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Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in your body. It’s involved in over 600 cellular reactions, from making DNA to helping your muscles contract. Health experts have shown that low magnesium levels have been linked to many poor health outcomes, including weakness, depression, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Magnesium plays a critical role in one’s brain function and mood.
In fact, leading health experts believe that a person may become more prone to depression if they have low levels of magnesium in their body.
An analysis in over 8,800 people aged under 65 years old and who had the lowest magnesium intake had a 22 percent greater risk of depression.
Some experts also believe that the low magnesium content of modern food may cause many cases of depression and mental illness.
Magnesium supplements are one of the best types of vitamins to protect against heart attacks and high blood pressure, it’s been claimed.
Magnesium helps the body to release a hormone-like compound, named prostacyclin, according to Holland and Barrett.
This hormone relieves the tension in blood vessel walls, which subsequently lowers your blood pressure.
Maintaining a healthy blood pressure will also reduce your chances of having a deadly heart attack.
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Adding as little as 100mg of magnesium to the diet could help lower the risk of diabetes by as much as 15 percent.
Similarly, a person could be more at risk of a magnesium deficiency if they’ve been diagnosed with diabetes.
This is because patients tend to lose a lot of their magnesium in their urine, as the body tries to get rid of excess sugar.
Magnesium deficiency has been linked to insulin resistance, which is central to the development of type 2 diabetes.
Magnesium deficiency can occur due to inadequate intake of magnesium, impaired intestinal absorption of the mineral, or excessive loss of it.
Having large amounts of magnesium can be lost by prolonged exercise, lactation, excessive sweating or chronic diarrhoea, kidney diseases, an overactive thyroid or low blood levels.
A magnesium deficiency is often associated with low blood levels of calcium and potassium and when deficient, an increased irritability of the nervous system including spasms of the hands and feet, muscular twitching or cramps can ensue.
The National Academy of Medicine recommends not exceeding 350 mg of supplemental magnesium per day.
Natural food sources of magnesium include green, leafy vegetables, nuts, beans, and whole-grain cereals.
Eating whole food is always best as magnesium can be lost during refinement and processing.
In order to help treat a number of health conditions and reduce your risk of further complications, it’s been highly recommended that a daily magnesium supplement should be part of your daily habit.
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