What can Magnesium do for you.  Let's talk about some of the elements in our bodies and how they can help improve our health and well being.  There are 112 different elements found in the body; out of those 112 there are 8 that we put most of our attention on when purchasing supplements.  They are; Calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine,magnesium and iron. We need these minerals to keep our body functioning properly.  The problem is some minerals, such as Calcium get so much press while others you hardly ever hear about.  I have 2 favorite minerals out of the bunch, one is potassium because I can see immediate results from muscle cramps and pain. When I ride my bike, hike, garden or just have a physically stressful day my muscles ache. I take 1 potassium tablet and in about 20 minutes I feel good. My muscles are relaxed and any cramping I may have had go away. If you are an athlete you know what I mean. Potassium also help us relax and get a good night sleep.

My next favorite mineral is Magnesium. This stuff is awesome; it dissolves calcium and assist in the bodies uptake of calcium. It helps keep adrenal stress hormones under control (anxiety and panci attacks), helps prevent blood clots by keeping the blood thin, helps keep bowel disease under control, helps get rid of constipation, reduces bladder spasms (cystitis), helps reduces depression by keeping serotonin levels in balance. Magnesium is crucial in the removal of toxic substances and heavy metals such as aluminum and lead. Magnesium enhances insulin secretion facilitating sugar metabolism (good for diabetes).  It also helps fatigue, it is a natural muscle relaxant, helps heart function, helps reduce osteoporosis by helping the body absorb calcium, also helps reduce tooth decay and heals head traumas more quickly.

Magnesium has been studied in depth in other countries like France, Sweden, Spain and Germany but the United States hasn't done extensive studies on magnesium. It is such an inexpensive way to heal so may problems the drug companies don't bother researching it;  they would not make the same financial return as they do on prescription drug. What we do know is magnesium is used in the hospitals in the U.S. for acute myocardial infarctions and cardiac arrhythmia because it works quickly and effectively. It is also used to help angina or chest pains in the U.S.

We have been trained by the dairy industry to make sure we get enough calcium but what they don't tell us is; without magnesium calcium will not totally break down for the body to use properly. Instead calcium floods the body and creates kidney stones, bone spurs, calcium deposits, osteoporosis and joint problems. Without magnesium and too much calcium the smooth muscles of the heart get flooded by calcium, creating heart problems.  A simple home test you can do is, crush a calcium tablet and put it in a glass of water. Wait a while to see how much dissolves, then add a crushed magnesium tablet to the water, wait about 5 minutes.  The remaining calcium will dissolve and the water will be clear. As you will see from this experiment the magnesium helps break up calcium so it can be used by the body.

In the U.S. almost all of us have a magnesium deficiency or imbalance due to our poor diets and lack of magnesium rich foods such as; nuts, molasses, kelp, cashews, almonds, brown rice, pecans, tofu to name just a few.  Women who crave chocolate when they are menstruating do so because of a magnesium deficiency. Chocolate contains more magnesium than any other food ounce for ounce. However, the sugar in chocolate may outweigh the advantages of the magnesium. Try taking 2 tablets of magnesium per day during this time and see the craving go away or add magnesium rich foods to your diet. I have tried it and it worked for me, I did however take 3 per day. There is so much information on Magnesium there's just not enough time or space to chat about it. You can find excellent books on the subject and learn more about it.

I hope you like this article I will be doing more articles this year on the minerals our body need.

Denise Basteiro-CMT