Magnesium
I spend a lot of time reading about various supplements, trying to work out what I should or shouldn't take. I really don’t like the idea of taking supplements – it’s not exactly a Paleo activity we've evolved to do! However, I know it is a lot harder not to get all of the micro nutrients we need today than ever before. Mineral content in soils is severely depleted due to modern farming methods, meaning the produce that grows in that land and animals grazing on the land are also far lighter on mineral content. I've been especially interested in Magnesium.
I'm fairly sold on taking Vitamin D3 and fish oil, but after reading “The Magnesium Miracle” and researching the mineral, I recently decided to buy some Magnesium Citrate.
I had a lot of blood work done recently and whilst I don’t appear to have a Magnesium deficiency my magnesium mmol/L levels look to be lower than desirable. Magnesium is an essential mineral involved in so many of the biochemical processes in the body, it is claimed to help with sleep, stress and help regulate blood sugar levels. It's role in insulin sensitivity is especially interesting to me, with my current weight loss objective.
There are so many different types of magnesium supplements – I found magnesium oxide, magnesium hydroxide, magnesium carbonate, magnesium citrate, magnesium lactate, magnesium chloride, and magnesium sulfate! I decided to try Magnesium Citrate as apparently it has a better bio availability, which means it should be better absorbed. I believe this is the same form as found in the ‘Natural Calm” brand.
A lot of people get magnesium through skin absorption, either by bathing in Epsom Salts or apply magnesium oil – I might try this route in the future, but for now, I'll see how I fair with the supplement. There are food sources of magnesium, such as green vegetables, bone broths, almonds and fish – but to achieve reasonable levels I'd have to eat such high amounts from the food source, that I don't think it would be realistic at the moment.
Do you supplement with Magnesium? Interested to hear what benefits – or even downsides you've experienced with Magnesium supplementation!