Are You Getting Enough Magnesium in Your Diet?
Most of our diet problems today are issues of excess: we get too many calories, too much fat, sodium, and arguably even too much protein. But when it comes to nutrients, many of us are coming up short. Magnesium, for example, is dangerously low in modern diets. Before modern manufacturing, our ancestors ate whole foods grown on farms with plenty of magnesium in the soil. 100 years ago, magnesium deficiency wasn’t an issue. Today…well, here’s an eye-opening fact: “In 1900, the average daily intake of magnesium was about 450 milligrams a day….Studies show that we now only consume about half the magnesium that we did 100 years ago.” (Kindig, p. 11) It’s not just that modern farming and acid rain strips the soil of magnesium – it’s also that our diets have completely changed. Processed foods – a staple in many diets – are extremely low in magnesium. One of the biggest issues is refined grain. Dr. Carolyn Dean explains that “one slice of whole-wheat bread holds up to 24 mg of the mineral, while a slice of white bread has only 6 mg.” (p. 28) You can imagine that it’s pretty tough to get the conservative RDA of 400 mg of magnesium by eating white bread! You’d need about 66 slices! Getting Enough You may be wondering, how can I possibly get enough? The best sources of magnesium are whole, unprocessed or minimally-processed plant foods. Kelp, wheat bran, wheat germ, almonds and cashews top the list. In The Magnesium Miracle, Dr. Dean sets out a “Magnesium Eating Plan” (pp. 234 – 238). Some of the recommendations are, shall we say, advanced. That is, if you’re shifting from a convenience diet of processed foods and animal products, you’ll find some of Dean’s suggestions a bit challenging. Most of us just don’t eat soaked amaranth, millet, or even buckwheat, let alone kelp or dulse. But we should. As a starting place, let’s talk about practical first steps. What might a magnesium-rich diet look like when comprised of ordinary grocery-store foods, without a lot of special prep? Here are some suggestions. A Magnesium Rich Menu Plan Breakfast With a selection of the above, your breakfast should contribute about 150 mg of magnesium to your total daily tally. Lunch A light lunch like this yields about 100 mg of magnesium. Snacks A good snack can contribute between 40 and 80 mg of magnesium. Dinner With a combination of the above, you can get about 200 mg of magnesium. Adding It All Up A diet devoted to magnesium-rich foods like these can cover the average requirements for an adult. But you need to be consistent. Note that magnesium needs spike with added stress (physical and emotional), sweat, and when we consume caffeine, fluoridated water, alcohol, sugar, alcohol, calcium, salt and animal protein. Like Dr. Dean says, “the typical American diet, which is rich in fat, sugar, salt, synthetic vitamin D, phosphates, protein, and supplemented calcium, not only is deficient in magnesium but actually increases the need for magnesium in the body.” (p.23) Not eating a typical diet is a good starting place! Sources
Ultimate Guide to Topical Magnesium Chloride
We get a lot of questions about our topical magnesium chloride products. That’s why we’ve written this Ultimate Guide. Beginning with the ‘what’ and ‘why’, we move on to the ‘how’, ‘how much’, ‘how effective’ and ‘how safe’ questions people frequently ask. What is magnesium chloride? Magnesium chloride is what’s called a ‘magnesium salt’. It’s a compound of the mineral, magnesium, and the essential electrolyte, chloride. Magnesium is used in hundreds of processes across the body. It’s essential for chemical reactions, the production and transport of energy, synthesis of protein, transmission of nerve signals, muscle function, healthy DNA, and more.1 Chloride is found in all body fluids, and it is responsible for maintaining pH balance, transmitting nerve impulses and regulating fluid into and out of cells. You may have also heard of magnesium chloride hexahydrate (MCH) lately, and wondered whether it’s the same compound. MCH is chemically produced in a lab, in contrast to the magnesium chloride we use, which is harvested directly from seawater. Hexaydrate means “without water” and when MCH transdermal brands make magnesium spray, cream or “oil”, they rehydrate these lab-produced magnesium flakes. What difference does it make? MCH only includes magnesium chloride without the 90+ naturally-occurring trace minerals found in magnesium chloride from seawater. There’s reason to believe that these trace minerals in seawater are also beneficial to our health. What do we mean by topical magnesium? Magnesium chloride, sometimes referred to as “magnesium oil”, is known as a topical magnesium. In other words, magnesium chloride can be absorbed through the skin. Today, we’re more aware than ever that the substances we apply to the skin are absorbed into the bloodstream. That’s why some medications are delivered through a skin patch, and it’s also why we need to be careful about what products we apply to our face and body. But we can also use natural topical products therapeutically. People have been using minerals like magnesium topically for thousands of years. Ancient Romans and their predecessors may not have known that minerals could explain their healing baths, but they knew that long soaks in certain waters were beneficial to health. Is magnesium chloride a natural product? How is it made? Magnesium chloride liquid is a natural product, extracted from brine or seawater. Ours comes from salt evaporation ponds along the coast of southern California. The Dead Sea in the Jordan valley is another well-known source. The ocean water captured in the ponds is allowed to sit for several months until it becomes a concentrated form of magnesium chloride. Ours also contains 80 to 90 other trace minerals, naturally occurring in ocean water. Liquid magnesium chloride can be added to other solutions, like the massage gel we use in our Magnesium Chloride Gel or Balm. Magnesium chloride can be mixed with oils (as it is in the balm), but it’s a common misconception that magnesium chloride is an oil. This type of magnesium is popularly known as “magnesium oil” because of the viscous, slippery texture. Magnesium chloride is also available in ‘flakes’, a solid, crystallized format used for baths, like Epsom salts. The flakes are prepared by heating the magnesium chloride liquid until the water is completely evaporated. In the process, the chemical structure of the product changes and it becomes a less concentrated form of magnesium chloride. Who needs magnesium? We all need magnesium every day. And most of us aren’t getting enough through diet. Magnesium can help with nerves, muscles, heart, hormones, bones, teeth, and more. It provides relief from stress, improves sleep, reduces pain and has innumerable benefits. That’s because magnesium is an essential mineral for health. Athletes and anyone with chronic body pain, or Restless Leg Syndrome tend to love topical magnesium. If you have cramps (PMS-related or otherwise), you’ll appreciate the muscle-relaxing effects. We’re often asked if our magnesium products are safe during pregnancy. Unless you have a serious health condition, you can feel confident taking magnesium at a normal dose. Magnesium is great for pregnancy-related cramping and to keep blood pressure low, essential for a healthy, full-term delivery. Topical magnesium is suitable for almost anyone. To learn more about the safety and benefits of supplemental magnesium, read Dr. Carolyn Dean’s book, The Magnesium Miracle. Why choose topical magnesium? Many people think of topical magnesium as a treatment for sore muscles. It is that, and much more. You can expect all of the renowned benefits of magnesium from topicals: better sleep, relief from stress, pain, tension, plus the long-term protective effects for heart-health and more. Here’s why you might want to add magnesium chloride to your regime: