Magnesium is the bodies most important mineral. It’s normally found in foods grown in mineral rich soils such as leafy greens, nuts, seeds, beans and in fish that are high in Omega 3’s such as salmon. Over the past 100 years, magnesium has become the most depleted mineral on earth. It’s required for over 325 biochemical reactions in your body and is found in all of your tissues, mainly your bones, muscles and brain. A deficiency can affect every aspect of life and cause a score of symptoms. It’s estimated that over 68% of the population is magnesium deficient.
Think of magnesium as the relaxation mineral. Anything that is tight, irritable, crampy, and stiff – whether it is a body part or even a mood – is a sign of magnesium deficiency. Here are some of the symptoms:
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If you are like most Americans, you’re not getting enough magnesium in your diet. Magnesium is forced out of your body from stress, excessive sweating, parasites, caffeine, phosphates, sugar, alcohol, smoking, illegal drugs and many medications: digitalis, diuretics, antibiotics, steroids, birth control, indomethacin, cisplatin, amphotercin B, cholestyramine and synthetic estrogen.
Even a seemingly healthy athlete can become deficient in magnesium. They lose magnesium from sweating and consumption of protein bars and energy drinks/gels with phosphates, caffeine and sugar.
Magnesium plays an important role in our brain health. It protects the brain from toxic effects from chemicals in foods such as aspartame and MSG. Particular brain receptors important for learning and memory depend on magnesium for their regulation and to keep the learning and memory receptors active.
Magnesium is rarely recommended by doctors yet every emergency room in the country has magnesium IV to treat life threatening arrhythmia. It’s also used to stop seizures and to lower high blood pressure in expecting mothers without hurting the fetus.
How much magnesium do I need?
If you eat a healthy diet, you need about 300 mg a day just to offset the loss of magnesium. Most people will benefit from 400mg to 1000mg per day – some may need more. While magnesium is very safe, higher doses may cause gastrointestinal distress. The most absorbable forms of magnesium are citrate, gylcinate, taurate or aspartate. Magnesium can also be absorbed through the skin as magnesium sulfate (Epsom salts) and chloride (magnesium oil). If you live near clean ocean water, a daily swim will provide you with all the magnesium your body needs. Please consult your doctor is you have kidney disease, Myasthenia gravis, excessively slow heart rate or bowel obstruction.
Magnesium is best taken with other vitamins and minerals. It assists in converting vitamin D into a usable form in the body. Without magnesium, calcium can wreak havoc on the body causing cell death and calcification. Magnesium helps to dissolve calcium and keep it where it belongs. Magnesium enters the cells with the support of B1 (Thiamin). Without it, magnesium won’t get to its destination. Selenium helps magnesium stay inside the cells where it belongs.
If you are magnesium deficient, it can take up to 1 year of daily doses to get your body to normal levels. Some people may notice the benefits of magnesium within a few days and for some it may take a few months.
Magnesium is truly a miracle mineral and is beneficial to our health at all ages. To read more about how magnesium can help insomnia, click here to read this post.
To order the magnesium I use and recommend, visit http://www.thehealingblossom.com/
Do you have a home garden? Would you like to know how you can add magnesium to your soils for bigger, healthier vegetables? Check out this article here - gardening with epsom salt.
Resources:
To order the magnesium I use and recommend, visit http://www.thehealingblossom.com/
Do you have a home garden? Would you like to know how you can add magnesium to your soils for bigger, healthier vegetables? Check out this article here - gardening with epsom salt.
Resources:
The Magnesium Miracle by Carolyn Dean, M.D.
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