The Health Benefits of Magnesium
Magnesium is a vital mineral, it helps lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes by keeping blood pressure at a healthy level, preventing abnormal blood clots in the heart and keeping its rhythm smooth and steady. It helps keep other muscles in the body healthy too and can prevent them getting stiff. Magnesium also helps the body absorb calcium and is vital for strong bones and teeth.
Magnesium also helps to give you more energy. With good supplies of magnesium the active person will require less oxygen when exercising and will tire less easily than those people whose level of magnesium is low.
Learning benefits
A recent study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) showed that magnesium is needed for effective brain function: it helps maintain the health of the connectors that transmit information from neuron to neuron, enhancing our memories and ability to learn.
Magnesium deficiency
There are quite a few symptoms to magnesium deficiency however if you do suffer from any of the following please do not self diagnose. Go armed with your information and see what your doctor says, as it is possible for many other factors to effect the following symptoms. With a lack of magnesium in your diet you may suffer from the following: hypertension, cardiovascular disease, depression, diabetes and a weakened immune system. You may also find the following occurs: an increase in your stress levels, insomnia, migraine, cancer, asthma and restless leg syndrome.
How much Magnesium?
Infants
0-6 months – 30 mg
7-12 months – 75 mg
Children
1-3 years – 80 mg
4-8 years – 130 mg
Males
9-13 years – 240 mg
14-18 years – 410 mg
19-30 years – 400 mg
31+ years – 420 mg
Females
9-13 years – 240 mg
14-18 years – 360 mg
19-30 years – 310 mg
31+ years – 320 mg
Foods rich in magnesium
A wide variety of foods contain high levels of magnesium including green vegetables such as spinach (Popeye is safe then – Beeble), also sunflower and sesame seeds, brazil nuts, cashew nuts and almonds, soya, herbs and spices, tomatoes and fish. Whole wheat bread has twice the amount of magnesium than white bread because the magnesium-rich wheatgerm and bran are removed when the flour is processed for white bread.
View the top 100 foods that contain Magnesium.
July 27th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Happened to stumble across this blog, very glad I did. Was recently researching some information about stronger bones and related foods.
Thanks for posting
August 5th, 2009 at 1:24 am
Great post. When I was younger I had a calcium deficiency, related to a lack of magnesium. Without magnesium you cannot have enough calcium absorption into the body.