Muscle Cramps? Headaches? Sleep Problems? Read This!
How Powerful Minerals Can Be
I think we’ve all heard about minerals and we know that they are important right? Maybe, sometimes though, they just seem like a tiny thing, and how could that really have such a big impact? To illustrate the importance of minerals and how much they can affect you, here is a funny, true story from my life.
The first time I had the nutrition testing I do at my office done on me, one of the things I tested for was a supplement called Min-Tran. I knew it was a supplement that was all minerals but that’s about all I knew. It made sense to me that I tested for it because I figured I probably wasn’t getting all the minerals I need, but that was about the extent of my thoughts on the subject. I was told to take 3/day. So I did. Every morning I would wake up and take my supplements, including those Min-Tran, 3/day.
I didn’t connect these two events at the time… but shortly after I started my new supplement regimen I started to get really FATIGUED. I had to drag myself out of bed in the morning, and I felt like I was in a fog, ALL DAY. Then, finally at 10 pm, I would be WIDE AWAKE! At that point, I would have a very hard time falling asleep because I had so much energy. I’ve always been a night owl, but this was an extreme I hadn’t experienced before.
so sleepy...
Well this went on for 2 years! I kept thinking maybe I had gotten something like Lyme’s Disease again, I had that once before and was really fatigued before I got on antibiotics and got rid of it. Or maybe I had mono? I couldn’t figure it out.
At this 2-year mark, my mom, my friend Sarah and I went on a trip to Standard Process (where I get the supplements for my office) to do a tour of their facility/factory and learn more about their products. We were in lecture one day, learning more about the supplements, and Min-Tran comes up. The speaker was talking about how important minerals are, and he says that Min-Tran stands for MINERAL TRANQUILIZER! He told us to MAKE SURE your patients take this supplement at night because it will be great for sleep but if they take it in the morning it will make them sleepy all day! WHAT?! No wonder I’ve been fatigued for 2 years!! I had been taking it every morning!
In case you’re curious about the ingredients in this mineral tranquilizer, here they are: Calcium, Iodine, and Magnesium. All minerals. And small amounts, micrograms and milligrams. And that was the source of my fatigue for 2 years. I started taking Min-Tran at night after the seminar, and my sleep was great and I felt awake during the day, yay!
Moral of the story: Minerals are hugely important, and can have a big impact, even in very small amounts.
Muscle Cramps
Something people ask me about a lot is muscle cramping. It’s a subject that frequently comes up whether I’m teaching yoga, or doing health coaching for people or working with people at my chiropractic office.
Out of all these people that ask me about cramping, I haven’t ever had someone think the cramping is due to a mineral deficiency. Usually they’ll say something like, “do you think I should go to the doctor?” or they might think they need a medication or they need to do more stretching.
Pretty much every time though, it’s been due to a deficiency in magnesium. To get more magnesium, there are a couple of options. You can eat more foods with a high level of magnesium, or you can take it as a supplement, or you can do both.
Make sure that if you choose the supplement route that you are getting a high-quality supplement. Pretty much any supplement you can get over the counter at a grocery store or especially at a place like Costco, CVS etc. is a very low-quality supplement. Often, they are produced somewhere like China and don’t have quality ingredients. In fact, many times when these supplements are tested, they don’t even have the ingredients in them that are listed on the bottle. I.e. if you get a herb Boswellia, it may not have any Boswellia in it! So, although it may be “cheaper,” you could potentially not be taking what you think you are.
Also, even if those sources have the ingredients they say, if they aren’t of good quality your body has a really hard time absorbing it, and you won’t get many of the benefits.
The standard process supplements I use at my office are all whole food, organic, supplements. No chemicals. Taking a supplement that is whole food is also a crucial element. Your body is best able to use a supplement when it is in a form closest to how it is found in nature. Better absorption, better results. Standard Process also tests and regulates all their supplements to make sure every ingredient is of the highest, purest, quality.
Other Signs/Symptoms You May Be Deficient In Magnesium
If you find you often have headaches, and especially migraines, you are likely deficient in magnesium. Another sign is eye twitching, occasionally that will happen to me and I’ll know I need to take magnesium and get a chiropractic adjustment.
Some other signs may include the following:
Anxiety and Depression
High Blood Pressure
Hormone Problems: think PMS, menstrual cramps, or muscle cramps during pregnancy
Pregnancy complaints: i.e. morning sickness
Sleep problems
Low Energy
Why Would You Need To Supplement Minerals?
One major reason, medications. Did you know every time you take a medication, it robs your body of a vitamin or mineral, or multiple vitamins and minerals?
Just a little fellow that looks like a robber ;)
If you think about all the medications you are taking, realize you’ll need supplements for each of those to supply your body with the vitamins and minerals that are robbed from your body due to the meds.
What if you aren’t taking any medications?
First, it would be really difficult to have a diet that supplied all of the things you need, especially now that the soil doesn’t have as many nutrients, and there are more and more chemicals on the market all the time.
Second, have you ever thought about all the GROSS things our ancestors ate that most of us don’t eat anymore? I.e. organs (liver, hearts, bone marrow etc.). Teachers used to give kids a spoonful of Cod Liver Oil at school every day (great source of Fish Oil, Vitamin A, and Vitamin D.)
One of the chiropractors I know will tell patients TAKE IT or EAT IT.
Examples of this:
EAT OR TAKE
Heart Muscle thiamine, folate, selenium, phosphorus, zinc, CoQ10
Liver Vitamin A, copper, folic acid, iron, CoQ10, B vitamins
Kidneys B12, riboflavin, iron, B6, folate, niacin
The list could go on and on… There’s a reason people used to eat these things, because it is the easiest way to get vitamins and minerals in high amounts, and it provides nutrients you will have a hard time finding somewhere else.
SOOO… you can either start eating organs, or take supplements.
My choice every time, is taking supplements. I’d much rather swallow a capsule than start eating liver, and heart and kidneys etc. Wouldn’t you?
