Dr. Robert Maki, Cardiovascular naturopathy

But Dr. Maki’s passion is the treatment of cardiovascular issues—a mission with its roots in personal trauma. He became involved with naturopathic medicine after an experience with his own father, who suffered from heart disease for many years. Dr. Maki’s father was being treated at one of the top hospitals in the country whose doctors insisted on triple-bypass surgery as the only option, and Dr. Maki noticed that for all their expertise, not once did they make any kind of nutritional or preventative recommendations. After this experience, Maki, who was close to graduating college, thought that there must be a better way to help someone in such a condition. An Internet search led him to Bastyr University in Seattle, a private institution specializing in naturopathic medicine, which turned out to be exactly what he was looking for. He shortly made the move from his native Minnesota to attend the school, and the rest is history.

In his treatment of cardiovascular patients, he finds magnesium to be of paramount importance. “I would say that magnesium is one of the most important cardiovascular nutrients there is,” he says. “I use magnesium for any person that comes in with a cardiovascular complaint.”

Dr. Maki’s form of choice for magnesium is Natural Calm, from Peter Gillham’s Natural Vitality. “I find that people really enjoy and really like Natural Calm,” he says. “I’ll give a new patient a sample, they’ll try it, and many times after even one use they come back raving about it.”

Dr. Maki finds that there is a lot of over-  emphasis put on calcium, but awareness of magnesium is extremely low, due in large part to the dairy industry and their marketing of their own calcium-rich products. Calcium is heavily promoted for bone health, but Dr. Maki has different recommendations. “When it comes to bone health, people need to be concerned about vitamin D and magnesium, as far as I’m concerned,” he says.

Dr. Maki sees magnesium deficiency as a widespread problem. “Based on my own experience, and talking with other doctors such as myself, I would say that magnesium is probably the most deficient nutrient in the American diet,” he says. “I think it is directly related to many cardiovascular-related symptoms and bone health issues. Magnesium plays a huge role in all that.” He sees magnesium deficiency manifesting as migraines, hypertension, heart problems, fatigue issues, a history of kidney stones, insomnia, anxiety and bone health, among many others.

Dr. Maki has had some incredible experiences with patients using magnesium. One man in his early forties had been diagnosed with hypertension and prescribed medication that he did not want to take. He came to see Dr. Maki. The man had a fairly stressful job and was also suffering from some anxiety and insomnia. “I gave him Natural Calm and made some dietary recommendations,” says Dr. Maki. “He called back within a couple days and said, ‘Doc, thanks. This stuff is fantastic. I feel great. I’m actually able to get to sleep at night.’ And literally within 10 days his blood pressure dropped about 15 points.”

Another patient, a woman in her mid-to late fifties, complained of menopausal leg cramps, which constantly caused her to wake up during the night to massage her leg. “After giving her some blood work and thoroughly checking her out, I had her take Natural Calm,” Dr. Maki says. “From the moment she took it, the cramps became less and less. Within a month or so, she was basically symptom free.”

Many of Dr. Maki’s patients are busy professionals, and Dr. Maki finds that a good number of them suffer from anxiety and insomnia. “Magnesium is a great natural sedative to be used in the evening an hour before bedtime,” he says. “It helps calm people down. I use it to specifically address insomnia or a bit of nervousness at the end of the day.”

Dr. Maki also uses Peter Gillham’s Organic Life Vitamins with his patients. “As a general multi-vitamin, people really enjoy it because it has a really nice flavor to it,” he says. “With multi-vitamins in capsule form, people generally don’t notice any difference, even though they’re getting the benefit. With OLV, I have to say that people have come back to tell me their energy is better and they feel more awake in the morning, Also, when people take multi-vitamins in capsule form, they often have to take 6 to 8 per day, which can be very daunting. Using OLV, people are able to get a well-rounded dose of nutrients, and it’s very easy for them to take.”