Magnesium deficiency is very common, but how do magnesium, constipation and digestion fit together?

I told you yesterday that you can get a ton of magnesium from Brazil Nuts. The only problem is that you would have to eat far too many Brazil Nuts to get the necessary amount.

Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the body and is essential to good health.

While studying at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition, I learned from Paul Pitchford that, “No calcium goes into bones without magnesium.This is why people in China have much stronger bones than people in America: They get a lot more magnesium. They eat a lot less calcium. But the magnesium is key.”

Magnesium, Constipation and Digestion

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Magnesium is also key in relieving constipation. Back before I started healing naturally (vs. with a random drugs and medications), on my worst days, my GI would have me drink an entire bottle of Calcium Magnesium Citrate. It didn’t matter which kind or which brand, so he’d tell me to “go to Walgreens and get this one.” Yes, an entire bottle of that nastiness. {Bottle contains: Citric Acid, Flavors, Purified Water, Red 40, Saccharin Sodium, Sodium Bicarbonate.}

These were for the most distended days. It was miserable, but it worked like a charm. At the time, I thought a bottle of Magnesium Citrate was my cure.

I would never drink that now.

That said, magnesium is still critical for me…..and possibly for you as well.

Foods High in Magnesium

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Here are 9 foods that are naturally high in magnesium:

1. spinach (boiled, 1/2 cup, 20% DV)
2. quinoa (1 cup cooked, about 30% DV)
3. almonds (dry roasted, 1 ounce, 20% DV)
4. cashews (dry roasted, 1 ounce, 19% DV)
5. peanuts (oil roasted, 1/4 cup, 16% DV)
6. brazil nuts (1 ounce, 26% DV)
7. dark chocolate (1 ounce, 16% DV)
8. black beans (cooked, 1/2 cup, 15% DV)
9. avocado (cubed, 1 cup, 11%)

Magnesium and constipation are directly related because the entire digestive tract is essentially one long muscle. When you supplement with magnesium, you increase water in your intestines which help initiate peristalsis (the wavelike motion which moves fecal matter through your intestines). Peristalsis also pushes food into your stomach.

Magnesium simply relaxes your muscles (remember from the Epsom Salt bath?).

I could go on and on and on about magnesium and how critical it is for the constipated gutsy girls.

If constipation is your issue, I’d highly recommend you think about supplementing with magnesium. Staying constipated is one of the worst feelings, and it’s awful for the body. In fact, if you have IBS-C, you are much more likely to set up for things like SIBO and even Colon Cancer, since waste isn’t clearing through the body at a normal rate.

Be sure you are educated on it enough prior to taking. The NIH (National Institutes of Health) has a great resource on magnesium as it relates to possible drug interactions, recommended amounts, deficiency symptoms, who might need more of the mineral, etc.

In the past, I have supplemented with a combination of things including Designs for Health – C+Bio FizzTM, Natural Calm, and Thorne Research – Calcium-Magnesium Citrate Effervescent.

Thoughts? Questions on magnesium as it relates to constipation or digestion?

Xox,
SKH