If you are a Mom, You need Magnesium! The benefits of supplementing magnesium are two-fold, meaning they apply to both you and your child since you are passing nutrients onto them in the form of your breast milk. These benefits include:
- Improved sleep
- Better digestion
- Eases constipation
- More mental focus and energy
- A more well-rounded diet
Magnesium is an essential mineral in any persons diet.
This mineral is vital for energy production (ATP) and, as you all know, becoming a new mum is seriously draining. You need as much energy as you can get, so a magnesium deficiency can just make matters much worse.
Magnesium is involved in more than 300 metabolic reactions in the body, from protein synthesis to cell growth and reproduction, even glucose and insulin metabolism.
But when you’re not getting enough of the mineral, you may find yourself feeling stressed – both physically and emotionally. Add in headaches or migraines, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and weakness and you start to see why this nutrient is so important.
Magnesium levels are decreased by having an excess of alcohol, salt, phosphoric acid (from soft drinks), coffee intake, by profuse sweating, prolonged stress, diarrhea and vomiting, excessive menstruation, and in pregnancy (via enhanced renal elimination).
What happens when your magnesium levels decrease?
There are a range of things that can occur if you’re suffering from a magnesium deficiency these can range from minor symptoms to more serious ones. Just a few of the things you may experience if you aren’t getting enough magnesium include:
- Numbness
- Tingling
- Muscle contractions and cramps
- Seizures,
- Personality changes
- Abnormal heart rhythms, and
- Coronary spasms.
- Severe deficiency may lead to hypocalcaemia and hypokalaemia.
As a new mum you may be breastfeeding which means if you aren’t getting enough magnesium then your baby is suffering from a magnesium deficiency as well. Magnesium is passed through breast milk and a breastfeeding mother needs about 350mg of elemental magnesium per day (300mg for non breastfeeding mothers).