Are you getting enough Magnesium ?

Did you know that only 25% of people consume the Recommended Daily Amount (the bare minimum needed to prevent deficiencies) of magnesium yet it is shown to be effective for eclampsia and preeclampsia, palpitations, severe asthma, migraine, lowering the risk of metabolic syndrome, improving glucose and insulin metabolism, relieving severe period pains and alleviating leg cramps in pregnant women?

 

The authors of a recent review article on the therapeutic uses of magnesium said “Research has shown that the mineral content of magnesium in food sources is declining and that magnesium depletion has been detected in persons with some chronic diseases”. The review identified compelling evidence for the use of magnesium for the conditions listed above.

 

Magnesium is an incredibly important, yet commonly deficient mineral, but is a challenge to diagnose deficiency. The review points out that “diagnosis of mild to moderate magnesium deficiency is challenging because patients may be asymptomatic”  Considering the relative safety of magnesium and the high number of people with deficiencies it seems sensible to maximise magnesium intake through foods such as almonds, cashews, spinach, whole grains and legumes and/or dietary supplements.

 

Sources:
Guerrera MP, Volpe SL, Mao JJ. Therapeutic uses of magnesium. Am Fam Physician. 2009 Jul 15;80(2):157-62.

Are you getting enough Magnesium ?

Do we need supplements in a modern diet ?

At last, I have engaged brain, put pen to paper  fingers to keyboard and decided to do a post on a subject I am passionate evangelical about.  Good nutrition.  I must warn you that this will be the first of many.  I could drone on about this for YEARS.  So in an attempt to not overload you and bore you stupid I will adopt the drip feed  approach.  Bite sized chunks and all that.


Today I am going to post about giving children multivitamins.  Horror of horrors, yes it's true.  In fact, Star has had them since he was, hmmm, let me think, five days old.  There are a few common arguments people put forward for not taking/giving their kids multivits...

1. We get all the nutrients we need in our food/milk

 Not true.  The nutrient levels in food today is a fraction of what it was 30+ years ago.  Intensive farming has left the soil depleted.  Fertilizers supplement the major deficiencies but not all the macro nutrients.  If you need proof, send off a hair sample for analysis and I guarantee, however well you eat, you will have deficiencies. When you add in the fact that most people a) don't eat the perfect diet and b) have a lifelstyle/diet that exposes them to anti-nutrients ie pollution, stress, refined carbohydrates, alcohol, there is simply no hope of getting everything you need from food.  


     2.  Recommended Daily Amounts (RDAs) of nutrients are printed on packets of food/baby formula....


...so we know we're getting enough, right ?  Again, not true.  You need to ask yourself how the levels of RDA have been arrived at ?  The RDA is set at a level to prevent diseases of malnutrition.  We're talking scurvy and rickets here.  It is not set at a level to ensure we are the fittest, strongest, healthiest we can be.  Not by a very long way.


Of course the other thing as far as babies goes, is that if they are exclusively breast fed (which of course I wholeheartedly agree with), breast milk is only as nutritious as the mothers nutritional status.  And what's more , that leaves even fewer nutrients for the mother.


So, having established why I believe in supplementation I will give you one example of a study that has been done to demonstrate further.

A new study from the Karolinska Institute (the highest ranked university in clinical medicine and pharmacy in Europe) has shown that supplementing with multivitamins has no effect on the incidence of asthma, eczema, hayfever or atopic sensitisation.  However,  when they looked at data from children who started supplementing before the age of four, they found a 39% decrease in the risk of sensitisation to food. 

  

In the researchers own words “our results show no association between current use of multivitamins and risk of allergic disease but suggest that supplementation with multivitamins during the first years of life may reduce the risk of allergic disease at school age”.

This is just one little fact to consider.  There are so many others, and I will post further at another time, but doesn't it make you think ?

One last point.  If you work for a pharmaceutical company, or are a believer in their doctrine that all you need is drugs, please pass by and don't feel the need to comment.  I am not blogging about this to have heated debates on the subject but to put some info out there for open minded people to consider.  I've studied the subject, and seen the effects on my own family and am not about to have my mind changed. So There !

Do we need supplements in a modern diet ?