Why do I call Magnesium The Magnificent Mineral?

About few months back after getting into pro-metabolic diet and community and after studying Functional Nutrition and improving my overall health through it did I became familiar the Magnificence of Magnesium.

Now we have all gotten our serum electrolytes reports atleast once in our lifetime and have heard all about salt imbalance, sodium balance, potassium balance but have you heard anyone emphasizing or hyping up your Magnesium balance?

Did you know Magnesium is one of the most important electrolyte and about 60-70 people are deficient in it?

To measure it routine blood tests do not reflect true body magnesium stores since <2% is in the measurable extracellular space, 67% is in the bone and 31% is located intracellularly.

Do you know it helps with stress? And everytime you stress you lose magnesium? More magnesium less stress. That’s why I can’t stress this enough (lol get it?) how important it is to include magnesium in your diet.

Well now that you are here don’t worry folks I will break it all down for you.To simplify it for you this will be in the series of steps.

1. Role of magnesium.
2. Symptoms of magnesium deficiency.
3. Reasons for deficiency
4. Foods rich in magnesium.
5. Can the deficiency be overcome by foods alone?
6. Supplementation

Role of magnesium:

Magnesium is a mineral that is needed to run over 3000 different operations in the body.

It is the cofactor for over 40 percent of our enzymes.

It was once said to be involved in over 300 biochemical reactions in the body, but now that number is said to be over 600.

Magnesium is responsible for

• Energy creation
• Improving insulin resistance
• Protein formation
• Nervous system regulation
• Helps decrease inflammation,
• Is a vital nutrient in the phase 2 detox process for our hormones
• Improves sleep
• Protects our DNA
• Supports estrogen detoxification
• Reduces stress
• Maintains healthy bones
• Plays an important role in migraine pathogenesis
• Heavy metal chelator- can reduce blood and organ levels of aluminum, mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic, beryllium, and nickel.
• Decreases PMS symptoms and helps improve period cramps.

Without enough of this amazing nutrient our bodies literally STRUGGLE to function

Symptoms of magnesium deficiency:

Magnesium deficiency can result in numerous issues that includes

1. Headaches/migraines
2. Muscle aches & pain
3. May promote depression
4. Affect serotonin receptor function
5. Cardiac arrhythmias
6. GI disturbances
7. Nausea
8. Tingling of hands
9. Insomnia
10. Anxiety
11. Nervousness

The top 4 reasons why we’re deficient in Magnesium:

1. DIET: Modern diet practices extremely high in carbs and fats and low in protein and fibre, exclusion of fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds has made it challenging for nutrients to be absorbed in the diet. Not to mention Modern farming practices have stripped our soil of minerals for many generations, which makes it virtually impossible to get enough Magnesium through diet alone.
2. STRESS: chronic stress depletes magnesium and low magnesium levels makes chronic stress even worse. It’s a vicious cycle and can drain you! Furthermore, excess sympathetic activity will also reduce stomach acid and this decreases our absorption of Magnesium.
3. SUGAR: This anti-nutrient is especially draining to our Magnesium levels. For every molecule of SUGAR you consume, it takes 54 molecules of MAGNESIUM for your body to process it!
4. MEDICATIONS: often cause massive Magnesium deficiencies. Magnesium depleting drugs include proton pump inhibitors, antacids, diuretics, ACE inhibitors, antibiotics, birth control pills, chemotherapy, statins, corticosteroids, nicotine and insulin.

Foods rich in magnesium:

• Almonds
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Dark Leafy Greens
• Chia Seeds
• Cashews
• dark chocolate
• Avocados
• Legumes
• Bananas

Can the deficiency be overcome by foods alone?

As mentioned earlier Modern farming practices make it impossible to get enough magnesium through diet alone. Nor will you be able to consume that much of magnesium rich food to fulfill your daily requirement. The best way to ensure you’re getting enough Magnesium is to combine a mineral rich diet with oral supplementation in a routine that works for you.

Supplementation:

Best forms of Magnesium to consume would be:

• Magnesium bicarbonate (the most bioavailable form)
• Magnesium glycinate
• Magnesium malate
• Magnesium threonate

When looking at an amount, shooting for around 300mg -400mg is a good general recommendation before modulating it per person.