Magnesium as a musculo-skeletal supplement.
If you were to search ‘magnesium deficiency’ you would find that this is being labeled a silent epidemic throughout the world, New Zealand included. It seems that our ability to provide enough dietary intake of magnesium has decreased significantly in the last few decades. Refined sugars, stress, caffeine, antacids and bowel disorders all decrease our magnesium absorption. Our fast living lifestyles just don’t allow us to absorb magnesium as well as our Grandparents did.
Magnesium is involved in over 300 essential enzymatic reactions in our bodies that are involved in almost every biological process. Included in these important processes are muscle activity, nerve conduction, stress management, regulation of vascular tone and sleep. If you suffer from cramps, body aches, restless leg, shakes and tremors, broken sleep, excessive or ongoing stress or anxiety or high blood pressure magnesium supplementation could help.
Magnesium deficiency is linked to a large range of disorders including life threatening cardiovascular diseases, muscle cramps (especially during pregnancy) and diabetes mellitus. It is claimed to impact a large number of New Zealanders, yet we don’t seem to have an effective way to test for it. Only a very small percentage of available magnesium in our body is present in our blood or saliva. The blood acts to maintain magnesium levels in other tissues (i.e. muscle and bone) so by the time our blood is low in magnesium we could be severely deficient. Taking a magnesium supplement would then seem to be a good idea. It is important to take a ‘bioavailable’ form such as magnesium citramate. It can have interactions with other drugs and should not be taken by people with kidney disease or certain heart conditions, so it is important to consult your doctor if you take medications or suffer from either of these groups of diseases.
Book an appointment here or, if you would like any more advice, please give us a phone call and we will do our best to help.
David & Jeannie Baskeyfield, Osteopathic Natural Health, Waimauku