This widespread magnesium deficiency may be a result of increased consumption of processed foods, meats, and dairy products and a decreased consumption of green vegetables. During times of magnesium deficiency, your intestines try to increase absorption rates while your kidneys try to reduce secretion. As a last resort, the body may pull magnesium from the bones to compensate for a lack of magnesium in the blood - which is a risk factor for osteoporosis.
Eating a healthy diet -- especially one rich in dark, leafy greens, beans, lentils, and a number of other fresh fruits and vegetables is the best way to make sure you have healthy levels of magnesium in the body. Be sure you aren’t counteracting your magnesium intake with lifestyle choices or health problems that prevent you from absorbing the magnesium you take in.
It should be noted that cooking -- especially by boiling -- green vegetables results in a significant loss of magnesium ions from the vegetables into the water. It is for that reason that raw spinach salads are recommended as excellent sources of magnesium.
What Does Magnesium Do?
Magnesium is essential for maintaining proper muscle and nerve function and plays a role in keeping the heart beating at a normal heart rate. It also supports a healthy immune system and plays a role in keeping bones strong.
According to OrganicFacts.com, magnesium helps regulate blood sugar and blood pressure and aids in protein synthesis and energy metabolism. It may help with certain medical conditions like cardiovascular disease, hypertension and diabetes.
Magnesium also plays an important role in protein production, which turns into collagen in tendons and ligaments.
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 experience breathlessness may have their symptoms relieved by the administration of intravenous magnesium.
Symptoms of Magnesium Deficiency
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), symptoms of magnesium deficiency can include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, fatigue and weakness. As the condition worsens, patients may experience numbness, tingling, muscle cramps, seizures, cognitive and personality changes, and abnormal heart rhythms.
Not getting enough nutrition in the foods we eat is one way to ensure a magnesium deficiency, but there are several surprising causes of magnesium deficiency that may not be as obvious.
Sleep Deprivation
Lack of sleep can make you magnesium deficient, according to experts. The reason may be lower amounts of growth hormone serration found in people who have a sleep disturbance. Growth hormone creates a substance called IGF-1, or insulin growth factor. IGF-1 has been found to have many uses in the body, particularly in tissue repair. However, this hormone also influences the intracellular levels of magnesium.
This process leads to a vicious cycle. Magnesium deficiency has been linked to insomnia, and magnesium is considered an essential mineral in aiding insomniacs by eliminating the deficiency that caused it and by having a direct effect on the sleep center of the brain.
Fibromyalgia
Magnesium deficiency is common among patients with fibromyalgia, and its ability to regulate nerve functions can be attributed to many fibromyalgia symptoms, including migraine headaches, mitral valve prolapse and Raynaud’s phenomenon. Without enough magnesium, the nerves fire too easily from even minor stimuli: noises will sound excessively loud, lights will seem too bright, emotional reactions will seem exaggerated, and the brain will be too stimulated to sleep.
Much as with sleep deficiency, in the case of fibromyalgia, magnesium deficiency is a game of chicken and egg. Not much is understood about the cause and underlying triggers for the disease, but magnesium deficiency is common among its sufferers. However, some studies suggest that magnesium deficiency, which leaves us more vulnerable to a poorly regulated stress response, may trigger symptoms and make them worse. Magnesium supplements have been suggested for patients suffering from fibromyalgia, although large-scale studies have yet to be conducted.
Alcohol
Many of fibromyalgia patients' symptoms caused by magnesium deficiency sound painfully similar to the symptoms experienced after a long night on the town and with good reason. A hangover has similar symptoms, and alcohol decreases magnesium levels in the body. If you find yourself on the wrong end of a Saturday night, try taking magnesium supplements or foods rich in magnesium because they have been shown to ease hangover symptoms.
Alcohol is known to double the excretion rate of magnesium in both acute (one time) and chronic (frequent and ongoing) alcohol consumption cases.
Diabetes
The kidneys filter magnesium, and the body then reabsorbs the majority of it. The rest is excreted in the urine. The kidneys prevent magnesium deficiency by reducing excretion.
When your kidneys become dysfunctional, as can be found with both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, magnesium regulation processes become confused, leading to greater rates of magnesium excretion and ultimately magnesium deficiency.
Gastrointestinal Problems
Much like the kidneys, the other systems in the body play a role in conserving magnesium. Gastrointestinal problems, such as Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome and other similar health problems can increase magnesium secretion into feces, causing a magnesium deficiency.
Any of these symptoms need a doctor's attention – don't try to treat a magnesium deficiency on its own. Similar symptoms may indicate another health problem, so it's better to be safe than sorry.