Magnesium
Everyone knows about your need for calcium, but few are aware at how important magnesium is for your body. Magnesium is necessary for the body to create enzymes that help all organs work properly. If you don’t have enough magnesium in your diet, it might affect the cardiovascular system, the digestive system, muscles, kidneys, the nervous system, hormonal secretion, the liver and the brain. That’s almost all of your body. Your bones contain over two thirds of the body’s magnesium as part of the building blocks of the bones.
Magnesium shortages show up in a variety of ways. One of the these includes
depression. Since magnesium helps balance
blood sugar levels, it’s possible that it shows it through not just depression but also confusion and disorientation, caused by low blood sugar.
You also might suspect a magnesium deficiency if you notice an inordinate amount of muscle cramps and contractions, numbness or tingling, arrhythmia or irregularities in your heart beat, seizures or an increase in your heart rate.
Since the magnesium is part of the chemical structure of the bone, when your bones soften or weaken, it might mean that you lack magnesium in your system. You’ll find that your body reacts in other ways. You may have headaches, nausea, vomiting or lack of appetite. A shortage of magnesium also causes your blood pressure to elevate and the amount of fat in you bloodstream to increase.
The water we drink doesn’t provide adequate amounts of the mineral. If the soil is low in magnesium, the vegetables and fruit also remain low. Many people used to receive magnesium through their water supply. If you have a heavy concentration of minerals in your water you’ll use a water softener. Water softeners often remove the magnesium from the water. Oops, there goes you extra dose of magnesium.
Most of the time however, a shortage of magnesium comes from a diet of junk. Bread products made from refined grains don’t contain
wheat germ or bran. These parts of the wheat contain the most magnesium. Every type of plant where you eat the part that contains chlorophyll, the green coloring, supplies magnesium.
Nuts and seeds contain magnesium and so a particularly high source comes from halibut. Beware of veggies that contain oxalic acid. Spinach is one of them. Spinach is extremely high in magnesium but the oxalic acid binds with it an flushes it out of your system.
You can lose a lot of magnesium through
heavy exercise and perspiration. Studies show that it affects your performance and the more you exercise, the worse the deficiency becomes. If your body doesn’t absorb the magnesium, it’s another cause for a shortage.
Stress causes you to lose some magnesium. Certain diseases such as kidney disease or those that cause diarrhea also cause either malabsorption or loss of the mineral. Some medications such as birth control pills, diuretics or antibiotics cause a loss of magnesium. Those that consume large amounts of alcohol, coffee or sugar also increase their loss of magnesium.
If you’re fighting a losing battle of the bulge, consider taking a supplement that contains magnesium. There’s a correlation between low magnesium levels and those
extra pounds. Since magnesium gives you a boost in energy, it might help you burn a few extra calories. Magnesium also helps you deal with stress, one of the precursors to many peoples weight gain.