Are You Getting Enough Magnesium?
February 19, 2007 by laura
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Your body needs magnesium in order to control your muscles (which require energy), for nerve functionality (which requires energy), to control your heartbeat (which requires energy), protein synthesis (which requires energy), and if you missed my not so subtle hints, you need magnesium for energy.
Are you getting enough? The recommended amount for women is 320 mg a day, and 420 mg a day for men.
You should be able to get the recommended daily amount just through food servings, but if not there are supplements available.
Magnesium rich foods include:
Green vegetables, such as spinach, artichoke and okra. There is a really yummy sounding recipe over at Veggie Chic for Okra Curry. Its definitely something I am going to try, as soon as I can locate some okra.
Fish, such as sole, halibut and flounder. On the west coast, we eat mostly salmon. Salmon is a little far down on the magnesium scale. However that fish does come with other benefits.
Beans White beans, and black beans win the prize here, with navy beans coming in a somewhat distant third place.
Seeds The most magnesium filled seed is the pumpkin seed. However, I have no idea how to find pumpkin seeds after Halloween is over. The only way I know how to find them, is by carving a jack-o-lantern. Other than that, I am clueless.
Legumes I will admit, I am not so sure what a legume is…..I always thought of it as a bean or seed…maybe one of you can enlighten me on this.
Nuts Ever heard the line “Pernambuco, where the nuts come from”? Charley’s Aunt comes from there…as do Brazil nuts. (sidenote: please excuse my obscure musical theatre references – I try to use my totally useless knowledge as much as I can, and I didn’t ever think that I could get rid of that Pernambuco reference. I have been trying to use it for almost 15 years).
And I saved the best for last…..now here is the best reason to cap off your meal with chocolate. Dark chocolate is high in magnesium.
**The real information in this post was provided by The New York State Osteoporosis Prevention and Education Program.
Legumes are the fruits of plants in the Fabaceae (formerly known as Leguminosae) family. Beans, peas, and lentils, basically. (The group also includes things like clover, lupines, and alfalfa.) They are one of the few kinds of plants that can take nitrogen directly from the air; as a result they are very high in protein.
Thanks Sylvia!!!!
: D
I am utterly convinced that magnesium is really important to my functionning and that I don’t often get enough. I get restless legs at night, which prevents me from sleeping. It isn’t so bad now, but used to be terrible. I also get muscle aches when I use my muscles. I never had either of these problems before CFS.
I have discovered that magnesium helps immensely in both cases. The easiest source for me is a powdered drink mix called Salvital. It’s like gatorade or similar in that it is supposed to give you good salts, but it has magnesium in it, and it works a treat. Also good are dried appricots, and I’m just going to go and buy some dark chocolate so I can include that in my list of supports!