Magnesium ~ Your Secret Health Weapon
Dr. Kasia Kines, Nutritionist, CEO and founder of EBV Educational Institute
Virtual clinic serving the US and globally
[email protected]
Magnesium IS your secret Health weapon. I often share with you my love for magnesium (Mg) and its importance. Why? Because I see how much benefit it provides to the patients that are deficient.
First, based on studies and confirmed by the analysis of food logs I do of my patients, I am here to inform you that most Americans do not get the minimum Mg required for basic functions. Magnesium deficiencies are common in the western diet because we mostly rely on wheat or rice that have been refined and thus are depleted of magnesium. While most eat some nuts or seeds, we do not consume enough legumes or green leafy vegetables like kale, collard greens that provide Mg.
There are more than 300 enzyme systems in your body that rely on Mg! The truth is that it has a very impressive list of jobs it performs for your body. And while the standard dose for magnesium supplementation is 200-400mg, women tend to urinate and sweat out almost as much even if they get this amount! In a word, it is hard to get enough Mg in our typical diet.
Mg is an essential dietary mineral. Essential means the body cannot synthesize it on its own. For this reason it is necessary to make sure you get adequate amounts through a healthy balanced diet, including supplementation.
You may have inadequate levels of magnesium if you experience:
- poor concentration
- low memory and cognitive function
- muscle cramping (neck, back, jaws)
- poor sleep quality (trouble falling asleep and staying asleep)
- never really feeling awake, always tired
- being startled by loud noises
- frequent anxiety that cannot seem to calm down
- racing thoughts
- twitching in legs or feet
- numbness or tingling in legs, feet, or toes
- loss of appetite
- racing or abnormal heartbeat
- carb cravings and reduction in glucose tolerance (people with DM are notoriously deficient in Mg)
- increased blood pressure
- diminished capacity for neural excitation
Here are some jobs of the hard-working Magnesium:
- Mg is responsible for muscle relaxation, including the heart muscle
- Mg is involved in energy production – it carries ATP, which is a currency used for our cellular energy; if Mg is not stored in the bones, then most of the rest of it is stored inside the cell to support this cellular energy
- It is involved in body temperature regulation, nerve functions, metabolism and the production of neurotransmitters easily depleted by day to day stressors and activity
- Mg supports bone health- approximately 50% of Mg is deposited in bone tissue making sufficiency a vital component of bone health and aging
- Certain populations need more Mg based on their metabolic demand; athletes for example or those with a health condition
- Mg supports bone health, muscle development, and is important for cardiovascular health
- Healthy Mg levels are also associated with a protective effect against depression and ADHD
- Mg serves as an important electrolyte
- Mg is needed for digestion and detoxification
- Mg enhances control of inflammation
The intestinal absorption of magnesium varies depending on how much Mg the body needs, so there are not very many side-effects associated with supplementation. If there is too much magnesium, the body will only absorb as much as it needs. However, excessive doses may cause diarrhea. In fact, in cases of unexplained constipation of conditions such as gastroparesis, many clinicians including myself rely on higher doses of Mg supplementation to help patients relieve the compacted bowels.
Sources of Magnesium in Foods:
Fruits
Avocado, banana, figs (dried), raisins
Vegetables
ALL GREENS, e.g spinach, Swiss chard,kale, collard greens, beet greens; okra, potato with skin
1 cup cooked spinach is nearly 200mg Mg
Legumes
Adzuki beans, black-eye peas, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), great northern beans, kidney beans, lentils, lima beans, mung beans, navy beans, pigeonpeas, pink beans, pinto beans, soybeans, white beans, yellow beans.
1 cup cooked black beans has almost 120mg Mg
Grains and Grain Products
(More than 80% of the Mg is lost by removal of the germ and outer layers of cereal grains).
Amaranth (GF), barley, buckwheat (GF), buckwheat flour, bulgar, millet (GF), whole oats, quinoa (GF), brown rice (GF)**, wild rice (GF)**, rye flour.
3/4 cup cooked quinoa is about 120mg Mg
Nuts and Seeds
(Dried nuts or seeds provide more Mg than roasted).
Seeds: Pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds
Nuts: almonds, cashews, hazel nuts, brazil nuts, peanuts, walnuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts, pecans.
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds have almost 200mg Mg
Other
Molasses, seaweed, hummus, peanut butter, soybean products: tamari sauce, natto, miso, tempeh, raw tofu. Oysters, shrimp, halibut.
My favorite Mg source for relaxation: Epson salt in a hot bath!
If you a looking for a good Magnesium supplement visit www.kineswellnesssolutions.com
**To learn how to get rid of arsenic in rice, read more here.
Kasia Kines
Dr. Kasia Kines, Nutritionist, CEO and founder of EBV Educational Institute
Virtual clinic serving the US and globally
[email protected]
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If you want to transform your life, if you want health and wellness, if you want peace of mind, there isn’t a better investment than working with Kasia.~ Beth
2 Comments
Posted on February 9, 2017 at 11:00 AM by rose
Hi, Kasia. I am grateful to receive all the good informative material you send. Really helps to reinforce what I know, and learn new things. Again thanks and keep it coming. (miss you) Rose