The past 2 months, I feel like I have had more and more people indicate on their intake forms that they are taking magnesium.  It’s not taking magnesium for general health.  It’s often the consumption of magnesium for symptoms like headaches, constipation, hypertension, poor energy, sleep, and restless leg.  Magnesium is being used and consumed like a medicine.

I know you’ve seen the Hippocrates quote of “Let food by thy medicine and medicine by they food” but I think with a little understanding of magnesium’s role in the body in addition to my favorite hormone, insulin, you will start magnifying magnesium.

Magnesium:

Searching the the criteria “magnesium deficiency”[MeSH Terms] OR “magnesium deficiency”[All Fields] in Pubmed elicits over 4,000 references.  Although it’s the least abundant blood electrolyte, it plays critical roles in regulating other processes in the body.  It is extremely important for the metabolism of Calcium, Potassium, Phosphorus, Zinc, Copper, Iron, Sodium, Lead, Cadmium, Hydrogen chloride, acetylcholine, and nitric oxide (NO).  Magnesium is essential in the production of ATP.  It’s necessary for your methylation processes.

Why are so many deficient?  Other than our poor soil quality, magnesium levels are decreased by excess alcohol, salt, phosphoric acid (sodas) and coffee intake, by profuse sweating, by intense, prolonged stress, by excessive menstruation and vaginal flux, by diuretics and other drugs and by certain parasites (pinworms).

Therefore the range of ailments associated with magnesium deficiency is staggering: hypertension (cardiovascular disease, kidney and liver damage, etc.), peroxynitrite damage (migraine, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, Alzheimer’s disease, etc.), recurrent bacterial infection due to low levels of nitric oxide in the cavities (sinuses, vagina, middle ear, lungs, throat, etc.), fungal infections due to a depressed immune system, thiamine deactivation (low gastric acid, behavioral disorders, etc.), premenstrual syndrome, calcium deficiency (osteoporosis, hypertension, mood swings, etc.), tooth cavities, hearing loss, diabetes type II, cramps, muscle weakness, impotence (lack of NO), aggression (lack of NO), fibromas, potassium deficiency (arrhythmia, hypertension, some forms of cancer), iron accumulation, etc.

What do many people do to treat these ailments that don’t want to to use pharmaceuticals?  They take more magnesium.  This isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  But if you want to magnify magnesium, there’s one physiological process that may have the most impact on how your body utilizes this key nutrient.

I'm exhausted, but I just can't seem to relax. Maybe it's more of an insulin problem than adrenals. Click To Tweet

Insulin Sensitivity:

Many are confused on the concept of insulin sensitivity.  Let me try and put it in context.

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