Magnesium Health Watch

The Baltimore City Public School System has adopted an initiative called “Meatless Mondays,” part of an effort in improving personal health and nutrition in its students.  We suspect students’ mineral intake increases as a result of having more healthful options including beans, legumes, nuts and fresh produce.  Eating these alternatives to meat, students receive additional magnesium, protein and iron.   In addition, they’ll skip the unhealthy saturated fats that come with many meats.

The idea of Meatless Mondays was recently discussed on Oprah.

“People are confused about how to start making improvements to their health, let alone make sizable changes to the environment. Start with what you put on your dinner plate. Start today. You don’t have to become a vegetarian to make a difference. Michael Pollan recently stated on the Oprah show: “Even one meatless day a week — a meatless Monday, which is what we do in my household — if everybody in America did that, that would be the equivalent of taking 20 million mid-size sedans off the road.”

Joshua Rosenthal: Diet Change: Save the Planet With Meatless Mondays.

An interesting study conducted at Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have concluded that people who are at risk for diabetes should eat a diet high in magnesium-rich foods.  This helps decrease the likelihood of getting diabetes.  Earthtimes shares some information about the study:

“In the first study, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health evaluated the dietary intake of specific nutrients for more than 85,000 women and more than 42,000 men, in data supplied over 18 years for the women and over 12 years for the men. They found that the men and women whose diets included the largest amounts of magnesium were the least likely to develop type 2. Most of the participants in the studies consumed magnesium through foods, such as whole grains, nuts and green leafy vegetables; less than 5 percent of those followed took magnesium supplements.”

Magnesium diet lowers diabetes risk.

Fortunately for vegetarians, many vegetables contain high levels of minerals, particularly magnesium.  But this doesn’t mean that vegetarians shouldn’t be aware of magnesium deficiency, a condition which affects millions of Americans. This article at Savvy Vegetarian discusses the importance of magnesium as part of a vegetarian diet.  It also provides some interesting information on mineral content in drinking water.

“Health conscious vegetarians are often inclined to drink lots of water, and herbal teas*, made with water. They are generally concerned with the quality of drinking water, as are sensible people everywhere. That may lead to the use of distilled or Reverse Osmosis treated water, both of which strip all minerals from the water. The mineral deficient water that you drink, or cook with, pulls minerals from your food and your body, instead of adding them.”

Magnesium An Important Nutrient for Vegetarian Health.

We recently were discussing pumpkin seeds as a rich source for magnesium.  Today, we came across this very interesting article at Cold Truth that provides more information on the nutritional properties of the pumpkin and how it was used as a medicine throughout history. Apparently the pumpkin has far more to offer than just vitamins and minerals like magnesium!

Here’s an excerpt:

“The pumpkin has long been recognized as a natural medicine cabinet. Food scientists have cited historical references to pumpkin being used by Native Americans for the treatment of intestinal infections.

As long ago as the 1870s, American’s ultimate authority for prescription, over-the-counter and natural medications – the United States Pharmacopoeia – listed pumpkin skin and seeds for treatment of parasites and kidney maladies.

Pumpkin is very low in calories, rich in potassium,  magnesium and iron and its bright orange flesh of pumpkin is loaded with the antioxidant beta -carotene that fight free radicals.”

via Cold Truth » Blog Archive » The skin of a pumpkin skin may scare away germs.

This informative article by magnesium expert Carolyn Dean profiles three patients in different circumstances, all dealing with magnesium deficiency.   One patient had heart palpitations and the potential of adult onset diabetes.  Another was suffering from migraines.  For each patient, they discuss symptoms and how they dealt with the magnesium deficiency, through either magnesium-rich foods, magnesium supplements or both.

Here’s an excerpt:

“I gave Mary a list of magnesium-rich foods that she needed to start eating, which included nuts, beans, greens, and seeds such as sunflower and pumpkin. Mary realized that she’d been avoiding almost all of these foods: She thought nuts were fattening, beans gave her gas, and greens never seemed fresh enough at the supermarket. She had never even thought about eating seeds.”

The article is actually an excerpt from Dean’s book, “The Miracle of Magnesium.”

THE MIRACLE OF MAGNESIUM | Toronto Canada alternative health natural medicine green living.