The Wonderful Benefits Of Magnesium

The symptoms of magnesium deficiency are identical to those often found in old age: irregular heartbeat, clogged arteries, increased risk of heart attack, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and predisposition to diabetes, muscle cramps especially during night etc.

If you are suffering from any of the above mentioned conditions, you should know that you might be suffering from Magnesium deficiency. Now, surprisingly, rarely a doctor would tell to take some magnesium supplements to ease your aches and pains, I really don't know why. Are they not aware of its benefits, don't they update their knowledge in these days of fast learning which one can achieve through Internet, really surprising. Many doctors still are satisfied with whatever they learnt in their medical colleges. They may have learnt about magnesium and the good it can do to most of the people, but they have somehow forgotten. Instead, they would want you to try various expensive, fancy medicines, go through all kinds of unwanted surgeries, and make you believe, that old age is catching up with you, and you can only sit back and accept the inevitable.

You must have heard about Epsom salt, and its benefits, have you have tried using it?

Epsom salt is nothing but Magnesium sulphate. Epsom salt, named for a bitter saline spring at Epsom in Surrey, England, is not actually salt but a naturally occurring pure mineral compound of magnesium and sulfate. Long known as a natural remedy for a number of ailments, Epsom salt has numerous health benefits as well as many beauty, household and gardening-related uses.  Soaking in Epsom salt for 20 minutes is also good for weight loss.

Studies have shown that magnesium and sulfate are both readily absorbed through the skin, making Epsom salt baths an easy and ideal way to enjoy the amazing health benefits. Magnesium plays a number of roles in the body including regulating the activity of over 325 enzymes, reducing inflammation, helping muscle and nerve function and helping to prevent artery hardening. Sulfates help improve the absorption of nutrients, flush toxins and help ease migraine headaches.
Epsom salt can help regulate electrolytes in your body, ensuring proper functioning of the muscles, nerves and enzymes. Magnesium is also known to be critical in the proper use of calcium, which serves as a main conductor of the electric impulses in your body.
Epsom salt improve heart health and help prevent heart disease and strokes by improving blood circulation, protecting the elasticity of arteries, preventing blood clots and reducing the risk of sudden heart attack deaths.
Proper magnesium and sulfate levels increase the effectiveness of insulin in the body, and can help to lower the risk or severity of diabetes.
Epson salt acts as a detoxifying agent for colon cleansing. The salt acts like a laxative by increasing water in the intestines and can bring about temporary relief from constipation. However, it is strictly warned that Epsom salts should not be used to relieve constipation without the consultation of a physician. Many of us would have only heard about Milk Of Magnesia ( treatment for constipation), but Magnesium can do so many good things to your body.

The sulfates in Epsom salt help flush toxins and heavy metals from the cells, easing muscle pain and helping the body to eliminate harmful substances. Your skin is a highly porous membrane and adding the right minerals to your bathwater triggers a process called reverse osmosis, which actually pulls salt out of your body, and harmful toxins along with it.

Hair volumizer - Combine equal parts deep conditioner and Epsom salt and warm in a pan. Work the warm mixture through your hair and leave on for 20 minutes. Rinse thoroughly. Or you can even add a few teaspoons of Epsom salt to your conditioner and shampoo, shake them and use them as you would generally, the result: soft and thick hair.
Now this was about Epsom salt. But there is more about magnesium, so please read on:


The magnesium facts make it clear that the benefits of magnesium cannot be underestimated. Magnesium is available in the form of tablets. And, we are not aware that just taking calcium supplement is not enough. Because, generally, people, don't know their magnesium facts, a lot of people are unaware that magnesium and calcium should really be taken together. For example, an elderly person supplementing with calcium, but not with magnesium, is at risk of stroke, heart attack and blood clots. The rule of thumb is that magnesium supplements should be half the dose of calcium supplements so if you take 1000mg of calcium daily you need to take 400/500 mg daily of magnesium also. While magnesium sources are easily accessible, calcium in forms that the body finds easy to convert, are not. Therefore dual supplementation is recommended to cover nutritional gaps.


Magnesium is a powerful antioxidant that keeps cell membranes flexible and protected against the onslaught of cancer-causing free radicals. Magnesium facts such as these, can give you the information you need to prevent premature aging and even death. If you have been deficient in magnesium for a long time, you are probably also deficient in Vitamin E. This is likely because Vitamin E supplies in the body become exhausted fighting off the free radicals encouraged by the lack of magnesium. Magnesium supplements in conjunction with other magnesium sources will therefore protect the body's vitamin E supplies and thereby protect against aging.

There are wonderful benefits to taking magnesium supplements. Magnesium regulates the amount of calcium required to keep the heart beat steady. Magnesium also aids in the prevention and even the reversal of Adult Diabetes. The  reason we are so deficient is simple: Many of us eat a diet that contains practically no magnesium-- a highly refined, processed diet that is based mostly on white flour, white rice, meat and high fat dairy (all of which have no magnesium). Isn't it true?

Think brown, that is always healthy. Browse the net to know about the fruits, vegetables  and nuts that are rich  in this mineral. Just as other vitamins and minerals, we not be getting enough from the foods we eat, even if are eating healthy. Another factor could also be that food available now lacks the required amount of this mineral, than the food which was available during the previous generation. That is why they never had to suffer from the diseases which we suffer now.

However, it is best to consult your own family doctor before taking any kind of medicines.

As for myself, I was suffering from severe night cramps in one of my legs, and my friend gave me Magnesium tablet , and immediately my cramps stopped from the next day itself. I was really impressed, and wanted to know more about this miracle mineral, and I started reading a lot about it in the net. I now have a regular stock of Epsom salt in my house to soak my feet. You can also make a spray out of it at home and spray it all over your body, wait for about 10 minutes, and then rinse it off. by that time your body would have absorbed the required Magnesium, and it would erase all the pain from the various parts of your body. This is for people who don't have a bathtub to soak their body, or who don't have time for soaking. It is so easy and so affordable to make this spray which is sold abroad for quite a few dollars. It is called Magnesium oil,( oil because it has a temporary oily feeling, which will vanish within seconds). 

The best Magnesium to make this oil is Magnesium Chloride, which is available only online.  For the recipe go to the net.

In fact Magnesium tablets too are not available in any  of the chemist shops here  in Bangalore, I had to order it online. However, you can easily get Epsom salts in all chemist shops.

A range of easily accessible food sources contain magnesium including whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes. If you need to supplement, magnesium oxide is not recommended as it often makes people feel unwell. Effective magnesium supplements are magnesium chloride, magnesium-aspartate, magnesium gluconate and magnesium lactate. 

Remember,  it would take a while some times to see the result, for if you are deficient in this mineral, it would take some time, for your body to get sufficient amount through the tablets and the Epsom salt soak before you can reap the benefits.

(Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stan_Rogers)

 The best Magnesium tablets are: Doctor's Best, High Absorption 100% Chelated Magnesium, Fully Reacted, Not Buffered, (240 tablets). Please do your research in the net before taking anything on your own.

Epsom salt

Magnesium Chloride

Do let me know whether you have ever tried this mineral in any form.