Magnesium

  Magnesium

A DEFICIENCY IN THIS CRITICAL nutrient makes you twice as likely to die as other people, according to a study published in The Journal of Intensive Care Medicine.  It also accounts for a long list of symptoms and diseases, which are easily helped and often cured by adding this nutrient to your diet. This nutrient is actually one of the secret weapons against illness. Yet up to half of Americans are deficient in this nutrient and don’t know it.

It is magnesium. It is an antidote to stress, the most powerful relaxation mineral available, and it can help improve sleep.

I find it very funny that more doctors aren’t clued into the benefits of magnesium because we use it all the time in conventional medicine. But we never stop to think about why or how important it is to our general health or why it helps our bodies function better.

Magnesium is a 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.

This critical mineral is actually responsible for over 300 enzyme reactions and is found in all tissues — but mainly in bones, muscles, and the brain. You must have it for your cells to make energy, for many different chemical pumps to work, to stabilize membranes, and to help muscles relax.

When was the last time you had a good dose of seaweed, nuts, greens, and beans? If you are like most Americans, your nut consumption mostly comes from peanut butter. (And many brands are filled with so many additives and preservatives it doesn’t even matter!)

That is why the list of conditions that are found related to magnesium deficiency is so long. In fact, there are over 3,500 medical references on magnesium deficiency!

Even so, this mineral is mostly ignored because it is not a drug (despite being more powerful than drugs in many cases). That’s why we use magnesium in the hospital for life-threatening and emergency situations like seizures and heart failure. 

27 Magnesium Deficiency Signs

You might be magnesium deficient if you have any of the following symptoms:

• Muscle cramps or twitches
• Insomnia
• Irritability
• Sensitivity to loud noises
• Anxiety
• Autism
• ADD
• Palpitations
• Angina
• Constipation
• Anal spasms
• Headaches
• Migraines
• Fibromyalgia
• Chronic fatigue
• Asthma
• Kidney stones
• Diabetes
• Obesity
• Osteoporosis
• High blood pressure
• PMS
• Menstrual cramps
• Irritable bladder
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Reflux
• Trouble swallowing
• Inflammation in the body and higher CRP levels

In our society, magnesium deficiency is a huge problem. By conservative standards of measurement (blood, or serum, magnesium levels), 65 percent of people admitted to the intensive care unit — and about 15 percent of the general population — have magnesium deficiency.

But this seriously underestimates the problem, because a serum magnesium level is the LEAST sensitive way to detect a drop in your total body magnesium level. So, rates of magnesium deficiency could be even higher!

The Reason We Are So Deficient Is Simple

Many of us eat a diet that contains practically no magnesium — a highly processed, refined diet that is based mostly on white flour, meat, and dairy (all of which have no magnesium).

Much of modern life conspires to help us lose what little magnesium we get in our diet. Magnesium levels are decreased by excess alcohol, salt, coffee, phosphoric acid in colas, profuse sweating, prolonged or intense stress, chronic diarrhoea, excessive menstruation, diuretics (water pills), antibiotics and other drugs, and some intestinal parasites. In fact, in one study in Kosovo, people under chronic war stress lost large amounts of magnesium in their urine.

This is all further complicated by the fact that magnesium is often poorly absorbed and easily lost from our bodies. To properly absorb magnesium, we need a lot of it in our diet, plus enough vitamin B6, vitamin D, and selenium to get the job done.

On the other hand, that’s why magnesium oil is so great – no digestive discomfort! Just fast-acting 100% pure magnesium oil to soothe your pain and lower inflammation.

How to Start Fixing Your Magnesium Deficiency

Stop Draining Your Body of Magnesium

• Limit coffee, colas, salt, sugar, and alcohol
• Learn how to practice active relaxation
• Check with your doctor if your medication is causing magnesium loss (many high blood pressure drugs or diuretics cause loss of magnesium)

Eat Foods High in Magnesium

Include the following in your diet as often as you can:

Kelp, wheat bran, wheat germ, almonds, cashews, buckwheat, brazil nuts, dulse, filberts, millet, pecans, walnuts, rye, tofu, soybeans, brown rice, figs, dates, collard greens, shrimp, avocado, parsley, beans, barley, dandelion greens, and garlic

Take Magnesium Supplements

• The RDA (the minimum amount needed) for magnesium is about 300 mg a day. Most of us get far less than 200 mg.
• Some may need much more depending on their condition.
• Most people benefit from 400 to 1,000 mg a day.
• The most absorbable forms are magnesium citrate, glycinate taurate, or aspartate, although magnesium bound to Kreb cycle chelates (malate, succinate, fumarate) are also good.
• Avoid magnesium carbonate, sulphate, gluconate, and oxide. They are poorly absorbed (and the cheapest and most common forms found in supplements).
• Side effects from too much magnesium include diarrhoea, which can be avoided if you switch to magnesium glycinate.
• Most minerals are best taken as a team with other minerals in a multi-mineral formula.
• Taking a hot bath with Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) or using topical magnesium oil after a shower, are both good ways to absorb and get much-needed magnesium.

People with kidney disease or severe heart disease should take magnesium under a doctor’s supervision. So, if you’re coping with the symptoms here, relax! Magnesium is truly a miracle mineral. It is essential for lifelong vibrant health.

Are you considering supplementing with Magnesium?

BE CAREFUL

Lots of magnesium supplements cause stomach upset and even diarrhoea.  I use my Kore Essentials Topical Magnesium spray not only to ensure that I am getting the proper amount of magnesium my body needs to function optimally but also to help with pain, sleep and the occasional migraine.