Magnesium Health Watch

In this excellent list at Wake Up and Breathe, Lorraine mentions another way that magnesium can help the body. Magnesium can be used to help treat PMS.  While vitamins are helpful in addressing skin, stress and mood issues associated with pms, calcium combined with magnesium can help cramps.  Magnesium helps the body absorb the needed calcium that helps minimize pain.

“Fight PMS with calcium and magnesium: Calcium prevents menstrual cramps and pain. Magnesium helps the body in absorbing calcium. Magnesium helps in controlling premenstrual food cravings and stabilizing moods. If you do not suffer from lactose intolerance, you can opt for skim milk as a source of calcium. Include green leafy vegetables, beans, peas, tofu and canned salmon for calcium and spinach, tofu, rice bran and some fish like halibut and mackerel for magnesium.”

12 Ways to Fight PMS | Wake Up And Breathe.

From Kalyx Natural Marketplace: Calcium is known best of all as a promoter of healthy and strong bones. But it plays a critical role in performance as well. Too little calcium and you can’t relax your muscles. Bad relaxation makes for less potential energy and so on and ultimately for less than satisfactory contraction. Magnesium is a mineral needed by every cell of your body. About half of your body’s magnesium stores are found inside cells of body tissues and organs, and half are combined with calcium and phosphorus in bone. Regular exercise and a healthy diet with enough calcium helps teen and young adult women maintain good bone health.

Calcium Magnesium Complex, 360 tabs: W

Most people associate calcium, and sometimes magnesium with preventing osteoporosis.  But there are many other considerations including vitamin d and maintaining a low-acid diet, that will help stave off bone deterioration.

This article outlines some of the common pitfalls or mistakes people make when evaluating their nutrition needs for bone health.

“According to the latest research, vitamin D deficiency may be much more common than we think. Vitamin D has two important functions: First, it helps the digestive system absorb calcium, and second, it supports the parathyroid, a gland that regulates the amount of calcium in the blood. When vitamin D levels are low, the parathyroid malfunctions, causing lowered calcium levels in the bloodstream, which can lead to bone loss. People with limited sun exposure or low vitamin D intake are more at risk than others.”

Stay Ahead of Osteoporosis | Common bone-health pitfalls and how to nurture naturally stronger bones.

Magnesium, calcium, vitamin D and vitamin K are particularly important for bone health.  Eating smart can often get you the vitamins and minerals you need.

For example, enjoying some lowfat yogurt can get up to half of a day’s calcium.

Vitamin D can be a tricky one, as it’s not present in many foods, though many are vitamin d fortified.

A handful of almonds can take care of 1/4 of your daily magnesium needs.

Enhance your diet with soybeans and leafy greens, and you’ll be well on your way to the right magnesium levels.

Here Cooking light presents the foods that best supply these vitamins.  On calcium and tofu:

“A great non-dairy source of calcium is tofu. Just one-half cup of firm tofu fortified with calcium has about 20 percent of the daily recommendation for calcium. (Not every tofu is made this way, so look for labels that declare it’s a good source of calcium.) Tofu is also a good source of protein and a wonderful addition to any stir-fry.”

All Photos – Calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, and vitamin K are key nutrients for healthy bones. Our RD shows you good food sources. – Photos – CookingLight.com.

While we come across lots of studies on the health benefits of magnesium and magnesium supplements, we appreciate coming across people’s individual experiences with the products, particularly when they aren’t trying desperately to sell you something.  The writer seems to have found some success with magnesium supplements, which she originally took for insomnia and constipation issues.

The article provides a first-hand experience with several magnesium citrate supplements including Natural Calm, Bluebonnet-Liquid Calcium Magnesium Citrate, LifeTime Liquid Cal-Mag Citrate, as well as several other products.  The review includes information on flavors, formulations, advantages and disadvantages of particular magnesium supplements.

“I recommend the Natural Calm with the calcium since you should take calcium with magnesium. I also like that this product has boron in it since that was also recommended to me along with Vitamin D3. I like to show my three year old that it fizzes like a science experiment and I like that it is sweetened with Stevia and  prepared like a warm tea. I also prefer the lemon flavor to the lemon raspberry and haven’t sampled the plain or orange flavors. I also recommend starting with one teaspoon and increasing until you get your desired results. If stomach or intestinal cramping occurs in the morning it simply means too much was taken and the amount should be slightly decreased.  I found this to be momentarily uncomfortable but was nothing serious and a common side effect. The cost can be around $14-$24 depending on the size of the product and where you purchase. I think the larger size is 16oz and will last for about 3 months. There are also kid friendly formulas and one for pregnancy as well.”

CALM and other magnesium supplements « Viva Sano Canti.