A lot of my friends know that I have A-fib. Totally not fun. And it's not like I had an "episode" and never had another. No, no. I have "episodes" every day. My heart goes in and out of A-fib all day long. If you don't know what that is, well, it is an irregular heartbeat. The kind that will make your heart race up to 172 beats per minute. (65 to 75 is considered normal) In my case, it did that for 12 hours. Now everyday I get a quickening. It feels like butterflies in my chest. Or sometimes in my throat making it difficult to breathe. It causes dizziness. And it makes me exhausted.
A while ago I saw a Physician's Assistant who had my blood tested. After taking 14 vials of blood and putting it through the wringer, my results were less than promising. I was deficient in just about everything. One of these things was magnesium.
Magnesium is very important for the human body to function. It is vital for muscle and nerve function. It's suppose to reduce PMS, indigestion and fatigue. They say it can reduce diabetes, hypertension, and it plays a vital role in...wait for it...normal heart rhythm.
Now, it's not that I don't eat things that are loaded with magnesium. I love almonds, spinach, peanuts, shredded wheat, avocado, bread, peanut butter, yogurt, oatmeal, chicken, rice and apples. Oh there are loads of other food items that have magnesium. But these are my faves. The ones I eat a lot of. So imagine my surprise when I find out the blood test results say I have .7 g of magnesium in my body. A normal adult should have 25 g. Hmmmmm...I think I'm a little short. But I am not alone.
Carolyn Dean, MD, ND, author of The Magnesium Miracle said, "A hundred years ago, we were able to obtain 500 milligrams of magnesium from our diet. Today we are lucky if we get 200 milligrams."
Why the difference? Well, one reason is soil depletion. I was listening to a debate this morning on my Sunday commute to work between organic farmers and representatives from Monsanto. I can't even type their name without curling my lip. The representative of Mon..... even admitted that they have contributed to soil depletion. That modern intensive agricultural methods have stripped increasing amounts of nutrients from the soil in which the food we eat grows. Sadly, each successive generation of fast-growing, pest-resistant produce is truly less good for you than the one before. I don't want to get into all that now. That is a discussion for another day.
So now I'm taking supplements. The recommended dosage for a woman of my age is 320 milligrams. But my health provider has me on 800 every night. It does seem to help with the brain fog. But I haven't really noticed any other changes. If you have brain fog, or you feel your heart flutter, get it checked out. Maybe you have been feeling tired with no real explanation. It could be you are low on magnesium. Get a blood test. It could help you sleep at night.
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