The Power of Magnesium
Magnesium is possibly one of the most important nutrients for overall health, yet most people are deficent. It is an essential mineral for multiple body functions. It plays a vital role to over 700 enzymatic reactions, is required to synthesize at the DNA level, and is vital to bone and cellular health. The deficency most American’s have is a strong factor to many health concerns including cardiovascular disease, dementia, and osteoporosis.
This power mineral is essential for many reasons. It is essential for energy production, glucose regulation, the development of bone, muscle contraction, regulating normal heart rhythm, nerve function, and the production of glutathione, one of the most important antioxidants in the body. It also works with other nutrients to accomplish other essential bodily functions such as the activation of Vitamin D.
Let’s take a brief look at the many areas of health that magnesium is necessary for:
- Cardiovascular Health - Magnesium is so essential that low levels can lead to the development of arrhythmia and heart failure. It keeps blood vessels clear and the heart strong. Those with cardiovascular concerns can have a 34% lower risk of death simply by getting appropriate amounts of magnesium.
- Metabolic Health - This ties into cardiovasular health because magnesium is essential to balancing blood pressure and blood sugar. Your body can’t convert carbohydrates or fats into energy without magnesium.
- Migraine and Headaches - It’s long been understood that magnesium can reduce the intensity and frequency of headaches and migraines. Studies have gone as far as saying that half of all migraine sufferers are magnesium deficient.
- Stress - I’ve written a lot about the impacts of stress on the body, but magnesium is an essential nutrient to your body handling stress and helping the body relax. Stress actually depletes magnesium, yet magnesium helps relieve stress. If you are stressed out, it would be important to ensure your magnesium levels are balanced.
- Digestion - Magnesium is a soother to the digestive tract and abdomen. It can help with chronic constipation, gas, and bloating.
Do you believe you are magnesium deficient? Here are just a few symptoms that can point to magnesium deficency:
- Weakness
- Fatigue
- Nausea
- Headaches
- Loss of appetite
- Cravings for stimulants like coffee
- Vomiting
- Abnormal heart rhythm
- Muscle cramps
- Numbness or tingling
- And many more
If you think you need more magnesium, reach out to me. Your body is craving balance, so the best way to know is by testing and creating a proper health plan so your body gets the magnesium it needs AND can absorb it. Check out this high-quality magnesium supplement or schedule a Health Discovery Session to talk with me further.
Sources:
https://chriskresser.com/magnesium-an-essential-nutrient-that-most-people-dont-get-enough-of/
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Heidi Toy Functional Medicine Blog
Did you know most people didn’t have refrigerators in their homes until well into the 1900’s? It wasn’t even invented for large scale commercial use until the mid 1800’s [1]. So how did people keep their milk cold and make their food last longer? Fermentation. It sounds like a gross concept, because we often associate fermentation with a bad odor, but foods like cheese, yogurt, sauerkraut and pickles are all fermented foods. And those aren’t gross, are they? Well, some might disagree with me about sauerkraut, but that’s beside the point. Fermented foods are digestive aids. Microscopic living organisms in fermented foods help extend the food’s shelf life, enhance flavor, and help the body absorb minerals. These organisms pre-digest the food, getting rid of harmful components, and create more vitamins and enzymes than the food began with. Enzyme-rich foods have many benefits including [2]: Increase digestibility of food we eat Boost immune system Increase alkalinity; neutralizing pH levels Provide a healthy balance of friendly flora in the gut (Learn more about your microbiome in my other blog posts ) Tone the colon and help with elimination Control cravings for unhealthier foods Eliminate toxins and undigested wastes in the body In the “old days,” people use to ferment all kinds of foods through pickling, canning, pasteurization and added salt. Nowadays, however, large scale fermentation has lost many of its nutritious benefits due to the need for speed to get the product on the shelf as fast as possible and as cheap as possible. The only true fermented foods you will find are sauerkraut, kombucha, yogurt and kefir, beans, wine and beer, some meats (such as salami and pastrami), legumes and nuts (such as tofu, soy sauce and miso), sourdough bread, and various kinds of vegetables [3]. Fun facts about sauerkraut: The Germans “stole” it from the Chinese! Sauerkraut (probably not labeled as such for the Chinese, but the same recipe) was one of the main foods for those who built the Great Wall of China. Genghis Khan brought it to Eastern Europe during an invasion. It also contains high levels of vitamin C, and sailors often took it on long journeys to prevent scurvy.
How can we best keep blood sugar stable? Do what our body is designed to do – use fat for energy. Our species did not survive the Ice Age because of vanilla coffee lattes and cheesecake. Throughout most of our history, we ate a diet that was likely 50-70 percent fat. Look at the old family photo albums, specifically pictures of people in the first half of the 1900s, before we had so many processed foods. You won’t see many fat people--in fact, most look darn skinny. If they lived on the farm, they ate lots of eggs, meat, milk, and vegetables out of their own backyards. “Diet foods” were non-existent. Heart disease was almost non-existent. Our metabolism is designed to work much better with fats better than with sugar. Fats provide the slow and steady fuel our body likes to use for energy. Think of fats as a slow-burning log on the fire. One log (i.e. one meal containing fats) lasts for hours. Starchy carbs, on the flip side, are like kindling. You constantly have to throw more twigs (chips, pasta, bagels) to keep the fire burning. The first step is to know your sugars by reading the labels, and then avoid said sugars as much as possible.
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