Magnesium, a critical mineral, is used in more than 300 bodily functions, and can be obtained through foods such as spinach, oatmeal and mixed nuts. For several years experts have suggested that the quantity of magnesium in the soil has significantly decreased. Could this be linked to the increase in cases of asthma and other muscle tissue related problems?
Magnesium is essential to keep the body functioning properly on all levels and a magnesium deficiency can lead to a number of complications, including bronchial spasms and reduced respiration.
In fact, most emergency departments do have magnesium sulfate available to treat patients who present with severe asthma symptoms and who don’t seem to respond to other types of treatment. In such cases, administering the magnesium sulfate intravenously can be a very effective step to help patients in an acute situation to stabilize quickly. Although, only about a quarter of emergency departments use this technique regularly.
Magnesium is lost rapidly in the cooking and refining of food and therefore a Western, economically developed society with a higher asthma prevalence may consume a diet which is low in magnesium demonstrated, in a large population-based epidemiological study, that a lower dietary magnesium intake was associated with impaired lung function, bronchial hyperreactivity and an increased risk of wheezing (Britton et al.).
Through diet and supplementation, magnesium should be considered for anyone with restless legs, fatigue, headaches or constipation. Fibromyalgia, muscle spasms and trigger points involve tight muscles that need to be relaxed. Patients commonly experience these effects due to a lack of magnesium in their diet. Constipation sufferers often hail magnesium as one of the top treatments for regulating the bowels.
Headaches and neck spasms benefit from this nutrient as well. Pain syndrome patients have long felt the benefits of soaking in Epsom salt baths. This remedy contains magnesium, which acts topically to relax muscles. These baths are also comforting for ill children.
Source: Britton, J., Pavord, I., Richards, K., Wisniewski, A., Knox, A., Lewis, S., Tattersfield, A. and Weiss, S. (1994) Dietary magnesium, lung function, wheezing and airway hyperreactivity in a random adult population sample. Lancet 334, 357–362
