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The Importance of Magnesium

By: Frank Landrens

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.

All the cells in your body use Magnesium. It helps maintain nerve and muscle functioning, keep bones strong, and keeps the heart rhythmic and steady. Hence, you can see why deficiency of this mineral can be dangerous. Magnesium is found in nuts, green leafy vegetables, seed, and some whole grains.

Your body only requires a small amount of magnesium, but there is also only a minute amount of magnesium found in most of the foods listed above. This is why it is so critical 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.

You can ask your doctor or nutritionist as to what the recommended daily amount of magnesium is. Many books and websites can help you determine how much magnesium you should be consuming each day. This number varies for men, women, different age groups, pregnant women, and lactating women. A great way to prevent any deficiencies is by knowing how much magnesium you should be taking, and how much is in certain foods.

If you think it's possible that you aren't getting enough magnesium in your diet, consider taking a magnesium supplement or a multi vitamin. If you have a deficiency in magnesium you may not be getting enough of other vitamins and minerals as well. The best way to get all vitamins and minerals is fresh and healthy foods, but the next best thing may be 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.

Article Source: http://www.simplepetcare.com/pet-articles

Frank Landrens is the webmaster for BHP Magnesium, a fantastic resource for information about magnesium. For more articles on magnesium why not visit: www.bhpmagnesium.com/articles
Click here for other unique magnesium articles.

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