Researchers Highlight The Significance Of Magnesium In Your Diet
This nutrient plays a bigger role in your health than you might realize.
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Subscribe for free to get more stories like this directly to your inboxWe all learned from an early age that eating nutritious foods packed with vitamins and minerals is important for our health.
Now there’s evidence that those ingredients are even more crucial than you thought. That’s apparently the case for magnesium, as evidenced in a new report compiled by a team at the University of South Australia.
What the science shows
According to the researchers’ findings, which were published in the European Journal of Nutrition, ample doses of magnesium can help people protect against genetic damage and decrease the risk of certain chronic illnesses.
After testing blood samples from nearly 200 middle-aged individuals, the scientists pinpointed an apparent correlation between insufficient magnesium levels and high deposits of a potentially harmful amino acid known as homocysteine.
Experts say the toxic compound can increase the likelihood of developing gastrointestinal ailments, diabetes, certain types of cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s.
How to increase your levels
“Our study showed a direct correlation between low magnesium levels in blood (less than 18mg/L) and increased DNA damage, even after adjusting for gender and age,” said molecular biologist Dr. Permal Deo.
Fortunately, you probably don’t have to completely overhaul your diet to move things in a healthier direction. Researchers are still working on identifying the optimal daily intake of magnesium, but evidence seems to show that even levels of less than 300 milligrams per day can help reduce your risk.
Many common foods and ingredients are rich in this important mineral, including dark chocolate, nuts, green leafy vegetables, whole grains, and beans.
In addition to lowering your risk of DNA damage and various other illnesses, magnesium is known to benefit the human body by strengthening bones and teeth, increasing energy, regulating blood sugar, improving blood pressure, and boosting the performance of muscles, kidneys, and the heart.
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