Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Vitamin and Mineral Misconceptions

I've been so busy at home lately it can be difficult to keep up. I understand a hectic schedule. Nonetheless we need to be diligent in taking care of ourselves properly. We were created for a great purpose. It's not all about us, but it is all about Him, Yeshua the Messiah! When He created the world He made wonderful real whole foods for us to consume. Whole foods are not a new trendy concept, it was literally God breathed. King Solomon, in the bible, was right in the book of Ecclesiastes 1:9 when he wrote, " That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun."

Over the next couple of weeks I want to touch upon the missing nutrients from our daily diets, and the ones we are told to supplement with that can actually be dangerous. Today we will focus on magnesium and calcium. Have you noticed that calcium is put into almost everything these days? There is calcium put into milk, it's put in by the way because the natural calcium gets taken out by the harsh processing of the ultra pasteurization and homogenization. It's put into cereals, orange juice, non-dairy milks, and even chewing gum.

 The calcium that is put into these food like products is called fortified calcium, in other words synthetic man made in a lab calcium, extracted from rocks and shells. We were originally designed to naturally absorb our vitamins and minerals from our foods. It was not intended for our nutrition to come from rocks and shells. We were actually given fruits, vegetables, and other seed bearing plants like it says in the bible in the book of Genesis  1:29-30, "And God said, See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food; and it was so." 

From childhood it is drilled into our heads that we need so much calcium. Don't get me wrong, we need calcium, its an important mineral. Our concept of how much we need, however is very askew. I can't help but wonder if its purposeful sabotage to keep us sick along with some many other lies we are told. It can be dangerous to accumulate too much calcium in our bodies, especially when it is synthetic. Not all vitamins and minerals are the same. Too much calcium can be dangerous for the heart and arteries. Often times older women are told by traditional doctors that they need to supplement with calcium, then she will go to Walmart and get the cheapest supplement she can find, and think she is doing the right thing. I frequently encounter older women who come to see me for health counseling or to buy supplements at the natural supplement store I work just in that same position. Most times these women haven't been shown any kind of proof for a calcium deficiency.

There are tremendous amounts of calcium in chia seeds, blue green algaes/seaweed like chlorella and spirulina, and leafy greens like kale, spinach, collards, and swiss chard.  If you are fortunate enough to still live in a state in the USA where raw milk is legal that is also an excellent source of calcium. There is absolutely no reason why enough calcium could not be taken in through a healthy daily diet...unless you are missing the usually under-looked and missed magnesium.

Magnesium is a major mineral. Unfortunately due to an unbalanced fast food diet filled with well...fillers like white bread, rice, and sugar, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, processed soy, and other garbage that makes its way into grocery stores and school cafeterias everyday, its no wonder we are deficient. Deficiencies can be caused from heavy metal toxicity from aluminum, lack of vitamin D3, too much sugar in the diet as it pulls minerals out of the body, lack of greens in daily diet, and filtered water. When we filter our water from all of the yuck, we are also filtering healthy minerals. It's important to replace those minerals by eating organic produce from soil that is mineral rich, using unprocessed sea salts like Celtic and Himalayan that contain magnesium. Avoiding caffeine is imperative because it decrease magnesium quite a bit in the body.

Magnesium actually affects our absorption of calcium. SO it is super important that we are getting enough. It is almost impossible to get too much. A lack of this super mineral can cause symptoms like migraines, fast heart beats, mood swings, trouble sleeping, and lethargy. Magnesium supplementation is not a bad idea if you don't not eat a varied diet. A natural homepathic supplement called Calm is a wonderful choice. Often times children that have hyper active tendencies, ADD, ADHD, or autistic are deficient in magnesium. Foods rich in magnesium are chlorophyll rich foods like green veggies, nuts and seeds like sunflower, flax, sesame, almonds, and pumpkin. Brown rice, tart cherries, and dried herbs like coriander, chives, and basil.

An additional way to maximize magnesium absorption and relieve stress that depletes magnesium is making it a weekly practice to do a foot soak in warm water with epsom salts. Epsom salts are a combination of magnesium and sulfate. Both of these minerals are taken in well through the skin. I suggest doing this 2-3 times a week in the evening as it can be relaxing and magnesium is helpful for resting and sleeping. Take 1/2 cup of epsom salts and pour into a tub or basin with warm water and soak feet for 20-30 minutes. Feel free to add wonderful healing essential oils like lavender or four thieves blend.

Supporting Articles:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/12/17/magnesium-benefits.aspx

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/18/dangers-of-too-much-calcium/

http://www.everydayhealth.com/heart-health/too-much-calcium-may-double-death-risk-in-women-9770.aspx

http://thebreathoflife.net/learningcenter/the-importance-of-magnesium/

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