Magnesium

Do you have cravings for chocolate so intense that you can’t think about anything else? What about those muscle cramps that keep you up at night? Or your trips to the bathroom are a bit of a struggle? Chances are you’re deficient in magnesium! Magnesium is essential for over 300 different enzymatic processes to help your body function properly. It’s a common mineral to be deficient in, yet most people have no idea they’re lacking this important nutrient! Here are five of the key signs that you may be deficient without even realizing:

1. Chocolate Cravings
Your body knows best. When you truly listen closely to your body, it will tell you what it needs. Dark chocolate is actually a good source of magnesium, containing 24% of your daily needs in just one square. If your body is desperately calling out for a chocolate fix, it may be just what you need! (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!) 😊

2. Muscle Cramps
Magnesium helps to relax your muscles, so when you’re running low on this mineral, you’re likely to find your muscles contracting involuntarily, causing you painful spasms.

3. Anxiety
Feeling anxious? A deficiency in magnesium can have your central nervous system sending you early warning signs by increased anxiety.

4. Constipation
Ensuring you have enough magnesium is important for your bowels for two key reasons: one, it helps to relax your bowels, and two, it pulls water into your bowels creating an osmotic effect that makes passing waste easier.

5. Sleep Troubles
Did you know magnesium levels drop in your body at night? That means if you’re low in magnesium you may have trouble sleeping! So many of us have difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep. A deficiency in magnesium may be a contributing factor as it plays such a key role in the function of your central nervous system.

What Zaps My Magnesium Levels?
These factors are key influencers on your magnesium levels:
 • Food and drink high in salt, sugar, caffeine and alcohol should be limited.
 • Stress also plays a role, so try implementing relaxation techniques such as meditation and yoga as much as possible.
 • Check with your doctor to see if your medication is causing magnesium loss - many high blood pressure medications may be contributing to your problems rather than helping!


How Can I Get More Magnesium?
Foods that are high in magnesium include:
Avocado
Leafy greens (spinach and sea vegetables are tops)
Beans and lentils
Nuts and seeds (pumpkin, sesame and sunflower seeds and cashews and almonds are high in           Magnesium)
Quinoa and other unrefined grains
Dark chocolate (min 70% cocoa) and raw cacao

Try consuming more of these foods to help reduce symptoms of magnesium deficiency. You may be surprised to find out that it’s all you needed to feel better! 

Looking for a supplement? Try magnesium glycinate or magnesium citrate, they’re two of the most readily absorbed. Just avoid overdoing it as they have a laxative effect when consumed in high doses!


The most efficient way to absorb magnesium is through the largest organ in the body - the skin. Try soaking in a tub of magnesium flakes or Epsom Salt. Even a foot bath will do wonders.

Lemons

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade! That's a good, positive attitude, but it is also a good health tip! Lemons have many health benefits: Lemons are alkalizing for the body (which seems wrong since they are so acidic). Lemons will help balance the body's pH. Lemons are rich in vitamin C and will help ward off a cold. Fresh lemon juice added to a large glass of water in the morning is a great liver detoxifier. A lemon contains 22 anti-cancer compounds. Even the lemon peel has health benefits. The lemon is the ONLY food in the world that is Anionic (the lemon electron has a negative charge). All other foods are cationic (the lemon’s outer electron has a positive charge.) This makes it extremely useful to health as it is the interaction between anions and cations that ultimately provides all cell energy.

When your neighbor gives you a bag of lemons off their tree and you can't possibly eat them all, squeeze them and freeze the juice in ice trays. You can take out a few at a time and make lemonade or add them to recipes. I grate the lemon peel (zest) and freeze them in measurements of 1 Tablespoon to add to recipes.

Lemons are good for your body and your environment. Enjoy them year round!

Cinnamon

If you are eating Cinnamon for your health then you need to pay attention to which kind you are eating. We used to flavor a few things with cinnamon occasionally so there wasn't much concern about which kind we were eating, but now we are using large doses of it because of the many health benefits. While there are a hundred different kinds of cinnamon, only 4 are used for commercial purposes: - Saigon, Ceylon, Cassia, and Korintje. The only real downside of cinnamon is the coumarin in it. Coumarin is a substance that can cause liver damage or complete failure. Only Ceylon Cinnamon has low levels of Coumarin, while all other varieties of Cinnamon have high levels of Coumarin. 

The problem in purchasing cinnamon is that most companies do not tell you which kind of cinnamon is in the jar. And most of it is the Cassia kind because it is much cheaper. You can tell the difference when it is still in the stick form. Ceylon Cinnamon sticks are soft, crumbly and rolled like cigar with layers of soft brittle Cinnamon bark. All other Cinnamon looks like the Cassia Cinnamon sticks and tends to be hard, hollow and have only one rolled or curled layer. Notice the color difference. Ceylon Cinnamon is lighter in color while other Cinnamon tends to be darker in color. When I can't find a brand that labels the type of cinnamon, I purchase the Ceylon sticks and grind them to make my own powder.

When cinnamon becomes a part of your healthy lifestyle, it is important to get the right kind.

Ceylon Cinnamon (Good)

Cassia Cinnamon (Bad)