If some weirdo walked up you and asked you to list the most important minerals you need for good health what would you answer? Most folks might manage to sputter out iron and calcium, and perhaps even potassium. But few of us would think of the mineral magnesium.
And that’s a shame, because magnesium isn’t just critical for staying healthy it’s literally involved in more than 600 separate reactions throughout your whole body. In fact, every single one of your cells contains magnesium, yet some studies show up to 50 percent of adults aren’t getting enough of it.
6 critical ways the mineral magnesium keeps you healthy
Which is a problem, when you consider how important magnesium is. Following are just six of the many ways the mineral magnesium can help you stay healthy.
1. Maintain bone health:
Magnesium helps activate vitamin D, so your body can absorb the calcium your bones need. It also helps convert that calcium into bone. Which is why, experts say, low levels of magnesium are linked to low levels of bone density.
2. Manage chronic inflammation:
We now understand that ongoing inflammation directly contributes to chronic disease. Magnesium is a natural at fighting that inflammation. In several studies magnesium was shown to slash many of the major markers of chronic, and dangerous, inflammation.
3. Fight off depression:
A study out of the University of Vermont linked low magnesium with a 22 percent greater risk of depression. And in another study researchers confirmed the connection when they demonstrated that a 450 mg magnesium supplement was able to improve depression symptoms in a group of volunteers as well as a prescription antidepressant.
4. Avoid diabetes:
A growing stack of studies has linked low levels of the mineral magnesium with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes. For example, a long-term study out of the University of North Carolina, which followed more than 4400 adults for 20 years. In it researchers revealed that folks with healthy levels of magnesium were 47 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than their peers with lower levels of the mineral.
5. Support heart health:
Magnesium is your heart’s best friend in so many ways. The mineral is required to maintain muscle health, which includes your heart muscle. Plus it’s vital to stabilizing the electrical signals that keep your heart beat steady and regular. And in the ground breaking Framingham Heart Study researchers found that people who got plenty of magnesium had a 58 percent lower risk of coronary artery calcification, a major risk factor for heart disease.
6. Dodge migraines:
Studies have revealed magnesium can help reduce the frequency and severity of migraine headaches for some folks. And in a study published in the Journal of Emergency Medicine, one gram of magnesium relieved migraine pain better than a popular medication.
Bump up your magnesium levels naturally
Adult men need 420 mg of magnesium a day, while women require 320 mg. And the good news is raising your magnesium levels couldn’t be easier.
Many everyday foods are rich in magnesium, and adding them to your diet can naturally raise your levels of this vital mineral.
- ¼ cup of almonds: 105 mg
- 1 medium avocado: 58 mg
- a medium banana: 33 mg
- One cup of cooked black Beans: 120 mg
- An ounce of dark chocolate: 64 mg
- a cup of cooked steel cut oatmeal: 58 mg
- 1 cup of cooked spinach: 157 mg
- ¼ cup of sunflower seeds: 128 mg
- 1 ear of sweet corn: 33 mg
Make sure you’re not one of the estimated 50 percent of adults that don’t get enough magnesium. Eat more magnesium-rich foods starting today.
Healthier Talk
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