Your body and Magnesium are in love, do not stand in the way of it. Magnesium is extremely important in proper body functioning and if you are active and exercising than you need it even more. For those of you who have not yet tried @actifit app, what are you waiting for? It tracks your activity and awards you with actifit tokens and upvotes of your actifit reports on steemit. For those of you that are using it and staying active and healthy, give this article a good read. Keep your magnesium levels in check and be sure to provide your body with what it needs.
CC0 image, Unsplash, author: Fancycrave
Want to aid your body to become or stay healthy? 3 things you should know about: food, exercise, sleep. Nutrition is important and this post will help you learn all about magnesium and how beneficial it is for you. Your body needs it so be sure to eat foods rich with it or take quality supplements.
Magnesium plays a huge role in over 300 enzymatic reactions within the body. Those include the metabolism of food, synthesis of fatty acids and proteins, and the transmission of nerve impulses. It is the fourth most abundant mineral in your body and is involved in over 600 cellular reactions, from making your DNA to helping your muscles contract. The human body contains around 25 grams of magnesium, 50% to 60% of it is stored in the skeletal system while the rest is in muscle, soft tissues, and bodily fluids. The reference daily intake (RDI) of Magnesium for adults is approximately 400 mg. Have you had your daily dose of it yet?
Every cell in your body contains Mg
and needs it to function.
Magnesium is involved with energy creation, protein formation, gene maintenance, muscle movements, and nervous system regulation. It has been shown how it enhances exercise performance in several studies. Depending on the activity, you need 10–20% more magnesium while exercising than when you're resting. Why? Because it helps move blood sugar into your muscles and disposes of lactic acid. That pain you feel in your muscles during exercise is due to lactic acid building up in them.
Magnesium also acts as a natural calcium blocker to help your muscles relax. If you are having problems with cramps, Mg helps. Calcium binds to proteins such as troponin C and myosin and that process changes the shape of those proteins which generates a contraction. Magnesium wants those binding spots too and relaxes your muscles. With low levels of Mg, your muscles may contract too much which will cause them to cramp and spasm. To avoid problems with cramps, make sure to take enough of Magnesium.
There are 3 articles that I would like to recommend you take a read regarding Magnesium and how it affects your body regarding exercise. Read the research here:
Muscle cramps and magnesium deficiency: case reports by Bilbey DL, Prabhakaran VM.
Update on the relationship between magnesium and exercise. by Nielsen FH, Lukaski HC.
Magnesium enhances exercise performance via increasing glucose availability in the blood, muscle, and brain during exercise. by Chen HY, Cheng FC, Pan HC, Hsu JC, Wang MF
Those articles show that Mg acts as a natural calcium blocker that helps your muscle cells relax after contracting. When its levels are low, muscles may contract too much and cause cramps or muscle spasms, among other things.
There are several health benefits that have been associated with magnesium. It plays a role in activating vitamin D in the kidneys and since that vitamin is also essential for healthy bones, optimal magnesium intake has been associated with greater bone density, improved bone crystal formation, and a lower risk of osteoporosis in women after menopause. A high intake of calcium can increase the risk of arterial calcification, cardiovascular disease, and kidney stones. Mg helps with that too. If you are taking calcium supplements, be sure to take magnesium too so the calcium intake gets properly metabolized.
It even helps with anxiety
Reductions in magnesium levels have been linked with increased levels of anxiety. This is explained with the activity in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis (three glands that control your reaction to stress) and altering of the types of bacteria present in the gut. Since Magnesium is involved in carbohydrate and glucose metabolism, keep in mind that its status can also impact the risk of diabetes. It is also beneficial for your blood pressure. An analysis of 34 studies found that a median dose of 368 mg of magnesium significantly reduced blood pressure values in both healthy adults and those with high blood pressure and the impact was much higher in people who already had a high blood pressure.
There have been many studies linking Magnesium to various health benefits, those that I was talking about earlier can be seen in the following links so be sure to check them out and read about those numbers. Learn how Magnesium is impacting your health.
Effects of Magnesium Supplementation on Blood Pressure: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trials by Zhang X, Li Y, Del Gobbo LC, Rosanoff A1, Wang J, Zhang W, Song Y
Magnesium intake and depression in adults by Tarleton EK, Littenberg B
The effect of lowering blood pressure by magnesium supplementation in diabetic hypertensive adults with low serum magnesium levels: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial by Guerrero-Romero F, Rodríguez-Morán M.
Dietary magnesium intake and the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and all-cause mortality: a dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies by Fang X, Wang K, Han D, He X, Wei J, Zhao L, Imam MU, Ping Z, Li Y, Xu Y, Min J, Wang F.
That last link leads to an analysis of 40 studies with more than one million participants. It showed how consuming 100 mg more of magnesium each day reduced the risk of stroke and heart failure by 7% and 22%. Help your heart stay healthy and strong by taking enough of Magnesium every day.
Severe Magnesium deficiency is rare and it mostly affects older people but low levels of it are quite often. Symptoms include the loss of appetite, nausea, fatigue, weakness, muscle cramps, heart rhythm changes and spasms, and even personality changes. RDA for magnesium depends on age and gender and while I have mentioned an average number, men need more of it. RDA for adult men is 400 to 420 mg a day and for adult women is 310 to 320 mg a day. However, during pregnancy, women need the same amounts of it as men usually do.
The absorbtion takes place in the small intestine
Magnesium is mainly absorbed in the small intestine and it has a medium level bioavailability. Its absorption depends on your diet and the health of your gastrointestinal tract. Even though it is found in plenty of delicious foods, most people still do not take enough of it and should consider taking supplements. They are mostly well-tolerated but speak to your doctor before taking them since Mg can interact with common medications for high blood pressure, antibiotics or diuretics. Be careful when taking magnesium with zinc as it may reduce its absorption.
When it comes to risks of overdosing with magnesium, an overdose through dietary sources is unlikely to happen. Any excess magnesium that is consumed will be eliminated in the urine. The story with supplements is different. A high intake of magnesium from supplements can lead to gastrointestinal problems, diarrhea, nausea, low blood pressure, urine retention, nausea and vomiting, depression and lethargy, a loss of central nervous system etc. The larger the dose the more serious the effects are.
People with a kidney disorder
should not take magnesium supplements,
unless their doctor advises it!
Be sure to eat a balanced diet and up your intake of the foods that are rich with Magnesium. Oh right, I have not told you what those foods are. Or have I? They say an image is worth a thousand words ;) Let's make it interesting... You tell me in the comments what foods are high in Magnesium and one of the lucky correct answers will get rewarded with 2 SBI shares. Do we have a deal?
To read more about this subject, check out these REFERENCES:
Magnesium from ods.od.nih.gov
Why do we need magnesium? from medicalnewstoday.com
What Does Magnesium Do for Your Body? from healthline.com
10 Evidence-Based Health Benefits of Magnesium from healthline.com
Until next time,
KEEP YOUR SMILE ON!
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