A Magnesium Deficiency Might Be To Blame for Those Unresolved Health Issues

You've got a mineral deficiency, and it's totally screwing up your life.

Despite your type-A health habits, you’re still exhausted during the day but wide awake and worrying your ass off at night. Oh yeah. You're irritable, grouchy and stressed, too. God help the bitchy co-worker who even looks at you the wrong way on a Monday morning.

The Culprit

You’re probably low in magnesium, babe, and you’re not the only one. Four out of five people suffer the way you do. In fact, according to Nancy Sacks, D.H.M. (that’s a Doctor of Homeopathic Medicine), magnesium deficiency is the cause of so many of our current issues – stress, trouble sleeping, chronic fatigue and hypertension. Oh, and magnesium even helps regulate your blood sugar, which would prevent that 3 p.m. tantrum you keep having, if you weren’t so deficient.

Where's My Mag?

Sacks has been seeing patients with symptoms of magnesium deficiency for over 20 years. She says that back when food was grown in nutrient-rich soil, getting enough magnesium wasn’t an issue. But these days, most soil is depleted of all the good minerals that keep us healthy.

If that's not enough, even magnesium supplements may not fix your issues. Why? Other things deplete magnesium from the body – emotional stress, heavy exercise, too much calcium in the diet and some antibiotics and oral contraceptives. Well, crap.

But don’t freak out – there’s good news.

The (Cheap) Fix

“Supplementing with magnesium is one of the cheapest ways to cure a host of 21st-century problems,” Sacks says. “It’s so important for relaxation, proper sleep, releasing stress, calcium absorption and even digestion. It’s the most important mineral, and it’s one of the first things I recommend to patients.”

Calcium Absorption?

Yeah, it turns out that calcium and magnesium go hand in hand. So even if you’re taking your pricey calcium pills, the effect could be squat if you're low in mag. But don’t just haul your ass to the pharmacy down the street – one of the issues with supplementing is knowing how much your body will actually absorb. If you’ve ever had neon pee after taking a multivitamin, that’s your body spitting out the stuff it couldn’t utilize. Lame.

What The Hell Do I Buy?

Sacks recommends a highly-absorbable form of magnesium, like Natural Vitality’s Calm. Two tablespoons in boiling water activates the magnesium, and you can drink it like tea. If the taste of salty minerals isn’t for you, there’s a raspberry lemon flavor that’s pretty tasty. Oh, and the price tag? Just under 25 bucks.

So get your magnesium under control and you’ll be back to your calm, composed, badass self.

Do you take magnesium supplements? Does it help? Leave us a comment below!

Jennifer St. Germain, Contributing Writer

A long-time health and fitness writer, Jennifer recently moved back to Los Angeles after spending two years writing and teaching English in Japan.  She now writes for several publications on a variety of topics, but veganism and animal rights are her favorite subjects.  When she isn't writing, you can find her drinking a little too much organic coffee, playing with her dogs or photographing her third favorite subject - jellyfish.

Photo sources: Lintilla, Jixar, Wanko

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