The Benefits of Magnesium; Why 80% of Americans Are Deficient

Magnesium has several health benefits such as healthy bones and sleep promotion!

Essential minerals like potassium and calcium often take center stage when it comes to nutrition, but magnesium is absolutely crucial for healthy bodily functions. Magnesium is one of seven essential macro-minerals and plays a vital role in over 300 biochemical functions in the body.

Getting your daily intake of magnesium is important as it needs to be continually replenished through food and water intake because your body does not produce it. With up to 50% of the US population believed to be deficient in magnesium, the need for it is generally underestimated and sometimes ignored .

Magnesium has several health benefits such as:

• Healthy bones
• Relieves insomnia and promotes sleep
• Prevents migraines
• Eases stress and anxiety
• Improves digestion and alleviates constipation
• Protects the heart
• Lowers blood pressure

Why Does Your Body Need Magnesium?

Magnesium is found in 60% of your teeth and bones as well as 40% of your muscles. It’s a nutrient your body requires to stay healthy. It helps to carry out tasks such as regulating muscle and nerve function, blood sugar levels, and blood pressure.

Magnesium also helps to synthesize protein, ATP, DNA, and RNA. ATP, the ability to store and transport chemicals within cells, is one of the most important metabolic processes within the body. ATP is directly linked to magnesium.

Despite its importance, 8 out of 10 people are magnesium deficient. An adult woman needs approximately 310 to 320 milligrams of magnesium a day, and a man needs 400 to 420 milligrams . Up to 68% of American adults don’t meet the recommended daily intake. Magnesium deficiency or hypomagnesemia can cause chronic health problems.

Side effects of magnesium deficiency are:

• Constipation
• Osteoporosis
• Panic attacks and anxiety
• Insomnia
• Asthma
• Headaches and migraines
• Hypertension
• Tooth cavities
• Kidney damage
• Muscle tightness, weakness, and cramps
• Painful PMS symptoms

Lower levels of magnesium have often been found in sufferers of chronic migraines. One study found that taking magnesium supplements on a regular basis has been shown to decrease both the frequency and intensity of migraine headaches.

Low levels and magnesium deficiency can have a massive impact on a number of different functions throughout the body. From constipation and headaches to insomnia and hypertension, magnesium is a powerful nutrient with incredible health benefits.

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Magnesium plays a crucial part in energy production as the mitochondria in your cells rely heavily on it to produce energy. Therefore, feeling tired and a lack of energy may suggest you lack in magnesium. Increasing your intake could help to improve your energy levels.

Do you have a Magnesium Deficiency?

What Contributes to Magnesium Deficiency?

Stress hormone production requires high levels of magnesium. Stressing more and relaxing less contributes towards a lack of magnesium. Environmental pollutants and depleted soils can also lead to low levels of magnesium.

The body loses magnesium every day due to normal functions such as muscle movement and hormone production. To prevent deficiency symptoms, you need to replenish the amount of magnesium daily through supplements or through your diet.

Contributing factors of magnesium deficiency include:

• Table salt
• Emotional stress
• Physical stress or exercise
• Excessive caffeine
• Excessive alcohol
• Fluoride

A critical review of the evidence linking magnesium deficiency to alcohol consumption shows that alcohol acts as a magnesium diuretic. Meaning it causes an increase in urinary excretion of magnesium. Another finding showed the link between chronic alcohol intake and the body’s stores of magnesium becoming depleted.

A large majority of people are deficient in magnesium. This likely comes down to the quality of food sources, processed foods, and poor modern day cooking practices. Prevent magnesium deficiency by eating foods high in magnesium or through supplementing your diet with it.

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The Benefits of Magnesium on Your Health

1. Healthy Bones

You’ve probably been told you need calcium to build strong bones. But calcium is just one of several minerals needed to build and support healthy bones. Its partner in crime, magnesium, is just as important in keeping bones strong and malleable. An adult body has approximately 25 grams of magnesium with over half of it in just your bones .

Magnesium helps you absorb calcium into the bones and plays a role in activating vitamin D in the kidneys. Vitamin D is also essential for strong and healthy bones. One study found that the optimal intake of magnesium was associated with increased bone density and improved bone crystal formation. The researchers also found that women after menopause were at a lower risk of osteoporosis.

Having healthy, strong bones at any age is important. Doing exercise helps build bone density, and having the right intake of nutrients all helps in keeping those bones healthy.

Check out Healthy, Strong Bones at Any Age: Part One

2. Relieves Insomnia and Promotes Sleep

If you’re suffering from insomnia and having trouble sleeping, then you’re not alone, 35% of U.S adults don’t get seven hours of sleep each night. Magnesium is a key nutrient for sleep as it prepares your body for rest by relaxing your muscles. It also helps to calm your mind and nerves by regulating two of your brain’s neurotransmitters , the messages that tend to keep you awake.

One study found that magnesium supplements were very effective in not only improving sleep efficiency but also sleep time, and reducing early morning awakenings. Some research has also found that magnesium may help to prevent restless leg syndrome which can contribute to loss of sleep in some people.

3. Prevents Migraines

Anyone who has suffered from a migraine knows they are debilitating and painful things. Sensitivity to light, nausea, and vomiting are all symptoms that can occur with the onset of a migraine. Some researchers suggest that people who suffer from migraines are more likely than other people to be deficient in magnesium.

Magnesium has not only been shown to be associated with migraines but may also help in the prevention and even treatment of them. One study found that supplementing one gram of magnesium provided relief from an acute migraine attack more swiftly and effectively than common medication.

4. Eases Stress and Anxiety

Magnesium plays an important role in controlling your body’s stress-response system, and the hormones that increase or lower stress. Cortisol is a hormone the body releases when you are under stress. When you’re stressed for long periods of time, chronic elevation of cortisol can become an issue.

One study has found that during stressful times, magnesium can help by lowering cortisol levels, preventing neuroinflammation and generally lowering the tendency of anxious feelings.

5. Improves Digestion and Alleviates Constipation

Acid reflux, constipation, gas, and bloating are all signs that your food isn’t being processed properly. Magnesium can help to relax the digestive tract while neutralizing stomach acid, which encourages healthy bowel movements that can be passed easily. One study found that low magnesium intake was associated with an increased prevalence of constipation.

6. Protects the Heart

Magnesium is vital in maintaining the health of the muscles in the body, which includes your heart. Your most important muscle, your heart, needs magnesium. An adequate intake of magnesium has been associated with a lower risk of atherosclerosis, a fatty build up in the walls of your arteries.

In the Framingham Heart Study , people with a higher intake of magnesium had a 58% lower chance of coronary artery calcification and 34% lower chance of abdominal artery calcification. Researchers found that magnesium reduces the build-up of calcium in your heart and arteries. This build up, coronary artery calcification, is a marker and predictor of cardiovascular death.

7. Lowers Blood Pressure

A number of studies support that magnesium is a useful tool in lowering high blood pressure. Generally, the nutrient doesn’t impact blood pressure levels in people with normal blood pressure but helps those suffering from hypertension.

Dietary Sources of Magnesium

Magnesium helps to produce energy and regulate blood sugar in the body. The mineral is found naturally in a number of different food sources. With the average diet receiving less than the recommended daily intake, you can add new foods to your diet for a natural magnesium boost.

The best dietary sources of magnesium to incorporate into your diet are:

• Whole grains
• Spinach and leafy greens
• Almonds, cashews, and Brazil nuts
• Legumes
• Avocado
• Tofu
• Seeds
• Bananas

There are several natural plant-based sources of magnesium that you can use in your diet to increase your intake of the mineral. As wheat is refined, magnesium is lost, so it’s best to choose products that are made from whole grains.

It’s not always easy to monitor your consumption of vitamins and minerals, let alone magnesium itself. Therefore, it can be difficult to know if you’re getting enough from your diet alone.

One of the easiest ways to make sure you replenish your magnesium daily is to take a magnesium supplement.

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Magnesium Supplements

Sunwarrior’s vegan organic Liquid Ionic Magnesium and trace mineral solution contains over 72 different trace minerals to fuel your body. The solution is easier to absorb and assimilate than other forms of magnesium. Magnesium helps soothe muscles, improve brain and heart health, and helps you sleep better.

Helping you become physically and mentally stronger, this yoga in a bottle builds resistance to illness. Mix four drops of the solution in juice or any liquid of your choice. You can also use it topically and add a couple of drops directly onto the skin or with your favorite moisturizer to help soothe sore muscles and joints.

Sunwarrior’s Liquid Ionic Magnesium contains trace minerals including:

• Magnesium
• Chloride
• Sulfate
• Boron
• Potassium
• Concentrated Seawater complex

The ingredients selected for the Liquid Ionic Magnesium have been carefully chosen, and all serve a purpose.

Chloride helps regulate the pH balance of your body fluids and maintains proper blood pressure and blood volume. As well as enhancing kidney function, chloride also aids in digestion and absorption of nutrients like vitamin B12 and iron.

Sulfate helps keep your hair, skin, and nails in good condition by improving flexibility and elasticity. Comprised of the elements oxygen and sulfur, it is the fourth most common anion in your blood. It aids in detoxifying the body of drugs, food additives, and toxic metals.

A light trace element, boron improves your retention of magnesium and helps prevent osteoporosis. It also helps promote healthy bones, joints, teeth, and gums. Taking a magnesium supplement is an effective way of meeting your recommended daily allowance.

The Benefits of Ionic Magnesium