Witnessed by: Western
Magnesium carbonate (Magnesite), of the carbonate mineral family. A very light, white, bulky powder or friable cubes, or the compact white stone from which it is made; native range: magnesite beds in altered serpentine and dolomitic rock, and precipitated from magnesian brines and bitterns. Globally recognized as magnesium carbonate, carbonate of magnesia, magnesia alba in English. The part used is the precipitated carbonate, powdered. Dead white, soft and impalpable, practically tasteless and odourless, effervescing briskly with acid, almost insoluble in plain water.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
MAGNESIUM CARBONATE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- magnesium carbonate
- Scientific name
- Magnesite (magnesium carbonate, MgCO₃)
- Family
- carbonate mineral
Form
- Part used
- the precipitated carbonate, powdered
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- bland (practically tasteless, faintly earthy)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- stomach · bowels
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- antacid — it neutralises the acid of the stomach; and mildly laxative, the part that escapes the acid passing on to loosen the bowel; also absorbent and mildly carminative
Cautions
- Contraindications
- impaired kidney function; long-continued use in place of a diagnosis
- Toxicity
- long or heavy use loosens the bowel, disturbs the salt balance, and may leave concretions in the gut; carbon dioxide is set free in the stomach and distends it
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