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Category Archives: Supplements


Magnesium: Anti-Anxiety Mineral

Posted on July 15, 2013 by diamondsonyourinside and currently has Comments Off on Magnesium: Anti-Anxiety Mineral

keep-calm-image

It’s nature’s xanax and ambien and exlax all in one. 

 

What is it? Magnesium is a mineral that’s crucial to the body’s function. Magnesium helps control healthy blood pressure, supports strong bones, and keeps the heart rhythm steady.

Why else do we need it? Magnesium is a calming mineral that nourishes the nervous system. It helps prevent anxiety, fear, nervousness, restlessness and irritability. It may even have a positive effect on depression. It is a great way to stay regular, treat menstrual cramps, allay menopausal symptoms. SOLD.

Have anxiety? Got constipation? Muscle cramps? Trouble falling asleep? Magnesium can help.

How do we lose it? Most people are deficient in magnesium. Mental and emotional stresses deplete magnesium, and we live in a state of chronic, on-going stress. This environmental reality increases our daily need for magnesium. Magnesium deficiency can be caused by a number of stresses on the body, including emotional stress, some drugs (diuretics, antibiotics, oral contraceptives, insulin, cortisone), heavy exercise, diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders and too much calcium in the diet.

How do I get it? Supplements for one. Like what?  My favorite way is with something called Natural Calm. It is a powder substance that you drink like a tea. IT. IS. AWESOME. I drink it when I am feeling anxious. Often, it replaces the 5 o’clock cocktail I used to drink. I give it to my kids to help them relax before bedtime. It’s a great nighttime ritual. CALM rocks my house.

A luxurious and easy way to increase your intake of magnesium and relax at the same time is to add about a cup of Epsom salts or Calm Sports Bath to a warm bath—you’ll absorb the magnesium through your skin. It also helps with sore and cramping muscles. Add lavender essential oil and have a ridiculously calming soak before bed. You’ll sleep like a baby.

Where do I get it? Grab some at The GEM of course! Also available at Whole Foods, my other happy place.

What else should I know about it? Not dangerous, but important to note: Too much magnesium or Calm and you will find yourself with loose stools. Remember that slightly inappropriate lady on those Milk of Magnesia commercials?

So start low and work your way up.

CALM is NOT a substitute for a poor diet. So don’t just rely on supplements. Focus, too, on foods high in magnesium.  Foods such as:

• Dark-green, leafy vegetables
➢ spinach, kale and chard, contain plenty of calming magnesium as well as good amounts of the B vitamins.
• Whole, unrefined grains like oats, buckwheat, millet and quinoa also contain both magnesium and B vitamins.
• Lentils, grass fed beef and homemade bone broths, halibut, and salmon, nuts, pumpkin & sesame seeds, bananas, avocados, figs.
• Dark chocolate / cacao are rich in magnesium.
• Chamomile, dandelion, peppermint or sage herbal tea. Mix it with your CALM magnesium for a double kick.

Added bonus: Many high-magnesium foods are also a good source of calcium, especially spinach, turnip greens, mustard greens, collard greens, and sea vegetables. Another way to a happy green lifestyle!

Stay CALM, baby.

Special note: Magnesium citrate is generally not a harmful substance, but care should be taken to consult with a health professional if any adverse health problems arise.

This post was not sponsored by the folks at CALM!

 

 


10 Reasons You Need Probiotics

Posted on September 25, 2012 by diamondsonyourinside and currently has 2 Comments on 10 Reasons You Need Probiotics

WHAT are probiotics and why do we keep hearing about them?

They are in every yogurt commercial I see. Probiotics are bacteria that exist in our digestive tract. There IS such a thing as good bacteria, and we need to figure out a way to keep more of it in our gut.

The word probiotic even translates to “for life.”

WHAT do they do? In the intestinal tract, these beneficial microbes help complete the digestive process. There’s evidence that without them, even the immune system can’t work properly.

WHERE can you find them? Most of these friendly bacteria occur naturally in yogurt “with active cultures” or acidophilus milk and kefir, and natural pickles and sauerkraut. (Bubbie’s is the best brand for both of these!) Unfortunately (or fortunately for those of us who have eschewed dairy), concentrations in these foods are probably not enough to do the trick. Cue the supplements!

WHY?

  1. Enhance immunity – If probiotics can do this, what can they do to prevent chronic colds and allergies?
  2. Better digestion. Better bowel movements. Better feeling.
  3. Celiac disease or gluten sensitivity symptoms are relieved by adding probiotics. Take probiotics to reverse the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and other gut inflammations.
  4. If you eat GMOs, processed foods, low fiber diets and non-organic meat and dairy products, listen up. They all destroy probiotic bacteria and diminish colon function. It is necessary to add probiotic materials back into your system if you’ve had any of those foods. It’s the morning after pill for junk food. 
  5. Yeast infections like Candida flourish when the 85% (good)/15% (not good) balance of probiotic to bad bacteria is out of whack.
  6. A healthy gut flora balance helps prevent cancer by nourishing enzymes that inhibit tumor production throughout the body. Sold.
  7. Sometimes we have to take antibiotics. They are here for a reason. But they often wipe out “friendly” intestinal bacteria along with the bad bugs that cause infections. Symptoms include diarrhea, bloating or other unpleasant digestive symptoms. Always take a probiotic if taking antibiotics.
  8. Probiotic intestinal flora prevents radiation damage from X-rays and CT scans to the large and small intestines. Just as a FYI for your future.
  9. Stress affects and alters the bacterial flora in your intestinal tract. Of course, you may not have any stress in your life. But for the rest of us …
  10. There is an entire brilliant train of thought on healing the 4As of autism, ADHD, allergies and asthma through a diet restores probiotic levels and heals inflammatory conditions by Dr. Kenneth Bock. Another, The GAPS diet: gut and psychology syndrome, confirms the connection with gut health and mental health.

HOW to implement? Get a live probiotic supplement. Check the expiration date to make sure that the bacteria these products contain are alive and look for probiotics with “colony forming units” (CFUs) in the billions. After you buy, be sure to protect your supply from heat, moisture and air.

Add them to your everyday. We love the yummy vanilla Sunbiotics brand. We have them available inside The GEM in both chewable tablet and powder form. Come in and add it to your favorite smoothie! Or grab a bottle and go. At 18 billion CFUs per serving, these little tablets help restore a proper balance of flora in the digestive tract depleted by stress, antibiotics and gastrointestinal disturbances. It also has prebiotics, which helps your system create more probiotics! They do not require refrigeration, and they taste good … They are currently only available at wholesale, but you can some this week at The GEM.

Learn more here.