What are the best food sources of Magnesium?
Magnesium is essential for optimal health, but many people are running around completely depleted.
In this article, we will be discussing key roles of magnesium and I will leave you with a helpful list of food sources to incorporate!
Her are a few key roles that Magnesium plays in our God designed body:
It is essential for optimal heart health:
It assists cardiac function and stabilizes the membranes of the heart cells.
When I worked on a cardiac step down unit, the majority of patients were deficient in magnesium (and potassium).
It helps prevent blood clotting.
It keeps heart rhythms steady. A God designed body depleted of magnesium increases the risk of arrhythmias and heart attacks.
It is essential for optimal energy production:
Most magnesium is found in the mitochondria, the energy center of the cell. Without magnesium, ATP cannot provide adequate energy to the cells and to the heart.
This is why deficiency of magnesium can to chronic fatigue.
It supports detoxification pathways:
It helps the body excrete toxic metals like aluminum. Deficiency in magnesium can cause the body to hold on to aluminum.
It is needed for glutathione synthesis. Glutathione is a major antioxidant in the body that helps detoxify metals like mercury, lead, and arsenic and it protects against damage from things like smoke, radiation, and other toxins.
Low levels can lead deposits of heavy metals into the brain.
It supports your stress response:
Many of us are living in survival mode and part of this is due to deficient magnesium.
Magnesium calms the adrenal glands and soothes our sympathetic (fight or flight) response.
Under stress, we also burn through magnesium so this can keep many people stuck
It is muscle relaxant + can also improve sleep
As you can see, Magnesium plays a role in so many crucial processes in our body, so it is incredibly important to pay attention to.
Here are some high quality food sources of magnesium:
Bone broth (beef, chicken, fish). You can make homemade bone broth or order from places like Kettle and Fire.
Beans (black, navy)
Alaska Salmon
Bananas
Unrefined sea salt
Quinoa
Blackstrap Molasses
Wheat Bran
Buckwheat
Millet
Wild Rice
Pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds
Almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts, pecans, + walnuts
Dark leafy greens, spinach, kale, kelp
Dark chocolate
Here are my two of my personal favorite supplemental options of magnesium:
Topical magnesium bedtime lotion by Earthly
Have a question about Magnesium? Email us at megan@refinedwellness.org!
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