Are you suffering from a magnesium deficiency? The truth of the matter is that not many people are even aware of the fact that magnesium is one of the most essential minerals for maintaining good health. It doesn’t get as much exposure and publicity in the health press as other minerals such as calcium and iron. Yet magnesium is fundamental to over 300 everyday natural chemical processes that take place in our bodies!

The Importance of Correctly Diagnosing a Magnesium Deficiency

But don’t worry it’s not just ordinary folks who are not aware of the importance of magnesium; it’s the medical fraternity too. For such an important mineral, you’d think that checking it out should be part of a standard blood test? Well, it isn’t! In fact many people “in-the-know” now believe undiagnosed magnesium deficiency to be a major cause of iatrogenic illness and/or death – that is – illness and/or death, brought about by misdiagnosis, and erroneous medication.

Understanding what Magnesium Does

So, for all of us guys and gals who are into a holistic health lifestyle, we’re going to have to educate, ourselves. If you think of magnesium as just being something that’s used in flares, let’s lighten up our darkness. No, no – not with flares! – With research! Let’s explore why this mineral is so essential for holistic health, and find out what the signs of magnesium deficiency are, to enable us to set about dealing with it in our own holistic way.

The Signs of Magnesium Deficiency

Research suggests that over 50% of the population of the USA have a magnesium deficiency. We are living in what many people term as being the “silent epidemic of the modern era”. One of the big problems with diagnosing this deficiency is the fact that the symptoms are not unique; they are shared with many other conditions too. In order to determine whether or not you may indeed be magnesium deficient, here are a few things to look out for.

• A deficiency of calcium
• Developing heart disease
• Muscular weakness
• Muscular cramps
• Muscle tremors
• Hypertension (elevated blood pressure)
• Developing Type 2 Diabetes
• Experiencing dizzy spells
• Shortness of breath
• Fatigue
• Difficulty in swallowing
• Poor memory function

But before you go careering off the rails, there’s one thing to bear in mind, and that is that just because you have one or more of the above symptoms, it does not necessarily follow that you have a magnesium deficiency. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy to detect, which is perhaps why our friends in the medical fraternity often overlook it during a medical examination.

Try the Remedies Anyway

If you do suspect that you might have a magnesium deficiency, then the best thing to do is to try the following remedies. Don’t worry – although these remedies will replenish magnesium if your levels are low, if it does turn out that they’re not, they won’t ordinarily cause you to overdose. To do so you’d have to consume huge amounts of the foods were going to outline, or sit in a bath of magnesium oil for days on end. It would be rather an expensive exercise too!

Epsom Salts

Add Epsom salts to your bath or make a foot bath. Magnesium is highly absorbed through the skin (transdermally) .

Magnesium Supplements

Magnesium supplements are available in most pharmacies and drugstores. They usually contain magnesium citrate, as this is one of the easiest forms of digestible magnesium. For most people who follow a holistic health lifestyle, taking a natural magnesium supplement is fine, but please note the use of the word “natural”. Just make sure you read the label carefully before buying, and if in doubt, check with the pharmacist.

Magnesium Oil

Natural magnesium oil isn’t actually an oil at all. Its real name is magnesium chloride, and it’s a solution of brine that is derived from ancient sea beds. It is applied topically. Some users have commented that when they first started applying magnesium oil topically, they experience a mild tingling sensation in the area it was applied. However, if you do experience this, it lasts for only minutes, and after the first few applications, there’s no sensation at all.

Supplementing Magnesium through Diet

Other than natural magnesium supplements, which are bought over the counter at pharmacies, many people prefer to boost their levels of magnesium through diet. The following foods are rich sources of magnesium:

• Almonds
• Black beans
• Cashew nuts
• Okra
• Pumpkin seeds
• Sesame seeds
• Spinach
• Squash
• Sunflower seeds

As always, when food is cooked, it loses much of its vitamin and mineral value, so where possible, either eat it raw, or in the case of Squash and Okra, leave the skin on and cook it to make it easily edible, but do not overcooked it. Spinach of course is great uncooked, as a salad ingredient.

Taking Advantage of a Truly Holistic Lifestyle

Replenishing the amount of magnesium in our bodies to the optimum level can benefit us in many ways including; regulating blood pressure, facilitating quality sleep, stabilizing our body’s production of calcium, strengthening our immune systems, and granting us a more holistic, healthy disposition. It’s simply got to be done.