Magnesium
By Nancy Addison CHC, AADP
As I have researched health and nutrition during the past 33 years, I continue to encounter the incredible healing power of magnesium.
Many people around the world are deficient in magnesium, but this mineral is essential and easy to incorporate into your diet!
Magnesium is a trace mineral necessary for hundreds of bodily functions, and a deficiency in magnesium can contribute to a host of health issues. Studies show that a deficiency of magnesium has been linked to diabetes, migraines, allergies, anxiety, asthma, attention deficit disorder, calcification of soft tissue (including the heart valve), muscle cramps, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, hearing loss, menstrual cramps, insomnia, irritability, trembling, twitching, and more. Magnesium deficiency can cause increased levels of adrenaline, which can contribute to anxiety.
Magnesium is necessary to transfer energy from protein to allow the muscle to contract. If you have high blood pressure, magnesium also helps keep blood pressure down.
Healthy magnesium levels are believed to lower the risk of Type 2 diabetes. Two separate research teams comprised of researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School found a link between magnesium and reduced Type 2 diabetes risk. These findings were published in the January, 2004, issue of the journal Diabetes Care. In fact, they found that “as magnesium intake rose, levels of several markers of inflammation decreased, as did resistance to the effects of the key blood-sugar-regulating hormone insulin. Higher blood levels of magnesium also were linked to a lower degree of insulin resistance. Increasing magnesium intake may be important for improving insulin sensitivity, reducing systemic inflammation, and decreasing diabetes risk.”
Yet, 56 percent of Americans do not receive sufficient magnesium from their diet.
One reason so many people are deficient in magnesium may be the use of calcium supplements not including magnesium. “High calcium intakes can make magnesium deficiency worse,” according to Forrest Nielsen. [iii] He says consuming additional magnesium can help. In an article on the USDA Agriculture Research Service website, Mr. Nielsen goes on to say: “The diets of many people do not contain enough magnesium for good health and sleep.”