The Health Benefits of Magnesium

Magnesium is a mineral that is essential for healthy muscles, bones, nerves, and blood sugar levels. Although magnesium is found throughout your body, the highest concentration of it is found in bone. Its main job is to act as a cofactor (aka a helper molecule) in a wide array of important functions including energy creation, gene maintenance, muscle movements, protein formation, and nervous system regulation.

There is a long list of benefits that have been associated with magnesium. Below are just a few of them!

Although many people consider calcium one of the best ways to achieve bone health, it is only part of the puzzle. Around 50-60% of your body’s magnesium is found in your bones. When magnesium intake is low, it will be pulled from the bones to compensate. As a result, low magnesium levels are linked to a decreased bone mineral density (BMD) and an increased risk of osteoporosis. Magnesium works closely with both calcium and vitamin D to support one another, and your bone health and you need high levels of all three minerals to achieve optimum bone health.

Magnesium helps your body digest fatty acids and proteins and helps to regulate blood glucose levels. People who suffer from digestive issues may experience relief from taking magnesium supplements.

Magnesium helps regulate nerve and muscle function throughout the body, including the heart muscle. It helps the heart maintain a healthy rhythm and helps regulate blood pressure and cholesterol production.

Magnesium plays a key role in helping your body reduce your levels of cortisone, the stress hormone. This can lead to lower levels of anxiety. It can also help control the brain’s neurotransmitters which creates a calming effect in the body. 

If your body is deprived of magnesium for extended periods of time, you can end up having a magnesium deficiency. Your body will try to retain any magnesium that it has. You may begin to feel a little under the weather, weak, nauseous, and tired. As the situation worsens, it could lead to seizures, changes to your heart rhythm, and numbness and tingling. This is more likely to occur in people with digestive issues such as Crohn’s or celiac disease, type 2 diabetes, and kidney disease. It can also happen in people who use proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) to treat acid reflux.

Adults who consistently get less magnesium than the recommended amount also tend to have high markers for inflammation which has been linked with all kinds of major health problems including heart disease and certain types of cancers.

Hopefully, you have an idea of how important magnesium is to your overall health and wellness. If you suspect that you may have a magnesium deficiency, you may want to consider increasing your intake of magnesium-rich foods such as spinach, quinoa, almonds, black beans, and avocado.

You can also look into taking magnesium supplements. Here at Eagle Highland Pharmacy, we offer a wide range of magnesium supplements including powders and tablets. You can find a list of some of our options available online here. Otherwise, stop in our store where we have an even wider selection of magnesium supplements.