Can magnesium deficiency be causing your problems?

This is a quote from what looks to be a really good blog devoted to health and well-being associated with good health.

The following quote is from the post on magnesium deficiency. I post this because he references artisanally grown foods using heirloom varieties grown in “better soil”. This has been my take all along. As Hippocrates stated, “Let food be your medicine”. Of course what he left out of this oh so famous quote is this. Food grown on deficient soils produces deficient “medicine/food”. Take care of your soil and your soil will take care of you. Mineralize your soil; add organic materials, good fertilizer, and copious amounts of mulch on the surface and the veggies from that soil will truly be medicine that will do your body good.

Now the quote from the Whole Health Source blog. Thanks go out to Stephan Guyenet, the author.

Speaking of nutritious diets, how does one get magnesium? Good sources include halibut, leafy greens, chocolate and nuts. Bone broths are also an excellent source of highly absorbable magnesium. Whole grains and beans are also fairly good sources, while refined grains lack most of the magnesium in the whole grain. Organic foods, particularly artisanally produced foods from a farmer’s market, are richer in magnesium because they grow on better soil and often use older varieties that are more nutritious.

The problem with seeds such as grains, beans and nuts is that they also contain phytic acid which prevents the absorption of magnesium and other minerals (16). Healthy non-industrial societies that relied on grains took great care in their preparation: they soaked them, often fermented them, and also frequently removed a portion of the bran before cooking (17). These steps all served to reduce the level of phytic acid and other anti-nutrients. I’ve posted a method for effectively reducing the amount of phytic acid in brown rice (18). Beans should ideally be soaked for 24 hours before cooking, preferably in warm water.

Industrial agriculture has systematically depleted our soil of many minerals, due to high-yield crop varieties and the fact that synthetic fertilizers only replace a few minerals. The mineral content of foods in the US, including magnesium, has dropped sharply in the last 50 years. The reason we need to use fertilizers in the first place is that we’ve broken the natural nutrient cycle in which minerals always return to the soil in the same place they were removed. In 21st century America, minerals are removed from the soil, pass through our toilets, and end up in the landfill or in waste water. This will continue until we find an acceptable way to return human feces and urine to agricultural soil, as many cultures do to this day.

Another good link about letting food be your medicine can be found here.

Americans are literally STARVING themselves by eating foods that are devoid of the necessary nutrients their bodies need. Most commercial farm land in the US has been sub-par for almost 100 years, and the USDA KNOWS IT! The gov’t makes NO distinction between fully mineralized, nutritious food and the industrial swill that passes for “food” in most US grocery stores. The large scale commercial farmer is NOT compensated on the QUALITY of his produce but rather the QUANTITY of his crops. So what is the solution to this quandary? GROW YOUR OWN!

Because remember, “Only YOU can prevent personal starvation”.

I would say these are just my “opinions” but that would not be the case. This is the TRUTH about our food system, from a man “out standing in his field.”

Tags: Magnesium deficiency