Magnesium

Magnesium

During our lives we experience tight muscles, difficultly relaxing after a stressful day or have trouble sleeping at night.

These can be signs our body may be lacking one of our most essential minerals. Magnesium. This mega mineral is responsible for over 300 biochemical reactions in the body so it’s no wonder we need it. Unfortunately it’s also one of the greatest deficiencies found in the modern day lifestyle.

 

Magnesium is a mineral that supports your health and well-being in numerous ways.

 

• Waking up in the middle of the night with cramps is a common occurrence for many. The tightening of the muscle fibres may be due to the fact that the muscles need magnesium in order to relax.
• Disrupted sleep is often because we are stressed, tense and not able to unwind after a busy day. By raising magnesium levels the muscles may be able to relax and subsequently the body falls better into sleep.
• Low energy levels could be due to the fact that your cells do not have enough magnesium to create energy.
• Do you often crave chocolate? Perhaps your body is really shouting out for the magnesium found in cocoa!
• Taking magnesium orally can support healthy bowel movements as it has a laxative effect. Magnesium naturally draws water into the gut. This can help trigger peristalsis (the wave-like motion that helps move matter through your intestines) and soften the stool. When extra fibre and water in your diet are not helping your bowel movements, then perhaps a supplement of magnesium before you go to bed might be the answer you were looking for.
• Over half of our magnesium is stored in our bones and it works together with calcium and vitamin D to keep our bone structure solid. Getting enough magnesium in our diet reduces the chances of the body taking it from our bone stores keeping our bones healthy.

 

The Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) of elemental magnesium for men is 420mg and 320mg for women but sometimes this is not enough.