Magnesium
Magnesium is a mineral that is necessary for many bodily functions, including building strong bones and teeth, metabolizing carbohydrates and fats, and sustaining nerve and muscle function. It also helps maintain hormonal balance and supports healthy immune system functioning.
Magnesium is the fourth most common mineral found in the human body. It is important for many cellular processes, including converting food into energy. Most of the magnesium content in the human body is stored in the skeletal system.
How is magnesium beneficial to the body? What are the sources of magnesium? Are there some risks that arrive from the consumption of magnesium? All these questions, and more we shall answer in this article.
What Food Contains Magnesium?
Magnesium can be found in many food sources including seafood, seeds, nuts, beans, chocolate — even coffee! Other sources include – leafy green vegetables, squash, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds. It is also contained in nuts like almonds, cashews, peanuts, pistachios, and walnuts, almonds, spinach, halibut, avocado.
Magnesium is vital for energy metabolism and neurological function. But oftentimes people have trouble getting enough magnesium from their diet alone, so supplements may be necessary to ensure you’re getting enough.
What Does Magnesium Do For The Body?
Magnesium is found in many foods, but its most well-known roles are as a mineral in the manufacture of proteins, amino acids, and nucleic acids, and as an electrolyte. Magnesium salts are responsible for creating the beautiful skin, hair, and nail health that people in some cultures take for granted.
Magnesium is particularly important to maintaining a healthy digestive system, due to its ability to regulate the body’s production of digestive enzymes, and its key role as a cofactor to glucose, fat, and protein digestion.
Here is an overview of the benefits of magnesium to the body.
- Magnesium supplements may lead to the development of bone minerals
- It is required for nerve and muscle function, growth, metabolism, and the maintenance of good health.
- Helps manage blood sugar.
- Magnesium plays an important role in managing blood sugar levels.
- It fights depression.
- Lowers blood pressure.
- It produces protein.
- Generates energy.
- Magnesium is required for the proper utilization of glucose and carbohydrates.
Is Magnesium A Blood Thinner?
Magnesium is used to create proteins that are needed for blood clotting. It is found in the bone and teeth, and also in the heart, liver, lungs, and other vital organs.
Some studies have shown that it may reduce the chance of having a stroke or heart attack by preventing platelets from forming too many clots. Magnesium is also used to make sure that the flow of blood to the heart can be regulated. Magnesium also acts as a muscle relaxant.
Magnesium deficiency can also increase the risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome, which occurs when your wrists or hands are pinched or compressed. The nerve compression associated with carpal tunnel syndrome leads to numbness, tingling, or pain in the affected area, which can be prevented with the supplementation of this mineral.
Here is the experiment that shows how magnesium affects out body.
What Happens When Magnesium Is Deficient?
Magnesium is essential to maintaining the healthy functioning of your body. It is a mineral that also is responsible for converting protein into energy. It plays a major role in repairing nerves and muscles. When your body has low levels of magnesium, you may experience tiredness, loss of strength, weight gain, muscle cramps, and brain fog.
To maintain muscle mass, your body requires at least 1,000 mg of magnesium daily. Excessive amounts of magnesium can lead to the following problems.
Stroke
Skeletal problems
Erectile Dysfunction (erections that do not produce semen)
Nervous system disorders
Bladder problems
Digestive problems
Weight gain
Insomnia
Diabetes
Iron deficiency
Disease of the blood vessels
Magnesium Vs. Blood Sugar. Does Magnesium Lower Blood Sugar?
While magnesium supports the body’s cells and their membranes, it also helps support a healthy nervous system and heart. Magnesium may play a role in the regulation of blood sugar levels in the body. It manages blood sugar levels in people with diabetes.
It does this by managing insulin and carbohydrate metabolism.
Blood Test For Magnesium Deficiency
If you have any signals of any problem the best thing is for your doctor to order a blood test, especially if you have diabetes or kidney problem.
Total serum magnesium test is most likely the test that would be conducted to determine your magnesium level. The result of your blood test will determine if you have a low or high level of magnesium in your body, and the doctor will give prescriptions that will either increase or lower your magnesium levels, as the case may be.
Does Magnesium Lower Blood Pressure?
According to a large population-based study in 2015, high levels of magnesium intake in the diet were linked to a lower risk of developing high blood pressure.
In a study involving nearly 300,000 adults, nearly 1 in 10 subjects had high blood pressure and the top dietary sources of magnesium were green leafy vegetables, nuts, and fish. Compared to those who had low magnesium intake, subjects with higher intakes were 8 percent less likely to have high blood pressure.
A study published in 2017, involving nearly 70,000 adults, found that the absolute benefit was small — 0.05 points of systolic blood pressure. However, the authors noted that the study had many limitations, and the findings may not have been statistically significant.
What Causes Low Magnesium In Blood? Low Magnesium Symptoms?
While many people may only think of magnesium deficiency when they feel sluggish and lethargic, low magnesium is actually a symptom of other issues. It is usually a sign of a more serious underlying condition.
Such deficiencies may affect the skin, muscles, and bones, affecting joint functions and potentially affecting the heart and nervous system.
Some of the most common low magnesium symptoms include:
increased tiredness
weakness
anxiety
lethargy
muscle spasms
painful and pins-and-needles sensations in the skin
When a magnesium deficiency is accompanied by the symptoms listed above, a doctor may decide that you need a magnesium supplement.
The cause of low magnesium in the blood can either be as a result of insufficient intake of magnesium or loss of magnesium from the body.
Can You Take Too Much Magnesium? What Are The Side Effects?
Unfortunately, a large percentage of magnesium supplements are consumed without considering the exact benefits that they offer. In order to avoid health risks, it is essential to get a fair idea of how much magnesium you should consume and at what times.
There are several sources of magnesium in the human body that can be consumed, such as bananas, barley, and milk.
These sources provide magnesium at different times of the day depending on whether you consume them with or without other foods. This means that you can consume a healthy meal that contains both other nutrients, such as carbohydrates and proteins, and have a serving of magnesium in the form of a supplement, which is likely to supply you with the required dose.
Magnesium And Heart Palpitations.
People who experience heart palpitations have a magnesium deficiency. It has been proved that a person who has had a heart attack will have a greatly reduced body mass index (BMI) and as a result a reduced amount of magnesium in the body. Therefore, it is quite common for people to take high amounts of magnesium supplements. However, the extra magnesium supplements sometimes have the adverse effect of interfering with calcium absorption.
What Is Magnesium Chelate? What Are Its Benefits?
Magnesium chelate is a form of magnesium that has been purified from its naturally occurring ore minerals. The mineral that is refined is called chelated magnesium because it is made up of two different minerals – magnesium and calcium.
When you consume magnesium chelate, your body does not absorb calcium and other minerals that your body normally contains. This is why magnesium chelate is not recommended for those people who are sensitive to consuming calcium in their food.
Magnesium chelate is used to treat or prevent several chronic diseases. However, it is important to make sure that you consume the correct dosage. Some people may have a sensitivity to consuming magnesium chelate. Therefore, make sure that you consume it in the correct dosage to enjoy its benefits.
Is Magnesium Good For Anxiety?
When magnesium deficiency is not treated, symptoms of anxiety can arise. The symptoms that are most likely to arise are stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, headaches, and muscular pain.
Interestingly, magnesium deficiency is the number one cause of anxiety. This is because, when magnesium is not absorbed, there is a reduced capacity for magnesium to form neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, GABA, and dopamine. As a result, the body experiences a reduction in the neurotransmitters that are needed for reducing anxiety.
The neurotransmitter serotonin is the main molecule that contributes to anxiety. When serotonin is absent from the body, the body experiences a number of physical symptoms, including anxiety, nervousness, a sense of uneasiness, and shakiness.
Do Magnesium Supplements Help You Sleep?
Many people who do not eat enough magnesium are finding that a few dietary supplements help them sleep better at night. The best sources of magnesium in your diet are dark leafy green vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and fish.
However, supplements are useful in providing extra nutrients such as potassium, which lowers blood pressure, and magnesium, which assists the body in producing a neurotransmitter called GABA that controls feelings of restfulness and alertness. Some people prefer to take magnesium before bed as a relaxing agent.
Magnesium supplements have the additional benefit of providing the body with an anti-inflammatory element, which may ease some conditions, such as lower back pain.
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