Essential Supplements – Magnesium – Part 2
JED WIGHTMAN PERFORMANCE/SPORTS NUTRITIONIST ADVANTAGE FITNESS LTD
This article has been written for Canadian Physique Alliance -March/April 2024 Edition
Hello everyone, welcome 2024! I trust we’ve all turned up the dial on living better everyday. We each have in our potential, the ability to sharpen every area of our being, if we make the choice to seek and produce lasting change. So here’s to an outstanding 2024, working at creating a better daily routine of disciplined, formative action. Daily health and performance well-being.
In my last article, we uncovered the numerous factors and deep importance of the first essential supplement in our three-part series, “Iodine”. Today, in part two, another mineral, essential, often overlooked, but more so misunderstood. Overarching to every aspect of biological function, foundational, critical, essential, and so we must understand it. Magnesium.
What is Magnesium?
Magnesium is an essential mineral, which serves as a cofactor for over 300 biochemical functions and reactions in your body. Included and not limited to; Protein synthesis, nerve function, bone growth, blood pressure regulation, glucose regulation, cellular membrane integrity. Directly responsible for key roles in those like, the functions of the heart, our most important muscle, action, health and longevity. Our arteries, intra cardiac conduction, myocardial contraction, neuronal excitation. Remember, this is just to name a few. The list of all magnesium cofactors is too long for our space here to write. Always feel free to book a consultation to discuss further questions.
To all parents out there. Magnesium is of primary importance in pre, during, and postnatal windows, and the first development years of life. For all of us it’s definitely important, high-performance athletes, more so, but for pre- during and post pregnancy, mothers. The highest importance, one of the most foundational for the development of the new life. Alright, given that it’s so important to all of us. Performance, athletes, and new mothers and babies aside, will it shock you to know that the general population of people are at a minimum 50% deficit? I have covered deficits of essential nutritional materials in previous articles. However our amount of deficiency for magnesium, is a near standalone for how deficit the general population is. Over half deficient in something so essential must be addressed, must be corrected.
We must take special care of providing the amount, correct kinds of magnesium necessary. The first and most important resource is of course, whole magnesium rich food. It can get a little confusing to most. So, We are at a minimum 50% deficit. Meaning, most people are MORE than 50% deficit. Some people get little to none and suffer from the cumulative health consequences of this from a very young age and on through sadly and unfortunately, unhealthy and shorter lives. This was revealed by several recent studies, including by and not limited to NHI NCIB in 2018.
Data collected across many years, involving many thousands of people, detailed how the majority of those studied were well over 50% short on daily magnesium adequacy. The resulting impact on cardiovascular disease, one of the three leading causes of death in North America, was astronomical. Multiple studies double blind, upon conclusion analyzed the RDA and placebo as control. RDA is not detailed for (new mothers), for performance athletes recovery, or elderly folks or the rest trying to amplify your existing health, to where it should be. RDA? this is the absolute, average, the lowest average by the way. Like a bell curve has low mid and max, it’s low. In my opinion and one shared by multiple nutrition professionals across our field. Better than nothing but low for the proper healthy life balance, regarding essential nutrient materials, vitamins, minerals.
Ok, What about food right? I got you, ok magnesium rich foods, which are not a large part of our western diet to start. Can you right now list five? Unfortunately 30% to 40% of overall consumed magnesium is biologically unavailable. It is not synthesized, we just pass it. Worse so, eating processed foods, food products. 80% of the magnesium that has been re-fortified into the food is null and void. Our body does not have a higher affinity to use refortified food the way whole food is utilized.
That’s right processed food is completely mineral and vitamin stripped, supplemental vits/mins added back to meet non-stringent minimums. This is all Food products, packaged materials, non-origin sourced and kept intact food materials.
I know you’re wondering what we did in the past and why we are so deficit now. First off historically, until the industrial revolution, we all ate Whole foods. Also, until recently when we drank water from the ground it wasn’t desalinated. Our tap water now is. So we are missing natural magnesium salts and sodium. City tap-water has more hard calcium in it than magnesium or sodium. Without proper pathway channeling, the kind of calcium that sticks and sits around your arteries and doesn’t do anything to the benefit of bones and mineral balance or ph. Calcium and magnesium are necessary for neutrality of acids (base minerals, neutralize acid) and to increase and stabilize our pH balance.
However, By consuming magnesium and calcium simultaneously, inhibits bioavailability of magnesium, yes, that’s right multivitamins and combo mineral pills are lazy and are largely less effective. Zinc is confiictual to calciums bioavailability in this scenario as well. Proper nutrition and supplementation timing will allow for mineral and vitamin efficiency. Our body needs magnesium to synthesize vitamin D and k2 vitamin d and k regulate calcium. Don’t worry in our next addition, we cover vitamin D. Vit K 2 covered extensively and previous article “the heart of the matter”. Remember, always Whole Foods First.
So where do we get the remaining mag to fill the deficit? There’s several forms that are available at your local health supplement or natural food store. Some help you with peristalsis, help you with cramping, some help you with brain function and cognition, some help with sleep, recovery, etc. So, which one should we take, just the basics? Oxide, citrate, gluconate, more specific ones, L-threonate, Bisglycinate? The answer is YES. Source, amount even duration, is individually specific, while sharing some interconnected and broad parallels, as we are all carbon based lifeforms.
Covering a spectrum of magnesium branches, for the performance and competitive athlete very much like with pre-during and post pregnancy, mothers, is magnificently important. Additional supplementation, Essential for specific and more intricate forms of magnesium, that help recovery, hormone balance, regulation, and amplification. Brain function neural plasticity, cognitive ability and performance of the neural net, and sleep. Cannot, should not, and for me personally, and for my clients will not be overlooked. Athletes, we must account for our minerals to progress.
How do we know? Some of you out there might be a lot more knowledgeable about this than others, for you all respect and credit do. So regarding and touching briefiy on that, I’ll add, when we request and or receive the blood test that is usually on most annual check ups. “The Basic Chem Panel”, we are testing for the magnesium in our blood, not in our muscle cells, certainly not in our bones. Nor how much is in your mitochondria the most important marker of magnesium in our body. So, even if we have adequate blood volume magnesium, and we’re not supplementing with it or eating a raw diet containing loads of it and drinking natural spring water. The test is not thorough enough to provide the full picture. Yet, another point as to why we must cover the basic bases, and for some of us, further extend to specific forms for all things, and more listed above. Always talk to your doctor and see what you can do to get a deeper, more detailed full spectrum and range of magnesium tests. If unavailable, I suggest a reputable live blood testing clinic.
One last point for all of you parents and parents to be out there. Breast-feeding is the nutritional influence our bodies are INTENDED to receive as new forms of life. In my 21 year career, I have worked with a great number of pre-during and post natal moms in conjunction with their physicians. Pregnancy makes your body even more basic mineral deficit, essential fat deficit, and protein deficit. Mom, what would make up for your loss, to the baby, and what would be responsible for the surplus the baby needs?. No formula does that, and does not provide near the nutrition value that breastmilk does. Formula is oxidized high oleic vegetable seed oil, soy protein, and high fructose corn syrup,” refortified” with vitamins and minerals. Useless and rejected by the body in large part. For all us athletes, for all of us, getting older, wanting to produce more longevity, stronger healthier longer lives. We cannot sleep on the need for magnesium, and in NOT doing so it will enhance the quality and benefit of our sleep immensely. A little bonus to the plethora of positive benefits.
Thank you friends, subscribers, readers, all you amazing human beings out there. My mission is to provide lasting positive benefits on health, and education to everyone whose lives I can help. Don’t forget to subscribe to our Canadian Physique Alliance newsletter, and to my newsletter. Both subscriptions available on respective websites.
I wish you the absolute best of 2024, for all blessings and everything that you work so hard for, earned, comes to you.
FORWARD FORWARD ALWAYS FORWARD AF.
