By Maha Blakeway
What do sugar, hypertension,
avocados, tahini, pine nuts, and bone
health have in common?
Most of us will associate bone health
with the mineral calcium. However,
calcium is not the only essential
mineral for your bone health.
Magnesium is not only crucial to
your bones, but it’s just as important
for your overall health. Magnesium
consumption has declined sharply
over the last century, mainly due
to large-scale farming and soil
depletion. In addition, the typical
acidifying Western diet, high in
SUGAR and processed food, actively
depletes magnesium in the
body. According to a study published
in The Clinical Biochemist Reviews,
Refining or processing of food may
deplete magnesium content by
nearly 85%. Furthermore, cooking,
especially boiling of magnesiumrich
foods will result in a significant
loss of magnesium.” Also, a high
intake of sugar increases magnesium
secretion in the urine.
Magnesium is so vital that a lack of
it can produce symptoms that mimic
serious illnesses and can cause
serious health conditions. Most
population suffers from insufficient
levels of it.
Unfortunately, this deficiency almost
always remains undiagnosed.
Determining whether or not you
have a deficiency can be difficult
for several reasons. Blood tests fail
because 99% of the magnesium in
your body is not found in your blood;
it’s found in your bones and muscles,
particularly your heart muscle. There
are some advanced Nutritional
serum tests that can be done in
specific labs, but they are usually
quite costly, and may not be covered
by your health insurance.
Yet another complicating issue is
the rate of magnesium absorption.
It varies significantly from one day
to the next, with absorption rates
ranging from 24 to 85%. Vitamin
D levels, digestive health, protein
ingestion, and calcium levels all
affect the uptake of magnesium in
the body. Fluoride ingestion is yet
another influential factor – fluoride
competes with magnesium for
absorption into the bones, because
they are absorbed along the same
biological pathway, so if you live in an
area where there is water fluoridation
happening to your drinking water,
then you need to be wary of your
magnesium levels and balancing the
2 minerals.
Here are some signs & ailments that
are related to Magnesium deficiency.
Knowing some key symptoms is an
important step in understanding
your own personal magnesium
needs.
• Anxiety
• Confusion/Poor memory
• Nausea
• Fatigue
• Hypertension
• Muscle twitches, weakness, and pain
• Sensitivity to sound and light
• Irritability
• Difficulty sleeping
• Fibromyalgia
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Restless leg syndrome
Magnesium is involved in hundreds
of metabolic processes, which
accounts in part for the wide range
of deficiency symptoms.
The Sources of Magnesium
You should eat plenty of magnesiumrich
foods such as leafy greens,
pine nuts, avocados, sesame paste
or tahini, peas, broccoli, cabbage,
green beans, artichokes, asparagus,
brussels sprouts, seafood like salmon,
tuna, mackerel, legumes. You can
supplement it with 400 mg of amino
acid chelated magnesium, as it’s the
most bioavailable form of this mineral.
Magnesium Chloride, Clycinate,
Malate, Sulfate and Citrate are all
good form too, as they each have
different therapeutic properties and
absorption rates, depending on your
needs, your health care practitioner
should be able to guide you.
Magnesium oil is easily absorbed
and one of my favorites. With any
supplements, you need to look for
a good quality one that is excipient
free. Don’t worry too much about
overdosing; any running stool would
be the first sign of overdoing it. A
daily Epsom salt bath or swimming
in the sea is another good option
for replenishing Magnesium in the
body.
Maha Blakeway, Naturopath BA, ND,
mCMA. For more articles related to
bone health, please visit her website @
Magnesium
December 18 / January 19 CSA 9
Naturopathy 
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