It should be no surprise that magnesium is extremely important for your body. After all, every cell in the body needs magnesium. Not only does magnesium help keep muscles strong, but it also helps keep nerves alert.
Additionally, magnesium plays an important role in your body’s biochemical processes. However, magnesium is especially important when it comes to keeping your heart happy and healthy. Sadly, around 50 to 80 percent of people are deficient in magnesium. So why is magnesium so important for heart health and overall health? How can you optimize your magnesium levels?
Magnesium and Heart Health?
The first question we need to answer is the role magnesium plays in heart health. First, let’s take a look at the importance of magnesium in relation to our body’s biochemical processes.
Magnesium helps the:
- Creation of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy currency of your body.
- Relaxation of blood vessels.
- Muscle and nerve function, including the action of your heart muscle.
- Proper formation of bones and teeth.
- Regulation of blood sugar and insulin sensitivity, which is important for the prevention of type 2 diabetes. For example, magnesium is essential for insulin release by pancreatic β-cells and acts as a messenger for insulin action.
As you can see, magnesium plays an important role when it comes to making sure your body can function properly. But how exactly does magnesium help your heart? Well, if you are deficient in magnesium it can lead to the deterioration of your cellular metabolic function and mitochondrial function. This can lead to serious health issues.
For example, insufficient magnesium tends to trigger muscle spasms, and this has consequences for your heart in particular. Additionally, magnesium functions as an electrolyte, which is crucial for all electrical activity in your body.
Without electrolytes (like magnesium and potassium) electrical signals cannot be sent or received. Without these signals, our heart cannot pump blood and our brain cannot function properly. All in all, without proper magnesium levels your heart cannot function properly.
Magnesium helps:
- Reduce your risk for Cardiovascular Disease: In recent studies, it has been observed that the lower your magnesium levels, the higher your risk for CVD. Taking magnesium supplements regularly helps reduce your risk for CVD.
- Blood pressure control: It’s important to try and manage your high blood pressure, as it puts you at risk for both heart disease and stroke. Thankfully, magnesium helps to relax and dilate your blood vessels, thereby reducing your blood pressure.
In short, magnesium is an important mineral when it comes to preventing diseases and keeping your heart healthy.
Optimizing Magnesium Levels
So now that we have a better understanding of magnesium in relation to our health, let’s talk about how to optimize our magnesium levels. Thankfully, one of the best ways to help optimize your magnesium levels is simply by eating magnesium-rich foods.
If you aren’t too keen on eating leafy greens, you can always try juicing your greens! Some foods that are high in magnesium are:
- Spinach
- Swiss chard
- Kale
- Broccoli
- Collard greens and Brussel sprouts
- Raspberries, tomatoes, strawberries
- Seeds and nuts
These are only a few foods that are high in magnesium, but there are many more to choose from! Of course, if you are very low in magnesium, it’s recommended you meet with a doctor and take supplements to bring levels back to optimal, and then you can maintain healthy magnesium-rich foods again.
The Magnesium and Heart Health Takeaway
All in all, magnesium plays a crucial part in maintaining heart health and preventing disease. One of the best ways to optimize your magnesium levels is by eating healthy foods that are magnesium-rich.
If you are interested in learning more about our holistic health, I encourage you to schedule an appointment with one of our trusted practitioners at SHIN Wellness. We offer many other holistic treatments such as decompression therapy, acupuncture, chiropractic, neurofeedback, psychology, reiki, nutrition, massage, rolfing and corrective exercise. If you need some help figuring out what service is right for you, try our personalized consultation. Our Wellness Center and Chiropractor office in Miami Florida specializes in restoring your health!
