We have begun to get into the heart of the minerals here with calcium and magnesium and as you are seeing they have a great purpose for your body, and your body requires these minerals to function properly.

This only means that it is even more important that we make the proper choices of the food that we decide to eat and, of course, should choose organic with our fresh foods, and as much else as we can.

We can find these important foods if we search. There are even some places on the internet where they will grow your organic food for you and ship it to you next day mail. You can buy locally grown veggies if some of them are grown without the fungicides and pesticides. Sometimes even your neighbors have food they grow and have too much, and you can buy it from them.

You never know what you might find until you really look. I will do an article soon about the importance of eating organic.

Magnesium is involved in almost every reaction in the body, therefore its importance is as the other most important mineral your body needs. There are more than 300 reactions involving enzymes that require calcium and magnesium to produce energy.

The heart is a muscle, and magnesium is required, along with calcium, for muscle contraction as well as relaxation.

It is also necessary in the uptake of potassium and calcium.

This mineral is required: to prevent soft tissue from calcification; keeping the body at its proper pH value; the homeostasis of keeping the proper temperature of the body; and it is necessary to prevent depression, twitching, weakness of the muscles, and dizziness. It also works as a catalyst in the activity of enzymes..

It is required to maintain your mitochondria, as well as the production of ATP (cellular energy), and protein synthesis (and therefore DNA and RNA synthesis). As your body metabolizes fats and carbohydrates to produce energy, the reactions require magnesium. This ATP (adenosine triphosphate, which is the energy molecule of the body), exists as MgATP mainly, which is a magnesium complex with ATP.

This mineral is required for bone structure, cell membrane structure, and chromosome structure, ion transport across cell membranes, which includes normal heart rhythm, nerve impulse conduction and muscle contraction.

It is also required for bone formation, the uptake of potassium and calcium, the metabolism of carbohydrates and minerals, the health of your heart, enzymatic reactions, and muscle nerve impulses.

Magnesium has been known to be used as a treatment in migraines, neuralgia, colic, GI spasms, and PMS.

It is necessary for protein, bone, fatty acid, and new cell synthesis, muscle relaxation, the activation of B vitamins, and can help with glaucoma and hyperactivity.

Magnesium and potassium have a correlation inside the cell. A magnesium deficiency can also be caused by alcoholism.

It reduces the risk of some cancers, including colon and pancreatic, and according to a study in the Netherlands, only by taking a 100 mg supplement daily reduces the risk of pancreatic cancer by 21% and colon cancer by 12%.

There are 1300 enzymatic reactions in the body that require magnesium, and the kidney requires it too. And to the popular belief by most doctors that, if you have kidney disease you should avoid magnesium...this is apparently not true.

The heart contains the most magnesium of the whole body, and especially the left ventricle. The heart without enough magnesium is going to be affected in its contractions and relaxations. Since the serum magnesium tests are highly inaccurate, if your heart is being affected by your kidneys then you should have an ionized magnesium test done to find out the true level of magnesium in your body.

It is so very important for your health and life. Just let me give you a few reasons. Your heartbeat is dependent on magnesium, and without the proper amount you can get atrial fibrillation, palpitations, and arrhythmia. This can go on to even cardiac arrest.

It also acts as a calcium channel blocker. Muscular tension and mental irritability is a deficiency symptom of magnesium.

Glutathione is the master antioxidant, and it requires magnesium.

Fibromyalgia patients, as well as Type II Diabetes patients have both been found to be very low in magnesium. This raises a flag for me. Apparently, they need more magnesium.

Since the soil is severely depleted of magnesium, we need to be eating organic food sources of magnesium, because they will have more in them. Our body only absorbs around one third to one half of the magnesium we ingest, and absorption happens in our intestines.

The homeostasis (the body working to maintain proper amounts of certain compounds in our blood and the body at certain proper working order), maintains a one percent magnesium in our blood.

There are differing conditions that can really upset the natural balance of magnesium inside your body. If you have a gastrointestinal disorder, then your magnesium can be disturbed as well as with Diabetes, heavy periods, stress over a long time, too much salt, coffee, soda pop, and alcohol can also disrupt the balance you thought you had. Also, if you are taking antibiotics, diuretics, or have hyperthyroidism, kidney disease, or pancreatitis, your balance may be off as well, and you can have a possible deficiency of magnesium.

The NIH also lists the amount of magnesium needed by adults age 31 and over as 420 for men, 320, for women, and 360 for pregnant women. Individuals need differing amounts of minerals as to their own physiology and should discuss this with a qualified doctor.

This mineral interferes with certain medicines like digoxin, which is a heart medication, as well as and the antibiotic nitrofurantoin, and also some antimalarial meds, and possibly others, and should be discussed with your doctor if you are taking a magnesium supplement, because it can decrease the absorption of the medicines.

Doctors have used magnesium to treat for anxiety, ADHD, Lyme disease, kidney stones, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, leg cramps, Diabetes, migraines, PMS, weak bones, asthma, urinary incontinence, attitude sickness, restless leg, to reduce acid in the stomach, to prevent loss of hearing, hay fever, and MS (multiple sclerosis). And athletes use this great mineral for energy endurance.

Magnesium ions are truly essential to all cell life, and are used medicinally as antacids and laxatives. They are also the center of the chlorophyll molecule in plants.

Food sources of Magnesium are: dark green leafy veggies, whole grains, legumes, tofu,good organic milk, cheese, broccoli, salmon, blackstrap molasses, almonds, figs, asparagus, sardines, cauliflower, wheat bran, cashews, soybean flour, Brazil nuts, almonds, black walnuts, squash seeds, pumpkin seeds, and pine nuts. Also whole wheat flour, oat flour, spinach, beet greens, peanuts, pistachio nuts, chocolate, bananas, bran cereals, shredded wheat, baked potatoes with the skin, and cocoa contain significant amounts of this mineral.

There are also many herbs that contain magnesium like: basil, fennel seed, oregano, cumin, tarragon, poppy seed, marjoram, coriander, celery seed, dill, dried mustard, sage, savory, as well as seaweeds like agar.

For the energy that comes with a proper amount of magnesium you need to eat magnesium rich foods, and apparently these days there is no magnesium in the agricultural food supply from their soil so we must be eating organic veggies, like bananas, kidney beans, black beans, whole wheat bread, brown rice, lentils, oatmeal, quinoa, raisin bran, spinach, shredded wheat, according to Dr. Oz. However, I do not eat processed foods like cereals known as shredded wheat, but some of you do.

According to Whole Foods, they list the highest magnesium containing foods as: pumpkin seeds, spinach, Swiss chard, soybeans, sesame seed, halibut, black beans, sunflower seeds, cashews, and almonds.

The NIH (National Institutes of Health, a government agency) lists: wheat bran, almonds, spinach, raisin bran cereal, cashews, soybeans, wheat germ, nuts, bran flakes cereal, shredded wheat cereal, oatmeal, peanuts, peanut butter, baked potato, black-eyes peas, pinto beans, brown and long grain rice, lentils, vegetarian baked beans, kidney beans, chocolate milk, banana, yogurt, milk chocolate candy bar, milk, raisins, halibut, whole wheat bread, avocado, and chocolate pudding, in order of highest to lowest as sources of magnesium.

Also, the Linus Pauling Institute lists: 100% bran cereal, oat bran, shredded wheat, brown rice, almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, Lima beans, frozen chopped spinach, Swiss chard, okra, molasses, banana, 1% milk, and in order, respectively, from highest to lowest sources of magnesium.

Some deficiencies of Magnesium are: headaches, fatigue, weakness, elevated levels of fats in the blood, seizures, imbalanced blood sugar, high blood pressure, vomiting, nausea, depression, and loss of appetite.

Nervous system symptoms like spasm, convulsions, twitches, sensitivity to sound, restless leg, and sensitivity to light, as well as high blood pressure can all be attributed to magnesium deficiency.

The NIH also lists these signs of deficiency: at first there is fatigue, weakness, nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite. As it gets worse these symptoms appear: muscle contractions, seizures, cramps, numbness, tingling, personality changes as well as sudden behavioral changes that are caused by the brain having an excess amount of electrical activity, abnormal heart rhythms, and even heart spasms. When the deficiency becomes severe there can be: hypocalcaemia, which is when the calcium levels get too low in the blood. Hypokalemia, which is low levels of blood potassium, can also cause magnesium deficiency.

Too much zinc, protein and/or fiber, can cause a deficiency of magnesium.

UMMC says the deficiencies may also be upset stomach and diarrhea, agitation, sleep disorders, abnormal heart rhythms, poor nail growth, hyperventilation, confusion, low blood pressure, and more that we have already covered.

They also have a list of medications that if you are taking you should not take a magnesium supplement. Among those are: certain calcium channel blockers, certain antibiotics, aminoglycosides, certain Diabetes medications, certain blood pressure medications, as well as Digoxin, diuretics, Fluoroquinones, hormone replacement therapy, Levomethadyl, Labetol, Levothyroxine, Tiludronate, Alendronate, Penicillamine, and more.

Next we are going into the minerals Chromium, Boron, and Germanium. Some of these you have heard about, I hope, and some of these you may not have.

But soon you will understand more about what is what with these minerals that you need, even if they are needed in minute amounts. You still need them.

There are many nutrients needed by the body yet magnesium is one of the most important.