Massaging magnesium cream, lotion and/or oil into chest and back muscles can also relax and calm down the inflammation, relieving aches and pains.
Stress causes excessive magnesium loss
Magnesium is easily lost under stress, which in turn weakens the immune system. These days we also have less magnesium present in the food supply due to less magnesium in our soils. Most people are actually magnesium deficient to one degree or another in our modern fast-paced global societies. When we add on extra stress, exposure to pollution, chemicals and heavy metals, or medications which rob the body of magnesium, it’s no wonder chronic magnesium deficiency grows with age.
Magnesium should be the go-to immune system support strategy, alongside vitamin C, when defending against viruses in the environment – particularly in the winter flu season.
Have you ever wondered why we tend to get colds more in the winter compared to summer? The reason is that we get more stress challenges when it is very cold (causing us to lose more magnesium). We also have less exposure to sunlight. So, what has sunlight got to do with it?
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is essential for the immune system. When skin is exposed to sunlight it makes vitamin D. The skin also needs cholesterol (from fats), as well as magnesium, to facilitate this process. People who live in arctic regions with weak sunlight have survived well by compensating with foods high in vitamin D – such as fatty fish and offal meats. Fish and seaweeds also contain a good amount of magnesium.
If you have access to sunshine and the seaside you could have a swim in the ocean.
You could drink coconut water (rich in magnesium), rub coconut oil or other plant fats like shea butter on your skin, and sunbathe to charge up their skin’s ‘solar panels’, thereby making extra vitamin D.
Be mindful of course about the length of time spent in the sun (which will vary according to skin colour and condition) so as not to burn and damage skin. Lubricating the skin with magnesium cream prior to sun-bathing will help it to stay moisturised and to recover quickly. It also provides rich nutrition to support the making of vitamin D.
This strategy also encourages the skin to build a healthy glow as it tans via the production of melanin in skin, which is a powerful antioxidant and protector against radiation. Melanin mops up free radicals. But fake tans don’t count!
Coronavirus (COVID-19)– no big deal for most people
The word ‘corona’ derives from the Ancient Greek and Latin, which means ‘garland, wreath or crown’. Scientists studying common cold viruses have identified a class with a common structure, encircled by bumps that reminded them of a crown, and so ‘coronaviruses’ became the common name to describe this group. In most cases the common cold is benign and we get only mild symptoms, recover and all is good again.
Some coronaviruses are more virulent than others. For instance the SARS epidemic of 2002-2004 caused a 15% mortality rate of those infected, whilst COVID-19 is causing somewhere between 0.4 and 3.4%, depending on location. There are anomalies such as Italy with higher mortality rates, but virologists are reporting that Italy commonly has more respiratory illnesses than other European countries.