Showing posts with label magnesium. Show all posts

A Tasty Way to Get More Magnesium

I personally like quinoa, mainly for its protein, but also its many uses. I add organic quinoa flakes to oatmeal, pancakes, and other foods. I like it in place of rice as it is gluten free.

I guess I'd like to have Larry's Markets' recipe for their quinoa salad with oranges. In the interim I found one one I think I'll play with, my choice is to omit the corn. But you may like it as it is in this recipe.

Quinoa salad:

1 cup quinoa, well rinsed
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
Juice of one lemon
1 Tbs olive oil
2 to 3 scallions, minced
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Bean salad:1 16-ounce (455g) can low sodium pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup diced tomato
1 Tbs apple cider
1/4 cup chopped parsley or cilantro
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Garnishes: Pumpkin seeds
Black olives
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips

Directions

Boil 2 cups water (480mL) in a saucepan. Add the quinoa and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. When done, fluff with a fork and transfer to a bowl. Combine quinoa with remaining ingredients for the quinoa salad.
While the quinoa cooks, toss the bean salad ingredients in another bowl.
To assemble, spread quinoa salad evenly on a platter. Leave a well in the center and mound bean salad into the well. Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds. Arrange olives and pepper strips around the edge. (Delicious Living)

Low magnesium linked to inflammation

The experiment revealed several findings: Fewer than half of the people in the study were getting enough dietary magnesium to meet the estimated average requirement (the amount estimated to meet the needs of 50% of people), and more than one-third had low magnesium levels in their blood.

People with low-magnesium diets had higher levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation that is closely correlated with cardiac risk.

A low magnesium diet was also associated with a higher body mass index, a number based on height and weight that is used to diagnose overweight and obesity. Scientists have found a close relationship between obesity and inflammation. CRP levels decreased in people in the magnesium group whose CRP levels were high at the beginning of the study, but increased in those in the placebo group.

“The findings show that many individuals have a low magnesium status associated with increased chronic inflammatory stress that could be alleviated by increased magnesium intake,” the study’s authors said. (Magnesium Research)

People with Diabetes (PWD) often have low magnesium levels: More on Magnesium

Quinoa is high in many health promoting nutrients, and you'll get about 90mg of magnesium from a half-cup serving.

Glaucoma Awareness: January

Minerals, like magnesium, are absolutely essential to longevity and quality of life.

Did You Know? Your eye muscles may be stronger than any other in your body.

In 1995, researchers at the University Eye Clinic in Basel, Switzerland published a study on the effect of supplemental magnesium on glaucoma patients. A dose of 121.5 mg twice daily was administered to 10 glaucoma patients for one month. Results of the study substantiated that magnesium supplementation improved the peripheral circulation in blood vessels around the eye, with the accompanying benefit of an improved visual field. While magnesium is certainly not a cure for glaucoma, the improvement of symptoms could make it worth taking.

Even without the potential benefits to glaucoma patients, magnesium is a very useful mineral.

Magnesium is essential to more than 300 biochemical reactions in the human body. It affects critical areas such heart rhythm, blood sugar, and metabolism. Studies have shown that inadequate magnesium intake can contribute to various health problems including: osteoporosis, high blood pressure, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. As if that weren’t enough, magnesium can be used as a muscle relaxant and sleep aid.

The recommended daily allowance (RDA) for magnesium for individuals over 30 years is 420 mg for men and 320 mg for women. A study published in 2003 by The Journal of Nutrition indicated that the average daily intake of magnesium was substantially below the RDA. With all the potential benefits magnesium can provide, ideally we should try to include as many magnesium-rich foods in our diet as possible. If you’re not able to get the RDA via your diet, oral supplementation can also be used.

Watch for our up and coming product review on Magnesium.

Magnesium rich foods, order high quality magnesium from CHI and help support Natural Health News.

Selections from Natural Health News

Longterm Steroid Use Causes Problems
Dec 08, 2007
If you take moderate to high doses of corticosteroids, have regular eye exams to check for glaucoma. * Ask your doctor whether you can reduce your oral steroid dose by adding other medications. * Have your blood pressure checked ...
Lawmakers have wooed seniors into the hole

Dec 04, 2009

Evodkia Kresch, 83, takes pills for glaucoma, diabetes and heart problems and has been in the doughnut hole for several months. She grew up in Ukraine and lost her parents and six siblings in the Holocaust. Her husband died two years ...
100000 deaths in hospitals each year are attributed to properly ...

Aug 21, 2006

Xalatan - used to relieve high pressure within the eye (a hallmark of the condition known as open-angle glaucoma). This drug may lead to changes in chromosomes, changes in pigment of eyelids, eye color and other effects on melanocytes, ...
Drug errors or other?
Jan 30, 2008

Labels could be applied that use "tall-man" lettering -- for instance the glaucoma drug acetaZOLamide, with the "ZOL" in the middle uppercased, versus acetoHEXamide, a drug used to treat diabetes that has a similar name. ...

Low Dose Electromagnetic Radiation Depletes Key Nutrients

For years I have been alerting skeptics to the fact that non-ionizing radiation indeed has a negative impact, and it can take many forms.

This report is enlightening because it looks at important nutrients and the impact on health.

If you're a consumer of EMF in its many forms, you might wish to look too.

Researchers found these key nutrients to be affected -

Calcium is essential for proper bone formation and teeth, as well as certain hormones and muscle contraction. A deficiency of calcium leads to muscle cramps, eye twitching, sleep disorders, and bone disorders like osteoporosis.

Magnesium deficiency has been linked to heart arrhythmias, visual deficiency, anxiety, confusion. agitation, restless leg syndrome (RLS), sleep disorders, irritability, nausea and vomiting, low blood pressure, muscle spasms, and seizures.

Zinc is required for normal immune function, fertility, and protein synthesis. Insufficient zinc can lead to sleep disorders, behavioral problems, diarrhea, skin rashes, hair loss, hyperactivity, allergies, bowel disease, and reduced fertility.

Ulku R, Akdag MZ, Erdogan S, Akkus Z, Dasdag S. Extremely Low-Frequency Magnetic Field Decreased Calcium, Zinc and Magnesium Levels in Costa of Rat. Biol Trace Elem Res. 2010 Sep 25. [Epub ahead of print]

SOURCE

Nutritional Status and Orthopedic Disturbances

Vitamin D Synthesis http://www.globalrph.com/vitamin_d.htm

Yes, Vitamin D is a very important nutrient. And we know that the years of non-fat/low-fat diets and staying out of the sun takes a toll on this vital nutrient, and perhaps has become the basis of an epidemic and increased dis-ease states.

While it always seems that the lineal model is favored by so many in healthcare, it can certainly lead to other problems.

I say this because I have not seen the following information in any other the vitamin D data I have reviewed over the past several years.

Vitamin D deficiency can cause rickets. However, when taking high doses of vitamin D people do need to be cautioned that this too may lead to a deficiency state.

The pro-calcium action of vitamin D can increase absorption and retention of calcium as compared to magnesium.

If you have a magnesium deficiency, as most people these days truly seem to have, high doses of vitamin D can contribute to soft tissue calcium deposits and reduced

Cortical bone activity
Muscular contraction
Recurring vertebral or other joint subluxation

More to consider -

Vitamin D health warning for the children who shun the sun

Paranoia about sun exposure and indoor lifestyles are causing life-threatening health problems for children due to vitamin D deficiency, a new study claims.

By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent
Published: 5:32PM BST 10 Sep 2010

Casualty departments are dealing with dozens of emergency cases where infants are having seizures as a direct result of not getting enough vitamin D, which is essential for healthy teeth and bones.

In one case, a baby suffered brain damage after a fit.

The study said the extreme cases are part of an escalating problem of a deficiency of the vitamin, which the body makes when exposed to sunlight.
The report in the London Journal of Primary Care blames indoor lifestyles and the use of high sun protection factor creams for a health issue unheard of a decade ago.
The findings have prompted experts to call for vitamin D pills to be made more widely available on the NHS, especially for pregnant women.
The study reveals the introduction of schemes offering mothers supplements has been slow. Some areas of London have no vitamin packs available and people are ignorant about the benefits of vitamin D, which is also found in oily fish, liver and eggs.
Colin Michie, a co-author of the study, said vitamin D deficiency was no longer a “poor” problem and the middle classes are just as vulnerable.
The consultant paediatrician, who works at Ealing Hospital and BMI Clementine Churchill, said GPs should be more alert to symptoms such as muscle aches and pains.
He told the Evening Standard: “This is a totally avoidable condition which is now a public health issue. It's affecting middle-class children because they're overprotecting with sunscreen and not going out as much.
SPF is also increasingly in cosmetics used by young women.
“The more dramatic cases tend to be in people who wear traditional clothing and so are covered up.”
However, he added, GPs also see a growing number of low-level cases in other groups.
Warnings over the links between sunburn and skin cancer have prompted some people to shun the sun
The actress Gwyneth Paltrow has revealed recently that she was diagnosed with very poor vitamin D levels after years of keeping her skin covered.
A special investigation is being launched into the extent of emergency admissions for patients with vitamin D deficiency.
The British Paediatric Surveillance Unit will gather data from hospitals from next year.
Mr Michie analysed the cases of 17 babies and infants treated at Ealing Hospital for a severe lack of vitamin D between 2006 and 2008. He found many experienced a delay in walking, a problem last common in Victorian times.
Cancer Research UK is considering changing it guidelines concerning sun exposure because of the problem.
Instead of advising people to stay out the midday sun completely, it may suggest that a few minutes exposure could be healthy.