ml. Prolonged soaking in Epsom salts therefore increases blood magnesium concentrations.
Urine Magnesium Excretion
Measurement of magnesium levels in urine showed a rise from the control level, mean 94.81 ± 44.26 ppm/ml to 198.93 ± 97.52 ppm/ml after the first bath. Those individuals where the blood magnesium levels were not increased had correspondingly large increases in urinary magnesium showing that the magnesium ions had crossed the skin barrier and had been excreted via the kidney, presumably because the blood levels were already optimal. Generally, urinary magnesium levels 24h after the first bath fell from the initial values found after day 1 (mean 118. 43 ± 51.95) suggesting some retention of magnesium in tissues after bathing as blood levels were still high.[1]
How Much Epsom Salt is Needed In My Bath ? (about 1.5 pounds in a 15 gallon bath)
All individuals had significant rises in plasma magnesium and sulfate at a level of 1% Epsom salts . This equates to 1g MgS04/100ml water; 600g Epsom salts/60 litres, the standard size UK bath taken in this project (~15 US gallons). However, most volunteers had significantly raised Mg/S04 levels on baths with 400g MgS04 added. Above the 600g/bath level, volunteers complained that the water felt ‘soapy’. Although this project did not specifically set out to answer the question of how frequently baths should be taken, the results are consistent with saturation of the skin (and possibly the gut ) transporters .These proteins are not well understood or described but, at least for sulfate, they are believed to be high affinity but low capacity. The values obtained suggest that most people would find maximal benefit by bathing 2 or 3 times/ week, using 500-600g Epsom salts each time. [1]
For people with sulfur/sulfate/sulfite sensitivities, care should be taken to start at a much lower dose (1 tablepoon, as an example), to test any potential reactions before gradually increasing 1 tablespoon at a time. Reactions to Epsom salt baths are not super common, but they do occur, and can occur from a host of rather technical and detailed reasons (another blog article).
Isolation / Float Tanks
Isolation or float tanks use between 100-300 pounds of epsom salt in their tanks. We wonder why folks report a calming and peaceful experience, while others proclaim their life long anxiety disappeared.
Ocean / Sea Water
I have had several clients tell me they swear by walking in the ocean, that they feel great, and just couldn't understand why:)?. Ocean water is loaded with various minerals, magnesium being one of them.
Even Better - Magnesium Required For QPRT Activity [2]
What!? What is QPRT, its only one of the most important genes in the pathway that converts Tryptophan into NAD+. Um, oh, that seems important. What happens when QPRT gets backed up ? Quinolinic Acid builds - um, oh. Quinolinic Acid is neuro toxic, and stimulates both the NMDA and AhR receptors. Um, double uh oh. These two receptors are contributing factors for some portion of CFS and LH from my view. NAD+ and NADPH are perhaps the most common needed cofactors for the most enzymatic reactions in the human body. When people are short on NAD+ and or NADPH, they are 'tired', things just stop working.
QPRT also has cysteine thiols [3,4], which, although not iron sulfur clusters, are sensitive to oxidative stress, in particular, nitrosylation. It is hypothesized, that it is no coincidence that NAD+/NADPH production is lowered in times of high oxidative stress (the body is smart). Several different anti oxidant systems protect against nitrosylation, key among them ADH5(GSNOR), the Glutathione system, and the Thioredoxin system. In another blog article related to a compound that regulates part of the NAD/NADPH pathway, we will see some of the effects from herbs that lower oxidative stress.
Other genes of interest, to be explored in a different blog article (Nitrosylation), related to nitrosylation of cysteine residues for impact are NMDAR (GRIN1, GRIN2A), MTNR1A, ATP Synthase (Complex V), Alpha-Actin, ALDH18A1, and others. As one example, “Recently, expanding roles for H2S and its target protein were …..suggested that H2S is the key aspect of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response. H2S produced by CSE in response to ER stress sulfhydrates protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) and decreases its activity. “[4]
Nitrosylation markers are not hard to obtain and quantify, and combined with nutritional status, functional metabolic panels, and genetics provide significant insights into the roots of specific physiological function/dysfunction.
In Sum: Magnesium is mostly our friend
So, there are multiple reasons we 'feel good' when we get enough magnesium - we have more energy production (NAD+/NADPH), less quinolinic acid, and we block excess glutamate from NMDA receptors. However, protecting the QPRT pathway, is important too, to be covered elsewhere. Magnesium is one of the six most common cofactors for the over 20,000 human genes - stuff simply stops working when we are short on magnesium!
Categories: Detoxification, General HealthKeywords: Magnesium, Epsom Salt, Sulfur, Sulfation, Detox, Detoxification, QPRT, ALDH18A!, NMDA, GRIN1, GRIN2A, ATPase, ATP, MTNR1A, NAD+, NADPHReferences:
[1] Report on Absorption of magnesium sulfate (Epsom salts) across the skin Dr RH Waring, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham. B15 2TT, U.K. r.h.waring@bham.ac.uk [2] Quinolinic Acid: An Endogenous Neurotoxin with Multiple Targets. Rafael Lugo-HuitrónOxid Med Cell Longev. 2013; 2013: 104024. Published online 2013 Sep 5. doi: 10.1155/2013/104024 PMCID: PMC3780648. PMID: 24089628[3] TRAP1 S-nitrosylation as a model of population-shift mechanism to study the effects of nitric oxide on redox-sensitive oncoproteins, By Elena Papaleo. nature . cell death & disease . Published: 21 April 2023[4] Cysteine Oxidative Post-translational Modifications: Emerging Regulation in the Cardiovascular System, By Heaseung S Chung Circ Res. PMC: 2015 Feb 26. Published in final edited form as: Circ Res. 2013 Jan 18;112(2):382–392. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.112.268680. PMCID: PMC4340704 NIHMSID: NIHMS437667 PMID: 23329793