Magnesium deficiency high in South Africa

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Magnesium is an essential nutrient responsible for hundreds of chemical reactions in our bodies, the lack of which contribute to heart disease, diabetes, stress, insomnia and muscle injury. It is required daily, helps make calcium soluble so it can enter bone and is vital for muscle function. It also enables cells to repair themselves, is more important than calcium, potassium or sodium and regulates all three.

Magnesium deficiency is also linked to poor mental performance, depression, psychosis, fatigue, irritability and muscle spasms. Symptoms include headaches, dizziness, muscle and stomach cramps, nausea, tingling hands and cardiac arrhythmia.

"Millions of South Africans suffer daily from magnesium deficiency without even knowing it," says nutritional consultant, Vanessa Ascencao. "Research is increasingly showing that magnesium deficiency may be responsible for more disease than the lack of any other nutrient."

Deficiency is globally widespread due to poor diet and soil being farmed to the point of magnesium depletion. She adds that magnesium deficiency is often misdiagnosed, as it does not show in blood tests because only 1% is stored in the blood.

Magnesium is obtained through a nutrient-rich diet but supplementation is advised, particularly the highly potent magnesium chloride. The purest source is found at the ancient Zechstein seabed, below Europe.

Supplementing orally may lead to intestinal complaints and the gut only absorbs about 4% of magnesium oxide. One solution is transdermal application with magnesium chloride. Transdermal Better You Magnesium Oil, sourced from Zechstein and sold in 16 countries including South Africa through Dischem, is undergoing a trial in Harrow, UK. Various other studies have proven the effectiveness of transdermal application. In one 12-week trial, 89% of subjects improved their magnesium levels by almost 60%.

For more information, go to www.betteryou.com/learn/transdermal-magnesium.