My Favorite Mineral (Plus the latest on soy and vitamin D)
For years I have had trouble with middle of the night awakening. I toss and turn, beat the pillows, go to the bathroom, try to find cold spots in the bed because I am suddenly too hot, feel prickly and anxious all over and pretty soon I am in a full blown and wide-awake angst about how I will feel tomorrow after no sleep. I know that most of you know what I am talking about. I have tried everything from valerian to theanine (kept me awake) to melatonin (stopped working) and I even tried (drum roll) Ambien . Only once. It kept me awake all night.
I tried watching no TV after 7, I didn't read my favorite thriller books before bed, I slathered lavender oil all over my temples and under my nose and ate a small snack right before bed, like ¼ of an apple and 1 ounce of cheese. Sometimes that worked. I gave up all caffeine after noon , and took every promising supplement. Nothing worked. Post-menopausal women will know what I am talking about because sleep patterns change - often drastically - with the onset of wise-womanhood.
Cut to the chase. I have lately - for the most part - been sleeping like a healthy 30 year old and this is due to my favorite mineral, magnesium. For a few months now, I have taken about 500 mgs of magnesium (Perque) 4 little green Min-Tran (Standard Process) plus a teaspoon of Choline Citrate (Perque) right before I go to bed. (Choline citrate helps the magnesium get to where it's supposed to go.) Folks, this is nothing short of a miracle for me. I didn't have a valerian deficiency after all, and I certainly did not have an Ambien deficiency! It appears that I had a magnesium deficiency.
Think of magnesium when you want to calm down or when you have muscle cramps. Magnesium is a muscle relaxant and low intake is associated with muscle spasms, tremors, twitching. Most of us ladies have been told to take 1200 mgs of calcium every day for our bones. Just take it from me. This is wrong. For one thing, calcium is really not absorbed well in doses of over 500 mgs, and most of us - if we were to count the milligrams - probably get 500-800 mgs of calcium in our diet alone. So, say you are taking your huge dose of calcium because your OBGYNMD said you should. Now you are experiencing what is called a dominance of calcium over magnesium which can cause the following symptoms: Migraines, eyelid twitches, heart flutters, back aches, PMS, leg cramps, kidney stones, heart valve calcifications and constipation.
Magnesium is actually what is needed for healthy bones and is more important than calcium, potassium or sodium. In fact, magnesium regulates all three. Let's just assume that we are all magnesium deficient because I know you will see yourself somewhere in this list of symptoms of magnesium deficiency: Insomnia, sleep-disorders, fatigue, body tension, headaches, heart disorders, low energy, high blood pressure, PMS, muscle tension, backaches, osteoporosis, accelerated aging, depression, irregular heartbeat, sudden death heart attacks, diabetes, anxiety, muscle cramps and irritability.
Magnesium helps manufacture DHEA and insulin; it stabilizes structures of proteins, nucleic acids and cell membranes and has a critical role in healthy cell division. Low magnesium is associated with dramatic increases in free radicals and low levels deplete glutathione from the body. Glutathione is a wonderful antioxidant and is esp. good at neutralizing mercury and preventing damage from cigarette smoke, car exhaust, radiation, chemotherapy poison and alcohol.
If ever - God forbid - you are in the ER for a heart problem, ventricular fibrillation or a stroke, demand IV magnesium. Magnesium by mouth will not only protect your brain from having a stroke in the first place, but if you have a stroke, a magnesium IV will protect your brain if it's given in the first few hours. Magnesium deficiency also increases cancer risk significantly because its job is to protect every one of your cells from invasion from heavy metals, chemicals and environmental toxins. Since we live in an increasingly toxic world, it behooves us all to take extra magnesium. It's cheap, too.
It's difficult to get enough magnesium in foods, so I suggest supplementing. I have several kinds which we can muscle test to figure out which one will work best for you. The downside of magnesium in high doses is diarrhea so you will have to titrate your dose to comfortable levels, that is, just below diarrhea.
Regarding Soy: You know I don't like soy milk or tofu as I think these products are basically unhealthy and unsuitable for human consumption. If you like, go to www.cornucopia.org as they have done a study about organic soy products. Their results put the nail in the soy coffin as far as I am concerned. They "scored" several companies on 1) where the soybeans are sourced 2) how the soybeans are processed 3) how forthright the companies are in providing info to the investigators 4) whether the company tests for and tries to avoid GMO soybeans. Only one company that we can buy here in Colorado came out with a 5-star rating and that is Eden Foods. Bad ratings go to Trader Joes, Pacific Natural Foods, Vita-soy USA , West-soy and surprisingly, Silk. If you must have soy milk, go for the Eden products.
Vitamin D: I can't say enough about this hormone. We need to get our levels to between 50 and 80 to reap its amazing benefits not only for bone health but for cancer protection. Here's yet another reason: Bacterial vaginosis in women. This is esp. harmful during pregnancy because it can lead to low birth weight or even premature birth. You may even be symptom-free, so if you are pregnant you should check your D levels. Actually, all of us should check our D levels.
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