If you often feel numbness or tingling sensations in your body, such as in the hands and feet, this is likely due to a change in nerve activity. For example, peripheral neuropathy (a common side effect of diabetes) is characterized by these sensations.
Because of its role in healthy nerve transmission, magnesium deficiency may be at least in part playing a role here. Limited research has been performed on this mechanism specifically, but some studies have shown that magnesium may be able to relieve or prevent numbness and tingling in the extremities.
This effect has been highlighted in research showing protective properties against peripheral neuropathy induced by certain cancer therapies.
Headaches & Chronic Migraines
It has been found that sufferers of chronic migraines often have lower levels of magnesium in their bodies. Considering how important magnesium is for proper nerve function, this makes a lot of sense. Magnesium also plays the additional key role of regulating neurotransmitter production, which can also influence migraines.
Supplemental magnesium taken on a regular basis has been shown to decrease both the frequency and intensity of migraine headaches. Additionally, magnesium has been shown to have the same effect on non-migraine headaches as well.
Much of this has to do with magnesium’s ability to help regulate calcium balance within neuronal cells. Too much calcium can lead to exitotoxic effects where the brain cells are overstimulated and this is a major factor in headaches and migraine formation.
Ways To Get More Magnesium
Now that you know the signs of magnesium deficiency and just how important this mineral is for the human body, it is important to understand the best ways to obtain it. Follow these 3 strategies to boost your magnesium levels and do your health a tremendous favor.
Epsom Salt Baths
Perhaps one of the most relaxing ways to get more magnesium into your body is by taking an Epsom salt bath. Epsom salts are actually a form of magnesium that can absorb into the body through the skin while you soak. This is part of the reason why Epsom salt baths are so relaxing!
While traditional Epsom salts are made of magnesium sulfate, there are also newer forms of magnesium flakes that are made of magnesium chloride. Both types of salts provide benefits for the body, however magnesium chloride may be able to provide longer lasting benefits. This is because magnesium chloride is both easier to absorb and slower to be excreted from the body.
This means that less magnesium chloride is needed to derive benefits. One of my favorite brands of magnesium flakes is Ancient Minerals and their bath soak can be found here.
Eat Magnesium Rich Foods
As with most nutrients, I always recommend starting with your diet. There are plenty of great food sources of magnesium that are easy to incorporate into your daily life. Some of my favorites are avocados, leafy green vegetables, and raw chocolate.
I’d recommend picking a few high-magnesium foods and consuming them on a regular basis. For example, I use avocados to make avocado chocolate protein pudding that I eat for lunch just about every day!
Supplement With Magnesium
When it comes down to it, our food supply just isn’t what it used to be. Industrialization and poor attention to soil quality has depleted our soil of vital nutrients that used to be passed into the food we ate. Although we are starting to wake up to this fact and make more conscious efforts to create nourished farming conditions, our food is still lacking in the nutrition our bodies need.
This is why I recommend supplemental magnesium to so many of my patients. It is just so critically important to make sure you get enough magnesium in your diet that even I supplement with it every day. My two favorite forms of magnesium are either a high quality transdermal magnesium or powdered form.
Transdermal magnesium comes in a lotion that can be applied to the abdomen or areas of pain for quick absorption that bypasses the digestive tract. This is important especially in cases where the digestive tract is damaged or compromised and cannot absorb magnesium properly (such as leaky gut).
