Magnesium

I remember a number of years ago reading a book written by Dr Alex Richardsoncalled “They are what you feed them”  I was fascinated how nutrition can affect behaviour, learning and mood and in this book she explains how and why children’s diet can affect them.

I remember being particularly fascinated about what she said in relation to magnesium deficiency and how a lot of the foods we eat, especially sugar and processed foods can leach our body of magnesium and this can affect us in a number of different ways. 

Magnesium in a nutshell helps to convert food into energy, regulate your nervous system and create new proteins.  If we, our children or teens are deficient in magnesium it can cause restless legs, anxiety, fatigue, irritability, grumpiness and have an impact on quality of sleep plus a number of other things which you can discover if you research this further. 

I for one get restless legs and this seems to be my sign that I am deficient.  I try and eat the foods that are rich in magnesium like:

·     Green leafy vegetables (e.g. spinach and kale)

·     Fruit (figs, avocado, banana and raspberries)

·     Nuts and seeds

·     Legumes (black beans, chickpeas and kidney beans)

·     Vegetables (peas, broccoli, cabbage, green beans, artichokes, asparagus, sprouts)

·     Seafood (salmon, mackerel, tuna)

·     Whole grains (brown rice and oats)

·     Raw cacao

·     Dark Chocolate (thank goodness as I absolutely love chocolate!)

·     Tofu

·     Baked beans

·     Chlorella powder

I’m not a medical expert so therefore I can’t advise on supplements, but you can do your own research on this and find out what might work well.  I personally use magnesium flakes or Epsom salts, and this is an easy way to get magnesium into your system as it is absorbed through the skin while you relax in the bath.  If you use it then my advice would be to make sure it is good quality and check it’s safe to use for your children which I believe it is, but it’s always better to check as I’m not an expert.