Magnesium—and how to make sure you’re getting enough—is a hot topic these days. But how do you know if you have a magnesium deficiency, and what are some habits that may be depleting your body’s stores of this essential vitamin without you even realizing it?
We already know that magnesium is a very important mineral, as it is involved in more than 300 functions of the body. And most of us may not be getting enough—even if a blood test shows we are fine.
“When you have a blood test, they measure the levels of magnesium in the blood, but we now know that 99% of magnesium is found inside the cells and only 1% in the blood,” Belén Acero, a pharmacist specializing in nutrition at Farmacia Avenida de América, tells Vogue Spain. “Therefore, while you may have adequate magnesium according to the blood test, your intracellular magnesium may still be low. And that is what is really important.”
For all these reasons, taking magnesium supplements has become popular although it is always advisable to consult a doctor before starting a vitamin regimen. It’s also good to know what daily habits affect magnesium levels, without us even realizing it.
Here are some common habits that can cause a magnesium deficiency, and what you can do to mitigate their effects.
#1: Sweating and exercise
It’s a paradox. Magnesium helps with muscle relaxation, Dr. Isabel Viña, the medical-scientific director of IVB Wellness Lab, tells Vogue Spain. Precisely for this reason, according rheumatologist Lourdes Villalobos, low levels of the vitamin can cause cramps, fatigue and a feeling of weakness.
However, sports exercise and sweating can deplete the body’s magnesium levels, María José Alonso, an associate professor of health sciences at the Open University of Catalonia, tells Vogue Spain. So while you may be strengthening your muscles through exercise, you may be hindering their ability to relax by not addressing the magnesium deficiency the exercise creates. Don’t worry though, there’s an easy fix. Experts suggest replenishing the vitamin after sports practice, either by taking supplements or sports drinks.
#2: Eating too much processed foods and refined sugar
Our bodies do not produce magnesium, so it is essential to provide it through diet and good habits. However, says Viña, “it is estimated that between 40 and 60% of the Western population does not consume the right amount of magnesium.”
In addition, she says the typical Western diet, which is rich in processed and refined foods, “contributes to a significant loss of magnesium during processing, with estimates that between 80 and 90% of the original magnesium content is lost.”
This one’s also an easy fix though, which brings us to…
#3: Not eating enough magnesium-rich foods
It’s also easy to fall into magnesium deficiency by simply not eating enough foods that are rich in the vitamin. Foods that contain a lot of magnesium include: green leafy vegetables such as spinach and broccoli, nuts such as cashews and almonds, pumpkin seeds, sesame and chia, and legumes.
If you incorporate more of these healthy foods into your diet, it’s easy to get your magnesium levels up.
#4: Chronic stress
While magnesium deficiency leads to weakness, fatigue and stress, stress can also cause magnesium deficiency, says Alonso.
“We live in a stressed society and it has been shown that stress can increase magnesium loss, causing a deficiency and, in turn, the deficiency increases the body’s susceptibility to stress, which becomes a vicious cycle,” she says.
But how should you manage stress in your day-to-day life? Acero recommends boosting your self-care and doing small meditations throughout the day. She also recommends getting plenty of rest, which can be helped by practicing other habits to increase magnesium levels.
“Magnesium is also related to better sleep quality, since it participates in the synthesis of melatonin, the hormone that regulates circadian rhythms and helps us sleep,” she says.
This story was first published in Vogue Spain.
The post Magnesium Deficiency: These Habits May Be Causing It appeared first on Glamour.
