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Magnesium’s Hidden Benefits for Stress, Energy, Sleep, and Wellness

Chronic Stress Depletes Magnesium

In today’s fast-paced world, stress has become a common part of life. It can affect both our physical and mental health.
One of the lesser-known effects of chronic stress is the loss of magnesium.
This is a vital mineral that plays a big role in helping our bodies manage stress effectively.
Keeping your magnesium levels in check is essential for managing stress and maintaining overall well-being.

The Hidden Stressors of Modern Life

We are all aware of common stressors like finanacial issues, relationship issues, and work or school pressures. However, modern life also brings less obvious stressors like exposure to environmental toxins, diets high in processed foods, and constant Wi-Fi and screen exposure.
These hidden factors can strain our bodies, adding to the stress we already face..

 

Could You Be Low in Magnesium?

Let’s have a look at some telltale signs:

If you’re experiencing fatigue, muscle cramps, headaches, or difficulty sleeping, you might be low in magnesium. Other symptoms of magnesium deficiency include:

  • Pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS)
  • Mood disorders such as anxiety and depression
  • Increased stress levels

If you think you may be low in magnesium, consult with a naturopath at Your Wellness Centre to assess your needs and check if magnesium supplementation could help you.

Causes of Magnesium Deficiency

Several factors can lead to magnesium deficiency, including:

  • Inadequate dietary intake: Not eating enough magnesium-rich foods.
  • Chronic stress: Elevated stress hormones can deplete magnesium stores, leading to a cycle of deficiency and increased stress.
  • Excessive caffeine and alcohol consumption: These substances can increase magnesium loss through urination.
  • Certain medications: Antibiotics, diuretics, and steroids can reduce magnesium levels.

 

The Many Benefits of Magnesium

Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the body and supports numerous health functions. Its benefits include:

  • Reducing stress hormone effects:
    Promotes calming sleep, relaxes muscles, reduces cramping.
  • Protecting brain health: Improves memory, concentration, and learning while lowering anxiety.
  • Regulating blood sugar: Helps control weight, reduce sugar cravings, and boost energy levels.

Boost Your Energy with Magnesium


Stress affects your body’s energy levels. It causing energy molecules to leak from cells leading to fatigue.
Magnesium is crucial in energy production, helping your body adapt to stress and maintain vitality.

Daily Tips for Stress Management and Optimal Magnesium levels

To protect your body from stress and maintain magnesium levels, consider the following tips:

  • Limit caffeine: Reduce to a maximum of one cup per day.
  • Eat magnesium-rich foods: Include spinach, dark chocolate, avocado, almonds, pumpkin seeds, and black beans in your diet.
  • Minimize sugar and processed foods: Choose nutrient-dense whole foods instead.
  • Prioritise sleep: Create a cool, dark, and quiet sleep environment, and unplug from electronic devices 1-2 hours before bedtime.
  • Exercise regularly: Physical activity can help counteract the negative effects of stress.

Selecting the Right Magnesium Supplement

If stress is affecting your life, a naturopath at Your Wellness Centre can recommend the right magnesium supplement.  One known for its superior absorption and gentle impact on the digestive tract.

Top 7 Reasons You Need Extra Magnesium

  1. Dietary Deficiency: ABout one-third of Australians don’t meet the recommended daily intake of 310-420 mg of magnesium.
  2. Depleted Soils: Modern agriculture has reduced soil mineral content, making it harder to get enough magnesium from foods.
  3. Tannins in Coffee and Tea: These substances reduce magnesium absorption in the intestines.
  4. Caffeine and Alcohol: These have a diuretic effect, increasing magnesium loss.
  5. Medication Impact: Antibiotics, diuretics, and steroids can deplete magnesium levels.
  6. Stress Response: Low magnesium levels can trigger stress, further depleting magnesium stores.
  7. Poor Sleep and Fatigue: Magnesium supports the production of relaxing neurotransmitters like GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) and melatonin.
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How to Increase Your Magnesium Intake

To boost your magnesium levels, consider adding a supplement to complement your diet. When choosing a magnesium supplement, look for:

  • Dose: Look for supplements containing 300 mg of elemental magnesium per dose. Opt for magnesium bisglycinate, which offers better absorption and fewer digestive issues compared to other forms like magnesium oxide and citrate. Talk to a Naturopath at Your Wellness Centre for further explanation and clarification.

Foods high in Magnesium

Herb Kale – Your Wellness Centre Magnesium is found in leafy greens

Fortunately, you can find Magnesium benefits in a wide range of foods.

Best ones include the following fresh, nutrient-rich foods which you can add to your diet each day:

• Green leafy vegetables: spinach, kale and silver beet.
• Nuts and seeds: raw almonds, cashews, brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.
• Whole grains: rye, quinoa, oats, wheat, and buckwheat.

For Full Magnesium Benefits, Replenish Your Reserves of Magnesium

Magnesium Helps many Health Conditions
including:

  • Stress and anxiety
  • High blood pressure
  • Insomnia
  • Muscle tension and cramps
  • Diabetes
  • Headaches and migraines
  • Fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome
  • Fibromyalgia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tailored Magnesium Solutions

If you experience any of the conditions listed above, you could well benefit from taking extra Magnesium. Speak with a naturopath at Your Wellness Centre.

They can recommend a magnesium supplement tailored to your specific needs, whether it’s for stress, cramps, fatigue, or high blood pressure.
By understanding the connection between magnesium and stress, you can take beneficial steps to support your Health and Wellness and improve your resilience to the challenges of modern life.
Magnesium is more than just a mineral—it’s a vital component of your well-being.

 

 

Remember you can contact us

Book online

or Ring

03 9879 9596

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The Stress of Studying: the Lasting Effects on the Body

Study Stress - Your Wellness Centre NaturopathyWe have all been through it, or are currently experiencing it. Study of any kind, whether it be your first exam ever in high school, or your final assignment due in for your Ph.D., causes the body to go into a high-stress mode. Cutting off vitally important physiological processes to favor a heightened state of alert.

Cortisol and adrenaline are in no short supply, as you cram as much information into your brain as possible sitting up into the tiny hours of the morning suffering through headaches, stomach cramps, increase chance of lasting colds and poor quality sleep – basically everything you DON’T need when you’re trying to remember all this information!

To top it all off most of us crave terrible foods during this time; sugary sweets and high GI bread, potatoes and fatty fast food. If it isn’t the lack of time driving you to get take away, it’s your brains incessant need for glucose driving your energy up in spikes, as you ride the never-ending waves of highs and crashes.

Ultimately the worst part is that our body changes, adapts, to this prolonged exposure to stress. Changes that can take months, even years, to reverse back to homeostasis (balance).

What kind of Changes can you expect to see?

  • Digestive upset
  • Decreased Sleep - Your Wellness Centre NaturopathyPoor mood control
  • Decreased sleep and sleep quality
  • Increased colds and flu
  • Weight loss or gain
  • Poor memory and concentration
  • Fatigue
  • Muscular aches and tightness

Simple Steps to help your Study less impactful on your Health

  • Take regular breaks – and when you do, try getting outside or out of the room you’re in. Don’t reach for the phone, turn on the TV or fire up YouTube.
  • Water Therapy - Your Wellness Centre NaturopathyDrink plenty of water – staying hydrated is key to mental health and alertness.
  • Meditate – even a short 5-minute meditation session, or guided breathing session, can reset your mind to a better, clearer place.
  • Eat regularly and healthily – this always seems easier than it is, but a bowl of fruit and natural yoghurt will have your body thanking you during that marathon study session.
  • Sleep!!! – make sure you get to bed at a set time every night. The body needs routine, and you won’t be memorising anything with inadequate hours of shut-eye.
  • Nourish your soul – do things that make your body smile. Indulge in self-pampering, take a time-out to do the things you love.
  • Exercise – low-level exercise improves blood circulation and brain performance, whilst releasing feel-good endorphins. It will also help you sleep better. Avoid intense workouts when you’re going through high levels of stress as it also increases cortisol and adrenaline.

And finally, speak with me, your mental health Naturopath, for supplement and herbal advice that can nourish the nervous system, improve your body’s resilience to stress and increase your memory. Give me a call on (03) 9879 9596 or email health@yourwellnesscentre.com.au to find out more or book in your time.

 

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy Melbourne

 

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Understanding Fatigue

Some people are calling fatigue a symptom of living in the 21st Century.

And since one of the most common symptoms we see in our clinic is fatigue, we will focus on the many aspects of fatigue this month.

Fatigue is such a common condition that it is often misunderstood or even dismissed. It is especially dismissed if there is no identifiable ‘cause’ from diagnostic procedures, such as blood tests. But that doesn’t mean you should just put up with it. If no disease has been medically diagnosed, then something can usually be done using natural methods.

fatigue - Your Wellness Centre NaturopathyIf fatigue persists, it can start interfering with your ability to perform at work, with personal relationships and ultimately reduce your enjoyment of life in general. It can be a sign of more serious problems and the underlying cause needs to be identified and resolved. Left untreated, it creates a self-perpetuating downward spiral which can be very difficult to break.

For many of us, loss of energy is something that simply sneaks up on us. The reduction in our energy most often happens so gradually that we don’t notice the change from one day to the next. The sad thing is that we actually get used to feeling low in energy and this becomes our new “normal”.

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy - Fatigue - Stress Fatigue can be caused by a great variety of problems, some of which are obvious to us, while others are not so obvious and may need professional assistance to identify. Underlying problems that may contribute includes:

  • Emotional stress
  • Inflammatory conditions, including arthritis
  • Digestive problems which reduce the absorption of key energy-producing nutrients
  • Hormonal imbalances
  • Blood sugar problem
  • An imbalance in the diet
  • Exposure to chemicals and environmental toxins
  • Physical stress; either through exercise or other laborious work, and
  • Muscle pain or injury.

In order to treat it effectively and restore your energy and vitality, it is important to correct these underlying problems, and at the same time support and repair the energy-producing factories, called mitochondria, within your cells.

In my next post, I will talk more about overcoming fatigue.

Read more about chronic fatigue syndrome.

Take the step toward a healthier you!
Call 9879 9596 and book an appointment today!

 

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy Melbourne

 

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Overcome Fatigue by Taking these Steps

If you are someone who often feels fatigue, let’s look at how you can you bounce back into achieving optimal energy levels, significantly improve your quality of life and regain your enthusiasm for living.

Cardoviascular Exercise - Your Wellness CentreTo get you back to bouncing out of bed, you need to lead a healthy life. By starting with these five simple steps, you will be on your way to better energy, and a new lease on life.

  1. Get adequate, regular and consistent amounts of sleep each night.
  2. Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet and drink plenty of water throughout the day.
  3. Exercise regularly.
  4. Learn better ways to relax.
  5. Avoid stimulants or excess alcohol.

To keep your energy levels up, you also need to ensure that all your body systems are in balance and working effectively.

Then you need to ensure that the energy centres of every cell in your body, the mitochondria, are in good working order by supplying them with certain nutrients.

No matter what else is going on in your body, if mitochondrial function is impaired, you will have reduced energy production. This means that supporting healthy mitochondrial function is essential. And so, if you experience fatigue, improving mitochondrial function is an important first step toward improving your energy levels.

Nutrients are the key to increasing energy in your body, as they are used to support the mitochondria. These important nutrients include:

  • Coenzyme Q10 may be helpful in the management of fatigue as it enhances cellular energy production and is also a powerful antioxidant.
  • N-Acetyl Carnitine: Carnitine plays an important role in fat metabolism and energy production. It acts by transporting dietary fats directly into the mitochondria to be broken down and burnt as fuel for energy production. It is also able to cross the blood-brain barrier and assist with mental fatigue.
  • Lipoic Acid is important for the correct transport and conversion of carbohydrates into energy whilst protecting the mitochondria from damage (as it is a potent antioxidant).
  • Magnesium is an essential cofactor required for energy production in all cells. Without adequate levels of magnesium inside your cells, fatigue is inevitable. Magnesium is needed everywhere in the body; in fact, over 300 processes in the body depend on magnesium. With regards to energy production, it is important for the conversion of sugars, fats, and proteins to energy.

Fish Oil - Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy MelbourneOmega-3 Essential Fatty Acids are vital for the integrity and stability of every mitochondrial membrane in the body. Omega-3 oils stimulate the growth and size of the mitochondria, along with helping to lower stress levels, which overall can contribute to higher energy levels.

If you are a sufferer of fatigue, all you have to do is put the above strategies in place step by step, or enlist one of our naturopaths to give you a helping hand.

Contact us to find out more.

Take the step toward a healthier you!
Call 9879 9596 and book an appointment today!

 

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy Melbourne

 

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