Are you deficient in Magnesium?
Written by Matt O'Connor, Certified Nutritionist & Founder of Honour Health
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Magnesium supports over 300 different reactions in our body.
Everything from how well we can deal with stress, our quality of sleep, how well we can convert the nutrients we're actually getting from the food we're eating, and turn that into energy.
They're all impacted by magnesium.
So to say magnesium is important is an understatement!
But the unfortunate reality is, in this modern way of living and our modern food system, so many of us are walking around with a magnesium deficiency without even realising.
We're not connecting the dots that these symptoms, like poor quality sleep like low energy, can often be so easily mapped to magnesium deficiency.
And if we could start to correct a magnesium deficiency, we start to get more magnesium back into our diet.
It's amazing how much better we can feel.
Why so many of us are deficient
The main reason why so many of us are deficient in magnesium is we're quite simply not eating enough foods rich in magnesium.
These are foods like dark leafy green vegetables, avocados, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, some of the most nutrient dense whole foods and missing from so many of our diets.
A lot of our diets, and I put myself into this category, are coming up short in magnesium.
And to be honest, unless you’re eating these types of foods at every single meal: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and sometimes even snacks, it's actually quite hard to get enough magnesium in your diet simply through whole foods alone.
Even if you're eating the best quality diet.
So if you're dealing with any symptoms like poor quality sleep, your stress levels a bit higher than normal, you're struggling to come to the day with high energy.
It would be worth looking at your diet and seeing, are you eating foods that are rich in magnesium.
And if not, the first thing to do is to start correcting the magnesium deficiency with these types of foods.
To make things a little easier, at the end of this blog post, I've included a list of the foods that are most rich in magnesium, so you can start to compare your diet against this list and see if you're coming up short.
Because one of the best things you can do for symptoms like poor sleep, low energy, high stress, and simply our overall health.
Is get more magnesium into your diet.
If you can't get enough magnesium through food, you need to supplement.
If you can't get magnesium through whole food alone, then of course you can look to the support of a high quality magnesium supplement.
My favourites are Magnesium Glycinate (which is also called magnesium bisglycinate).
Magnesium threonate and even magnesium malate.
All three of these forms are known for their high absorption.
Which is the most important factor when taking a magnesium supplement.
Because the more magnesium you absorb, the more benefit you experience.
But look at your diet first.
See if you can start eating more foods that are rich in magnesium.
And then supplement for any gaps.
In my view, this is the optimal way to ensure you're hitting 100% of your magnesium needs, every single day.
Foods high in Magnesium
If you’re not eating the below foods👇 there’s a high chance you’re deficient in Magnesium.
RDI = Recommended Dietary Intake (target amount you should be eating each day).
- Pumpkin seeds (handful / 30g) – 156 mg magnesium → 39% of RDI
- Chia seeds (handful / 30g) – 95 mg magnesium → 24% of RDI
- Almonds (handful / 30g) – 80 mg magnesium → 20% of RDI
- Cashews (handful / 30g) – 75 mg magnesium → 19% of RDI
- Dark chocolate 85% (2 squares) – 65 mg magnesium → 16% of RDI
- Black beans, cooked (½ cup) – 60 mg magnesium → 15% of RDI
- Avocado (1 whole) – 58 mg magnesium → 15% of RDI
- Banana (1 medium) – 32 mg magnesium → 8% of RDI
- Fresh Spinach (1 handful) – 24 mg magnesium → 6% of RDI
- Cooked Brocolli (1 cup) – 12 mg magnesium → 3% of RDI
- Fresh Kale (1 handful) – 9 mg magnesium → 2% of RDI
The information provided here is for general informational purposes only & should not be considered as professional medical advice or a substitute for consulting with a healthcare provider. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.