The usual suspects.

On Facebook, on message boards and face to face, I keep seeing and hearing:-

1) I'm down in the Winter/I keep getting infections/I have allergies/I have aches & pains.

2) I'm up & down a lot.

3) I'm down/anxious/I can't sleep/I get restless legs/cramps/menstrual cramps/muscle spasms/migraines.

4) I've got inflamed or painful joints/skin/guts/lungs/whatever.

5) Ooh! It makes me so mad!

1) Vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency is widespread by the end of Winter (~90% of people have serum 25(OH)D less than 75nmol/L or 30ng/mL) due to insufficient sun exposure during the Summer. A safe & effective dose is 50iu of Vitamin D3/kg body weight/day. See Vitamin D.

2) Modern diets are lacking in long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (EPA & DHA), as many people don't eat any/enough oily fish. Tinned tuna is not an oily fish! See Omega-3 fatty acids and major depression: A primer for the mental health professional. Women of reproductive age can take flaxseed oil, if they can't/won't eat oily fish or take fish oil capsules. Women not of reproductive age & men need to supplement with vegan DHA in addition to flaxseed oil, if they can't/won't eat oily fish or take fish oil capsules.

3) Diets low in greens are low in magnesium. Magnesium deficiency can cause all of the above symptoms. Epsom Salts are a very cheap source of Magnesium. 4g/day of Epsom Salts provides 400mg/day of Magnesium. See Magnesium and the Brain: The Original Chill Pill and Magnesium: Just as important as Calcium.

4) Vitamin D is anti-inflammatory. Fish oil is anti-inflammatory.

5) Vitamin D raises your mood. Fish oil keeps it stable. Magnesium chills you out.


Here's a picture to go with the title.


And finally...
I am so glad that I don't work with David Thorne.

Magnesium: Just as important as Calcium.

Suffering from anger/aggression/anxiety? Can't sleep properly? Suffering from night cramps, restless legs, menstrual cramps, muscle spasms? You're probably deficient in magnesium. See A case of oesophageal spasm, and the ‘unproven’ treatment that helped it and Around the Web; and Menstrual Cramp Remedy.

After Vitamin D and Omega-3 fats, magnesium is the third thing that people are most likely to be deficient in. Processed foods are low in magnesium. Diets low in vegetables are low in magnesium. For a list of the 999 richest sources of magnesium per 100g serving, see http://nutritiondata.self.com/foods-000120000000000000000-w.html. Too much calcium can result in a relative magnesium deficiency.

An optimum intake of magnesium is approximately 50% of your calcium intake. Other sources of magnesium are Milk of Magnesia (hydroxide) and Epsom Salts (sulphate heptahydrate). Excessive intake of magnesium salts acts as an osmotic laxative and gives you loose bowels, but it takes quite a lot to do this. Half a level teaspoonful (~2.5g) of Epsom Salts gives you ~250mg of magnesium and is as cheap as chips (200g costs £1.25 at Boots).

Magnesium is also available as a dietary supplement. Magnesium oxide (Magnesia) isn't as well-absorbed as Citrate/Amino Acid Chelate forms, so take extra if using oxide. See Magnesium bioavailability from magnesium citrate and magnesium oxide. Magnesium can be absorbed through the skin, so adding Epsom Salts or Magnesium Chloride to your bathwater is another option.