We imagine that medicine has advanced to the stage of miraculous cures, yet it’s not technology that we’re lacking but basic nutrients that power our bodies and give us our health. Clearly there is more to life than magnesium, but life can’t exist without it.
Magnesium: There’s Just Not Enough in the Foods We Eat
Over 80% of all adults in the world are deficient in magnesium. Along with vitamin D, magnesium is the most important mineral we are not getting enough of. The consequences of this deficiency on our health are monumental.
As researchers note, “low magnesium intakes and blood levels have been associated with type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, elevated Creactive protein, hypertension, atherosclerotic vascular disease, sudden cardiac death, osteoporosis, migraine headache, asthma, and colon cancer.”
Why Are We So Deficient in Magnesium
- Soil depletion that lowers the amount of magnesium in produce
- Digestive disorders (from refined grain and gluten consumption, chiefly)
- Antibiotic and OTC/prescription drugs that literally kill all the beneficial bacteria in the gut, destroying the ability to absorb nutrients from food (or supplements)
- The transport/decay of foods leads to magnesium loss
- The refining of grains, flours & sugars
- The magnesium in our water binds with fluoride, forming an insoluble mineral.
The consequences?
Well, your body uses magnesium for its most elemental functions, from your heartbeat to making essential hormones (necessary to maintain weight and metabolism). We exhaust magnesium every day and must replenish it, just like putting gas in a car, or the body suffers.
The trouble is, with everyone eating low-fat, lowcarb diets, we don’t eat a lot of the foods that are rich in magnesium, such as high fat nuts and carb-packed potatoes, and most of us don’t eat dark leafy greens like Swiss chard and spinach every day either.
Why We All Need Magnesium Supplements
Magnesium is so important to the body that deficiency in this mineral will result in noticeable symptoms, especially if we are deficient for an extended period of time:
- exhaustion/fatigue
- dehydration
- insomnia /trouble sleeping
- cardiovascular disease
- kidney and liver damage
- peroxynitrite damage that can lead to MS, glaucoma or Alzheimer’s disease
- nutrient deficiencies including vitamin K, vitamin B1, calcium and potassium
- hypertension
- depression, behavioral disorders, anxiety, and mood swings
The body loses its store of magnesium every day from normal functions such as muscle movement, heartbeat, and hormone production, so we must regularly replenish it through food or supplements to prevent deficiency.
