What do these have in common? They can leach the nutrient magnesium you’re your system, making it difficult for the body to absorb it. Why is that such a big deal? Too little magnesium can lead to muscle cramping, weakness, lethargy and a host of other unpleasant symptoms.
Magnesium is an essential nutrient for humans. It is a common mineral in the body and plays a role in numerous bodily functions that help promote good overall health and well-being. Dietary magnesium is absorbed in the small intestine and excreted through the kidneys.
What Does Magnesium Do?
Magnesium is essential to the body’s ability to maintain proper muscle and nerve function and to the heart’s ability to maintain a proper heartbeat. It also supports and boosts immune system function and helps the body maintain good bone health. Further, it helps regulate blood sugar and blood pressure levels. It may also have a positive effect on the treatment of disorders like cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes.
Patients who suffer from chronic asthma may be able to normalize their breathing with the help of magnesium supplements that aid in relaxing the bronchial muscles and regulating breathing. Even patients who are experiencing breathlessness may have their symptoms relieved by the administration of intravenous magnesium.
Magnesium also plays an important role in producing proteins, which transform into collagens, or naturally occurring proteins that are found mostly in fibrous tissues like tendons, ligaments and the skin. The more collagen in the system, the stronger those areas of the body will become.
Symptoms of Magnesium Deficiency
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), symptoms of magnesium deficiency can include:
· Loss of appetite
· Nausea and vomiting
· Fatigue
· Weakness
As the condition worsens, the patient may start to experience numbness and tingling, muscle cramps, seizures, cognitive and personality changes, and abnormal heart rhythms.
You can find magnesium in many of the foods you eat now.
Dark, Leafy Greens
Dark, leafy greens are rich in magnesium. Of the current daily value, Swiss chard can give you 38 percent of your total DV, followed by spinach (20 percent) and kale (19 percent). These veggies are also high in vitamin K, which makes them beneficial for bone health, and they are major sources of iron, calcium, beta-carotene and vitamin C.
Quercetin is an antioxidant found in many leafy vegetables that has unique anti-cancer properties. This natural compound is able to block the substances involved in allergies.
Nuts and Seeds
Squash and pumpkin seeds both pack more than a day’s worth of magnesium in half a cup, with countless other nuts offering big boosts, including sesame seeds (63 percent), Brazil nuts (63 percent), almonds (48 percent), cashews (44 percent), pine nuts (43 percent), mixed nuts (39 percent), peanuts (31 percent), pecans (17 percent) and walnuts (16 percent).
These foods are rich in healthy, monounsaturated fats, and they may help you maintain your weight by satiating your appetite in a healthy way. They can help stabilize blood sugar levels and improve your cholesterol level and triglycerides, which may reduce your risk of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. They are also rich in vitamin E, which help keeps skin looking beautiful and protects eyesight.
Fish
Mackerel can give you 24 percent of your total daily value of magnesium per 3-ounce filet. Pollock can give you 18 percent; turbot and tuna each can give you 14 percent; and most other fish average 8 percent of your total daily value of magnesium. Fish are low-calorie, high-protein “brain foods” because of their rich content of polyunsaturated essential omega-3 fatty acids.
Eating fish can help reduce your risk of heart disease by 50 percent when eaten once a week. One Danish study found that women who rarely ate fish were actually at a three times greater risk of heart disease than those who ate it often. Fish also helps preserve gray matter neurons, which can help protect against Alzheimer’s disease, and when taken alongside prescription antidepressant medications, it can help treat depression.
Beans and Lentils
Soybeans offer 22 percent of your daily value per cup, while other beans follow closely or beat that amount: white beans (28 percent), French beans (25 percent), black-eyed peas (23 percent), kidney beans (21 percent), chickpeas/garbanzo beans (20 percent), lentils (18 percent) and pinto beans (16 percent). These foods are also great for helping you maintain your figure, with one study finding that those who eat beans had a 22 percent lower chance of becoming obese.
Beans and lentils are also rich in iron and copper, a trace element that’s crucial for making skin pigment and boosting connective tissues. They may help lower your risk of cancer by 25 percent by eating them just once a month.
Whole Grains
Brown rice can give you 11 percent of your total daily value of magnesium, and wild rice provides about 13 percent. Quinoa tops the list at 30 percent, while other grains can offer you a significant dose, including millet (19 percent), bulgur (15 percent), buckwheat (13 percent), whole wheat pasta (11 percent), barley (9 percent) and oats (7 percent).
Avocados
This heart-healthy superfood also offers 29mg, or 7 percent, of your total daily value of magnesium per 1/2 cup pureed. It’s just one of many reasons to say, “Pass the guac!” In addition to magnesium, avocados are great sources of vitamins C, E, K and B-6, riboflavin, niacin, folate, pantothenic acid, potassium, lutein, beta-carotene and omega-3s.
Low-Fat Dairy
Plain, non-fat yogurt contains 19mg of magnesium, about 5 percent of your total daily value. Other low-fat dairy options to try include hard goat cheese (14 percent), nonfat chocolate yogurt (10 percent) and low-fat mozzarella (8 percent).
Bananas
In addition to being rich in potassium, 1 cup of sliced banana contains about 27 mg of magnesium, or roughly 7 percent of your total daily value of the nutrient. Bananas are rich in vitamin B6, manganese, vitamin C, potassium, fiber, protein, folate, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin A, and iron. They may help with regulating blood pressure because potassium, one of their main nutrients, has vasodilation effects, and they have been shown to support heart health.
Dark Chocolate
As if you needed another reason to indulge your temptation, 1 square of dark chocolate packs 24 percent of your daily value of magnesium while one cup offers you 108 percent of your total daily value.