What is not a drug, but more powerful than drugs in many ways? What is the “go-to” treatment at hospitals in many emergency situations, such as heart failure? What mineral has an astoundingly long list of more than 3,500 medical conditions that are related to its deficiency? Meet your new best friend: magnesium, the miracle mineral.

It is sadly ironic that such a vital, yet inexpensive mineral – which used to come to us from the dirt in which our food was raised – is now causing tremendous problems. By conservative standards of measurement (blood, or serum, magnesium levels), 65 percent of people admitted to the intensive care unit today have magnesium deficiency.magnesium

Sources of magnesium are whole grains, greens, nuts, and seeds; however, the soil where these are grown is becoming depleted of magnesium, and so these foods do not have nearly as much magnesium as they did 50 years ago.

This problem is only compounded by today’s highly processed diet that is based mostly on white flour, meat, and dairy (all of which have no magnesium). In other words, many of us receive practically no magnesium from what we eat.

This is further complicated by the fact that magnesium is often poorly absorbed and easily lost from our bodies. To properly absorb magnesium we need a lot of it in our diet.

Yet, our lifestyles are conspiring against us to drain our bodies of what little magnesium we do ingest. Our magnesium levels are being further decreased by stress, excess salt, coffee, phosphoric acid in sodas, alcohol, profuse sweating, chronic diarrhea, excessive menstruation, diuretics (water pills), antibiotics and other medicines.

Perhaps a recent scientific review of magnesium in Medical Hypotheses said it best: “It is highly regrettable that the deficiency of such an inexpensive, low-toxicity nutrient results in diseases that cause incalculable suffering and expense throughout the world.”

So, now that you have met your new best friend, what should you do? Try these three simple things.

(1) Stop Draining Yourself of Magnesium.
Cut back on coffee, colas, salt, sugar and alcohol. Ask your physician if any of your medications could be causing magnesium loss. (Many high blood pressure drugs or diuretics cause loss of magnesium.)

(2) Eat Foods High in Magnesium
Start including these natural sources of magnesium in your diet as often as you can: wheat bran, wheat germ, almonds, cashews, kelp, buckwheat, brazil nuts, dulse, filberts, millet, pecans, walnuts, rye, tofu, soy beans, brown rice, figs, dates, collard greens, shrimp, avocado, parsley, beans, barley, dandelion greens, and garlic.

(3) Take Magnesium Supplements
Most people will benefit from 400 to 1,000 mg a day, and the most absorbable forms are magnesium citrate, glycinate taurate and aspartate. Be sure to avoid magnesium carbonate, sulfate, gluconate and oxide. They are poorly absorbed (but are the cheapest and therefore the most common forms found in supplements).

Foods Highest in Magensium:
1.Squash/Pumpkin Seed- 535mg per 100 grams
2.Flax Seed- 392mg per 100 grams
3.Almonds- 286mg per 100 grams
4.Cashews- 273mg per 100 grams

Sources:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11425281
http://www.kumc.edu/school-of-medicine/integrative-medicine/health-topics/the-benefits-of-magnesium.html

18 Comments

  1. Pat Garcia says:

    Hi – thank you so much for the article about magnesium. My diet is very good and I take your green supremefood every day and have a great exercise regimen. After recently having difficulty sleeping due to muscle spasms and crawling sensations, migraines, etc., I decided to try 200 mg twice a day and have found relief from my muscle spasms and am sleeping well! Hopefully, this article will encourage others – thank you!!!

  2. bessie deleon says:

    could i also take magnesium have some problems with liver.but taking medcation.but i do try to take-care of myself.please ask me back.

  3. Marilyn says:

    I have a question. How would a person know if he/she is magnesium deficient?

  4. Lee says:

    I was taking about 400 mg Mg daily and found that it caused loose bowels and severely aggravated hemorrhoids. I also had dizziness and other symptoms. I’m posting so people can be aware that they may be sensitive at the doses recommended by the doctor (especially 1000mg a day!) . If you must use it there is a spray on form of magnesium that does not enter the intestines in like manner. Hope this helps!

  5. Michele M says:

    After being diagnosed with MS, my neurologist (into alternative med also) prescribed extra magnesium malate, as it helps many conditions associated with MS: muscle aches, constipation, and more. It has greatly helped. Most neurologists aren’t aware of this helpful mineral.

  6. George Hyde says:

    You did not mention the name of the supplement . I mean the magnesium supplement . Do you have one you sell, how much ?

  7. About how many calories are in a handful of toasted almonds – 6-8 almonds?

  8. Sharon Oakes says:

    Thank you for the great information. I wondered it the produce CALM is a good source of Magnesium. I purchased it from you a couple of years ago. Do you still carry it?
    It really helped me relax to sleep.

  9. shawnie says:

    I was wondering if it’s safe to take magnesium with a kidney transplant.

  10. George Hyde says:

    Please Dr. Colbert how much is Chelated Magnesium supplement and how I get it

  11. ingrid doctor says:

    very interesting article. I buy your cal-mag-d3 already which helps and eat almonds qd,wheat bran qd,lots of bown rice and avacados like dr. Colbert recommends.

  12. ingrid doctor says:

    very interesting article. I take your cal-mag-d3.i also eat wheat bran, brown rice, almonds, avocados and garlic. love the health blog!

  13. Kate says:

    my son is an athlete I have noticed that if he takes the magnesium pills he is fine but when he doesn’t he starts to cramp I would give him about a gallon of water a day would this be taking the magnesium out of his body during training.

  14. Leah says:

    Hello there. I just purchased your book last night: Toxic Relief and this is my first visit to your website.

    I just read in this article that you recommend staying away from magnesium oxide, but your Cal-Mag supplement contains magnesium oxide?

    Can you explain?

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