Are You Suffering From Magnesium Deficiency? Do you need more magnesium? How do you know if you are you getting enough? Signs of magnesium deficiency can include muscle cramps, poor sleep, chronic pain, chronic fatigue, stiff joints, back pain, inflammation, skin disorders, sensitivity to stress, anxiety and metabolic syndrome. If you have gluten intolerance, leaky or damaged gut, low stomach acid, bad diet, you need to read this post as you have a higher risk for magnesium deficiency. If your body isn’t getting enough magnesium, you will likely suffer from a range of health problems. The deficiency of this vital nutrient could be the root cause of many of illnesses.
Why Are We Not Getting Enough Magnesium?
It is very hard to get enough magnesium through your diet these days even if you do whatever you can to avoid the chemicals and eat mainly organic foods. This is because modern farming processes have depleted our soil of adequate natural magnesium. Also, there are many other factors that significantly decrease the amount of magnesium absorbed in our bodies. These include:
- Stress – Many of us experience high levels of stress on a daily basis. When we experience stress or anxiety, this causes our body to use up a lot more magnesium.
- Diet- Certain foods can also result in a decrease in magnesium such as caffeine, alcohol, and sugar. These foods also cause dehydration and high blood pressure.
- Medications- There are many over-the-counter medicines and prescription medicine that can deplete magnesium. These include: birth control pills, diuretics, insulin, and antibiotics.
- Toxic metals in foods and environment can block magnesium such as mercury, aluminium, and lead.
- Fluoride in tap water can build up in cells over time (as only about half is excreted in urine) and this will bind up available magnesium. Fluoride toxicity symptoms are similar to magnesium deficiency symptoms. Fluoride also kills beneficial gut bacteria that we need to help us digest food and take care of our gut wall – as fluoride acts like a pesticide.
Why You Need Magnesium
Magnesium is a mineral that is responsible for numerous bodily processes. It is the fourth most abundant mineral in our bodies and is essential for carrying out over 350 enzymatic reactions within the body. 99% of the magnesium in our bodies is in the muscle and bone tissue, and only 1% is in the blood. Blood tests are not an accurate indicator of tissue cell magnesium status.
Magnesium is commonly known for helping relieve constipation, but that is just one of it’s many crucial roles in the body. Magnesium is important for the functioning of your cardiovascular system and blood fluidity, heart rhythm, muscles, kidneys, bone building, skin health, energy and mental health, as well as balancing many other nutrients such as calcium and potassium. Having adequate magnesium levels has been found to prevent metabolic syndrome and diabetes, prevent osteoporosis and to normalize blood pressure. It helps to relax and relieve stress. As many diseases are a result of excessive stress, having enough magnesium can help us live longer in good health.
12 Common Magnesium Deficiency Symptoms:
1. Anxiety, over-emotional stress reactions and irritability
2. Weak bones, joint pain, arthritis and hypercalcaemia (calcification of soft tissue and free calcium in blood)
3. Skin disorders
4. Muscle weakness
5. Difficulty sleeping
6. PMS and hormonal imbalances
7. Inflammation and oedema
8. Hypertension and headaches
9. Low metabolism and sugar sensitivity
10. Abnormal heart rhythm
11. Muscle tension, spasms, cramps, restless legs, involuntary shaking
12. Chronic fatigue
These are just a few of the most common magnesium deficiency symptoms. Additional magnesium deficiency symptoms include: constipation, vertigo and tinnitus.
How to Find Out if You’re Truly Deficient in Magnesium
Are you suffering from magnesium deficiency symtoms and want to know how to fix them? When it comes to finding out if you have a magnesium deficiency, unfortunately a blood test is not an accurate indicator of tissue magnesium levels in muscle and bone where 99% of the magnesium is. The blood only has about 1% magnesium and the body will sacrifice its tissue magnesium stores in order to keep blood levels in a narrow range. That means your blood test could show normal levels, but tissue cells are depleted.
There are tissue magnesium tests available such as EXA test, but the easiest way is to check for magnesium deficiency symptoms. If they resolve when you get enough magnesium you have done your job. If not quite there, just add more magnesium. This is the beauty of using transdermal magnesium because the body absorbs what it needs and no more… Just like the roots of a tree can absorb minerals from the soil and not overdose itself, so can the capillaries under the skin absorb magnesium from the epidermis as is needed. We just have to make sure we are making enough available daily. That’s all.
More information and educational videos about magnesium deficiency are on our FAQ page…