Magnesium is a vital nutrient that can impact stress, sleep, and migraine. A study published in the Journal of Intensive Care Medicine found that a magnesium deficiency makes you twice as most likely to die as other people. Yet, as much as half of us have a shortage in this essential nutrient and don’t know it.
Magnesium helps us combat stress, enhance our sleep, as well as keep our migraines in check. In a paper entitled “Why All Migraine Patients Should Be Treated With Magnesium,” Drs. Mauskop and Varughese lay out numerous methods magnesium interacts with migraine. A magnesium shortage might promote cortical dispersing depression, cause capillary to restrict, impact serotonin and affect a variety of neurotransmitters.
If you have migraines and are not eating a magnesium-rich diet or taking magnesium supplements, you could be losing out on a great deal of relief. Fortunately, there is an easy repair.
Why is Magnesium Important to Life?
” Magnesium is a remedy to stress, the most effective relaxation mineral available, and it can help improve your sleep,” says functional medication specialist Dr. Mark Hyman. “Anything that is tight, irritable, crampy, and stiff– whether it is a body part or an even a state of mind– signifies magnesium shortage.”
This mineral is so crucial that it can be found in all of your tissues, however is most typical in your bones, muscles, and brain. You need magnesium for your muscles to unwind, and stress can drain magnesium from the body. Yet, the majority of us are not getting enough of this critical mineral from our food.
When was the last time you had a big serving of seaweed, beans, greens, or nuts? If you resemble most Americans, these magnesium-rich foods are not a staple in your diet. That is why numerous people battle with magnesium shortage and the lots of conditions connected to it, consisting of migraine, chronic tiredness, irritable bowel syndrome, and anxiety.
Scientists understand how essential magnesium is, and they understand the results of migraines and magnesium deficiency. Even so, a lot of physicians opt to prescribe medication over magnesium– even though it is typically MORE powerful than drugs. It is so effective, states Dr. Hyman, that medical professionals “use it in healthcare facilities for dangerous and emergency situation scenarios like seizures and heart failure.”
What Does a Magnesium Deficiency Mean For Your Health?
Dr. Hyman notes lots of symptoms that can be caused by magnesium shortage, numerous of which are co-morbid (or identified with) migraine. They include:
- sleeping disorders
- irritability
- level of sensitivity to loud noises
- anxiety
- constipation
- headaches
- migraines
- fibromyalgia
- chronic tiredness
- obesity
- irritable bowel syndrome
Sound familiar? He likewise notes lots of others that migraine victims are less likely to experience.
Plainly, magnesium shortage is a huge issue for those of us with migraines, along with for the basic population. Not just are we missing out on magnesium in our diets, however we have the tendency to lose what little bit magnesium we do get. “Magnesium levels are reduced by excess, salt, coffee, phosphoric acid in soda pops, excessive sweating, extended or extreme stress, chronic diarrhea, extreme menstruation, diuretics (water tablets), antibiotics and other drugs, and some digestive parasites,” composes Dr. Hyman.
To make it a lot more complicated, magnesium is hard to soak up and is quickly lost from our bodies. Magnesium shortage is hard to determine, but the long list of conditions related to it give a sense of how much suffering shortages in this important nutrient cause. Yet, it is so basic to remedy!
If you get migraines and/or any of the other conditions associated with magnesium deficiency, you do not have to fret. It is simple to repair. Here’s how.
Stop Draining Your Body of Magnesium
Increasing your magnesium intake won’t do much excellent if your body loses the majority of the mineral. Embracing a few diet and lifestyle changes will ensure you keep this effective relaxation mineral. Dr. Hyman advises that you:
- limitation coffee, colas, salt, sugar
- don’t consume alcohol (alcohol is harmful for health)
- discover how to practice active relaxation
- consult your doctor if your medication is causing magnesium loss (many hypertension drugs or diuretics cause loss of magnesium).
Eat Foods High in Magnesium
We get the majority of our minerals from our food, and magnesium is no different. Including magnesium-rich foods to your diet as typically as you can is a simple way to increase your magnesium levels.
Foods abundant in magnesium include:
Kelp, shrimp, avocado *, wheat bran, wheat germ, almonds, cashews, buckwheat, brazil nuts, dulse, filberts, millet, pecans, walnuts, rye, tofu *, soy beans, brown rice, figs, dates, parsley, beans, barley, dandelion greens, collard greensand garlic.
* Note: Tofu includes tyramines, and can be a migraine trigger. Avocado is also a trigger for some individuals.
If you don’t intentionally eat numerous of these foods, you might be magnesium deficient. If that holds true, a dietary change or a magnesium supplement is a sensible relocation for your migraines and your general health.
Take Magnesium Supplements
Lots of people who suspect they are magnesium lacking choose to take supplements. Many people benefit from 400 to 1,000 mg of magnesium a day. Magnesium is available in numerous forms, but you should selected one of the easily soaked up types: magnesium citrate, glycinate taurate, or aspartate.
It is possible to take excessive magnesium which can cause diarrhea. Changing to magnesium glycinate will help you prevent this potential side effect. You can also soak up magnesium through the skin by taking a hot bath with Epsom salts. Please keep in mind that people with kidney disease or severe heart disease ought to take magnesium just under a doctor’s guidance.
Side Effects and Other Preventative Measures
The most typical side effects of Magnesium, specifically high dosages of the mineral, include diarrhea and abdominal cramping.
People with kidney failure have a greater risk of problems from high dosages of Magnesium due to the fact that the kidney no longer removes the additional Magnesium.
Opposite effects include:
- Changes in psychological status
- Queasiness
- Diarrhea
- Cravings loss
- Muscle weakness
- Trouble breathing
- Extremely low blood pressure
- Irregular heartbeat
You must look for immediate medical attention if you experience any of the following side effects:
- diarrhea
- indigestion
- stomach cramps
- disturbed stomach
- vomiting
- flushing of skin
- dizziness.
Who Should Not Take Magnesium?
Do not take Magnesium if you struggle with kidney failure.
Also, specific prescription and nonprescription drugs can cause interact with Magnesium.
Loop and thiazide diuretics, anti-neoplastic drugs and antibiotics might increase the amount of Magnesium lost in the urine and might cause low levels of Magnesium.
Magnesium decreases the body’s absorption of tetracycline antibiotics.
People who regularly take antacids and laxatives which contain Magnesium may have high levels of Magnesium in the blood, resulting in more side effects.
Inform your doctor and pharmacist if you are:
- Allergic to Magnesium or other drugs.
- Taking any prescription or non-prescription drugs, especially those which contain Magnesium or tetracycline consisting of: (Achromycin V, Panmycin, Sumycin), digoxin (Lanoxin), nitrofurantoin (Furadantin, Macrobid, Macrodantin), penicillamine (Cuprimine, Depen Titratable), and other vitamins.
- If you have or have ever had kidney disease, stomach problems, or digestive tract disease.
- If you are pregnant, strategy to become pregnant, or are breast-feeding. If you become pregnant while taking Magnesium call your doctor.
Remarks? We ‘d like to hear from you about your experience with Magnesium.
