Alexa Erickson – A diet rich in minerals is essential for a variety of bodily functions, including building strong bones and teeth, blood, skin, and hair, promoting proper nerve function, and aiding metabolic processes, like turning the food we eat into energy.
If you’re eating a well-balanced diet full of whole foods, you’re likely getting the minerals you need for optimum health. Foods rich in magnesium specifically include whole grains, nuts, and green leafy vegetables.
Though it’s the fourth most abundant mineral in the body, it’s estimated that 50 to 80 percent of Americans are deficient in magnesium. This important mineral plays an essential role in your body’s biochemical processes — from proper formation of bones and teeth, relaxation of blood vessels, and muscle and nerve function (including the heart), to the regulation of blood sugar and insulin sensitivity and the creation of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy currency of your body, we need magnesium to thrive.
A deficiency in cellular magnesium can result in the deterioration of your cellular metabolic and mitochondrial function. This can pave the way for more severe health problems. Scientific evidence has even exposed how magnesium is essential for heart health.
Magnesium And The Heart
One of the biggest functions of magnesium is as an electrolyte, which is necessary for all electrical activity in your body. Not having electrolytes like magnesium hinders electrical signals from being sent or received, which keeps your heart from pumping blood.
Continue reading →