Magnesium: The Most Underrated Supplement

06 Mar Magnesium: The Most Underrated Supplement

Are you a worrier? Do you wake up at night? Do you have excess belly or love handle fat? Are you stressed constantly? Do you strength train? Are you alive in the 21st century?

If you said yes to any of the above, then you need to supplement with Magnesium.

Trick question? Sure, but its true because the go-go-go lifestyles that we all live in the 21st century makes virtually every person deficient in this essential mineral.

So what is Magnesium and why is it so important?

Magnesium is a mineral that effects more than we can comprehend. It is essential to over 300 enzymatic processes, meaning without it, over 300 vital actions in our body don’t take place at a sufficient level.

For example, one of the most beneficial aspects of Magnesium is its ability to lower Cortisol, the stress and energy producing hormone that is partially regulated by Magnesium levels. So if you are deficient in Magnesium, you will have excessive Cortisol levels which lead to excess belly fat, low muscle mass, unhealthy responses to stressful situations and much more.

That’s one example of over 300.

Here a quick list of things that Magnesium can do:

~Normalize high blood pressure (Blood pressure is largely regulated by the adrenal glands, low magnesium leads to high blood pressure)

~Reduce belly fat (by lowering/detoxifying cortisol)

~Improves Insulin Sensitivity

~Improved sleep. If you’re not sleeping 8-9 hours uninterrupted then its a good sign your deficient. (This happens by lowering cortisol throughout the night)

~Lowers your risk of: Metabolic Syndrome

~Prevents adrenal fatigue, and is an essential part of an adrenal rebuilding program

~Improves morning energy

~Can help or prevent insomnia

~Improve brain function

~Can help depression

~Reduce inflammation, the root cause of most diseases

~Make your baby healthier – Better insulin sensitivity, adrenal function from day 1

~Improve attention and focus, help with ADD

~Improves Digestion and prevents constipation

~Regulates the flight or fight system (insufficient amounts lead to an adrenaline dominant mode. Chronicly staying in this state will lead to adrenal fatigue and a host of other issues).

~Ensures that the healthy carbs you eat go to glycogen stores in your muscle to fuel your workouts, not your fat cells.

~Prevents Osteoporosis

~Its an essential electrolyte, which is essential to your energy and bodily function

~Improves Testosterone levels to normal levels, which improves recovery and overall health (most men and women are deficient)

~Improves protein synthesis, your ability to absorb protein, which leads to more muscle and less body fat

~Improves muscular contractions.

~Allows you to have a higher training volume and recovery time, both of which leads to better results. In fact, the more you train, the more Magnesium you need. Trainees with intense training 4+ days a week can need up to 10 times more than the average non-training individual.

And that’s just the highlights.

The bottom line is this: most people are very deficient, and if you want to be lean and strong then you have to have adequate Magnesium levels. You can get a Red Blood Cell Magnesium test to see where your at, or you can save the money and invest in a quality Magnesium Supplement. Which leads me to my next point.

Most Magnesium supplements are worthless. Magnesium Oxide give you diarrhea and both Oxide and Citrate is very poorly absorb able. The ONLY way to get adequate levels is to get chelated forms (which is when they attach a protein to it to increase absorption). Any of the chelated forms are awesome, but the best value is Magnesium Glycinate.

So how much should you take?

If you are loading up your levels you can take up to 600 mg a day of elemental Magnesium, but anywhere from 200-300 mg of elemental Magnesium (depending on size, training, stress levels, etc) a day to maintain is adequate. I’ve recommended loading anywhere from 1-3 months depending on your RBC Magnesium levels, but if you want to keep it simple, you could just start with the 200-300 elemental mg intake, which will normalize your levels in time.

At this point you may be asking, “Can’t I get enough from my diet?”

If you could, you wouldn’t be deficient. Sure you can add more spinach to your diet but I promise you that won’t be enough.

So regardless if your goal is to lose fat, add muscle, be healthy and lean, Magnesium may be the most important supplement you can take.