Are You or Your Children Magnesium Deficient?
This mineral is a ‘big deal’ when it comes to protecting you from type 2 diabetes, obesity and heart disease. And yes, your children are at risk for these diseases too.
Unfortunately while such ailments used to be the perview (the range) of the over 50 crowd, as clinical nutritionists we now see evidence of such diseases occurring in our young children.
Here are some Symptoms of Magnesium Deficiency:
• Muscle cramps, spasms
• High blood pressure
• Migraines
• Anxiety, nervousness and insomnia
• Low energy/fatigue
• Heart palpitations and arrhythmias
• Depression
• Kidney stones
• Osteoporosis
• Constipation
• Blood sugar instability
There is a lot of Research Proving the Connection
A Gallup poll in 2004 found that 80% of Americans are not getting the recommended amount of magnesium from their diet.
Even those who used supplements, only 35% of them were achieving the recommended daily allowance of this mineral. A study on over 4500 Americans found that magnesium intake is inversely related to risk of high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. Higher intake of magnesium actually decreased triglycerides and increased good cholesterol – HDL.
A very exciting study published a few months ago from Japan, evaluated over 58,000 healthy men over a 14 year period. They found that increased magnesium intake in the diet reduced the mortality risk of dying from heart disease by a whopping 50%. There was a stroke protection seen as well in a study that found that for every 100 mg increase in magnesium there was a 8-9% decreased total stroke risk.
Magnesium helps to control blood sugar and insulin. A deficiency can create insulin resistance, a condition associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes. Several studies have seen an association between obese individuals and obese children and a magnesium deficiency. One third of school-aged children do not meet their estimate average requirements for magnesium.
Why are You (and your fellow Americans) Deficient?
The three major reasons are:
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Insufficient consumption of magnesium-rich foods
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Having a condition the prevents adequate absorption of the magnesium you do consume. Celiac disease, gluten intolerance and other forms of a leaky gut fall into this category.
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Taking medications such as diuretics that cause a deficiency
The foods high in magnesium are:
Vegetables – Dark green leafy ones, especially spinach and broccoli
Nuts – almonds, cashews, pine nuts, brazil nuts
Seeds – pumpkin and squash seeds
Beans – black, white and navy
Do You Need Some Help?
In addition to a healthy diet, you may need to supplement your magnesium. We are here to help you discover if you need assistance to normalize your very important magnesium levels. This is a safe mineral to take, but you do want to monitor the dose and ensure that it is in balance with other minerals.
Is Your Health At Its Optimum?
If not, we can help you!—contact us for a FREE CONSULTATION. Call (408) 733-0400 to schedule. Our medical center is located in Sunnyvale, CA. If you are not local to us, our DESTINATION CLINIC treats patients from across the country and internationally. We will help you find the underlying root cause!
To your health,
Dr. Vikki Petersen
DC, CCN
IFM Certified Practitioner
Founder of HealthNOW Medical Center
Author of “The Gluten Effect”
Author of eBook: “Gluten Intolerance – What You Don’t Know May Be Killing You!”
References:
Diabetes Care, May 2005, 28 (5), 1175-81. “Magnesium deficiency is associated with insulin resistance in obese children” Epidemiology, “Magnesium intake and incidence of Metabolic Syndrome among young adults” 2006, 113: 1675-1682. Atherosclerosis, Vol. 221, Issue 2, April 2012 pg 587-595. “Associations of dietary magnesium intake with mortality from cardiovascular disease” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, “Dietary magnesium intake and the risk of stroke: a meta analysis of prospective studies” Journal of the American Dietetic Association “Using dietary reference intake-based methods to estimate the prevalence of adequate nutrition intake among school-aged children: 2002:102. 530-536.