Thursday, May 24, 2012

Magnesium, the miracle mineral...


I'm no doctor.  I'm no nutritionist, but I am a human being with a body that knows its limitations and its struggles.  I know about aches and pains, fatigue and restlessness, mood swings and mental fuzziness.  It is interesting to me that so many of the "symptoms" I have point directly to magnesium deficiency.

I didn't come upon the miracle mineral directly, but rather it was indirectly when I was doing some research about breast health.  I had a mammogram come back that was not satisfactory to the radiologist so I had a re-do and still, he was not happy with it.  Later I went in for an ultra-sound with a surgeon who would do a needle biopsy.  As it turned out, the doctor was not convinced it was a necessary procedure.  At that point, I was a little scared and nervous and wanted to understand more about breast health in ways other than self examinations, which I had always been diligent about, and yearly mammograms.

In my searching I stumbled upon vitamin D3 and read lots and lots of articles about its benefits to breast health as well as for immune health.  The sunshine vitamin is truly good for what ails ya,  and most of us, even in sunny climes, don't get enough.  Those of us who live above the state of Georgia certainly don't get enough D and especially during the fall and winter months.  When I read an article by Kerri Knox, RN who shared that raising a woman's vitamin D levels could reduce her chance of getting breast cancer by HALF, I went to the store and bought some D3.  I took it for a couple months before the next ultrasound/biopsy was scheduled and the surgeon who was viewing the live ultra-sound and comparing it to the old snapshots said he saw improvement!  I have been taking D3 ever since and try to get my natural vitamin D through sunshine whenever I can.  My last mammogram came back fine.  I also found myself to be far more healthy through the cold and flu season after taking D.

It was through the research I did on breast health and vitamin D that I found more information about magnesium.  I thought it was a fairly normal thing as I aged to have more aches and pains, to feel tired and a bit fuzzy-brained, but as it turns out, these are just a few symptoms of low magnesium levels.  I had always, ever since I started having babies, had terrible low back pain.  There were times when I was totally incapacitated from the horrible back spams and pain.  I lived with it.  There was a point when I thought to myself, "Well, this is your fate.  You will just have to live with it."  That was before I found magnesium.  I read this article and also ordered the book The Magnesium Miracle by Dr. Carolyn Dean, MD, ND.  Since then, I have listened to pod-casts by Dr. Dean and read more articles about magnesium on The Nutritional Magnesium Asssoc. website and I started a magnesium regiment daily.  I won't say that I am totally cured of every single thing that ails me, but I no longer have the back pain I once woke up with every single morning of my womanly life, nor do I have insomnia or muscle aches and twitches.  There are many, many other symptoms that point to magnesium deficiency, so please check out the links to see if you might benefit from taking magnesium.

Since understanding how much I needed magnesium for my health and well-being, I started working harder at making sure we eat real foods that are high in the mineral -- whole grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes.  I realize that I probably can't/won't eat nearly enough to take me from deficiency to proper levels of magnesium, so I take the supplemental magnesium citrate or magnesium malate.  I have  read that the cheaper version of magnesium supplement, magnesium oxide, is much less absorb-able than the citrate form.  I also like to take Epsom salt baths every now and then as another way to absorb necessary magnesium.

Just for the record, I am in no way connected to Dr. Carolyn Dean nor to any of the other people from the websites I have shared with you.  I don't get kickbacks from the Epsom salts industry nor from the supplement industry.  What I do get is a good health kick from these two supplements and I'm so glad that I found them.  I wanted to share my health happiness with you.  Please read the info for yourself and judge whether or not this is for you, and as always, you may want to consult with your health practitioner or doctor.

12 comments:

  1. That's great Jody. I'm glad you made those discoveries. I've been on magnesium for a few years now too, it helps my fibromyalgia pain and is great apparently for hormonal problems too. xx

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  2. Thank you! This is convicting. The D3 and the magnesium in the cupboard have to make it INTO my body for it to do any good. ;) I've been re-commiting to some of the better eating habits that I've let slide and I needed this reminder to take care of myself in some ways that I just get lazy in. I'll check out the links!

    Blessings, Debbie

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  3. Very interesting about magnesium. I'd heard that it helps with insomnia, from which I suffer from time to time. What interests me even more is the aches and pains. My hips have been hurting a lot lately, and I have no idea why. Maybe I need to start taking a magnesium supplement. I'll give it a try!

    xofrances

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  4. Good to know J! I've been taking magnesium for years, but I usually get the cheap kind, so next time I'll get the good stuff. And since I read your good post on Epsom salt a while back, I've been taking baths with it too -- once in a while. I do think it helps.
    Blessings and good health to you!
    G

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  5. This is GREAT info, Jody! I am going to get back on the D3 and pick up some magnesium today:). I am anxious to see if it helps my Hubby with his aches and pains!

    Thank you!

    ~Julia

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  6. This is great, I know how my husbands plants and trees have just improved health and keep the bugs away with just a shot of Epsom salts. I never thought about having a magnesium deficiency. It is so funny about what you said about vitamin D, I have been craving a day out by the pool but because of the fear of skin cancer I just kept ignoring it.
    I am amazed how it fixed your mammogram. This is really wonderful research. Thanks

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  7. After our 'conversation' about the importance of Mg, I headed out to the health food store and bought some Mg Citrate. What's funny, is that Dear husband, after I told him about our conversation, went out the same day and bought Mg Malate. We now have "His" and "Hers' Mg and are looking forward to some good results!

    Joyce

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  8. I take the D now (thanks to you!) and I'll get some magnesium citrate, too. Smart!

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  9. G'day Gumbo Lily. Great post. I have been taking magnesium for some time now when a doctor told me about it, to try to stop the leg cramps that I was getting every night. It has worked wonders for me and it does help with so many other things. Take care. Liz...

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  10. My mom has had unexplained leg pain for at least 15 years. She finally started taking vitamin D3 and magnesium and is amazed at the relief.

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  11. Glad to hear things are better for ya...I take D3 regularly every day...but the information was really informative as to why to take it...I found it helped with my tiredness and lack of energy....I found the information about Mg very informative as well. I think I may need to get myself on this...have issues with leg twitches and low back pain most days.....Wow thank you Jody!

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  12. Hey Jody, thanks for the info. I have been taking a product called Natural Clam for a few years now, it is a Mg suppliment, that you mix with hot water and drink as a tea. It does not taste very good even the flavored ones, natural flavors and no sugar are not so tasty, but...they have helped with restlessness and seem to improve sleep and pain. So I just ingnore the taste and have a cup in the evening. I get it off of Amazon way cheaper then the health food store. I am going to order myself some of the D. When my DD was in Europe for school I sent it with her. SHe had a bad bout with Mono before she left and knowing about the immune building things that it does and the fact that she was leaving a place that has abundant sun and going to a more cloudy climate I had her take it. She said she thought it helped keep her well from colds and such so I know it is a good thing. I need to take my advice and order some ASAP!

    Thanks again, love hearing about things that you can do naturally, so much better for you IMO and less side effects.

    ~M~

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