Did you know that magnesium is a major mineral that is crucial for your health? In fact, magnesium is one of the most important minerals when it comes to maintaining optimal health since it plays major roles in bone health, nerve health, heart health, mental health, and many more health systems. Unfortunately, even if you have a healthy diet you can still suffer from magnesium deficiency which can cause a number of conditions and diseases. Read on to learn about the numerous health benefits of magnesium and where to find the best natural sources.

This week’s Nutrients by the Alphabet: Magnesium

That’s right, in this new series – Nutrients by the Alphabet – you will learn all about important nutrients (vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants), their health benefits, and easy and delicious ways to get more of the good stuff with a fun recipe to try each week (courtesy of my awesome student-intern from Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School – Shelby Persechino)!

So, what are the health benefits of Magnesium?

Magnesium helps form and structure the bones as well as prevent bone loss. Magnesium may also boosts performance since it has a role in muscle function and energy production. Studies have shown that people who consume magnesium daily have an improvement in physical performance. Magnesium reduces high blood pressure, or hypertension, to promote better heart health and also plays a role in decreasing inflammation levels. Some studies have found that taking magnesium benefits your blood sugar and can prevent insulin resistance. And for my ladies, studies have shown that women who consume foods high in magnesium and vitamin B6 will experience reduced PMS symptoms (YAY!). Magnesium also has potent mood-boosting properties and can help fight against depression. In fact, some research has shown that magnesium could be as effective as antidepressants in treating depression. More recently, magnesium has been associated with reduced insomnia severity, increased sleep time, and decreased amount of time needed to fall asleep. Now that’s enough to encourage me to get my daily dose of magnesium because, who doesn’t love sleep?

So, how much Magnesium do you need and where can you find it?

The Recommend Daily Allowance (RDA) of magnesium for adult men age 19 to 30 years old is 400mg a day, adult men age 31 years and older is 420mg a day, adult women age 19 to 30 years old is 310mg a day, and adult women age 31 years and older is 320mg a day. Magnesium can be found in spinach, chard, pumpkin seeds, yogurt or kefir, almonds, black beans, avocado, figs, dark chocolate, banana, etc.

Looking for a quick and tasty recipe to increase your magnesium intake? Try this spicy roasted pumpkin seed recipe from Dr. Axe.