Which nutrient is essential to maintain bone density, heartbeat, lung function, and blood sugar? Magnesium! Yes, your body needs and uses magnesium in over 300 of its processes. For that reason, magnesium is also one of the most common, but overlooked, nutrient deficiencies. And magnesium deficiency is believed to be associated with every known illness.

Why is Magnesium Deficiency so common?

Like water and air, magnesium is essential to life. Therefore, healthy individuals easily require around 1000 mg of magnesium per day just to meet the needs of their bodies! However, the average diet does not contain anywhere near that much magnesium causing deficiency. At the same time, magnesium deficiency is often overlooked because it is so difficult to test for. After all, only 1 percent of your body’s magnesium supply is stored in the blood, so testing your blood for magnesium deficiency is not helpful.

Identifying Magnesium Deficiency can be challenging

Unfortunately, identifying magnesium deficiency can be challenging in that a number of its symptoms can be ignored or mistaken for another medical condition. These symptoms include:

• ADHD
• Allergies
• Anxiety
• Asthma
• Autism
• Cardiac arrythmias
• Chronic fatigue or pain
• Confusion
• Fibromyalgia
• Insomnia
• Migraines
• Mitral valve prolapse
• Muscle spasms
• Osteoporosis
• Swelling
• Twitching or tremors
• Weak pulse

Researchers attribute these symptoms to an imbalance between calcium and magnesium as well as poor detoxification due to low magnesium.

How to restore your Calcium: Magnesium ratio

In ancient times, humans’ diet supported a 1:1 ratio of calcium to magnesium. Yet, in present times, our diets support a ratio of calcium to magnesium anywhere from 5:1 to 15:1! Fortunately, you can restore this balance by increasing your magnesium intake through diet and supplementation. Some good food sources of magnesium are:

• Avocados
• Pink salt and unrefined sea salts
• Pumpkin seeds
• Raw cacao
• Raw, grass-fed, dairy products
• Raw, green vegetables
• Sea vegetables (i.e. kelp, nori, dulse)
• Sprouted legumes
• Sprouted nuts and seeds
• Wild-caught fish

As far as selecting a reliable, all-natural, magnesium supplement, just ‘Ask a Naturopath’ for advice.