Chris Hafner-Eaton posted:
"There is a strong connection between the Mg, Ca and K balance and
constipations, so I think this is a fairly reasonable connection although I
suspect that the midwife doesn't know why (just my guess)."
Chris, could you elaborate more specifically on the mechanism of this strong
connection?

This midwife (not the same one as the midwife claiming a connection between
constipation and mastitis) is having trouble understanding if and how
dietary supplements of these electrolytes could correct this kind of
problem, when according to the theory of homeostasis being taught at the U
of Washington when I studied physiology there, the ranges of serum
electrolyte values which are compatible with life are quite narrow.  This
meant that if you got too much of them in your diet, you started making
expensive urine, and if you got too little, you supplemented by borrowing
minerals from your skeleton and putting them into circulation.  When your
diet changed, you reversed the process, all regulated by the mechanisms
which keep us in the 'alive' state of which we are so fond.

In order for muscle contractility to be affected, the electrolyte levels
(again, as I was taught it aeons ago in Seattle) would be so disturbed that
the organism's overriding problem would be one of intractable seizures,
leading to death if uncorrected.

But that theory could be completely outdated for all I know, so if anyone
has an understandable explanation for the effects of the electrolytes
mentioned, I'd love to learn about it.

Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html