The benefits of Magnesium and why it’s so important to supplement: Part 1

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Let’s think of a time gone by, when grandma used to tell you to soak in Epsom salts if you had a sore back, knee, etc. Well, grandma was right. New research shows that mineral deficiency is a lot more important than we thought.

 So what is it about Epsom salts that makes it so important or effective for all kinds of aches and pains? One word: Magnesium. Magnesium is a mineral that can be found in the food that we eat, but in recent years has been found to have been largely stripped from the soil and thus not present in the amounts necessary to replenish inside the body.

 Magnesium is used in over 300 enzymatic processes throughout the body. The body keeps magnesium levels homestatic, meaning if the levels of magnesium are depleted in the blood stream it is replenished from the magnesium that is stored in the bones and muscles, thus leading to chronic aches, pains and stiff muscles. Magnesium plays a role in your body's detoxification processes, making it important for helping to prevent damage from environmental chemicals, heavy metals, and other toxins. In addition, magnesium is necessary for:

  • Activating muscles and nerves

  • Creating energy in your body by activating adenosine triphosphate (ATP)

  • Helping digest proteins, carbohydrates, and fats

  • Serving as a building block for RNA and DNA synthesis

  • Acting as a precursor for neurotransmitters like serotonin

 Magnesium deficiency is widespread and the use of magnesium oil can restore healthy magnesium levels in your body. Dr. Sircus, a leading magnesium researcher and author of Transdermal Magnesium Therapy, says,

“After oxygen, water, and basic food, magnesium may be the most important element needed by our bodies, vitally important yet hardly known. It is more important than calcium, potassium or sodium and regulates all three of them. Millions suffer daily from magnesium deficiency without even knowing it.” (Read more in his article on magnesium deficiency.)

 So why isn’t this something we are all tested for on a regular basis at our doctor’s offices? Blood tests are insufficient at detecting magnesium levels accurately, only 1% of the body’s magnesium is stored in the blood, the rest is stored in the bones and muscles.

 Which brings me to another key point of magnesium supplementing, oral supplements of magnesium are inferior to topical supplementing. Most of the oral magnesium pills sold over the counter are magnesium citrate, which only about 20% is absorbed by the body and the rest is eliminated as waste. Magnesium can irritate the digestive tract (i.e. diarrhea) it is much more absorbable and available to the body when it is delivered topically in the form of Epsom salts or Magnesium oil spray.

Visit us again for the next installment of ‘The Benefits of Magnesium: Part Deux” where we will discuss how you can increase your magnesium intake in your diet, specific conditions that researchers are now attributing to magnesium deficiency and discuss further that the WHO estimates 75% of Americans have daily magnesium intakes less than the recommended daily intake (RDA).