Magnesium Oil

Disclaimer.  I am not a licensed health practitioner.  This is just another post on an item you might wish to have available if needed so that a physician can treat you and your family as best as possible.  No medication, including those available over the counter, should be taken without consulting a physician.  Information shared here is for educational and entertainment purposes only.  It is not medical advice nor a substitute for licensed medical care.  A qualified, licensed physician or other medical provider should be consulted before beginning any herbal or conventional treatment.


Two months ago, I posted about the importance of magnesium in the diet.  It would be silly to list here again all the reasons why magnesium is needed, where we get it, and what conditions deficiencies cause. 

What is important is that for a number of people, getting adequate magnesium through food becomes difficult at times.  This can be due to age (it happens to the best of us), poor diet (as could happen post-collapse), or medications (proton pump inhibitors, among others).

Fortunately, magnesium can also be absorbed through the skin.  That's where magnesium oil comes in.  Now, the idea of obtaining magnesium through the skin shouldn't creep anyone out.  People have been doing it for thousands of years.  They went to mineral springs or applied mud packs.  More recently, people have bathed in Epsom salts.  Using magnesium oil, and calling it transdermal magnesium therapy, sounds a little more sophisticated.

Magnesium oil is used in many ways, depending on your goal.

• Spray.  It's usually applied once a day, right after a shower, before any other lotions have been used.  Some prefer to use it 30 minutes before showering.  Alternatively, it can be used at night, just before bed.  Some people favor this approach because magnesium oil can cause a bit of a burning or itching or tingling sensation, which is not noticed as one drifts off to sleep.  Because I am really deficient in magnesium, I sometimes apply it twice per day, once in the morning 30-60 minutes before showering, and then at bedtime as well.  
• Bath.  For those who are really bothered by the direct application of magnesium oil to the skin, a bath in diluted magnesium oil is a great alternative.  The spray and the bath are best for those who need to increase the magnesium levels in their body.
• Massage and sports rub.  These deliver the magnesium to the tissues that need it most, and the massage helps work the magnesium into the skin and bloodstream faster so it can do its job.
• Foot soaks.  Makes the feet feel really nice and refreshed.

Perhaps, by now, your curiosity is piqued.  What's the difference between Epsom salts and magnesium oil?  Epsom salts are magnesium sulfate and are drying to the skin.  Magnesium oil is made from magnesium chloride and may feel somewhat oily.  Magnesium chloride is more easily absorbed by the skin.  Some people question why it's called magnesium oil, especially when they say it doesn't feel oily.  Well, after having made a few batches, I can say that some batches feel more oily than others.

If you're interested in giving this a try, you can get your magnesium chloride flakes on Amazon or at a health food store.

Magnesium Oil

• 1/2 cup magnesium chloride flakes
• 1/2 cup filtered or distilled water
• 10 drops essential oil, optional*

Bring the water to a boil and remove from heat.  Add magnesium chloride flakes and stir until the flakes are completely dissolved.  Then add essential oil, if desired.  Let cool and then store in a spray bottle.   Spray and massage in daily to increase magnesium levels in the body.

*Use lavender essential oil if one of your reasons for applying magnesium oil is to sleep better (and then use the oil at night).  Use wintergreen essential oil if you're using this for an after-workout massage or for sore muscles.

Magnesium is frequently used to treat a wide variety of conditions, often in the form of injections, which may not be readily available post-collapse.  While not as rapid as getting into the bloodstream as injections, transdermal application of magnesium is faster than taking tablets or capsules.  And it works even when a patient cannot take tablets.  It's commonly used in patients following heart attacks and strokes and may be used to prevent brain damage in premature infants.  It may help prevent seizures in pregnant women with preeclampsia or eclampsia.  And it may help reduce or prevent morning sickness, PMS, and osteoporosis.  It also has been shown to help lower blood pressure.


Cautions:  Magnesium oil may cause a burning or tingling sensation in some individuals, but this usually goes away after the first few uses.  As with most any alternative or conventional approach to resolving an issue with the body, there is often that group of people for whom the solution has an opposite effect, and in this case, magnesium sometimes has a stimulating effect.  For this group of people, taking magnesium during the day is better than at bedtime.  Do not apply magnesium oil to freshly shaved skin. (Magnesium oil is a good deodorant, but it really burns on freshly shaved skin, like armpits.)

Contraindications:  Persons with low blood pressure should exercise extreme caution using magnesium in any form.  The same goes for those taking anti-anxiety medications or people with sensitive skin or impaired kidney function.

Links to related posts:
Magnesium
Antacids and proton pump inhibitors

For further information:
https://draxe.com/magnesium-oil/
http://samarahealingcenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Achieving-Optimal-Health-through-Transdermal-Magnesium-Therapy.pdf
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/
https://drsircus.com/magnesium/uses-of-magnesium-oil/

© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com  

Brigham Tea/Squaw Tea/Mormon Tea

Disclaimer.  I am not a licensed health practitioner.  This is just another post on an item you might wish to have available if needed so that a physician can treat you and your family as best as possible.  No medication, including those available over the counter, should be taken without consulting a physician.  Information shared here is for educational and entertainment purposes only.  It is not medical advice nor a substitute for licensed medical care.  A qualified, licensed physician or other medical provider should be consulted before beginning any herbal or conventional treatment.


Mormon tea, the most common name for several species of North American plants related to the Chinese ma huang species, is found only in the western United States.  Ephedra nevadensis and Ephedra viridis are the most common species.  Brigham Young and the Mormon pioneers drank a lot of this, which accounts for one reason for the name.  Perhaps it's because the other names have connotations currently unacceptable in our society.  Squaw tea is one--the local Indians taught the Mormon pioneers about the uses of this plant.  And before that (and before the advent of penicillin), it was commonly referred to by frontiersmen, miners, explorers, and others as whorehouse tea, due to its use in curing syphilis and gonorrhea and reported efficacy in inducing miscarriage.  I'm happy with the term Mormon tea.

Time to harvest:  Mormon tea can be harvested at any time and dried for later use.  Most people have to make a special trip to collect it--it's not something you normally plant, and even if you could find it at a nursery, it grows too slowly to be used for medicine.  I have acres of it and juniper, so I can just walk outside a hundred feet and pick whatever I need.

Alternative:  Mormon tea is often touted as an alternative to Chinese ephedra, ma huang.  However, the North American species do not contain any ephedra and there is no risk associated with its use like there is with ma huang. Its stimulant properties are due to tannins and alkaloids.

Medicinal uses:  Mormon tea is an antihistamine and mild diuretic and it is high in calcium.  It is especially effective in drying up mucus secretions to alleviate runny noses and scratchy throats.  Historically, it has been used to treat:

• rheumatism;
• high blood pressure;
• colds and coughs;
• mild asthma;
• gonorrhea and syphilis;
• mild bladder infections and kidney ailments;
• osteoporosis. 

However, it is important to note that while Native Americans and others used Mormon tea to treat venereal diseases, there is no research to support the efficacy of this use.  Better stick with abstinence before marriage and fidelity afterwards.


Tincture:  According to Stephen Buhner, the dried herb is tinctured in a 1:5 weight to volume ratio, in 50% alcohol.  The dosage is 15-30 drops.  It is best used in conjunction with other herbs.

Infusion:  Pour boiling water over leaves (actually, they look a lot more like pine needles).  Steep 10 minutes, covered.  Strain, add sugar or honey, and drink. 

Contraindication:  Not for use by pregnant women in the first trimester.

Cautions:  Use as tea is safe in moderation. 

For further reading:
Stephen Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, p 370.
Patrick Jones, The HomeGrown Herbalist, pp 103-105.
https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/herbs-and-spices/mormon-tea.html
https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_other/wo_AgricHandbook727/wo_AgricHandbook727_492_494.pdf
https://medicinalherbals.net/mormon-tea-brigham/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4594322/

© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com  

13 march 2023