The Healthy Benefits of Increased Magnesium Intake

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Magnesium is an extremely useful mineral that affects several aspects of our health. It’s one of the most abundant nutrients in our body, yet many people are still deficient, and most are unaware.

Personally, I’ve experienced magnesium deficiency first hand. When I was in my mid-twenties, I developed visual migraines. If you’ve experienced one of these, you know it can be quite debilitating. In my case, I did not suffer from severe headaches, but from visual discomfort. This made it virtually impossible to focus on anything until it passed.

After much research on the topic, I found evidence that a magnesium deficiency could contribute to migraines. After a neurologist confirmed what I had suspected, I began to supplement magnesium at bedtime. At this point, I’ve not had a visual migraine in over five years. On top of that, my experience helped me understand how nutrient deficiencies can impact our health.

Increasing Magnesium Intake:

It’s important to get enough magnesium in your diet for several different reasons, which include:

• Nervous system support
• Bone structure support
• Vitamin D enhancement
• Sleep optimization
• Improvements in blood pressure
• Blood sugar control
• Reduction of migraines
• Hormone balance

If you’re magnesium levels are low, you may experience the following symptoms:

• Muscle cramps
• Nausea
• Tremors
• High blood pressure
• Poor heart health
• Migraines
• Anxiety
• Difficulty focusing or memory issues
• Insomnia

As far as the eyes go, magnesium can act as somewhat of a muscle relaxer. Increasing magnesium intake can help with the following ocular conditions:

• Eye twitching
• Blepharospasm (advanced eye twitch)

Foods High in Magnesium:

Today, the bulk of magnesium intake should come through food consumption. However, this isn’t always the case. Several nutritious foods supply an appropriate amount of magnesium and should be consumed regularly:

• Dark leafy greens (such as spinach or Swiss chard)
• Pumpkin seeds
• Almonds
• Avocados
• Dark chocolate
• Bananas

Effective magnesium supplements are also becoming increasingly available. In my opinion, one of the best supplements on the market is Natural Calm, made by a company called Natural Vitality. I personally use Natural Calm (raspberry lemon flavor) to relax before bedtime.

If supplementation isn’t the right path for you, you may want to consider a topical form such as Epsom salt. Using Epsom salt in a bath can be a quite relaxing way to increase magnesium levels. It may also improve your ability to fall asleep.

Live in Your OcularPrime:

In addition to supplementation, try to incorporate one extra magnesium rich food every day. After a few weeks, you should begin to notice if a magnesium deficiency is contributing to any given symptom.