Dietary Sense

Although the title sounds like a character from a children’s storybook – this headline is far from a fairy tale.

This mineral has been dubbed an orphan by Creighton University’s Professor Robert Heaney and yet it is the fourth most abundant mineral in your body. And just like an Olympic sporting event, remembering who won the Silver and Bronze medals is hard enough, no one remembers who comes fourth.

Yet this mineral is critical for almost every energy transaction in the body. Not as a primary mineral but as an equally important co-factor. The cellular powerhouse or mitochondria cannot function without it and no protein could be made in its absence.

It’s the heart of every chlorophyll molecule and so no plant can survive without it. In fact life as we know it is totally reliant on this mineral because, without photosynthesis capturing the sun’s energy and converting it to food energy, we’d rapidly die. So what is this miracle mineral and what’s prompted this interest?

The Magnesium Heart Is Green

Magnesium and Vitamin D

Regular visitors to this site will know more about vitamin D than many and understand the vital importance it plays in supporting optimal health and preventing many chronic disease symptoms. But what is less well known is the critical supporting roles and complex interactions with other factors, of which magnesium is significant.

Most people and particularly most women due to the inevitable march of menopause, are aware of the relationship between calcium and vitamin D. That is a topic for future discussion that will be covered in the coming weeks as the focus on minerals intensifies.

The magnesium and vitamin D relationship is not totally understood, but cases that clearly show the link have been documented. Instances where rickets was diagnosed and followed by ten days of vitamin D injections at 600,000 IU per day failed to bring about a response until further investigation revealed low blood magnesium levels.nce that ws]as corrected, the rickets resolved.

Then in 1976 Dr Ramon Medalle at the Washington School of Medicine found cases of magnesium responsive calcium deficiency that failed to respond to the normal vitamin D supplementation.

There is clear evidence that magnesium and vitamin D independently boost the immune system and that they do have a relationship via calcium. There has been insufficient research to determine an exact mechanism and further work is an exciting prospect. The challenge is that vitamin D, calcium and magnesium are all relatively inexpensive supplements and so research funding is likely to be minimal at best.

So if magnesium is so important will you be getting enough in your diet? Chances are… No.

The large dietary survey done every few years in the US called the NHANES survey is an incredibly comprehensive review of the average American’s diet. And it shows the vast majority of Americans are not getting their daily required amount of magnesium. Deficits range from just over 20% to over 50 percent with a distinct race relationship.

Although this may not relate directly to you it may well be an early warning sign. There are many sites where you can check on the symptoms of magnesium insufficiency but some common signs are muscle cramps, muscle weakness, dizziness, depression and pre-menstrual stress.  So…

How Do You Get Enough Magnesium?

Following on from the comments above you may have guessed that magnesium levels are high in any plant matter where chlorophyll is found. So eating plenty of leafy green vegetables and drinking green plant juices will increase your magnesium intake.

And it makes sense that seeds will also carry significant stores of magnesium as they have to produce the chlorophyll in the new seedlings so that energy production can begin once the seed stores have been used. And it doesn’t make any difference if the seeds are raw or roasted from the mineral perspective, the levels will be basically the same either way. So pumpkin and sunflower seeds along with all the nuts are great sources of magnesium.

And refining foods such as wheat will remove over 80% of the magnesium source.

So What Can You Do?

Dietary supplementation of magnesium gives less efficient absorption of total magnesium compared with pure dietary supply in food. However it is an inexpensive mineral. Eat plenty of green vegetables and lots of nuts. Strange how the same answers keep coming up no matter what the problem.

In the mean time if you want to supplement, which form and what type should you take? There are many different  supplements and that will be the topic of review for next week.