While calcium and vitamin deficiencies typically command the spotlight in discussions surrounding nutritional deficiencies.
Magnesium deficiency - known medically as hypomagnesemia - is a silent crippler to your body's health.
Alarmingly, over half the population (around 57%) is grappling with this essential dietary requirement inadequacy. In older people, magnesium deficiency may increase the risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures.
In younger people, magnesium deficiency may prevent bone growth.
Getting enough magnesium during childhood is vital when the bones are still developing.
An insufficient magnesium intake can initiate a detrimental domino effect of severe health problems, owing to its critical role in numerous bodily functions. As you delve into this article, you'll uncover a comprehensive inventory of symptoms and causes associated with hypomagnesemia.
If these symptoms resonate with your experiences, rest assured that we have an exhaustive guide on the practical steps you can embark upon to rectify this true magnesium deficiency.
Consult a healthcare provider immediately if you have magnesium deficiency symptoms, as severe magnesium deficiency can result in hypocalcemia or hypokalemia (low serum calcium or potassium levels, respectively) because mineral homeostasis is disrupted.
Magnesium deficiency may lead to cardiac or respiratory arrest and death if untreated.
The good news is that augmenting your magnesium intake doesn't need to be a strenuous endeavor.
As you navigate this piece, you'll discover how seamlessly you can incorporate magnesium-rich foods into your diet, setting you toward better health. Stay tuned!
Common Symptoms of Magnesium Deficiency
Magnesium plays an indispensable role in over 700 to 800 crucial bodily processes. Consequently, its deficiency can manifest through a myriad of symptoms.
Despite the many signs associated with inadequate magnesium levels, they all generally revolve around impairing fundamental body functions such as sleep, appetite, and muscle.
Given the overarching impact of magnesium on the body's well-being, understanding the potential signs of deficiency is crucial for maintaining optimal health.
By proactively recognizing and addressing these symptoms, you can work towards restoring a healthy balance and ensuring your body's numerous processes operate seamlessly.
Liquid Magnesium for Quality of Sleep and Insomnia
In the realm of wellness, magnesium plays some crucial roles. One of these is the regulation of circadian rhythm, commonly known as our biological clock, which governs sleep-wake cycles.
Significant research indicates that magnesium can be a powerful aid for those suffering from insomnia. The mineral's sweeping influence over diverse bodily functions, including sleep and wake cycles, can heavily impact the quality of your sleep.
Should you find yourself constantly struggling with sleep or battling insomnia, checking magnesium levels might be the step in the right direction.
Role in Magnesium and Regulating Appetite
Another critical function of magnesium is its involvement in insulin regulation and protein synthesis, which is essential for maintaining good health and promoting weight loss.
Studies reveal that individuals deficient in magnesium tend to eat significantly more, considering the notable effect of magnesium on sleep functions.
Owing to its crucial role in absorbing carbohydrates and protein, a balanced magnesium level helps you derive the maximum nutritional benefits from your food, enhancing overall well-being and promoting good health.
Liquid Magnesium for Muscle Spasms
Magnesium deficiency can trigger what is medically termed "neuromuscular excitability". Commonly perceived as muscle spasms, these could be potent indicators that your body is starved for magnesium, further disrupting the proper transmission of signals to your muscles.
Effect on Coordination
Poor coordination could be a direct fallout of the same issues triggering muscle spasms. Unhealthy magnesium levels in the body could lead to improper signal transmission, delaying responses and impeding swift actions.
Faulty signaling might lead to decreased reaction time and compromise the ability to handle objects efficiently.
Influence on Vision
With a proven role in averting eye ailments like cataracts and glaucoma, magnesium deserves attention. These conditions tend to become more pervasive with age, emphasizing the need for a consistent intake of the recommended daily allowance of magnesium.
Effects on Personality Traits
Magnesium deficiency can have plausible psychological manifestations as well. Biochemical imbalances, often linked to mental disorders, can crop from an inadequate intake of essential nutrients.
As a mineral that aids in absorbing other minerals, magnesium plays an integral part in brain functions. The deficiency might bring about dramatic shifts in mood and personality, leading to depression, apathy, fatigue, and personality changes.
Association with Headaches and Migraines
Evidence from a meticulous, peer-reviewed study suggests that magnesium sulfate supplementation can dramatically alleviate migraine symptoms and the frequency of attacks.
The study cites, "A marked deficit in nutrients like riboflavin, magnesium sulfate, and coenzyme Q10 could disrupt migraine pathophysiology. Understanding that these elements are vital for energy production in the mitochondria, their deficiency could contribute to migraines, a condition linked with mitochondrial dysfunction."
The Role of Magnesium in Blood Pressure
Magnesium plays a cardinal role in maintaining optimal vein and cell wall functions and reducing mineral deposits in blood vessels, making it instrumental in regulating blood flow.
Hypoparathyroidism: Impact on Calcium and Potassium Levels
Contrary to popular belief, magnesium deserves substantial credit for helping the body absorb calcium and potassium. If you're struggling with low calcium levels despite adequate supplementation, your culprit might be an imbalance in magnesium levels.
A simple test can help ascertain this and steer you in the right direction.
Causes of Magnesium Deficiency
Magnesium is essential in countless bodily functions, from aiding in energy production and managing stress to maintaining healthy sleep patterns.
Given its critical importance, magnesium deficiency, when there is less magnesium in your blood than your body needs, can significantly affect your mental and physical well-being.
Various factors can lead to magnesium deficiency and adversely affect bone density, brain function, and nerve and muscle function. Understanding these causes is the first step towards maintaining optimum health and reaping the numerous health benefits associated with magnesium.
This section will explore the myriad factors contributing to magnesium deficiency.
Dietary Deficiency
While it may seem evident, the reality is that many individuals fail to attain adequate magnesium through their diet. This deficiency can largely be attributed to prevalent dietary patterns, especially in an American context.
The forthcoming section delves deeper into nutritional sources rich in magnesium, such as breakfast cereals. Meanwhile, it's worth noting legumes (such as beans) and green leafy vegetables (like kale and spinach) are powerhouses of magnesium, cementing the wisdom of eating your greens.
Does Alcohol Consumption Hinder Magnesium Absorption?
Despite a balanced magnesium intake from your diet, excessive alcohol consumption can hinder its absorption. An occasional glass of red wine or a beer is excellent, but if you're frequently experiencing any of the symptoms mentioned above, moderating your alcohol intake may prove beneficial.
Does Too Much Liquid Magnesium Cause Diarrhea?
An involuntary purge like diarrhea, often resulting from food poisoning or a stomach bug, can deplete the body of its magnesium reserves.
If you have recently experienced a bout of diarrhea, there's a high probability your magnesium levels may have declined.
Inadequate Absorption and Excessive Excretion
Occasionally, the kidneys and intestines might inappropriately manage magnesium in the body, leading to inadequate absorption and excessive excretion.
These organs could either not absorb sufficient amounts of the mineral or excrete it excessively, contributing to the risk of magnesium inadequacy and increasing the risk of magnesium toxicity and impaired renal function.
Hospitalized patients, in particular, are at a heightened risk of losing substantial amounts of this critical mineral during procedures or tests. If you've recently been hospitalized or a known acquaintance is presently there, and the above symptoms resonate, consider supplemental magnesium.
Antibiotics
A frequently overlooked culprit of magnesium decline is the intake of antibiotics. These drugs have been implicated in obstructing the absorption of magnesium.
Whether it's a short course or a sustained treatment period, it's essential to be aware of this aspect and monitor magnesium levels accordingly.
How to Test Your Magnesium Levels
Hair and blood tests are among the most effective ways to determine your body's magnesium levels. A blood test typically requires a small sample of blood, usually drawn from a vein in your arm.
Despite only 1% of the body’s total magnesium being found in the blood, blood tests remain a useful diagnostic tool for detecting magnesium deficiency. Such tests primarily investigate serum magnesium levels, providing an insight into magnesium concentration in your bloodstream.
However, hair mineral analysis can be an excellent option if you're looking for a more comprehensive and long-term picture of your magnesium levels. This method entails the examination of a small hair sample, generally taken from the scalp, to evaluate its mineral content, including the amount of magnesium.
One of the significant benefits of hair mineral analysis is that it reflects your body's nutritional history over 2-3 months, as opposed to blood tests, which only offer a snapshot of your immediate nutrient levels.
A magnesium test can also be conducted to check your magnesium level, along with other blood and urine tests such as calcium blood test, comprehensive metabolic panel, and potassium blood test.
The hair mineral analysis method has several advantageous features. It is non-invasive and pain-free, making it a sound choice for individuals apprehensive of needles, and it provides a holistic picture of your overall mineral balance.
This test can unveil insights related to various mineral imbalances and toxicities in addition to your magnesium status.
Furthermore, due to its ability to measure cellular activity, hair mineral analysis can detect deficiencies and excesses long before symptoms manifest, enabling early intervention. While testing for magnesium levels can be a crucial first step in identifying and addressing a deficiency, understanding the causes of such a deficiency is also vital.
Combined with a holistic approach to lifestyle and dietary modifications, these tests can help ensure optimal magnesium balance in your body.
Having these discussions and planning tests with a healthcare professional who can accurately interpret the results and guide you on your health journey is essential.
How to Overcome Magnesium Deficiency
Addressing magnesium deficiency and maintaining suitable magnesium levels in the body hinges upon critical strategies such as eating magnesium-rich foods and adhering to the recommended daily intake levels tailored to one's lifestyle and activity levels.
Incorporating various magnesium-rich foods into your diet is the first fundamental step toward overcoming magnesium deficiency. Whole foods are known for their high bioavailability of magnesium.
Notably, green leafy vegetables like spinach and kale, legumes like lentils (which provide about 120 mg of magnesium per serving), and chickpeas, whole grains like brown rice and quinoa, nuts, seeds, particularly pumpkin seeds, almonds, and chia seeds, and even fish and dark chocolate are all excellent sources of magnesium.
Regularly consuming these foods ensures you get enough magnesium in your diet and maintain optimal magnesium levels in your body.
On the other hand, daily magnesium intake varies significantly depending on an individual's age, gender, and physical activity levels.
Given the instrumental role of magnesium in energy production and muscle function, highly active individuals may require a greater daily intake of this mineral.
To put this into perspective, magnesium's recommended daily allowances (RDAs) generally vary from 310 mg for women aged 19–30 to 420 mg for men aged 31 years and above.
However, for athletes or others leading high-activity lifestyles, these values may need to be adjusted about 10-20% upwards to account for the additional need for muscle repair and enhanced energy synthesis.
According to an analysis of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) of 2013–2016, 48% of Americans of all ages ingest less magnesium from food and beverages than their respective EARs; adult men aged 71 years and older and adolescent males and females are most likely to have low intakes [22].
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) advises that women need 310–400 milligrams of magnesium daily, while men need 400–420 milligrams daily. How much magnesium you need depends on your age and whether you are pregnant or breastfeeding.
Further, it's crucial to note that these are merely general guidelines for magnesium absorption in older adults. Different individuals may need varying quantities of magnesium depending on their unique genetic makeup, existing health conditions, or even, in some cases, stress levels.
If you suspect you may be deficient in magnesium or are keen on boosting your magnesium intake for overall better health, and it would be wise to consult with a healthcare professional. They can thoroughly assess your nutritional needs and guide you in defining and executing an individualized magnesium-optimizing plan.
Magnesium Rich Foods
Magnesium is an essential nutrient that plays a crucial role in various bodily functions, and incorporating magnesium-rich foods into one's diet is critical to promoting optimal health.
One way to differentiate the foods is by ranking them based on magnesium levels. Top contenders in this regard are leafy greens, like spinach and Swiss chard, that boast significant quantities of magnesium. Nuts and seeds, such as almonds and pumpkin seeds, also make the list, while legumes like lentils, chickpeas, and black beans also contribute to the body's magnesium needs.
Surprisingly, even dark chocolate serves as a potent source of magnesium, with one square containing around 95 mg.
Lastly, avocados also impress due to their ample magnesium content and wealth of healthy fats.
While selecting magnesium-rich foods is undoubtedly essential, keeping an eye on consuming highly processed foods is equally imperative. Such foods typically contain lower crucial nutrients like magnesium, featuring added sugars, unhealthy fats, and elevated sodium levels.
These elements may hinder the absorption and utilization of magnesium in the body. As a result, it's recommended that one mainly focuses on consuming whole foods and limits the intake of highly processed counterparts.
Additionally, treating vitamin D deficiency can also contribute to improving magnesium absorption.
Another challenge when seeking magnesium-rich foods is the decline of magnesium levels in food and soil. Factors like industrial farming practices, excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers, and the depletion of soil's nutrient content have contributed to this decline, leading to produce with lower nutrient levels.
With this in mind, organically grown produce can significantly benefit one's magnesium intake, as it is commonly higher in magnesium and other crucial nutrients. Consuming diets with adequate magnesium may reduce the risk of high blood pressure (hypertension).
Maintaining good magnesium levels in the body requires a multifaceted approach in which individuals focus on consuming magnesium-rich foods, opting for organic produce, and limiting the intake of highly processed foods.
By adopting these guidelines, people can effectively improve their magnesium status, ultimately promoting overall well-being and health.
Magnesium Supplementation
Maintaining an optimal magnesium level can be challenging, mainly if your circumstances entail significant travel or limited access to magnesium-enriched foods. In such scenarios, we propose an innovative solution — a liquid magnesium supplement.
More specifically, we endorse a breakthrough form of magnesium known as liquid nano magnesium oxide.
Our liquid nano magnesium oxide is designed to target mineral deficiency, representing a new supplementation era precisely. The differentiating factor lies in its inherent design, which allows for effective absorption in the mouth and upper stomach.
The high absorbability of this progressive form of magnesium oxide renders it a powerful tool if you need an immediate boost of this essential mineral.
The benefits of our nano magnesium transcend its high absorption rate. It also exhibits an unprecedented speed of action within your system, surpassing the performance of any other form of magnesium widely available on the market. This rapid response time helps in swiftly bridging any nutrient deficit and allows you to experience the benefits faster.
Our nano magnesium supplement ushers in an era of superior mineral supplementation. It offers a practical, rapid, and accessible solution for maintaining necessary magnesium levels, regardless of lifestyle or dietary constraints.
This gives you the confidence that your body's magnesium needs are consistently and adequately met, helping you achieve your health and wellness goals with greater ease and efficiency.
Conclusion
In light of our comprehensive analysis of magnesium deficiency, it is clear that magnesium is a fundamental mineral crucial in reliably carrying out over 700-800 body processes.
With an alarming prevalence of over half the population grappling with hypomagnesemia, understanding the symptoms and causes is critical. While symptoms can manifest in various ways, most are centered around disrupting essential bodily functions, which can be rectified by maintaining optimal magnesium levels.
Common causes are dietary deficiencies, excessive alcohol consumption, medicine intake, and medical conditions.
One effective method to assess magnesium levels and detect deficiencies early on is through Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA).
HTMA is a non-invasive test that measures the mineral content in your hair. It can provide valuable insights into your body's mineral balance, helping pinpoint any deficiency or imbalance that may lead to health issues, including magnesium deficiency.
Fortunately, regular testing can help detect magnesium deficiency in its early stages, and adopting a balanced diet rich in magnesium or taking suitable supplements like our revolutionary liquid nano magnesium can effectively combat and prevent this pervasive issue.
By prioritizing magnesium intake, recognizing symptoms, understanding causes, and utilizing diagnostic tools such as HTMA, everyone can take significant strides toward achieving better health and successfully conquering magnesium deficiency.
We have an article that tackles the 5 Big Reasons to take magnesium. Check it out!