The benefits of magnesium are numerous and vital to the body’s optimal functioning, but most people fail to appreciate the value of this essential macromineral. The National Academy of Sciences recommends a daily dietary intake of magnesium at 350mg per day for adults, but data from national health surveys reveal that an estimated 68% of Americans fail to get the suggested amounts of magnesium in their diets. It’s time the benefits of magnesium are shoved under the spotlight to help people be aware of the need for this mineral in achieving health.
- One of the benefits of magnesium is that it protects against cardiovascular diseases. Certain dietary surveys and some studies have suggested that adequate magnesium intake is associated with a decreased risk of coronary heart disease and a lowered risk of having a stroke. There is also evidence that insufficient magnesium in the body increases the risk of abnormal heart rhythms, raising the risk of complications after heart attack. The benefits of magnesium in this respect can be attributed to the fact that magnesium plays a central role in muscle relaxation, and lack in magnesium can cause the heart muscle to develop spasms and abnormal rhythms.
- Another of the benefits of magnesium is that it plays an important role in natural blood pressure regulation. The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) study suggested that a diet emphasizing vegetables, fruits and low fat dairy food—the kind of diet high in magnesium, calcium, and potassium—can significantly lower or prevent high blood pressure.
- What’s more, included among the benefits of magnesium is that it lowers the risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes and the complications of diabetes such as retinopathies. Magnesium does so by playing a role in carbohydrate metabolism and influencing the activity of insulin, a hormone responsible for blood glucose regulation.
- Also note that one of the benefits of magnesium is that it can help alleviate muscle aches, spasms and cramps. While calcium is the one responsible for contracting muscles, magnesium is in charge of relaxing them. Magnesium deficiency, therefore, can tense up the muscles and give rise to muscle pains and discomforts.
- Furthermore, because of magnesium’s effect on muscle relaxation, prevention of asthma attacks is also among the benefits of magnesium. Asthma attacks manifest when the bronchial airways narrow, and magnesium can come to the rescue by relaxing the bronchial muscles, therefore widening the airway and improving breathing.
- Among all the benefits of magnesium, one of the most important is its ability to lower the risk of osteoporosis, a bone condition marked by severely reduced bone density. Magnesium affects the way calcium is preserved and utilized in the body, and multiple research studies have already proven that calcium supplemented with magnesium can improve bone mineral density.
The benefits of magnesium mentioned here are just some the most important ones, but the list can go on. Add in prevention of constipation, treatment of insomnia and migraines, preservation of a healthy immune system, and maintenance of normal nerve function as among the benefits of magnesium. Indeed, adequate intake of magnesium is the secret to optimum health, a key to achieving that inner balance everybody should have.
