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The Importance of Magnesium In Your Body
By Joe Fier | December 20, 2007
Many of us have heard of magnesium, but probably only from some crazy high school science class years ago. What many people do not know is that it is vital for the health of our body and its proper functionality. There are many forms that magnesium can be found in so we can easily balance our diets. Check out some of this important information that you’ve probably never known about magnesium and your body.
What is it? About 50% of it is found naturally in our bones, but the rest is located all around our bodies: muscles, tissues, organs, and blood. The body works to try and keep a healthy level and balance of natural magnesium in our system through our blood.
What does it do? There are no solid, agreed upon reasons of why we sometimes experience muscle cramps, but some speculate that it is caused by the dehydration in muscles and lack of vital nutrients after a difficult workout. Magnesium is a bone-building nutrient that is thought to help calm and relax muscles during these times. It’s believed that without the proper amount of magnesium, it will cause muscles to contract and spasm more often than not.
What you should do. If you workout intensely or don’t exercise at all, magnesium is right up your alley. Magnesium is vital for everyone, but deficits can be noticed if you are putting your body through strenuous exercises. Your muscles are prone to cramps and uncomfortableness without a proper amount of magnesium. Intake magnesium daily in one of its various forms to prevent injuries like this from occurring.
Magnesium is essential to over 400 various enzyme reactions and other daily bodily functions. Unfortunately, research has shown that many American diets are deficient in a proper daily amount of magnesium.
Magnesium aids the body with:
- Nerve conditions
- Muscle contractions
- Bone and tooth formation
- Protein metabolism
- And more importantly, heart and circulatory health
How much should you receive per day? It is recommended that a male over 19 years old should consume around 400 mg of magnesium per day. Women of the same age are said that they should eat roughly 300 mg per day. A deficiency of magnesium in a diet can occur and some pretty obvious results could show from it. Some of these are feeling fatigued, a loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, and weakness. If the deficit continues, it can lead to various muscle contractions, spasms, cramps, numbness, abnormal heart beats, and even a change in personality.
Where can I find magnesium in food? Green vegetables are normally the best and easiest place to eat magnesium in foods. Beans and peas, various nuts, and unrefined grains are also great sources. Sticking to unrefined grains, such as whole wheat foods are much higher in magnesium than flour or white bread products. Some excellent food sources are listed below:
- Halibut (90mg)
- Dry roasted almonds (80mg)
- Soybeans and spinach (75mg)
- Cereal and oatmeal (65mg)
- Baked potatoes (50mg)
Are there other ways to consume magnesium? There sure are!
- I have recently begun to consume magnesium in a liquid form. This is generally much quicker to digest and gets to areas in the body much quicker. I mix mine in water and drink it pretty quickly since the taste isn’t the best, but not anywhere near unbearable. I have chosen this method because it aids my aching muscles much quicker and effectively.
- Pill form. Calcium/Magnesium supplement pills are normally the most popular on the shelf in a nutritional store. They come in this combination because the two work hand-in-hand with each other. As the magnesium helps with muscle relaxation, calcium helps rebuild muscles and control muscle contractions after workouts and other daily activities.
- Powder form is also available. This isn’t nearly as popular, but if used, it can be mixed in with a drink, very similar to the liquid magnesium form.
Photo credit: brokenchopstick
Topics: Food Health, Health | 2 Comments »
March 4th, 2010 at 4:03 am
Of course, unlike the woman, the primary organs of reproduction of the male sex include just the penis and the testes. But these organs, especially the testes, are under a complex cycle of hormonal and chemical influences. Problems with any of these could result in infertility or poor fertility.
May 3rd, 2010 at 6:41 am
Working out at home is great! You don’t have to pay for a gym membership.