Magnesium - Your Body's Spark Plug Part I –The What, the How & the Why
I started researching magnesium in more detail a month or two ago and I’ll be honest it’s never ending! There is so much to take into account when you enter the world of magnesium and it’s fascinating in its own right. I know one blog won’t do this justice so I am going to split it out - otherwise you wouldn’t get the important information we all need to know and take into account when it comes to Magnesium.
What is Magnesium?
Magnesium is a mineral – and one of the most important minerals on earth. To give you some background into its importance, it is one of the 19 minerals considered essential for life and the 4th most common mineral in the body. It is involved in over 300 enzyme reactions within the body - your body's spark plug! The word Magnesium comes from a region in Greece which happens to have a high concentration of magnesium ore in the surrounding area. Like other minerals it occurs in nature with other elements – for example, you have magnesium & sulphur which give you Magnesium Sulfate otherwise known as Epsom salts. Most of the magnesium in our bodies is in our bones and teeth roughly 60-65%, the balance in the rest of the body and finally our blood – our blood however only houses 1-2% of magnesium. Hence blood tests are not an accurate level of the magnesium count in your body at any given time. Magnesium is mostly utilized in the heart and brain, which in my opinion, explains some of the reasons why it is so important for the nervous system and sleep. You will see too when you look at the symptoms of low magnesium it is often affecting the heart and the brain. Now the interesting part is that many of the symptoms of magnesium deficiency tick the box of menopausal symptoms – this is one of the reason I see this as being essential to your toolkit at this stage. Dr Carolyn Dean author of the Magnesium Miracle calls magnesium
‘the spark of life’.
This is a great name for this essential mineral as is so vital for so many processes that the body needs to complete on an hourly/daily basis.
How does Magnesium help you?
This is one food that I believe has to be incorporated into your diet at all stages in life, from children, growing teenagers, active sportspeople to perimenopause and beyond. It plays a vital role in heart health (blood pressure and steady heart beat), bone health, immune function, muscle function, brain health and energy transmission throughout the body. As you can see it is involved in several body functions, this vital role it plays can be seen in the vast number of symptoms that can be linked to sub optimal magnesium levels. The main conditions helped by magnesium are as follows:
Asthma
– It’s powerful anti-inflammatory impact can be very beneficial to people suffering from asthma.
– I have written about this before and how important magnesium is if you have this condition. There is a link between Fibromyalgia and low magnesium. Magnesium Malate is the form of magnesium best used to help here.
– the best relief for migraines is Magnesium & COQ10. Magnesium has been shown to alleviate the frequency and duration of migraines.
– our hearts contain the highest level of magnesium in our bodies. Optimum magnesium intake has been shown to have a positive impact on cholesterol and blood pressure.
Osteoporosis
– as most magnesium is stored in our bones any shortage can result in reduced absorption of Vitamin D (essential also for bone health) .
PMT
– Cramps along with your period can be very common and often create havoc for those few days of the month. The muscle relaxing effect of magnesium can be a great help here, it can also help the mood swings that come with PMT at any stage and during Perimenopause.
Depression
– I will talk in more details about the brain and magnesium but magnesium is involved in the production of neurotransmitters and plays an important role in blood flow & reducing inflammation. All of this helps our brains function optimally. It has also been studied and continues to be, in relation to brain injury – when a brain injury or concussion occurs it can cause tissue magnesium levels to fall by up to 60% - magnesium can help restore this balance.
Diabetes
– many people with Type 2 Diabetes can be deficient in magnesium due to an increased loss of this mineral through urine and also lower intake of magnesium through foods.
Aches, Pains & Inflammation
– you will have often heard about the great benefit of an Epsom salt bath after rigorous exercise – I had many of these in my marathon training in 2018! Inflammation and pain go hand in hand – inflammation in the body causes pain. In addition tight muscles can lead to sensitive nerve endings and they are the messengers that send the message back to the brain to indicate pain is being felt. Magnesium helps here by relaxing the muscles and the nerves.
Why are we no longer getting as much magnesium as we need?
This is a vast subject and there are many factors influencing how much magnesium we absorb into our bodies – alcohol and caffeine can impact absorption due to their diuretic effect. If you’re doing a lot of exercise excess sweat will led to loss of magnesium. How food is processed and cooked can decrease magnesium levels – for example take white flour, magnesium is stored in the bran and the germ, and this is lost in the milling process of the whole grains. Sugar also drains magnesium - for every molecule of sugar you eat, it takes 54 molecules of magnesium for your body to process it!.
Possibly the single biggest impact is modern farming methods. Acid rain where it occurs takes calcium and magnesium from the soil, the infamous Roundup binds with magnesium which means plants can’t absorb it like they used to. Pesticides kill the good guys we need in the soil and they are no longer there to do the job of breaking down minerals so the plants can absorb them. Our water too has less magnesium due to filtering processes that now occur. Certain medication like acid blockers, antibiotics and diuretics can reduce absorption. If you experience a bout of vomiting, diarrhea, urinary infection etc this increased loss of urine will result in a loss in magnesium. For those who are coeliac or have low stomach acid you will not absorb magnesium as effectively from your food as others. Finally chronic stress impacts our gut health which will inhibit the absorption and action of magnesium. This is by no means a conclusive list but these are some of the key reasons why we are lower in this essential mineral in today’s world.
How do I know I am deficient?
As I said earlier many of the symptoms of low magnesium are similar to perimenopause symptoms - the most common tell take signs are as follows - you will see they can mirror many menopausal symptoms:
Restless Legs, Muscles Twitches - low magnesium, potassium, calcium & iron
Constipation
Anxiety, Brain Fog - as magnesium is needed for neurotransmitter function.
Stress
Palpitations - this mineral is essential for cardiac function.
High Blood Pressure
Headaches / Migraines
Calcium build up in your muscles & tendons - you may have heard of Calcific Tendonitis, this is where calcium builds up in your muscles or tendons. Very common in the upper arm & shoulder.
Excess sweating - think night sweats & hot flushes, you will loss magnesium through this sweating, same for rigorous exercise.
Bloating - where there is low stomach acid magnesium cannot be absorbed properly.
Sleep Issues - insomnia
Teeth issues - if you have frequent cavities this can also highlight low levels
Appetite loss and/or nausea.
This is just the first part of the background to Magnesium and I am working on two additional pieces.
Next Up:
Magnesium Part II - How we absorb magnesium, the various forms and food sources
Magnesium Part III - Navigate the supplement world, a story & FAQ