Why Not Getting Enough Magnesium Might Be Your Biggest Health Issue
We’re Low On Magnesium
Magnesium deficiency may be the most common nutritional problem in the industrialized world today. Yet, it is the single most crucial mineral for maintaining electrical balance and metabolism in our cells. Every cell in the body needs magnesium somehow, and it's essential for bone, tooth, muscle, and joint health and optimal sleep and stress reduction.
If you have trouble getting proper sleep, get muscle cramps or spasms, feel unexplained fatigue and weakness, or experience difficulty getting rid of stress. Then you might lack magnesium. At the bottom of this post, you'll find super easy recipes on how to deal with that and how to recharge the body with magnesium.
In This Post:
Magnesium – The spark of life
Why We Are Deficient
Magnesium, the fuel that runs the body’s internal battery
magnesium and Detoxification
Calcium overload — the real danger
Magnesium and Cancer
The Magnesium, Calcium, D and K2 - Dance
Magnesium for Skin Care
How Much Magnesium Do We Need?
How to Get That Magnesium
Easy Peasy Magnesium Mist Recipes
Magnesium – The Spark Of Life
In ALL known living organisms magnesium is required for cellular respiration to exist and thrive. It is required to give the “spark of life” to the metabolic functions in the creation of energy and its transport and in the building of proteins. In plants, a magnesium ion is found at the centre of every chlorophyll molecule, vital for the creation of energy from sunlight. In fact magnesium is so powerfully charged with energy that elemental magnesium, once ignited, burns with an intensity of 3,100°C. It is almost impossible to stop magnesium from burning once it has started (even submerging it underwater won’t stop this supercharged mineral).
Every single cell in the human body demands adequate magnesium to function, or it will perish. Strong bones and teeth, balanced hormones, a healthy nervous and cardiovascular system, well-functioning detoxification pathways and much more depend upon cellular magnesium sufficiency. Soft tissue containing the highest concentrations of magnesium in the body include the brain and the heart—two organs that produce a large amount of electrical activity, and which can be especially vulnerable to magnesium insufficiency.
When your body has an abundance of bioavailable magnesium at it’s disposal, all of life’s functions are smoother. Without magnesium, life gets hard... and eventually stops completely.
Why You Might Be Lacking Magnesium
Lifestyle
Many people are deficient in this vital mineral because lack of sleep, excess stress, high content of starch in the diet or birth control pills/alcohol/caffeine/sugar consumption causes the body to excrete magnesium through the kidneys - we're basically pissing it out.
Modern Farming
Many natural sources of magnesium are becoming depleted (such as the soil due to over-farming and high pesticide use) where magnesium is one of the most depleted minerals in farm soils today.
Food Processing
Enormous amount of magnesium is lost in foods that are commonly fairly good sources of it, such as leafy greens, nuts, seeds and whole grains. When nuts and seeds are roasted or their oils extracted, magnesium is lost. Cooking greens causes whatever magnesium they might contain to leach into the cooking water. Foods tend to lose less calcium than magnesium through these processes, adding to a troublesome dietary calcium overload that I will discuss shortly.
Drinking Water Quality
Our water is contaminated with fluorinated substances in several places – also in Denmark - and fluoride binds with magnesium, creating a nearly insoluble mineral compound that ends up deposited in the bones, where its brittleness increases the risk of fractures. If your water comes from deep wells that have magnesium at their source it will be an excellent source of magnesium though.
Bottom Line
A hundred years ago, we would get maybe 500 milligrams of magnesium in an ordinary diet. Now we're lucky to get 200 milligrams.
Magnesium, The Fuel That Runs The Body’s Internal Battery
Healthy, balanced, ‘REAL’ energy is supplied by magnesium. Without it you and your cells are drained.
Magnesium is a pure energy nutrient. It activates the enzymes that control digestion, absorption, and the utilization of the food you consume.
Magnesium is the key to unlocking hundreds of enzymatic reactions throughout the body. Of special note is the most important enzyme reaction: the creation of energy by activating ATP, which is the foundational energy storage molecule of the body.
By increasing your magnesium levels, your body is better able to deal with the ups and downs of everyday life and give your adrenal glands the fuel they need to keep your body functioning smoothly.
When The Body Is Given Abundant Magnesium:
The muscles are less likely to cramp up
The heart beats perfectly
Every part of the body moves smoother
The mind is calm and collected
The cells produce more energy
You become completely energized.
Your blood vessels become clear & relaxed
A deficiency of magnesium, on the other hand, will have negative impacts on the nervous system, ranging from mild to severely crippling, such as:
Fibromyalgia
Mental retardation in children
Daytime fatigue
Poor quality of sleep and/or insomnia
Depression
Magnesium And Detoxification
Today our bodies have to juggle an incredible toxic load on a daily basis and since magnesium is a key protection against these poisons a deficiency that also leads to things like extra deposits of metals in our brains - leading to Alzheimer’s, ALS, MS, Parkinson’s, autism and other neurological diseases.
Well-functioning detoxification pathways depend upon cellular magnesium sufficiency.
Calcium Overload — The Real Danger
Calcium is in nearly everything we eat today - the dairy industry alone spends millions of dollars every year marketing it, but when we consume too much calcium our bodies becomes “calcified”.
Magnesium stimulates the hormone calcitonin, which draws calcium out of the blood and soft tissues and back into the bones. This action helps lower the likelihood of osteoporosis, some forms of arthritis, heart attack and kidney stones. In fact magnesium injected directly into the blood at the time of a heart attack or stroke can be life saving.
Calcium cannot be absorbed and put to good use in our body if magnesium is not present, and as we are very good at depleting our bodies from magnesium in our daily lives, we have calcium floating around our system in free form, eventually collecting in places it isn’t needed and can’t be used.
An accumulation of non-bioavailable calcium in the body manifests in the form of aching joints, knee/hip problems, arthritis, and deterioration of cartilage. It also clogs the arteries and causes endless physical ailments until enough magnesium is available to bring the calcium into balance. So if someone one day suggests that you take some supplements of calcium for your brittle bones, I’ll suggest that you have your magnesium supply checked first.
Furthermore, as magnesium is responsible for relaxation—counter to calcium’s contraction. Thus magnesium is pivotally important to the healthy functioning of our parasympathetic nervous system (rest/digest). It may be hard to believe, but our bodies were actually designed to operate for the most part in a calm, relaxed parasympathetic state, rather than in the heart-pounding, stress- and adrenaline-driven mode of sympathetic nervous system dominance (fight/flight) that is nearly constant for many of us today, and which uses up great quantities of magnesium.
Magnesium And Cancer
Magnesium may help lower your risk of cancer, and a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that higher intakes of dietary magnesium were associated with a lower risk of colorectal tumors
Results from a meta-analysis indicated that for every 100-mg increase in magnesium intake, the risk of colorectal tumor decreased by 13 percent, while the risk of colorectal cancer was lowered by 12 percent. The researchers noted magnesium's anti-cancer effects may be related to its ability to reduce insulin resistance, which may positively affect the development of tumors. of DNA that control cell growth, cell cycle and cell differentiation (low differentiation leads to increased risk of cancer).
The Magnesium, Calcium, D and K2 - Dance
When balancing calcium and magnesium, also keep in mind that vitamins K2 and D need to be considered. These four nutrients perform an intricate dance together, with one supporting the other. Lack of balance between these nutrients is one of the reasons why calcium supplements have become associated with increased risk of heart attacks and stroke, and why some people experience vitamin D toxicity. Part of the explanation for these adverse side effects is that vitamin K2 keeps calcium in its appropriate place.
Similarly, if you opt for oral vitamin D, you need to also consume it in your food or take supplemental vitamin K2 and more magnesium. Taking mega doses of vitamin D supplements without sufficient amounts of K2 and magnesium can lead to vitamin D toxicity and the magnesium deficiency symptoms.
Foods Rich In K2
Chicken
Cheese
Ground beef
sauerkraut (raw, homemade is best)
kefir in plant milk
unpasteurized kombucha
kimchi
natto
How To Best Get Vitamin D
Go outside and catch the rays of the sun at noon. UV-B ray are your best source of this vital vitamin.
Eat some organic salmon
MORE: The Amazing Health Benefits of Safe Sun Exposure
Magnesium For Skin Care
This powerhouse mineral is also essential for keeping your skin performing at its best.
Prevents Wrinkles
Enzymes that regulate DNA replication and repair need the antioxidant power of magnesium to do their job. Without it, the skin is subject to a host of wrinkle-producing malefactors such as free radical damage and inflammation.
The book "The Magnesium Miracle" cites a study showing that skin cells grown without magnesium were twice as likely to suffer attacks from free radicals. Without DNA repair and with continued onslaught from pesky free radicals, it's only a matter of time before fine lines and wrinkles begin showing up.
Combats Skin Allergies
Eczema is often a sign of a magnesium deficiency. When magnesium levels are low, the body begins to produce histamines. Histamine creates itchy skin and red blotches, which is caused by swelling blood vessels leaking fluid into the skin and tissues. Along with histamine production, magnesium deficiency also results in lower levels of fatty acids on the skin. This reduces elasticity and moisture and creates the perfect condition for dryness and inflammation.
How Much Magnesium Do We Need?
Side effects are rare in supplement of less than 2,000 mg, which is about four times as much as is RDA, which is 400-600 mg
How To Best Have Your Magnesium
Top 10 Magnesium Rich Foods
The foods you’ll find that are highest in magnesium are pure raw cocoa and then the green leafy vegetables, which are packed with chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is known as the “life blood” of a plant and has the ability to absorb the sun’s light and turn it into energy.
One major difference between human blood and chlorophyll is that human blood has iron at the centre of the cell, but plants have magnesium at the centre of the cell.
One way to really increase your magnesium, as well as many other important plant-based nutrients, is by juicing your greens. I typically drink one pint to one quart of fresh green vegetable juice every day, and this is one of my primary sources of magnesium. Organic foods may have more magnesium if grown in nutrient-rich soils, but it is very difficult to make that determination.
The Top 10 Magnesium Rich Foods
Cocoa, pure and raw - 100 grams: 499 milligrams (125% DV)
Spinach — 1 cup: 157 milligrams (40% DV)
Chard — 1 cup: 154 milligrams (38% DV)
Pumpkin seeds — 1/8 cup: 92 milligrams (23% DV)
Yogurt or Kefir — 1 cup: 50 milligrams (13% DV)
Almonds — 1 ounce: 80 milligrams (20% DV)
Black Beans — ½ cup: 60 milligrams (15% DV)
Avocado — 1 medium: 58 milligrams(15% DV)
Figs — ½ cup: 50 milligrams (13% DV)
Banana — 1 medium: 32 milligrams (8% DV)
Recipe Magnesium Smoothie
This drink is rich in Magnesium. Use organic produce whenever available.
The numbers in brackets are the approx. Magnesium count.
Ingredients:
1 cup of kale or spinach (157 mg).
1 banana (32 mg).
1 tbsp. raw cacao powder (27 mg).
1 tsp. agave nectar or organic honey (1 mg).
1 cup of unsweetened almond milk (17 mg).
Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix thoroughly.
Total Mg count: 234 mg; 59-73% of recommended daily intake (RDI).
Supplemental solutions for magnesium
Be aware that there are a wide variety of magnesium supplements on the market, because magnesium must be bound to another substance. There's simply no such thing as a 100 percent magnesium supplement. Supplement solutions introduced in last 15 years, since deficiency solutions came out — are only serving as temporary band-aids.
They aren’t sufficiently restoring your body to complete-repletion, even if you are taking them on a consistent basis. Most run through your kidneys, causing stress, and are quickly purged from the body — due to incompatible and unnatural form. However I do though find Soloray's Magnesium Citrate clean and efficient and eat them regularly.
One of my friends recently complained about cramps in his fingers, toes and legs in the evening, so I recommended him to take a magnesium supplement right away. He started with 800 mg of magnesium citrate for three days and then 400 mg daily. The cramps disappeared immediately, and he hasn't had them since.
Magnesium Is Not Easily Absorbed Through The Digestive Tract…
To get magnesium in substantial repleting quantity, your best option is through your skin. Your skin is your largest organ, and allows you to replete at a much greater level — without any of the side effects, since it absorbs directly into your blood and tissues.
Magnesium chloride, for the topical solution, seems to have the highest bioavailability and be the least irritating form that is readily available for purchase by the general public. Some brands use magnesium chloride hexahydrate, which is really gentle on the skin and non-irritating, but not possible to make at home.
Whatever supplement you choose, be sure to avoid any containing magnesium stearate, a common but potentially hazardous additive.
Salt And Oils – The Best Solution
The ocean is still a wonderful source of magnesium and trace minerals, but for those of us who don’t have daily access to a beach, transdermal magnesium oil can be the easiest and most effective way to increase magnesium levels.
In a magnesium study in Spring 2010, patients using transdermal magnesium therapy saw increases in their cellular magnesium levels after 12 weeks of using magnesium sprays and soaks. The average increase over 12 weeks was 59,7%.
Or you can improve your magnesium by taking regular Epsom salt baths or footbaths. Epsom salt is a magnesium sulphate that can absorb into your body through your skin.
I use magnesium daily in some form and use magnesium oil on my skin most often. There are some really high quality pre-made magnesium oils available now, but it is also possible to make magnesium oil easily and inexpensively from magnesium chloride flakes. I use the following forms of magnesium oil:
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Dislaimer
All information in this blog is strictly for informational purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice. The statements made in this blog have not been evaluated by The Danish Health Authority. The products linked to in this book and any information published in this blog are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The information provided by this blog is not a substitute for a faceto-face consultation with your physician, and should not be construed as medical advice. The entire contents of this blog are based upon the opinions of Hanne Robinson. By reading and using this blog, you agree to only use this publication for personal informational use and not as a substitute for medical or other professional advice.