Magnesium and Wellness – Sujata Kelkar Shetty, PhD

The symptoms of magnesium deficiency include muscle spasms and cramps, seizures, anxiety and irregular heart rhythms. Low levels of magnesium in the body also play a role in migraine headaches, insomnia, depression and chronic fatigue.

In the last 60 years, fruits and vegetables in the US have lost 20-30% of their magnesium content because of the depletion of this mineral in the soil. Couple that with the fact that 80-90% of the magnesium is lost when food is processed, and that processed food consumption is on the uptick, and one begins to understand why the US diet is deficient in magnesium.

Magnesium insufficiency is associated with a host of diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, migraine and depression. Psychologist Rachna Khanna Singh, who works at the Artemis Hospital, says that she often finds magnesium deficiency in patients suffering from anxiety. Recently, a 36-year-old patient who consulted her was suffering from anxiety as well as thyroid imbalance. Singh asked her to get a series of blood tests done, including a magnesium test, and the results showed depleted levels of the mineral. The patient was prescribed supplements.