Here Is Why You Need to Include Magnesium in Your Balanced Diet

When it comes to a balanced diet, vitamin supplements and minerals, be it iron, calcium, or magnesium, are important to your body. However, magnesium is one mineral that a lot of people don’t get enough of from their diet and don’t really think much about.

Most people miss out on magnesium in their diet because they don’t understand its importance, out of negligence, or because they lack a ready supply. If you look into it, you’ll find that magnesium manages a lot of functions in the human body. Among other things, it regulates blood sugar levels, functions of the nervous system, and blood pressure.

To put things into perspective, about 68% of adults in the USA fail to get the recommended intake of magnesium.

The recommended dosage of magnesium 

Now, since magnesium is an essential addition to a balanced diet, there is a specific amount of Magnesium Bisglycinate you should ingest depending on various factors.

 Let’s explain this with the help of the table below.

Age/Stage/Gender	Recommended intake
Infants up to 12 months	70 mg
1 - 3 years	80 mg
Up to 10 years	200 - 240 mg
Male teens	400 mg
Female teens	350 mg
Pregnant women	350 - 380 mg
Breastfeeding women	300 - 320 mg

Why is magnesium important for the human body?

Magnesium plays a very important role in maintaining the proper functioning of the body. This mineral is involved in hundreds of reactions that take place in the cells, such as helping muscles contract.

Let’s take a look at why magnesium is important and the roles it plays in the human body.

Heart function

Not a lot of people know this, but magnesium is necessary for maintaining the normal functioning of a healthy heart. It manages the NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptors in the body to avoid neuronal overstimulation.

Overstimulated receptors result in rapid, unwanted muscle contractions. These can cause damage to the heart. When receptors fire too easily, excessive stimulation can kill nerve cells or cause damage to the brain.

Muscle Contraction

One of the most effective functions of magnesium is to regulate contractions in the muscular system. Magnesium helps block unnecessary calcium from the muscles and promotes better muscle contraction. It keeps the muscles from responding to weak signals from nerve cells.

In simple terms, the magnesium in your body competes with calcium to ensure muscle relaxation. If the amount of magnesium in your body is not high enough to compete with calcium, you may have problems with muscle cramps.

Blood Pressure

Magnesium is a great agent for lowering blood pressure. Considering that one-third of the population in America suffers from high blood pressure, magnesium is a lifesaver. Getting the recommended daily allowance of magnesium can help lower both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in adults.

Blood sugar level

The dietary habits of the average teenager and adult have made high blood sugar a major concern. When the blood starts storing up much more sugar than the body requires, serious health problems can occur.

However, an adequate intake of magnesium can help remove excess sugar from the blood and store it in the cells. Increasing the intake of magnesium can help control Type 2 diabetes in adults.

Quality of sleep

Many people don’t realize that magnesium plays a huge role in improving their quality of sleep. Magnesium helps to relax both their muscles and their brain, helping them fall asleep faster and allowing them to experience deep, restorative sleep.

Depression

Depression is a much more severe condition than a lot of people realize. However, there are indications that magnesium helps relieve depression indirectly by managing a number of symptoms.

First, according to various studies, magnesium is considered to work well as an antidepressant. Second, it helps improve brain function, which indirectly helps people become more reactive to minor stimuli. Last, it promotes sleep, which can help improve your mood to some extent, since insomnia can make depression even worse.

Doctor's Tip:

“Your heart is essentially a large muscle. Magnesium works in tandem with calcium to support blood pressure, and it also may balance lipid levels, all of which helps promote healthy heart function," says Olivia Wagner, RDN, an integrative registered dietitian nutritionist in Chicago.
Source

Sources of magnesium

Magnesium is not available in all the foods that we eat daily. However, you can easily get it in the fresh food you get from the supermarket. Some of the common sources of magnesium are:

• Boiled spinach
• Pumpkin seeds
• Flax seeds
• Black beans
• Almonds
• Dark chocolate
• Cashews
• Avocado
• Tofu

In Conclusion

Magnesium is as important to the human body as any other mineral. Though its effects are not always visible, it does have a positive effect on people’s physical and mental well-being when taken in the correct dose. Don’t delay, start including magnesium in your daily diet to live a healthier life.