If you suffer from osteoarthritis, you know how painful, swollen joints can put a damper on everyday activities. Osteoarthritis is characterized as a general wearing out of the joints, due to wear and tear. It is distinguished from rheumatoid arthritis, which is a systemic condition.

While there are medications to slow the progress of rheumatoid arthritis, there are none available today for osteoarthritis. Your physician may simply prescribe pain medication to deal with the pain and leave it at that. As anyone with osteoarthritis knows, taking pain pills on an ongoing basis is no way to live.

However, many recent studies irrefutably demonstrate that magnesium supplements can not only reverse bone loss, but can actually rebuild your bone tissue. When magnesium supplements, in a 2:3 balanced ratio of calcium-magnesium are taken, bone density has increased by up to a startling 11% in just nine months!

Osteoarthritis is just the beginning. Osteoporosis is the next phase, where bone and joint tissue deteriorate, eventually resulting in fractures of bones and frequently, hip joints.

At first glance, it may seem reasonable that, as we age, conditions such as osteoarthritis are to be expected. The fact is that, as we age, certain nutrients are not as readily absorbed. Magnesium is just one of these. Magnesium deficiency effectively disables the hormone calcitonin, resulting in calcium being deposited in soft tissue and not into your bones.

Diet has much to do with osteoarthritis. Eating foods rich in calcium produces strong bones, right? To a point. You must also balance your calcium intake with magnesium in sufficient amounts. Otherwise, excess calcium stimulates the hormone , parathyroid (PTH), which tells the body to pull calcium out of your bones and deposit the excess in soft tissues. This process is also implicated in arteriosclerosis. Magnesium supplements restore a balanced hormone response, and thus, bone loss.

Let's look at the diets in several areas of the world and compare the rates of arthritis and osteoporosis to prove the case for magnesium supplements as a natural remedy.

The typical South African diet supplies a healthy 2:3 ratio of calcium to magnesium and these people have one of the lowest rates of arthritis and osteoporosis. The typical American diet, rich in calcium, is typically in a 10:1 calcium-magnesium ratio and we have one of the highest rates of osteoporosis and arthritis in the world! In Asian and African cultures, these conditions are relatively unknown. The bottom line is that when calcium intake is high and magnesium intake is low, these debilitating conditions are rampant.

What's the answer? Decreasing your calcium intake and taking a daily magnesium supplement of at least 600mg, can produce dramatic results, in just nine months.

If you suffer from osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, or both, talk to your physician and see if magnesium supplements aren't a valuable remedy that gets you off those pain pills soon! Bring this info with you!