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Magnesium is a necessary mineral that not many people think about. However, magnesium is an extremely important component of our diet. Deficiencies of magnesium can be quite dangerous to your health. It's essential to eat a healthy and balanced diet, but it is also important to know which vitamins and minerals should be included in our diet. Magnesium is used by all the cells in your body. It is used to keep bones strong, helps maintain nerve and muscle functioning, and keeps the heart rhythmic and steady. You can see why a deficiency of this mineral can be dangerous. Magnesium is found in green leafy vegetables, nuts, seed, and some whole grains. While your body only needs a small amount of magnesium there is also only a small amount found in most of the foods listed above. This is why it is imperative to eat a balanced diet full of healthy and nutritious foods. The symptoms of Magnesium deficiency include disorientation, confusion, depression, abnormal heartbeat, loss of appetite, cramps, numbness, and seizures. Magnesium deficiency is fairly uncommon. Magnesium deficiencies has been linked to over-consumption of alcohol. Magnesium is often depleted though the urine and magnesium deficiencies. To find out what the recommended daily amount of magnesium is you can ask your doctor or nutritionist. There are also many books and websites that can help you determine how much magnesium you should be consuming each day. This number differs for men, women, different age groups, pregnant women, and lactating women. Knowing how much magnesium you should be taking, and how much is in certain foods, is a great way to prevent any deficiencies. You can take magnesium supplements or multi vitamins in case you do not think you are getting enough magnesium in your diet. You probably are not getting enough of other vitamins and minerals as well in case you are not getting enough magnesium. Fresh and healthy foods is the best source for all vitamins and minerals, the next best thing is a multi vitamin. If you find yourself relying solely on multi vitamins for your dietary needs, perhaps you should consider making some changes in your eating habits. There are some conditions that may require you to take a magnesium supplement. One example is if you have chronic malabsorption of magnesium, you may need to take a supplement to guarantee that you have enough magnesium in your diet. Some studies have shown that magnesium helps to lower high blood pressure or hypertension. Whether or not this is true it cannot hurt to increase the number of vegetables and fruits you eat each day. Magnesium deficiencies have been linked to metabolic changes that may cause heart attacks or strokes. As you can see, magnesium is a very important mineral to have in your diet. While magnesium is essential, there is also a danger of consuming too much magnesium. If you are relying on your diet to provide magnesium there is little risk of any overdose. However if you ingest too many supplements there is the danger of magnesium toxicity. There are a number of symptoms that are very similar to magnesium deficiencies, be wary of taking too many supplements, laxatives, and antacids. Magnesium is an essential mineral, and you make careful to get the proper amounts of fruits and vegetables in your diet daily. If you eat a balanced diet, chances are you will never need to worry about a magnesium deficiency.
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Frank Landrens is the webmaster for BHP Magnesium, the web's premier resource for information about magnesium. For more articles on magnesium visit: www.bhpmagnesium.com/articles You can get a unique content version of this article.
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