Most notably known as the “calming mineral”, magnesium has so many benefits. It is used by many to settle down, relax, and get a good night’s rest at the end of a long day. But do you know just how important this vital mineral is to our bodies? According to Dr. Sircus, “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.You can read more about his research here in his article on “Transdermal Magnesium Therapy” (1).

In addition, Dr. Sircus wrote an entire book on magnesium that Radiant Life carries. As vital as magnesium is to the body, an estimated 80% of adults are deficient in it. So, the purpose of this post is to give you a number of ways to increase the magnesium in your body, thus keeping you out of that 80% statistic! (2)

Before we get into ways to increase magnesium, I wanted to look at a few of the different benefits magnesium offers to the body as well as several of the symptoms indicating you may be magnesium deficient.

As I stated, there are so many benefits magnesium gives to the body. First, magnesium is involved in more than 600 reactions in your body. For example, it helps convert food into energy, it helps create and repair DNA and RNA, and it helps create new proteins from amino acids. (3) 

Next, Magnesium helps fight depression. One study of over 8,800 people under the age of 65 found that those with magnesium deficiency had a 22% greater risk of developing depression. Certainly more research needs to be done, but because magnesium is so vital to brain health and overall mood, it would not hurt to boost your magnesium levels to help fight off depression. (4)

Other benefits of magnesium are:

• Helping to defend against type 2 diabetes (5)
• Helping to lower blood pressure (6)
• Helping to prevent migraines (7)
• Helping to reduce overall inflammation with its anti-inflammatory effects (8)

Now that you are aware of some of the amazing benefits of taking magnesium, let’s take a brief look at some signs that may indicate you are deficient in this vital mineral. The following list gives nine key signs you may be lacking in magnesium:

• Muscle Cramps and Spasms
• Chocolate Cravings
• Anxiety • Constipation
• Headaches and Migraines
• Difficulty Sleeping
• High Blood Pressure
• Acid Reflux
• Irregular Heartbeat (9)

Well the good news is, there are MANY ways to boost your magnesium stores!! Certainly you can attain some magnesium through diet. Spinach, pumpkin seeds, almonds, avocado, dark chocolate, and figs are all great food sources of magnesium. Good thing it is October and pumpkin season is under way! I just made up a fresh batch of homemade pumpkin ice cream using raw, unpasteurized cream and it is delicious! Top it off with some dark chocolate and it is a double whammy! Check out Radiant Life’s stock of nourishing sprouted almonds and pumpkin seeds as well as their yummy pumpkin seed oil!(10)

As you may know, magnesium is not all that well absorbed through the digestive tract. I know, we just reviewed many tasty nourishing foods! But don’t worry, the foods still do offer magnesium as well as many other nutrient benefits. And a bonus with the nuts and seeds that Radiant Life carries is that they are all sprouted, meaning soaked and dehydrated. This process helps your body to digest the nuts and seeds even better as well as to better absorb their nutrients, (such as magnesium), that they contain. Probably the best way to increase magnesium stores in the blood is to apply it trans-dermally, or through the skin (11) (12).

Radiant Life offers a number of products to help boost your magnesium levels by applying the mineral topically. My all time favorite is their Magnesium Bath Flakes! I absolutely love these because they are so versatile. Of course, as the bag states, they are most commonly used for warms baths. Pour several cups into a bath and calm yourself right to sleep. I love these baths at the end of a long day and as a way to just soothe sore, tired muscles, and feet, especially if I have been standing in the kitchen for a lot of the day making up a bunch of nourishing foods for the week ahead! In the summer time, if it is just too warm to take a full body bath, you can also make up a foot soak by dissolving a cup of flakes into a foot tub and soak while you read a book, or sit outside on the patio – my favorite! Another thing I use is this magnesium oil spray, which is basically magnesium flakes and water. I love to spray it on my abdominal area before bed, or if I am especially stressed.

There are also various lotions and gels, all that contain magnesium. Another favorite of mine is the Goodnight Lotion, which not only contains Magnesium, but also MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) as well as melatonin to help promote a restful night sleep.

With so many options to choose from, there is never a reason to be deficient in magnesium again! For even more information on this incredible mineral, check out Carolyn Dean’s book, “The Magnesium Miracle”.