Magnesium as a musculo-skeletal supplement.
Magnesium deficiency is a globally silent epidemic. 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. A good magnesium supplement is therefore essential for healthy functioning.
Involved in over 300 essential enzymatic reactions, magnesium is vital 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 may cause a large range of disorders.
These may include life threatening cardiovascular diseases, muscle cramps (especially during pregnancy) and diabetes mellitus. This deficiency affects a large number of Kiwis. However, 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. People with kidney disease or certain heart conditions should not take extra magnesium as it may interact with other drugs they might be taking. It is important to consult your doctor if you take medications or suffer from either of these groups of diseases.
Read more about magnesium here.
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