Magnesium, Epsom Salt Baths, & The Production of NAD+ and Reduction of Neurotoxic Quinolinic Acid
*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
Epsom salt baths have been around for a long, long time, and they are used by many in everyday life to support wellness and aid in the detoxification of various compounds (including heavy metals like aluminum, mercury, and lead). How do they help support the body? Epsom salts are a source of magnesium and sulfur - magnesium, in particular, is thought to aid in the production of NAD/NADPH, which are important in energy production.
Why Read This Article?
You May Find This Article Interesting If You:
Want to learn about how magnesium supports the body
Want to learn about how much Epsom salt to use in a bath
Want to learn about how Epsom salt baths increase serum magnesium concentrations
Want to learn about the QPRT gene and how it relates to energy production
Magnesium: What Forms to Use?
When it comes to basic physiological processes, perhaps no nutrient is more essential than magnesium. Whether it’s helping process Vitamin D to make it more useable, converting glutamate to gaba, or calming neural excitation from overactive NMDA receptors, magnesium is a critical mineral.
Many struggle with getting enough magnesium from their diet, and they may also struggle with tolerating oral magnesium supplements. For example, people who have Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) often experience gastrointestinal malabsorption of nutrients, including magnesium, and many also struggle with sulfur sensitivity. So, if they want to increase their magnesium levels, which forms should they consider using?
Other than oral magnesium supplements, there are various magnesium formulations available, including topical lotions and sprays. What I have found works well for most of my clients (sulfur sensitivity aside) is that lukewarm Epsom salt baths offer benefit, especially in those with magnesium GI transporter issues (TRPM8) or fast bowel movement transit times. As always, one size does not fit all, as there are certainly some who do not tolerate Epsom salt baths.
Epsom Salt Baths and Serum Magnesium Levels
Can soaking in an Epsom salt bath really increase blood 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?
In one study, all individuals had significant rises in plasma magnesium and sulfate at a level of 1% Epsom salt (MgSO4) solution. This equates to 1 gram of Epsom salt per 100 milliliters of water (or 600 grams Epsom salt per 60 liters of water, which is the standard size UK bath taken in this project). In the U.S., the standard bath holds approximately 15 gallons, so this equates to about 1.5 pounds of Epsom salts in a 15 gallon bath.
However, most volunteers had significantly raised Mg/S04 levels in 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 magnesium transporters in the skin (and possibly the gut). These transport proteins are not well understood or described but, at least for sulfate, they are believed to have high affinity but low capacity. The values obtained in this study suggest that most people would find maximal benefit by bathing 2 or 3 times per week, using 500-600 grams of Epsom salt per bath 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 can and do occur from a host of rather technical and detailed reasons (to be discussed in another blog article).
Other Sources of Magnesium
Isolation / Float Tanks
Isolation or float tanks use between 100-300 pounds of epsom salt in their tanks. It is no wonder why folks report a calming and peaceful experience, and some proclaim that their lifelong anxiety has disappeared.
Spending Time in the Ocean
I have had several clients tell me they swear by walking in the ocean, and that it makes them feel great but they just can’t understand why. Seawater is loaded with various minerals, magnesium being one of them.
Magnesium Is Required For Normal QPRT Activity [2]
What is QPRT? QPRT is one of the most important genes in the pathway responsible for the conversion of tryptophan to NAD+.
When QPRT gets backed up, NAD+ levels fall. When people are short on NAD+ and or NADPH, they are 'tired' and things just stop working. In my view, this is a contributing factor for at least some ME/CFS and Long Haul Covid patients (NAD+ and NADPH are perhaps the most important cofactors for the most enzymatic reactions in the human body). In addition, when QPRT activity lags, the excitatory neurotoxic compound quinolinic acid builds up, which stimulates both the NMDA and AhR receptors.
Nitrosylation and Oxidative Stress
QPRT contains cysteine thiols [3,4], which are sensitive to oxidative stress (e.g. nitrosylation). It is hypothesized, and it is perhaps no coincidence, that NAD+/NADPH production is lowered during times of high oxidative stress (the body is smart). Several antioxidant systems protect against nitrosylation, key among them are ADH5(GSNOR), the glutathione system, and the thioredoxin system. In another blog article that discusses a compound involved in regulating a portion of the NAD/NADPH pathway, I discuss herbs that are known to lower oxidative stress.
Other genes of interest related to nitrosylation of cysteine residues are NMDAR (GRIN1, GRIN2A), MTNR1A, ATP Synthase (Complex V), Alpha-Actin, ALDH18A1, and others. These will be explored in a different blog article on Nitrosylation. 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.
Summary
Magnesium is (mostly) our friend.
Magnesium is one of the six most common cofactors for more than 20,000 human genes - stuff simply stops working when we are short on magnesium!
There are multiple reasons we subjectively “feel good” when we get enough magnesium: we have increased energy production (NAD+/NADPH), have lower levels of quinolinic acid, and we block excess glutamate from binding to NMDA receptors. However, protecting the QPRT pathway is important too, to be covered elsewhere.
Updated: Oct 30, 2023
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